Coast Guard diver dies after retrieving body

MANILA, Philippines - A seasoned diver of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) sacrificed his life yesterday afternoon while helping in the retrieval of the remains trapped inside the sunken ferry M/V Catalyn B.

Petty Officer 3 Arman Bonifacio, 42, was pronounced dead by doctors at the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center at 3:40 p.m. yesterday, according to PCG-National Capital Region-Central Luzon district commander Commodore Luis Tuason Jr. Bonifacio reportedly died of cardiac arrest.

Bonifacio, a Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-trained diver, led several rescue sorties during typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng.”

The PCG team conducting search and rescue missions for  the 16 missing passengers and crew of the Catalyn-B mourned the death of their comrade.

PCG-Special Operations Group (PCG-SOG) deputy chief Lieutenant Commander Marco Gines, Bonifacio’s longtime friend, said this was the first time that he has lost a man in an operation in eight years with the group.

Costly dive

The BRP Pampanga left the PCG headquarters at 5 a.m. yesterday and planned on doing three dives. 

However, they aborted their mission just before lunchtime when Bonifacio lost consciousness.

Bonifacio and his diving buddy Petty Officer 3 Saturnino Cahilig Jr. were assigned to make the first dive at 8 a.m.

Everything went well during the start of the dive and they reached the wreck at 221 feet.

“The two divers moved from the starboard (right) side to the port (left) side of the ship to look for bodies. They were able to get hold of two bodies,” said Gines.

But as they were ascending, at about 170 feet, Cahilig reportedly saw his buddy indicating by hand signal that he was not feeling well.

Bonifacio reportedly increased his ascent, which was against the rules because time was needed for the body to decompress. Cahilig tried to slow him down while assisting him to move up.

The standby divers positioned close to the surface saw the situation and assisted them. Upon reaching 140 feet, Bonifacio lost consciousness and was immediately put inside the decompression chamber.

“At first we thought that he would make it because when they tried to put an oxygen mask on him he would push it aside. When he was instructed to stomp his foot, he followed the order. We were all surprised that after about two hours of responding, his condition took a turn for the worse,” Gines said.

Gines said they would have to determine what went wrong because it was standard operating procedure for them to take the blood pressure of the diver and Bonifacio’s read 130/80 just before the dive.

PCG: Hurting, but no turning back

The divers, however, were able to find the body of a woman who wore a white shirt and blue pants. She also had pink ponytail straps on left wrist and a lavender handkerchief.

As for the second body, Commodore Tuason said it did not reach the surface and they sent a fast boat to look for it as far as 15 miles, but it was never found.

He said they would have to temporarily suspend the search and retrieval operations.

“We would wait for the outcome of the autopsy and assess the problem to prevent a similar incident from happening,” Tuason said.

Gines said they checked Bonifacio’s equipment and found it was in good condition. There are speculations that it might have something to do with his physical condition.

Gines said that even if they take a break, the loss of their colleague and friend would not deter them from continuing with their mission. “The remaining divers said they are still willing to dive. We would be dishonoring him if we would allow our fears to rule us. We were prepared for this eventuality to happen.”

Tuason earlier promised the families of the victims that he would not call off the operations for as long as there are still bodies inside the wooden-hulled vessel.

The SOG official earlier admitted that they would be embarking on risky dives since they do not have the proper equipment for the mission.

Who’s responsible?

At the Senate, victims of maritime disasters in the country and their relatives said they are having difficulty getting compensation from shipping companies due to the absence of a system that would assist them after accidents.

During yesterday’s hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, Randy Peñaranda, whose sister died in the sinking of the M/V Baleno 9, said Besta Shipping Lines, which owns the vessel, did not provide immediate assistance and tried to negotiate with them for a lower amount of compensation.

The committee is looking into the responsibility of government agencies and ship owners in the recent maritime accidents in the country.

“(At first) they (Besta) assured us of P10,000 assistance. But it seems they were haggling. First it was P10,000 then P20,000, P50,000, P100,000 to P200,000,” Peñaranda said, adding that the representatives of the shipping line sent them a document asking his mother to sign a “quit claim” or “waiver of desistance,” telling them that they were not allowed to attend any hearing or file a case once they accepted the P200,000 that an insurance company would cover.

“Nothing happened to our talks. They did not contact me until this afternoon,” Peñaranda said.

He said other victims shared the feeling that if they would persevere and fight for their rights, no government agency would help them go after the shipping companies.

“They are not doing anything. Nobody is coordinating with us, no government officials, nothing,” Peñaranda said.

Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) administrator Len Bautista admitted that there was no government task force created to assist the victims of the sea tragedies.

“We compel the ship owner to give all the assistance necessary and we issue the proper orders,” Bautista said, but she clarified that it was not automatic for the victims’ relatives to receive P200,000 each as insurance claim because this was not provided under the law.

“That is what we want but that is not automatic like in the land sector,” she said.

Bautista said victims of land accidents would have to be paid in five days while victims of maritime accidents would have to submit requirements to be able to make a claim.

“In the maritime sector, as of the moment, we cannot do this. There are still many things lacking before we are able to assist them,” she said.

Peñaranda said they had to fight with shipping line personnel before they could transport the bodies of their loved ones for burial.

The problem is compounded when the victims are not listed in the passenger’s manifest since many of the shipping lines carry more than what they are allowed to transport.

It was discussed in the meeting that negligence and consideration for more profit have been the usual problems.

Patrick Ang, owner of the Baleno 9, said they were still investigating the cause of the accident but “we are doing our best to attend to the needs of the survivors and relatives of those who died or are missing.”

Ang said they would need documents like death certificate, marriage contract and other papers that would prove the relationship of the passengers to the claimants.

Palace steps in

Meanwhile, Malacañang has given the Marina until the end of February to submit its findings on the two sea tragedies that took place last month.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said the victims must be given justice through a clear determination of what happened with the Catalyn B and the Baleno 9.

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), on the other hand, will form a task force that will improve maritime safety in the country by holding random safety inspections on all ships.

Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza has ordered Undersecretary Thomson Lantion to head Task Force Ligtas Lakbay Dagat, which will undertake the random ship inspections.

Lantion said the task force will have two inspection teams with members to be hired from the Marina, the Philippine Coast Guard, the Philippine Ports Authority, the Cebu Port Authority, and the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy.

The random ship inspections, Lantion explained, will serve as a post-audit on all ships after they undergo the audit of the Marina on their compliance with the International Safety Manual (ISM) in the first quarter of the year. - Aurea Calica, Marvin Sy, Rainier Allan Ronda