« Return to Thread: FErry Boat Overloading
FErry Boat Overloading
by EdMM
::
Rate this Message:
Dear Sir--
I sent this email to the Governor and the Provincial Administrator about May 12, 2009:
A DOCUMENTED CASE OF
OVERLOADING OF A FERRY BOAT
AT PUERTO GALERA
TO: THE AUTHORITIES AND THOSE CONCERNED ABOUT THE WELFARE OF TOURISTS, FERRY PASSENGERS, TOURISM, AND THE PUBLIC WELFARE OF VISITORS TO AND RESIDENTS OF PUERTO GALERA.
This is to bring to your attention, as a responsible authority concerning the matter, of a clear and fully documented case of excessive overloading of a ferry boat from Puerto Galera to the Batangas Port.
I shall first present the facts of the matter as briefly as I can.
DATE and TIME: The overloading occurred yesterday, May 10, Sunday, on the 3:30 p.m. trip from White Beach Puerto Galera to the Batangas Port.
THE BOAT and its CAPTAIN. The ferry boat that was overloaded belongs to the “Father n’ Son Shipping Lines” of which the Proprietor is listed on the ferry ticket as “Rockey D. Ilagan. Upon enquiry, the captain gave his name as “Raul Garcia.”
THE OVERLOADING. According to members of the crew, the capacity of the boat was 140. The actual count of passengers in the boat was 189 persons, excluding the crew and including old men/women and children. This is an overload of 35%!
NARRATION OF EVENTS.
I, the undersigned, am an ordained Catholic priest of the Society of Jesus, aged 72, the Chaplain and an Adjunct Professor at the Asian Institute of Management, Makati, and Chairman of the Ingenium School Foundation, Inc. in Marikina City. I was a member of a party of 21 composed of the teachers and staff of the Ingenium School. The group had selected Puerto Galera as the site for its yearly outing, and the majority of the group stayed there for two nights (from Saturday to Monday morning, May 9-11, 2009). A subgroup of 6, including myself, returmed to Manila earlier on Sunday, May 10, 2009. We bought tickets for and boarded the 3:30 pm ferry boat destined from White Beach to the Batangas Port. The boat belonged to the ‘Father n’ Son Shipping Lines,” captained by a certain Raul Garcia.
On White Beach, despite the obvious appearance of overcrowding, the boat continued to accept passengers in such great numbers that many passengers were already complaining aloud that the boat was already overloaded and that it should already stop taking passengers. A crew member insisted that their manifest will show they were not overloaded.
When the boat finally set sail for Batangas Port, some passengers were so concerned that a tourist guide even distributed life-vests to members of her party. Given the complaints of passengers that the boat was overloaded, and the insistence of the crew that the boat was not overloaded, I suggested to the passengers that each of us should list down our names in writing. This, I proceeded to do, by taking a sheet of paper and going from passenger-to-passenger to request each one to write down his/her name. A member of my group also assisted in getting the passengers to write down their names. Once we have gone to each and every passenger on the boat, we tallied the number of names, and it added up to a total of 194 passengers, excluding members of the crew.
A crew member tried to challenge/cast doubt on the validity of the survey process by insisting that the ages of the children be included. I pointed out that the age was immaterial and that the issue was the number of passengers. (He admitted that children were considered passengers). Upon the suggestion of some passengers, and as a response to his attempt to cast doubt on the validity of the survey, I challenged him in return that we should count the total number of life vests in the boat to see if indeed there was no overloading. For clearly, if there was not enough life vests for everyone, then the boat was overloaded. Faced with this challenge and, I sensed, having received a signal from the Captain, he turned quiet and withdrew.
In addition to getting the passengers to write down their names, I also used my cell phone to take videos and pictures of the passengers while in the boat and as they were alighting from the boat at the Batangas Port. I also observed that other passengers were taking pictures.
THE MOTIVATION. My motivation in taking the lead in the boat to document the fact of the overloading, and in taking this initiative to bring this matter to the attention of authorities like yourself, is a compound of many concerns. I felt something should be done to address the shocking and senseless loss of lives of ordinary people because of repeated sea disasters in the Philippines arising from overloading of passengers. I was also responding to the needs of the passengers on the boat: many kept complaining, but seemed unable to do anything about their complaint. At the same time, once I began to take the lead to do something about the matter, many passengers congratulated me, ,patted me on the back, and praised my action. Some even gave me their cards and contact numbers for any additional support that they might be able to extend later on.
