MB Kim Nirvana-B (Photo by Boboi Costas)
A PASIG City lawmaker questioned why the owner of the capsized MV Kim Nirvana-B failed to provide life vests to passengers upon boarding the vessel last Thursday.
In a press statement, Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo said operators of motorized commuter bancas are supposed to issue every passenger a life vest to wear from the point of boarding to disembarkation as a safeguard.
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“The authorities need to get their act together. This tragedy clearly betrays the messy enforcement of, and haphazard compliance with simple maritime safety standards, in a country that relies heavily on sound inter-island sea travel to move people and conduct trade,” Romulo said. The MV Kim Nirvana-B reportedly carried 178 people plus sacks of rice and cement.
The vessel was headed to Pilar town in the Camotes Islands, Cebu, when it was battered by heavy waves and sank last Thursday noon minutes after it left the Ormoc City pier. Camotes residents routinely travel via motorized bancas to Ormoc to purchase supplies.
“In fact, if you go to any Philippine beach resort nowadays, and you go on an island-hopping tour using motorized bancas of any size, everybody is required to don a life vest all the time, as a precaution,” Romulo said.