Puerto Galera PCG chief relieved

Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza has relieved the head of the Phi-lippine Coast Guard detachment in Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro, following the deaths of three South Koreans at sea last Saturday.

Two other South Koreans remain missing.

Tom Lantion, Mendoza’s spokesman, said Petty Officer Juan Carolina was relieved to allay fears of a whitewash in the investigation.

Last Saturday, the M/B April Boy II, which was ferrying 23 South Koreans, defied a Coast Guard ban on small vessels sailing out from the island resort on Saturday because of bad weather.

Despite the high winds, heavy rains and huge swells triggered by the southwest monsoon, the boat left without notifying the Coast Guard, officials said.

The South Korean embassy in Manila had asked the government’s help in searching for the two missing South Koreans. The families of the missing are coming to the country to get information about the incident, said Yong Soo-lee, embassy first secretary and spokesman.

Lantion said the Coast Guard conducted an aerial search yesterday. "The PCG is still searching for the victims," he said.

However, bad weather later in the day forced the Coast Guard to temporary call off the search, Coast Guard commander Vice Admiral Reuben Lista said, adding that coastal areas where the two missing may have been swept to are now being combed.

"We have intensified coordination with local barangays to find out if they saw anything," he said. "We have also disseminated information and descriptions of the missing Koreans to local radio stations in case any of the residents have seen them."

One rescue official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, yesterday expressed fear that "the two are likely to be dead" by now.

"If I were to ask you, would you think they are still alive?" the official said.

The Coast Guard is filing a charge of negligence resulting in multiple homicide against the boat’s owner, Ricardo Garcia. The boat’s three crewmen, who fled upon reaching shore, remain at large and are being sought.

Lantion said the Coast Guard is now "closely monitoring all ports to ensure that no vessel can sail unless there is a go-signal for them to do so."

"We don’t want the incident to be repeated," he said.

Puerto Galera Mayor Aristeo Atienza earlier said the accident could have been avoided had not maritime authorities rejected a local council request to require vessels plying between the island and Batangas to use the island’s main pier as an entry and exit point.

The boat would then have been unable to sail without being noticed by the Coast Guard, Atienza said.

However, Romeo Gagui, Maritime Industry Authority regional director, said the pier was too small to accommodate a large number of vessels.

On Saturday, three South Koreans, including a four-year-old girl, were killed when a gust churned up a huge wave that flipped over the boat minutes before it was to reach destination in nearby Mabini, Batangas.

A nearby boat, the M/V Explorer, pulled all but two South Koreans from the water.

Lee Seung-ok, 22, Jeon Sang-hwa, 30, and her four-year-old daughter Oh Sun-soo died en route to a hospital in Batangas City.

Joseph Kim, a friend of the South Koreans who was not on the boat, told the Associated Press that the crewmen ventured out into the waters about one to two kilometers before deciding to embark on the trip.

"They told our members it’s okay, they can handle the situation," Kim said. "But almost ten minutes from Batangas, the big waves just overthrew them. They did not ask our members to take life vests."

He said the Koreans had come to the Philippines to learn English. A morgue worker said he had been told they were a Christian missionary group.

The three South Korean deaths were among a number caused by last weekend’s heavy rains which lashed most of the country’s west. Most of those killed either drowned in floodwaters or were buried by landslides. — With Jose Aravilla