MANILA — A lawmaker has sought a House probe into the MV June Aster fire off Palawan that killed at least 76 people.
Pinoy Workers Party List Rep. Karl Legazpi filed on Monday House Resolution 1443 directing the appropriate House Committee “to conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation” into the incident, “with the end in view of identifying gaps in existing maritime safety policies and their implementation, strengthening passenger safety and emergency response measures, and preventing similar incidents in the future”.
During a privilege speech before the House plenary on Monday, Legazpi called for a “full and transparent accounting of what happened” once search for the missing passengers concludes.
“Not simply to determine who was responsible, but to make sure we correct whatever failed,” he explained.
“Hindi dapat maging normal ang ganitong trahedya sa isang bansang napapalibutan ng dagat. Because every Filipino who boards a ship deserves more than our prayers after a tragedy. They deserve a system that does everything possible to bring them home safely,” Legazpi said.
He stressed that the tragedy should compel Congress and maritime agencies to undertake a “serious review” of the country’s maritime safety framework.
“We should look at stricter and verifiable passenger manifest requirements, including the wider adoption of digital passenger manifests,” Legazpi said.
“We should ensure that life jackets, life rafts and other life-saving equipment are not only sufficient on paper, but accessible and usable during an actual emergency. We should review crew training and emergency evacuation protocols. And we should examine whether Coast Guard rescue assets and personnel are adequately positioned in areas where thousands of Filipinos regularly travel by sea,” he added.
“Accountability requires facts. But accountability also requires us to look honestly at our systems and ask whether something could have been done better,” Legazpi noted.