Didn't the country ever learn anything from the 1987 Doña Paz sea tragedy?

Akbayan Party-list Rep. Chel Diokno left this question on the minds of his solon-colleagues and the public Thursday, Feb. 12 during the House Committee on Transportation's investigation on the recent capsizing of MV Trisha Kerstin 3, where over 50 passengers perished.

The MV Trisha Kerstin 3 was en route from Zamboanga City to Jolo, Sulu, with at least 359 persons on board when it sunk off the waters of Basilan. According to survivors, the vessel was overloaded, life jackets were inaccessible, and there weren't enough life boats.

“That is the real tragedy of this incident. And it makes me really angry that this happened and has been allowed to happen. Ang Doña Paz po ay nangyari po nung 1987. Thirty-nine years have passed. Pareho pa rin at walang nagbago sa sitwasyon (The Doña Paz tragedy happened in 1987. Thirty-nine years have passed, yet the situation remains the same, nothing has changed)," Diokno said in a manifestation during the marathon hearing.

The MV Doña Paz sinking on Dec. 20, 1987 is the deadliest peacetime maritime disaster in history, killing an estimated 4,386 people.

“In that particular tragedy, kulang din sila ng life jackets...overloaded ang ship...at yung mga pasaherong wala sa manifest umabot sa halos kalahati ng nakasakay sa barko (they also lacked life jackets… the ship was overloaded… and nearly half of the passengers on board were not even listed in the manifest),” added the neophyte solon, who noted that Doña Paz had more than 2,000 passengers on the manifest and over 2,000 others who were not declared.

Diokno underscored his call for accountability, and stressed that the continued lack of meaningful reforms in maritime safety enforcement led to yet another preventable sea tragedy.

During his questioning, the human rights lawyer—who previously represented victims of the MV Doña Paz as part of his work with the Free Legal Assistance Group —exposed several critical safety lapses surrounding the recent sinking.

Survivors testified that some cargo trucks did not pass through the mandatory weighbridge before boarding, raising concerns about possible overloading and failure to properly assess vessel stability.

Some of them had to break open the cabinet containing the life vests, and some of the vests were already damaged when worn.

"Pagkakuha po namin ng life jacket namin, naka-double knot po siya. So, you won't be able to use it agad-agad kasi kailangan mo pa siyang buksan. Pagka-open po namin nung life jacket, sira po," survivor Muzhaheeda Ismi, testified before the transportation panel.

(When we got our life jackets, they were tied with a double knot. So you couldn’t use them right away because you had to untie them first. And when we finally opened the life jacket, it was damaged.)

Diokno also pressed authorities over discrepancies in the passenger manifest, with transportation officials acknowledging that there were between 92 to 112 undeclared passengers. This potentially exceeding the vessel’s authorized capacity.

The Akbayan solon also reiterated the need for the strict enforcement of safety standards, as he noted that many people rely on inter-island vessels.

“For many people, sea travel is not a choice. It is the only viable option. When infrastructure is limited, our people depend on inter-island vessels. This makes strict enforcement of safety standards crucial,” he said.

Aleson Shipping Lines is the owner of MV Trisha Kerstin 3.