Senator Raffy Tulfo has expressed concern over the various violations he encountered after a surprise inspection at Binangonan Port, Rizal where a motorbanca capsized last year and resulted to the deaths of 27 people.

Tulfo, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Services, said that he saw during inspection various violations in some boats, including life vests made of styrofoam that quickly crumbles. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and crew of the said boat admitted that the passengers could sink while using such life vests.

“Napansin ko din na mayroong isang bangka na butas-butas ang trapal kaya kapag sumama ang panahon ay tiyak na matutuluan ng tubig-ulan ang mga pasahero (I remember noticing a boat with a worn-out patch on its hull, so when the weather gets rough, it's certain that the passengers will be flooded with rainwater),” he said.

Tulfo also spotted an approaching boat carrying passengers who were not wearing life vests.

“Ibig sabihin, maaaring nasa laot pa lamang ay hinubad na nila ang mga lifevest at pinayagan ng crew o hindi talaga nila ini-require ang mga pasaherong suotin ito (In other words, it's possible that the life jackets were already taken off while they were still on the water, and the crew allowed it or didn't really require the passengers to wear them),” he said.

The Senator also took some time to check the documents of some boats. He noticed that some boats’ declared capacity of passengers did not match the number of insured passengers per boat according to their insurance policy.

“Kapag pinaupo ang lahat ng deklaradong capacity na pasahero, magmimistulang mga sardinas na sila sa sikip. Paano pa kapag idagdag ang mga kargamento ng bawat pasahero? Tiyak na magiging overloaded na ang bangka (When the number of declared passenger capacity are all seated, they will be packed like sardines in a tin. But what happens when you add each passenger's cargo on top of that? The boat will undoubtedly become severely overloaded),” he stressed.

Tulfo also noticed that the insurance provider of all boats at said port was the same. Interestingly, this insurance firm had previously been the subject of complaints in his program, “Raffy Tulfo in Action”. He said that there were also several complaints against it according to the record of the Insurance Commission.

He will submit a detailed report stating all the violations he found to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and will recommend that administrative sanctions be given to PCG, MARINA and Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) personnel who have been negligent in their duties and allowed these violation to run rampant.

“Kapag wala pa ring compliance sa susunod na surprise inspection ang mga nasabing bangka ay irerekomenda ko rin sa DOTr na kasuhan ang mga opisyal o supervisor ng nabanggit na mga ahensya na naging inutil sa kanilang tungkulin (If there is still no compliance by the next surprise inspection, I recommend to the DOTr that officials or supervisors of the mentioned agencies be charged for their ineptitude in carrying out their duties),” he said.