26 May 2009
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Published on May 26th, 2009 @ 10:16:29 am, using 293 words, 114 views
MANILA, Philippines - Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) commandant, ordered the relief of five coastguardsmen at the Port of Batangas who allegedly allowed the ill-fated M/B Commando 6 to sail last Saturday.
The Puerto Galera-bound boat, which was reportedly overloaded, capsized around 1 p.m. near the waters of Malahibo Manok, Batangas Bay, Batangas City, due to huge waves, killing 12 passengers.
Ordered relieved pending Special Board of Marine Inquiry were Chief Petty Officer Nolasco Ramirez, PO3 James Laurelles, PO2 Isabelo Dimapiles, PO2 Leonardo Gallago, and Seaman First Julius Panopio.
“We have to investigate the procedure done by the boarding team. They are relieved pending the investigation to determine if they have liability or not," said Tamayo.
Tamayo also said they would also look into the two passenger manifests submitted by the M/B Commando 6. “The first manifest shows that it has eight passengers while the second manifest shows that it has 42 passengers," said Tamayo
The PCG chief said the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) has suspended the operation of all seven motor bancas under the Ylagan Shipping Lines water Transport Company.
Tamayo said the seven motor bancas will be brought to Minolo Port in Oriental Mindoro for inspection by Marina and all her trips are temporarily suspended.
The PCG chief directed Commodore Cecil Chen, commander of Coast Guard District-Southern Tagalog, to convene the Special Board of Marine Inquiry (SBMI) to conduct formal investigation on the tragedy as soon as possible.
The fatalities in the sea tragedy were identified as Lani Asedo; Coraine Beatriz Asedo; Joena Perez; Desiree Teodoro; Albino Pablico; Gregoria Pablica; Daisy Eugenio; Franco Eugenio; Anton Cruz; Tess Cruz; Hosutani Shugi believed to be a Japanese; and Nina Cads.
PCG said 43 passengers of the 12.45 gross tons M/B Commando 6 survived the sea tragedy.
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Published on May 26th, 2009 @ 10:15:00 am, using 177 words, 74 views
By Marlon Ramos
Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines — The owner of the ill-fated motorized ferry boat which capsized Saturday off Verde Island in Batangas and drowning 12 people has gone into hiding, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported Sunday.
Lieutenant Commander Troy Cornelio, PCG Batangas chief, said boat owner Renato Ilagan has yet to talk to them since the incident.
Cornelio said Ilagan was the registered owner of M/B Commando 6, which sank in the middle of Verde Island passage on its way to Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro from the port in Batangas City.
He said Ilagan and his representatives were nowhere to be found Sunday morning, when his men went to his office at the Port of Batangas to serve a subpoena for him.
Ilagan's office has been closed since Saturday, he added.
Cornelio said they were looking at the possibility that the boat was overloaded.
"Although we are still conducting a thorough investigation of the accident, the initial information we got showed that the boat had excess passengers," he said when reached on his mobile phone.
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Published on May 26th, 2009 @ 10:12:59 am, using 151 words, 66 views
MANILA – At least 12 people, including three children and a Japanese tourist, drowned when a boat bound for a resort island overturned and sank in rough waters off Batangays province on Saturday, police and the coast guard said.
Another 52 people were rescued and eight were still missing, coast guard officials said.
Local fishermen rushed to the area to rescue those in the water after distress calls were sent by the boat captain, regional police chief superintendent Luisito Palmera said.
Among the dead was a 40-year-old Japanese tourist, Palmera said. His two companions were among the survivors.
A Filipino woman traveling with them said by telephone from Puerto Galera that it was a sunny day but that big waves flipped the boat over, breaking its outrigger.
“It happened so fast. I could not even remember how I got out,” she said. The boat left Batangas City port for Puerto Galera on Mindoro island.
04 May 2009
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Published on May 4th, 2009 @ 01:20:47 am, using 140 words, 75 views
An ordinance by the provincial government of Bohol aims to restrict the public viewing of captive tarsiers in the island. The restriction has recently been made to protect the population and natural habitat of tarsiers in Bohol.
The Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary is the only body that is sanctioned to do public viewing of the tarsiers in Bohol. The Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary, run by the Philippine Tarsier Foundation, Inc., is the only sanctuary with the area, facility, and expertise to handle the conservation and preservation of the Philippine Tarsier and thus was given the exemption.
Department of Environment and Natural Resources Administrative Order No. 38 included the Philippine Tarsier among the national protected wildlife species. The Philippine Tarsier is native to the island of Bohol.
Issues with existing owners of tarsiers and breeders who has raised tarsiers in captivity remains a debate.
30 April 2009
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Published on April 30th, 2009 @ 10:57:53 am, using 272 words, 157 views
by Kenny Lim
MANILA - The Department of Tourism, Philippines, has collaborated with MTV Asia for an integrated drive to showcase the country to youth markets across the globe.
Launched across 12 countries - Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, the UK and US, the ‘MTV Revelations’ campaign employs digital media channels to create an integrated push while also featuring well-known Filipino celebrity, Christine Gambito, or Happy Slip, as its ambassador for Philippine Tourism.
The first phase has kicked off through a website that includes an online contest, various clips of specific destinations in the Philippines to create dream holidays plus vignettes of MTV VJs enjoying themselves. The clips are also broadcasted through MTV channel feeds across the region.
“MTV Revelations was conceptualized specifically to target youth travel. By interconnecting and engaging the youth audience via on-air, online and social media, MTV provides the diverse platforms to reach out effectively to the youth target markets. The Philippines presents a rich, unique and diverse travel experience that only the Philippines can bring and we want to extend the this experience by reaching out to the MTV audience,” said Philippines Department of Tourism Secretary, Ace Durano.
