MARINA grants boat operators 14-day extension

TAGBILARAN CITY ,Philippines  - The Marine Industry Authority (MARINA) finally gave in and decided to grant a 14-day moratorium for pumpboat operations of Panglao to comply with their registration papers, within which they would be issued provisional permits to continue their trade.

MARINA said it did not want to spoil the fiesta celebration of Panglao, and they would not wish to jeopardize the tourism operations in that island, which include dolphin-watching, snorkeling, diving and island-hopping.

Governor Edgar Chatto, during his weekly program Kita ug Ang Gobernador on Friday, confirmed that MARINA authorities and the Philippine Coast Guard have decided to extend the deadline to enable pump boat operators and skippers to complete their registration without hampering the usual tourist attractions of Panglao.

The 14-day moratorium started last Friday and runs until September 9, said MARINA-Bohol Chief Norma Enriquez, citing the order of the agency's regional director. "There will be no more consideration by September 10," she said.

The moratorium however has some conditions, she said. Pump boats to be given provisional permits during the period are only those equipped with life jackets, passenger insurance, fire extinguishers and other basic emergency kits, reminded Enriquez.

The PCG assigned four agents to monitor compliance on this condition, that is one agent for each of the stations along Panglao beach that are designated as docking areas of pump boats, she said.

To fast-track the processing of pending documents of the remaining over a hundred pump boats serving the tourists in Panglao, Chatto had requested MARINA to assign two agents to set up and man a desk right in the town of Panglao where they would accept the papers that the operators and skippers will submit.

The governor came to the rescue after MARINA and PCG here stopped the operations of unregistered pump boats from serving the tourists of Panglao. However, the resort owners and commercial pump boat operators complained that some of the documents that MARINA was requiring were impossible to comply or were not applicable on them.

The resort owners in Panglao even raised concern that the rigid rule of MARINA already paralyzed their dolphin-watching, snorkelling, diving, and island-hopping business on the first day last Monday and they might accumulate losses if it would insist on strict compliance of the no registration-no trip policy.

Earlier, Enriquez said the grace period for registration has long been over. For over 10 years, MARINA has been waiting for the boat operators to complete their documents, she said.

Last week, only five out of about 200 pump boat operators managed to complete their registration papers with MARINA. The first was the M/VSainte-Anne-de-Beaupré owned by Fr. Victor Clemens.

Chatto finally convinced MARINA to soften on its no registration-no trip policy and allowed the pump boats to resume business with the assurance to take responsibility on the safety of their passengers.

Pump boat operators must submit certificates of ownership, Philippine Registry, passenger ship safety, compliance, minimum safe manning and public convenience, coast wise license, boat captain and marine diesel mechanic, accreditation and documents that prove passenger insurance.