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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Barzaga echoes call for House probe on Laguna Lake tragedy 

Barzaga echoes call for House probe on Laguna Lake tragedy 

Published Aug 5, 2023 11:44 am

At A Glance

  • Calls to conduct an inquiry on the tragic sinking of MB Aya Express in Laguna Lake late last month is beginning to snowball in the House of Representatives. 

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Cavite 4th district Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. (Screenshot from Facebook)

 

 

 

 

Calls to conduct an inquiry on the tragic sinking of MB Aya Express in Laguna Lake late last month is beginning to snowball in the House of Representatives. 

This, after majority congressman, Cavite 4th district Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. filed House Resolution (HR) No. 1159, which sought to investigate in aid of legislation the July 27 incident that left 27 passengers dead and six others missing.  

Aya Express, a motorboat with a capacity of 30 people, sank off Barangay Kalinawan, Binangonan, Rizal, which is part of Laguna Lake, amid the strong winds and rains unleashed by Super Typhoon "Egay". It reportedly had 70 passengers on board. 

Earlier this week, the militant Makabayan bloc, which is part of the House minority, filed a similar resolution to probe the incident. 

In filing HR No. 1159, Barzaga is urging the appropriate House committee to probe the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the local government of Binangonan, Rizal, and other related agencies to look into their response to Egay and determine the "much-needed reforms in the prevention and response to natural disasters that have negative impacts to millions of Filipinos". 

The veteran lawmaker, who chairs the House Committee on Natural Resources, said the investigation will focus on finding out if there was negligence on the part of the PCG since the boat obviously sank because of the perennial problem of overloading. 

"Survivors also said that the boat carried heavy cargo such as motorcycles and sacks of sand and rice. Clearly, there was overloading considering that the manifest stated that there were only 22 passengers and three crew members," Barzaga said in the resolution. 

"Moreover, even Binangonan, Rizal Mayor Cesar Ynares stated that MB Aya Express was warned not to overload passengers but the warning was ignored. Thus, Mayor Ynares wanted the [PCG] and the operator of MB Aya Express to be held responsible," he added. 

A survivor of the tragedy, John Christian Dorada, was earlier quoted in news reports that panicked passengers moved to the left side of the boat, which caused the vessel to tilt and capsize while PCG Commandant Adm. Artemio Abu was quoted as saying, "The Coast Guard no longer conducted an inspection. It’s a normal routine because what was indicated in the manifesto was below the authorized number. As such, the boat was allowed to sail.” 

Egay, which was assessed to be a Category 4 tropical storm, not only capsized MB Aya Express but also caused widespread flooding and landslides across the country, affecting 328,000 people. 

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