Malacañang yesterday condoled with the families of the victims of the sea tragedy involving three vessels in Iloilo over the weekend.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said President Duterte may go to Iloilo to visit the victims.
“Given the character and style of the President, that’s a probability. Meanwhile we condole with the families of the victims that perished in those mishaps,” he said.
Panelo said authorities should be more prudent in giving warnings or advisories on disasters.
“I think, whoever is responsible in securing the folks during storms should exercise more prudence, caution, and should give the people more guidelines relative to facing this kind of disasters,” he said.
Meanwhile, the August 3 sea tragedy illustrated how Iloilo Strait, which separates Iloilo City and neighboring coastal towns from the island of province of Guimaras, has become a treacherous body of water that killed almost 30 people.
Among the fatalities were Romeo Baguio Jr., his three-year-old son Jay Arven, his mother, and six others. They came to the island of Guimaras from Cebu that day as Romeo asked the blessings of the family of his would-have-been bride Ma. Nieves Grandeza.
But tragedy struck hours after when they boarded passenger boat Jenny Vince, which was on its way to Iloilo City from the wharf in Buenavista, Guimaras when it encountered a “pugada” (squall) that flipped over the boat. Only Maria survived while the rest died.
Eight teachers also perished while riding the same passenger boat. Five of them were teachers from Iloilo while three were teachers working in the United Arab Emirates but were only in the country for a vacation.
The squall, or the sudden emergence of strong wind and rain, also caused the ill-fated trips of passenger boats Chi-Chi and Keziah 2 in Iloilo City just two hours earlier.
The incident was not the first major maritime incident on the Iloilo Strait. Passenger boat Tawash also capsized and killed nine people, including the boat captain, in October 2015 while a cargo ship sank in February 2015. (Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos and Tara Yap)