“As the undisputed brand most synonymous with youth, MTV embodies youth culture, music, lifestyle and travel across the globe. We are excited about the MTV Revelations campaign and we are ready to kick off a series of planned activities throughout the year that will engage and involve the youth audience in promoting the Philippines as an ideal tourist destination,” added Indra Suharjono, executive vice-president and managing director of MTV Networks, Southeast Asia and Greater China.
27 April 2009
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Published on April 27th, 2009 @ 08:00:37 pm, using 181 words, 171 views
The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday said that there are still no reported cases of swine flu among humans in the Philippines.
This after the rising death toll from the Mexican swine flu epidemic that is sending a wave of panic around the world with the United States declaring a public health emergency and other nations ordering border clampdowns.
Meanwhile, Philippine airport authorities said they are prepared to prevent the entry of swine flu in the country with the use of thermal scanning procedure for inbound passengers.
Symptoms of the swine flu virus include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, and headaches.
Here are some of the steps to take to protect yourself and other people from getting the swine flu virus:
1. Cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze.
2. Wash your hands often with soap and water.
3. Avoid close contact with sick people.
4. If you have flu like symptoms, see a doctor right away and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them and avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth as germs spread this way.
12 April 2009
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Published on April 12th, 2009 @ 06:48:48 am, using 186 words, 409 views
Saturday, April 11, 2009, 1:00am : A 23-year-old male tourist from Mandaluyong City was drowned in White Beach, Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro and found his body early morning.
According to victim’s friends they tried to stop him from swimming but the man was really drunk and a few minutes later he never showed up. The place was too dark and the crowd was too busy that time and of course no lifeguard was on duty when the accident was happened.
But apparently, the local police and the Puerto Galera Resorts Association quoted that there was actually a lifeguard on duty but that specific situation might just not been monitored, prompting them to issue a warning.
GMA 7 news interview from Supt. Roger James Brillantes, Chief, Puerto Galera Municipal Police, “Pagdating ng bandang alas-dose, mag-refrain na silang mag-swimming muna, lalo na kung nakainom [When it’s already past midnight, they should refrain from swimming, especially if they are drunk],".
The man’s body was immediately brought to LAST TRIP FUNERAL parlor where his friends and family asked that his identity be hidden so that their grieving will be more private.
03 April 2009
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Published on April 3rd, 2009 @ 04:34:36 am, using 593 words, 166 views
This article/text is from our good friend Dermot Keane, Palau, Micronesia. Visit Shark Sanctuary blog to read more of his articles and threads about the latest news in Palau and Shark Sanctary.
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On the heels of recently proposed legislation (SB8-44) that would undo Palau's ban on shark fishing comes yet another threat to Palau's marine resources and national treasury by way of proposed legislation (SB8-50) to exempt fishing companies from export taxes on fish caught by purse seining and to allow those fish to be off-loaded at a foreign port(s).
SENATE BILL S-44 proposes:
"To amend Title 27 of the Palau National Code to allow for the commercial fishing of sharks within Palau's Exclusive Economic Zone, to impose a tax on the export of sharks and tuna-like species, and for other related purposes."
SENATE BILL S-50 proposes:
"To exempt, for a period of five years, the export of tuna and tuna-like species caught using the group purse seining or handline fishing method from Palau's fish export tax, to allow for an alternate transshipment port for fish caught using the group purse seining or handline fishing method, and for other related purposes."
The bill goes on to say in Section 4: "For five year from the effective date of this Act, the export of any fish caught by a commercial fishing company using the group purse seining or handline fishing method shall be exempt from the fish export tax"
If these two proposed bills pass in to law, the combined effect will be:
* To permit and encourage the killing of sharks in Palau's waters
* To promote shark finning
* To promote fishing methods that according to Monterey Bay Aquarium "result in large amounts of unintended catch" including sharks, dolphins, turtles, rays and juveniles: http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_gear.aspx
* To exempt fishing companies from any export taxes on fish taken from Palau's waters
* To make it practically impossible for Palau's law enforcement personnel to successfully prosecute alleged violators in the courts
* To risk destroying Palau's sustainable tourism industry
* To risk destroying Palau's marine resources through unsustainable practices
* To gamble on all of the above for no apparent gain to Palau or Palauans.
Both proposed Bills are conspicuously absent of any information, explanation or data to demonstrate a positive benefit to the People of Palau and or Palau's National Treasury from passage of these Bills. Meanwhile, members of Palau's tourism industry are becoming increasingly alarmed at the potential severe negative impacts on tourism and the pristine marine environment that underpins that industry, if these Bills pass in to law.
There are very active negotiations underway between Palau and The Philippines at this very time to enter in to commercial fishing agreements and clearly there are elements of strong political support for the fishing companies as indicated by SB 8-44 and SB 8-50.
The private industry organizations Palau Chamber of Commerce (pcoc@palaunet.com) and Belau Tourism Association (bta@palaunet.com) and the government tourism office Palau Visitors Authority (pva@visit-palau.com) are urging those around the world opposed to shark fishing, shark finning and unsustainable fishing practices to please express their concerns immediately by e-mail to all of the respective organizations.
It is ironic in The International Year of The Shark 2009, that Palau, the worlds very first winner of Sharkprojects "Shark Guardian of The Year Award" is considering legislation that could potentially put it at bitter odds with the international shark conservation community and destroy its reputation as a world class dive destination known for abundant sharks and large pelagic animals.
SAVE PALAU'S SHARKS
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