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BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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Wednesday. September 13, 2017
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ILOILO City – Trips of motorboats from Iloilo City to Guimaras and vice versa were suspended yesterday due to bad weather.
This city and the island province across the Iloilo Strait were not under any storm signal but tropical depression Maring was enhancing the southwest monsoon, resulting to heavy rains and rough seas.
According to Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Iloilo commander Lieutenant Ramil Palabrica, three motorboat trips were cancelled since noon.
There was zero visibility due to the torrential rains, he explained.
The motorboats were allowed to go when rains thinned.
“The cancellations were for the passengers’ safety,” said Palabrica.
For the evening trips, Palabrica ordered a reduction of 25 percent in the volume of passengers motorboats could accommodate.
“Boat operators were also strictly advised to comply with safety requirements, especially the provision of lifejackets to all passengers. They should also check the boats’ engines before leaving the wharf,” said Palabrica.
Trips of bigger vessels plying the Iloilo City – Bacolod City route were not suspended. However, the coastguard set their “last trips” for the day at 5 p.m. only.
PCG- Iloilo also mobilized two floating assets to respond to any untoward incidents at sea.
“Our deployable response teams (DRT) were on standby,” said Palabrica.
He advised fishermen not to venture out to sea for the moment.
As of this writing, the coastguard had not received any reports of boats capsizing or sinking due to the bad weather./PN
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