THE EXPECTED RESULT OF ALLTHIS. When I started the survey in the boat, I told the passengers that one immediate result that we could expect was that the Captain and Owners of boat would, hopefully, be more careful next time, because they would know, from what we were doing, that passengers could also take action to protect their own welfare. A more significant result, which we could hope for, but which will now depend on the concerned authorities, was that meaningful action would be taken to prevent the overloading in the ferry boats in Puerto Galera as we witnessed last Sunday. The overloading happened with full knowledge, if not positive action on the part of the captain and the crew, for they continued to wait for passengers. And the overloading continued on with seeming complete casualness on the part of the Captain and members of the crew, and with complete unconcern for the anxiety and safety of their passengers,.
For my part, I feel that I owe it to the passengers of that ferry boat to bring this matter to the attention of all who may have authority or concern over the matter. I was warned that my efforts may just go to waste because it can so readily be ignored. That may well happen. On the other hand, it can also happen that something will be done about the matter by some authority or individual or group. In any case, at least I have put the matter on record before the concerned authorities, as I had promised the passengers, and that, in itself, may serve some useful purpose, if not now, perhaps in the future. For this purpose, I have made this letter a public document by having it legally notarized.
CONCLUSION. For the sake of our fellow countrymen who long for a government that is truly concerned for their welfare, for the sake of our tourism industry which suffers greatly from the proof of neglect of public safety each time there is a disaster, for the sake of the reputation before the world of Filipinos who can appear so incompetent and uncaring each time another sea disaster occurs because of negligence or incompetent management, I hope that you will do something about this clear case of overloading.
Needless to say, I and other passengers in that overloaded ferry-boat will be willing to assist you in every way we can.
Sincerely,
(REV.)EDMUNDO M.MARTINEZ, S.J.
Passenger of a “Father n’ Son Ferry Boat”
Puerto Galera, May 10, 2009
Cell Contact No. 0918-901-6774
Email address: edmundomartinez23@yahoo.com
I sent this email to the Governor and the Provincial Administrator about May 12, 2009:
A DOCUMENTED CASE OF
OVERLOADING OF A FERRY BOAT
AT PUERTO GALERA
TO: THE AUTHORITIES AND THOSE CONCERNED ABOUT THE WELFARE OF TOURISTS, FERRY PASSENGERS, TOURISM, AND THE PUBLIC WELFARE OF VISITORS TO AND RESIDENTS OF PUERTO GALERA.
This is to bring to your attention, as a responsible authority concerning the matter, of a clear and fully documented case of excessive overloading of a ferry boat from Puerto Galera to the Batangas Port.
I shall first present the facts of the matter as briefly as I can.
DATE and TIME: The overloading occurred yesterday, May 10, Sunday, on the 3:30 p.m. trip from White Beach Puerto Galera to the Batangas Port.
THE BOAT and its CAPTAIN. The ferry boat that was overloaded belongs to the “Father n’ Son Shipping Lines” of which the Proprietor is listed on the ferry ticket as “Rockey D. Ilagan. Upon enquiry, the captain gave his name as “Raul Garcia.”
THE OVERLOADING. According to members of the crew, the capacity of the boat was 140. The actual count of passengers in the boat was 189 persons, excluding the crew and including old men/women and children. This is an overload of 35%!
NARRATION OF EVENTS.
I, the undersigned, am an ordained Catholic priest of the Society of Jesus, aged 72, the Chaplain and an Adjunct Professor at the Asian Institute of Management, Makati, and Chairman of the Ingenium School Foundation, Inc. in Marikina City. I was a member of a party of 21 composed of the teachers and staff of the Ingenium School. The group had selected Puerto Galera as the site for its yearly outing, and the majority of the group stayed there for two nights (from Saturday to Monday morning, May 9-11, 2009). A subgroup of 6, including myself, returmed to Manila earlier on Sunday, May 10, 2009. We bought tickets for and boarded the 3:30 pm ferry boat destined from White Beach to the Batangas Port. The boat belonged to the ‘Father n’ Son Shipping Lines,” captained by a certain Raul Garcia.
