Citing the many unanswered questions about the tragedy, Basilan lone district Rep. Mujiv Hataman says he will call for a House inquiry on the deadly fire that struck MV Lady Mary Joy 3.

Hataman, a deputy minority leader, said on Tuesday, April  4 that he intends to file a resolution to this effect once work resumes in the House of Representatives after the Lenten season break.

Last March 29, MV Lady Mary Joy caught fire off the waters of Basilan. At least 31 passengers perished.

“Nais nating malaman kung ano ba ang pinagmulan ng trahedyang ito. Saan nagsimula ang sunog? Sino o ano ang responsable? Bakit hindi naagapan agad? Bakit kulang sa response ang mga kawani ng barko? Sea-worthy ba ang ferry? At bakit umabot sa lagpas tatlumpo ang namatay? (We want to know the cause of this tragedy. Where did the fire start? Who or what was responsible? Why wasn't it put out immediately? Why were the ferry crew members lacking in response? Is the ferry sea-worthy? And why did the fatalities over 30?)” asked Hataman.

“Higit sa lahat, nais nating malaman kung paano ito maiiwasan sa susunod (Most of all, we want to know how we can avoid this in the future). Are the laws and regulations concerning seas vessels ferrying passengers not enough to protect our passengers? Or does the problem emanate from their implementation?” he added.

MV Lady Mary Joy 3, a vessel operated by Aleson Shipping Lines, Inc., was en route to Jolo, Sulu from Zamboanga City when it caught fire off the shores of Baluk-Baluk Island in Hadji Muhtamad, Basilan. Search and rescue operations were immediately launched jointly by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Philippine Navy (PN) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), along with local government personnel.

“Hanggang ngayon, marami pang pasahero ang patuloy na hinahanap ng coast guard (The coast guard are still looking for a lot of passengers up to now). Many are still unaccounted for. We owe it to their families that these missing passengers are found," said Hataman.

He also noted complaints about the alleged lack of appropriate and sufficient response from Aleson Shipping Lines while the incident was happening, especially in assisting the victims and their families.

There is also a discrepancy between the official manifest of passengers of the MV Lady Mary Joy 3 as released by Aleson Shipping Lines Inc., and the report released by the PCG.

“We hope to ascertain and clarify all of these once a congressional inquiry is undertaken. Ang mahalaga, malaman natin ang puno’t dulo ng trahedya at saan nagkamali o nagkulang (What's important is for us to determine the root cause of the tragedy and what mistakes were made). If these can be addressed by legislation, we will do so in Congress. If this is a problem in implementation, we should address it,” the veteran solon said.