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Night of Hell
Apo Reef scuba diver recalls
ordeal aboard M/V Island Explorer
"We
heard no bell signal. The crew could only mutter ‘Diyos ko po’ (My
God!) and did not advise us what to do. It was very dark at that time."
By
Gerry Albert Corpuz
Bulatlat.com
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Oil
flows from the capsized M/V Island Explorer over the Apo Reef. Photo
courtesy of Public Interest Law Center |
The passengers aboard M/V Island Explorer, which capsized at Apo Reef Park off
Sablayan waters in Mindoro Occidental in the early morning of Dec. 21 last year
won't forget what happened on that day.
"At about 3:30 am, we felt the boat hit something so we went on deck to
check the situation. To our horror, the ship had run aground. We heard no bell
signal. The crew could only mutter ‘Diyos ko po’ (My God!) and did
not advise us what to do. It was very dark at that time."
John Lammoglia, one of the 36 passengers of M/V Island Explorer recalled his
family's horrifying ordeal aboard the scuba cruise ship, which capsized and
tilted on its side at Apo Reef Park.
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It took John and 10 other members of his family an hour to reach Apo Mayor. His
other relatives were left to wait for a bigger cruise that would fetch them out
of the crash site. But the first batch picked up by the chase boat had to wait
at the shoreline of Apo Mayor for three hours because they had to wait for Apo
Reef rangers to wake up from their sleep.
"During this waiting time, our chase boat was being tossed violently in the
water because of rough seas,” John said. “There was the constant danger that
our boat could capsize and all of us would be thrown against the reef. The
rangers only came to them at 8:30 a.m. and completed their transport to safer
ground an hour after.”
John said the other 11 passengers left on the scuba cruise ship were fetched
late afternoon after the ship boat operator contacted the Coast Guard and Scuba
World for help. The M/V Oceanic arrived at the Apo Reef at around 4 p.m. to
ferry the rest to Apo Reef Island.
Perfectly all right?
Jonathan Pinpin, M/V Island Explorer boat manager, told John and 21 members of
his family that it was perfectly all right to proceed to Apo Reef Park ignoring
news of a storm hitting the country's area of responsibility.
The boat manager and 14 members of the scuba cruise ship said they knew there
was a coming storm yet assured their passenger-tourists that everything was
manageable and told John's party that they would reach Apo Reef park by 10 p.m.
of Dec. 20.
The passengers urged M/V Island Explorer's boat manager and the ship's crew to
proceed first to Puerto Galera because they don't want to spend the night at Apo
Reef Park. But Pinpin ignored their passengers' plea and insisted they proceed
straight ahead to Apo Reef.
John's party had made arrangement with Scuba World for a dive cruise package in
Apo Reef and Boracay from Dec. 20-24, 2003 at a cost of $ US9,450. The scuba
cruise ship left the port of Batangas City at about 2:30 p.m. en route to Apo
Reef.
Hell night
It was one hell of a night.
At the first hour of the travel, the passengers were given a brief orientation
on safety measures and when they would abandon the ship in case something bad
happen to the ship. John remembered they had their dinner at about 7:30 p.m.
"At that time the wind was so strong and it blew away our paraphernalia
including our clothes, blankets, books, bags and magazines as well as chairs and
tables," he said. " The M/V Island Explorer did not arrive on time.
Nobody from the crew told us the real condition of the ship."
John
and 21 members of his family (ages ranging from 11 to 78 years old) were unable
to sleep because the scuba dive ship kept on rocking violently causing them to
feel seasick. "At about 2:30 a.m. of Dec. 21, we could sense that the ship
was in bad situation because the wind was getting stronger and boat was rocking
heavily."
By
3:30 a.m., John said no one seemed to be in charge of M/V Island Explorer.
Waters kept on coming into the boat. "After examining the situation of the
boat which already had run aground, we decided to abandon the ship," he
added.
John and his family spent the night in Apo Reef using life jackets as pillows to
comfort themselves while waiting for M/V Oceanic to bring them back to Batangas
port.
The group left Apo Reef at around 8 a.m. on Dec. 22. By 8 p.m. they were in
Anilao, Batangas and stayed at Outrigger Resort owned by Juan Wee of Scuba World
and operator of M/V Island Explorer.
John said Wee told him that there were 10,000 liters of bunker fuel still in the
ship's engine and its' removal from the scuba cruise ship was the owner's main
concern.
Gozun irresponsible
Meanwhile, leaders of the militant fisherfolk group Pamalakaya last week called
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Elisea Gozun
irresponsible and pressed her to step down after she dismissed the case of M/V
Island Explorer as an “accident.”
"The DENR secretary paved the way for the walk-in-the park escape of Juan
Wee and the corporate owners of Scuba World to the detriment of thousands of
fisherfolk and the Apo Reef environment," said Pamalakaya national chair
Fernando Hicap.
Pamalakaya's Hicap said dismissing the case involving Scuba World as an accident
and an act of God was highly revolting and grossly insulting to passengers of
the ship who advised the boat operator and the crew not to proceed with the trip
to Apo Reef because of violent weather.
"May
heaven forbid Secretary Gozun for using heaven's name in this latest attack
against the people's cause for truth, justice and the environment," he
said.
Hicap strongly objected to Gozun's observation that M/V Island Explorer capsized
off Sablayan in Mindoro Occidental due to a freak sea accident caused by stormy
weather. "Secretary Gozun is guilty of distorting the truth and obstructing
the cause of justice pertaining to the Apo Reef case," the militant leader
said.
Pamalakaya also obtained a copy of sworn statement from one of the passengers of
the scuba cruise ship.
"She should have listened to the horrifying tales of 22 passengers on board
M/V Island Explorer before issuing any statement to the public. The accident
could have been prevented if the operator and crew listened to the plea of
passengers not to push through with the trip because of stormy weather," it
said.
Not fortuitous
For his part, Pamalakaya para-legal officer Cesar Arellano said Gozun was trying
to picture out the Apo Reef disaster as a case of fortuitous event to
deliberately absolve Scuba World and officials of the department and the
Philippine Coast Guard who allowed M/V Island Explorer to travel despite the bad
weather condition.
"There was a deliberate effort on the part DENR to exonerate Scuba World
for dismissing the crash at the Apo Reef as an accident or fortuitous event as
claimed by DENR Region IV-B officials and the coast guards. The truth is there
was gross negligence on the part of Scuba World in conspiracy with the
Philippine Coastguard," Arellano added.
Pamalakaya said Scuba World was just after the sum of money amounting to $ 9,450
paid by passengers out on a dive cruise to Apo Reef. "Money matters for
Scuba World and sacrificed the lives of 22 passengers to the altar of death
despite their customers resistance to go on with the trip because of bad
weather.”
The militant group said charges should be filed against Juan Wee, owner of M/V
Island Explorer. The incident also oil spill that destroyed a large part of the
protected coral reef area in Sablayan, Mindoro Occidental last month.
Pamalakaya also said criminal, administrative and civil charges could be filed
against DENR and coast guard officials for gross negligence and
irresponsibility. Bulatlat.com
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