Near Oslob: Another Vessel Stucks

 By 

ELIAS O. BAQUERO and 

OSCAR C. PINEDA

Rose in reef. A salvaging company will try to move today the mv Bell Rose (photo) from the reef it struck when it ran aground off Malapascua last Monday. (Capitol Public Information Office Foto)

ANOTHER vessel ran aground in Cebu’s seas, this time near Luisan point in Nueva Caceres, Oslob, Cebu at 1:30 p.m. last Jan. 15.

The vessel, LCT 788 of Seen Sam Shipping, ran aground while on its way from Naga City to Toledo City. The accident came two days after a foreign vessel, the mv Belle Rose, ran aground five nautical miles off Malapascua Island in Daanbantayan, Cebu.

In the LCT 788’s case, however, its captain and crew managed to move the vessel after 30 minutes. The Belle Rose remains in place.

A team from the Capitol and a salvaging company will try to remove the Belle Rose today, Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III announced. The ship owner is willing to settle the damage amicably, he said.

Commander Agapito “Butch” Bibat, chief of the Coast Guard’s Cebu Station, said that officials from the Department of Agriculture (DA) reported to the Oslob police that LCT 788 ran aground and may have damaged the underwater environment.

Bibat said that the DA and the police prevented the vessel from departing pending an investigation by the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) and the Coast Guard.

Bibat said that Marina conducted an underwater inspection the other day, and that Marina 7 then issued a Certificate of Seaworthiness to LCT 788.

He said that the DA also reported there was no damage to marine life.

Based on Marina’s certification, Bibat said they cleared the vessel to sail for Toledo City to load vehicles and other rolling cargo.

Spill

Meanwhile, the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) 7 is still waiting for the consolidated report of its team before announcing the results of its investigation and recommendations on a reported oil spill in the tourism area of Moalboal, Cebu.

EMB 7 Director William Cunado said that their technical team took water samples from the shoreline of Bas Diot, as well as the Pescadores North, West, South and East stations.

Of the five sampling stations, Pescadores North, West and East failed to pass the sampling standard of 1mg/L.

“As per our laboratory analysis dated June 14-15, 2016, the said three sampling stations revealed two mg/L of oil and grease,” Cunado said.

But Cunado said they cannot yet make a conclusion and recommendation unless the consolidated report of the technical team will be submitted to EMB 7 and tackled thoroughly.

In Malapascua, drivers inspected the site to figure out the best way to move away from the reef the vessel Belle Rose, which is still carrying 48,000 metric tons of clinker, which is used in manufacturing cement.

Compensation

Right after the dive, lawyer Pedrito Faytaren Jr. said that the local council, mostly those who attended the emergency meeting last June 16, will again meet in Malapascua to approve the final salvage plan. He represents Salvor Marine Towage.

Governor Davide said that the joint group will take advantage of the highest tide between June 15 and 18.

A marine protest will still be pursued, but the Province is open to a compromise settlement to avoid a drawn-out investigation, Davide said.

“As far as compensation for damage, the vessel’s owner is willing to pay,” he told reporters yesterday.

Diving and marine experts will be at the site when the ship is removed, Davide said, so they can immediately assess the damage it caused.

He said the ship owner has to pay for the damage to the corals, based on the assessment done by a marine biologist from the University of San Carlos, Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resource (BFAR) and Atty. Ben Cabrido, an environment lawyer and advocate.

“I can assure Daanbantayan, especially those from Malapascua, that they will be compensated for the damage brought about by the ship,” the governor said.

The Panama-registered Belle Rose cut through bed of corals 10 meters underwater, located four nautical miles southeast of the island of Malapascua, at 3 a.m. last June 13. The ship was reportedly trying to avoid fishermen when it ran aground.

Coming from a port in Tsukumi, Japan, the ship is carrying clinkers bound for San Fernando town in Cebu, where two cement factories operate.

Broken relationships

TUE, JUNE 14, 2016 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR LEAVE A COMMENT

IN MY OPINION

“Relationship” comes from the Latin “referre” or “relatum”, which means “to bring back”.

