From: Subject: DOTC rules out sabotage ... - Mar. 05, 2004 Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 21:11:07 +0800 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0079_01C42D65.52EAE890"; type="text/html" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1409 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0079_01C42D65.52EAE890 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.inq7.net/nat/2004/mar/05/text/nat_3-1-p.htm DOTC rules out sabotage ... - Mar. 05, 2004 this story was taken from=20 www.inq7.net

URL:=20 http://www.inq7.net/nat/2004/mar/05/text/nat_3-1-p.htm



DOTC = rules out=20 sabotage
in SuperFerry 14 fire
Posted:7:24 AM=20 (Manila Time) | Mar. 05, 2004
By Clarissa S. = Batino and=20 Leila B. Salaverria
Inquirer News Service

THE TRANSPORTATION department on Thursday ruled out terrorism or = sabotage as=20 the cause of the fire that gutted SuperFerry 14, as search teams = recovered six=20 more bodies from the ill-fated ship in Sisiman Bay in Mariveles, Bataan. =

A total of 10 bodies have been accounted for so far since the = SuperFerry=20 14 caught fire in Manila Bay last Friday with 899 passengers and crew.=20

The bodies of one male and four female adults were retrieved = yesterday=20 from the A-deck, which housed the tourist and cabin areas. The sixth = body,=20 however, was dismembered and could not be identified if it was male or = female,=20 according to the Philippine Coast (PCG) Guard Commandant Vice Admiral = Arthur=20 Gosingan.

Two of the bodies were recovered from the submerged = portion of=20 the half-sunken ferry and four were found on the dry portion that was = covered=20 with debris, Gosingan said.

Gosingan added that the two female = bodies=20 found the other day had been identified as Cristy Rubico, 24, and Clynn = Paculba,=20 16. Rubico was identified by her husband Noel and Paculba by her mother = Ritzel.=20 The body of a male victim found with them remains = unidentified.

PCG=20 spokesperson Lt. Armand Balilo said the bodies of the passengers = retrieved from=20 the ferry would be autopsied by the Philippine National = Police.

Despite=20 statements by the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group that one of its = members posed=20 as a passenger and planted a bomb that cause the blaze, the Department = of=20 Transportation and Communications (DOTC) found no indication to support = the=20 claims.

"So far there is nothing in our investigation that would = connect=20 the incident to terrorism," DOTC Secretary Leandro Mendoza told = reporters.=20 "Based on our initial investigation, the terror or sabotage angle is not = too=20 strong."

He said the explosion in the boiler room or a defective = gas tank=20 could have caused the fire that gutted the 10,192-ton ferry.

The = DOTC=20 findings came after the Maritime Industry Authority or Marina said it = was=20 considering sabotage as a strong angle in the explosion.

"If the = incident=20 was caused by explosives then it would leave traces or there would have = been=20 evidence of twisted metals or shrapnel. But so far there is none," = Mendoza=20 explained.

The transport chief said aside from the board of = marine=20 inquiry that he had convened, he also organized a team of forensic = experts and=20 arson investigators to help determine the cause of fire, which was = earlier=20 blamed on faulty electric wiring.

According to Mendoza, = investigating=20 teams have so far scoured 70 percent of SuperFerry 14. He hoped that = probers=20 could inspect even the submerged portion of the ship.

The DOTC chief has also ordered maritime authorities to inspect = thoroughly=20 the entire fleet of WG&A Philippines which is owned by the Aboitiz = Transport=20 System Corp.

WG&A operates 23 vessels as of end-2003. The = other day,=20 the listed firm told the stock exchange that it would buy another vessel = worth=20 4.5 million dollars. The company owns five more ships under the Cebu = Ferries=20 Corp.

"I have ordered the inspecting teams of Coast Guard and = Marina to=20 inspect all ships of Aboitiz," said Mendoza. He said the inspection was = similar=20 to the grounding of airplanes that usually followed a plane = crash.

In May=20 2003, SuperFerry 12 collided with another vessel and killed more than 60 = people.=20 The collision was blamed on the wooden-hulled vessel MV San=20 Nicolas.

Mendoza said the inspection of the WG&A fleet was = important,=20 especially if investigators could conclude that the fire was caused by a = faulty=20 system or lapses in safety procedures. This means that the shipping = company as=20 well as maritime authorities could face administrative sanction and = criminal=20 liability.

Mendoza said families of the missing passengers were = already=20 helping authorities in their search. The government assured that it = would not=20 stop looking "until all missing passengers have been accounted = for."

"The=20 Coast Guard would fly a chopper in the vicinities of Corregidor and = neighboring=20 areas. We would also be distributing leaflets in the hope that there = were=20 passengers who were rescued by fisherfolks," said = Mendoza.

According to=20 Edward Leyco, whose mother Leonor remains unaccounted for, some = relatives of the=20 passengers would continue scouring the Manila Bay area to check if any = of the=20 missing had been brought there.

"I believe there are still = survivors,"=20 Leyco told the Inquirer yesterday before he and 23 other relatives of = the=20 missing boarded BRP 002 Edsa II for Cavite. Other relatives went to = Mariveles to=20 observe the operations aboard SuperFerry 14.

Leyco said that with = the=20 help of the PCG, relatives of the passengers would distribute pictures = to help=20 locate the missing.

The shipping company has appealed to = volunteers,=20 rescue teams and survivors of the SuperFerry 14 fire to contact WG&A = for=20 information on those who have gone home after disembarking the ship or = fishing=20 boats and did not go through the official process.

Gina Virtusio, = PR and=20 corporate communications manager of WG&A Philippines, also appealed = to=20 municipalities, barangays and hospitals in the coastal towns of = Batangas, Cavite=20 and Mariveles Bataan, to inform them of the whereabouts of the survivors = of the=20 ferry in their vicinity.
=A92004 www.inq7.net all = rights=20 reserved

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