Boat ban in Liguasan Marsh urged

COTABATO City, Philippines - The provincial disaster risk reduction and management council urged municipal councils on Wednesday to enact ordinances disallowing the overloading of small motorized boats in the Liguasan Marsh and big rivers straddling through Maguindanao to prevent a repeat of Monday’s mishap that caused the deaths of 10 boat passengers.

The office of Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, presiding chairman of the council, said the league of mayors in the province will spearhead the effort of enforcing measures to ensure the safety of passengers.

The 220,000-hectare Liguasan Marsh is surrounded by North Cotabato, Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat provinces.

Ten people drowned while two others went missing when a motorized banca capsized at dusk Monday in a deep spot at the Liguasan delta, near Sultan sa Barongis town in the second district of Maguindanao.

Sultan sa Barongis Mayor Allan Angas, chairman of the municipal disaster council, said they are still searching for the two passengers that went missing after the boat was overturned by waves created by a strong gush of winds on the surface of the marsh.

Angas said the 10 passengers, six of them children, drowned in the accident have been buried in keeping with Islamic tradition of burying the dead within 24 hours from the time of death.

Mangudadatu’s office, in a statement, said it will extend financial assistance to the families of the victims.