In one of my penultimate columns, I tried to explain, “when to keep our mouth shut”! Silence is also an answer – sure! But some of my readers posed the question, if also broken relationships can be only restored by silence or waiting. My answer is YES and/or NO!

Sometimes, it’s a miracle what a small dose of determined silence can do. Relationships are ALWAYS worth restoring, because life is all about learning how to love and how to value relationships and make the effort to maintain them instead of discarding them whenever there is a rift, a hurt, or a conflict. The bible told us that all of us have been given the ministry of restoring broken relationships.

Broken or cooled down relationships can be noticed at any corner. Restoring them is equal to peacemaking or peacekeeping but also not avoiding facing conflicts. Running away from a problem (and then keep the mouth shut!), pretending that the problem doesn’t exist or being to afraid to talk about it, that’s how the hypocritical coward acts.

I always love to talk to God before I talk to a person. Later, I can find the right moment and take the initiative to restore broken relationships or face the problem. I can even look out for others’ interests first. I can use “my telescope of life” (from the Greek word “skopos”) and play close attention. I can start with sympathy but not with great solutions right away. I can confess my part of a possible conflict.

Paul said in Romans 12:18: “Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody!” In resolving conflicts, a word not be spoken may be the choicest word of all, or IF WE TALK, HOW we say it, is important.

The US-author Rick Warren confessed in one of his books; “We can establish a relationship even when we are unable to resolve our differences. Christians often have legitimate, honest disagreements and differing opinions ( as I wrote in my last Friday’s column here!). But, we can disagree without being disagreeable. The same diamond looks different from different angles. God expects unity, not uniformity, and, we can walk arm-in-arm without seeing eye-to-eye on every issue!”

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Email: doringklaus@gmail.com or follow me in Facebook or Twitter or visit www.germanexpatinthephilippines.blogspot.com or www.klausdoringsclassicalmausic.blogspot.com

No More Kids Seen on Mandaue's Streets Past Curfew

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By: Julit C. Jainar, Cebu Daily News

THERE were no more minors seen loitering past curfew time or past 10 p.m. of Friday and until 4 a.m. Saturday, a day after police rounded up 55 minors for violating the curfew ordinance in Mandaue City.

Senior Supt. Jonathan Cabal, Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) chief, said they have not apprehended any minor violating the curfew on the second day of the operation, which started last Thursday.

“Yung result ng ating second day is that wala silang nahuli yung mga police stations natin na nagroroving for the rescue of minors. Normal yung situation hopefully maging ganun yong trend (On the second day of the operation, our police stations who assigned policemen to patrol their areas of jurisdiction, have not rescued any minor, who violated the curfew ordinance. Hopefully, this trend will continue),” Cabal said in an interview yesterday.

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Cabal said the result of the operation on Friday somehow showed the [children and parents’] adherence to the ordinance and at the same time, this also made the parents aware of the ordinance.

“Syempre mapapahiya din naman sila. At the same time, siguro, the city council will pass measures to the effect that parents will be held accountable in case yung delinquency rate mabilis na,” Cabal said.

He also said that it will take at least a month to assess whether the operation is effective or not.

Pureza Tabuac, social worker of Mandaue City Social Welfare and Development Office (MCSWDO), confirmed that there were no more minors seen loitering in Mandaue’s streets past curfew.

“When the kids were briefed, I told them that the curfew will be implemented all throughout the year, mao siguro walay nadala ang police nahadlok siguro (that is perhaps the reason the police didn’t see any minors on the streets yesterday. The kids may have been scared of getting caught again),” Tabuac said.

Bobby, the boy from the Badjao community in Barangay Mambaling in Cebu City, who was among the 55 minors rounded up on Thursday night, has already been turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Barangay Labangon, Cebu City late Thursday afternoon.

She said all minors who were rounded up on Thursday night have been released.

She said before the minors were released, parents were oriented on the curfew ordinance, which was amended on 2011.

First offenders of the curfew ordinance will receive a warning.

The parents will be fined P200 for minors apprehended the second time while parents of minors apprehended for the third time will be fined P500 with one day of community service.