MANILA, Philippines - With the Holy Week only a few days away, Philippine Coast Guard commandant Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo noticed that the number of sea travelers have increased by more than 100 percent as of yesterday.
Tamayo said that, for instance, “during normal days, the number of passengers boarding Negros Navigation Shipping Lines vessel M/V St. Joseph the Worker was only 700 to 800 passengers, but when we conducted our inspection yesterday, the number of passengers more than doubled to 1,700 per ship.”
The M/V St. Joseph the Worker has a 2,200-passenger capacity and 200 crew members.
The PCG attributed the influx of passengers to the end of school classes, wherein students travel home to their provinces to spend the Holy Week with their family.
Tamayo is expecting more travelers next week during the Holy Week. Since many offices would be closing for a few days, workers might take advantage of the free time to bring their family to the province or go on vacation.
For their part, the PCG chief has instructed his 10 PCG districts, 55 stations and 194 detachments all over the country to be on their guard and be prepared for any eventuality.
Yesterday, he officially sent off an estimated 300 PCG personnel belonging to their Deployable Response Group (DPG) to augment their field offices in “critical ports” such as Batangas, Caticlan, Lucena and Cebu. – Evelyn Macairan