Coast Guard continues search for Cebu tragedy victims

Philippine Navy divers retrieve a body from the waters off the coast of Talisay city, Cebu province, in central Philippines Saturday Aug. 17, 2013, a day after a passenger ferry MV Thomas of Aquinas collided with a cargo ship Sulpicio Express Siete. AP

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Coast Guard’s search for the 57 passengers and crew members of the ferry St. Thomas Aquinas that remain missing is “still ongoing,” according to the PCG spokesman.

Commander Armand Balilo, also chief of the PCG public affairs office, told the Inquirer Tuesday that contrary to reports, the search-and-rescue (SAR) operation had not been terminated.

“So far, Coast Guard divers have checked up to 60 percent of the sunken ferry,” he said.

“Today, the ship’s tourist cabins will be the subject of SAR operations,” he added.

Citing a report from the PCG station in Cebu City, Balilo said “the area is full of debris,” expressing concern this may hamper operations.

At the same time, he clarified reports on the death toll of the Aug. 16 collision between the St. Thomas Aquinas and the cargo vessel Sulpicio Express Siete.

“The body count in the Cebu funeral parlors showed there were only 80 casualties, not 81 (as reported by the PCG last weekend),” he said.

PCG Cebu has “made revisions based on body parts recovered, as well as validations by 2GO Travel, the Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, and representatives of the Department of Health,” he said.

2GO Travel operated the passenger ferry.

“From 59, the number of missing passengers and crew went down to 57. It turned out there were double entries on the list of missing persons prepared by the command post. On the other hand, the number of rescued passengers and crew totaled 639 and 104, respectively,” Balilo said.

Last Friday, a Special Board of Marine Inquiry opened its investigation into the collision of the two vessels that resulted in the sinking of the St. Thomas Aquinas off Talisay City.

The two captains—Reynan Bermejo of the ferry and Rolito Gilo of the cargo vessel—were summoned to appear before the board in Cebu City.

The key question the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina)-led inquiry must answer is how the two ships failed to avoid each other in a narrow channel called Lawis Ledge, where the shallow portions require vessels to steer carefully and observe protocols on transport lanes and collision avoidance.—With an AFP report