On White Beach, despite the obvious appearance of overcrowding, the boat continued to accept passengers in such great numbers that many passengers were already complaining aloud that the boat was already overloaded and that it should already stop taking passengers. A crew member insisted that their manifest will show they were not overloaded.
When the boat finally set sail for Batangas Port, some passengers were so concerned that a tourist guide even distributed life-vests to members of her party. Given the complaints of passengers that the boat was overloaded, and the insistence of the crew that the boat was not overloaded, I suggested to the passengers that each of us should list down our names in writing. This, I proceeded to do, by taking a sheet of paper and going from passenger-to-passenger to request each one to write down his/her name. A member of my group also assisted in getting the passengers to write down their names. Once we have gone to each and every passenger on the boat, we tallied the number of names, and it added up to a total of 194 passengers, excluding members of the crew.
A crew member tried to challenge/cast doubt on the validity of the survey process by insisting that the ages of the children be included. I pointed out that the age was immaterial and that the issue was the number of passengers. (He admitted that children were considered passengers). Upon the suggestion of some passengers, and as a response to his attempt to cast doubt on the validity of the survey, I challenged him in return that we should count the total number of life vests in the boat to see if indeed there was no overloading. For clearly, if there was not enough life vests for everyone, then the boat was overloaded. Faced with this challenge and, I sensed, having received a signal from the Captain, he turned quiet and withdrew.
In addition to getting the passengers to write down their names, I also used my cell phone to take videos and pictures of the passengers while in the boat and as they were alighting from the boat at the Batangas Port. I also observed that other passengers were taking pictures.
THE MOTIVATION. My motivation in taking the lead in the boat to document the fact of the overloading, and in taking this initiative to bring this matter to the attention of authorities like yourself, is a compound of many concerns. I felt something should be done to address the shocking and senseless loss of lives of ordinary people because of repeated sea disasters in the Philippines arising from overloading of passengers. I was also responding to the needs of the passengers on the boat: many kept complaining, but seemed unable to do anything about their complaint. At the same time, once I began to take the lead to do something about the matter, many passengers congratulated me, ,patted me on the back, and praised my action. Some even gave me their cards and contact numbers for any additional support that they might be able to extend later on.
THE EXPECTED RESULT OF ALLTHIS. When I started the survey in the boat, I told the passengers that one immediate result that we could expect was that the Captain and Owners of boat would, hopefully, be more careful next time, because they would know, from what we were doing, that passengers could also take action to protect their own welfare. A more significant result, which we could hope for, but which will now depend on the concerned authorities, was that meaningful action would be taken to prevent the overloading in the ferry boats in Puerto Galera as we witnessed last Sunday. The overloading happened with full knowledge, if not positive action on the part of the captain and the crew, for they continued to wait for passengers. And the overloading continued on with seeming complete casualness on the part of the Captain and members of the crew, and with complete unconcern for the anxiety and safety of their passengers,.
For my part, I feel that I owe it to the passengers of that ferry boat to bring this matter to the attention of all who may have authority or concern over the matter. I was warned that my efforts may just go to waste because it can so readily be ignored. That may well happen. On the other hand, it can also happen that something will be done about the matter by some authority or individual or group. In any case, at least I have put the matter on record before the concerned authorities, as I had promised the passengers, and that, in itself, may serve some useful purpose, if not now, perhaps in the future. For this purpose, I have made this letter a public document by having it legally notarized.
CONCLUSION. For the sake of our fellow countrymen who long for a government that is truly concerned for their welfare, for the sake of our tourism industry which suffers greatly from the proof of neglect of public safety each time there is a disaster, for the sake of the reputation before the world of Filipinos who can appear so incompetent and uncaring each time another sea disaster occurs because of negligence or incompetent management, I hope that you will do something about this clear case of overloading.
Needless to say, I and other passengers in that overloaded ferry-boat will be willing to assist you in every way we can.
Sincerely,
(REV.)EDMUNDO M.MARTINEZ, S.J.
Passenger of a “Father n’ Son Ferry Boat”
Puerto Galera, May 10, 2009
Cell Contact No. 0918-901-6774
Email address: edmundomartinez23@yahoo.com
« Return to Thread: FErry Boat Overloading
| Free embeddable forum powered by Nabble | Forum Help |
