FOLLOWING the MB Aya Express tragedy that killed 27 people, a member of Congress has called for the compulsory donning of life jackets on all passenger motorized boats.
“Every traveler on a motorized boat should be wearing a life jacket at all times throughout the voyage as a precaution. This is a simple and practical measure that can help safeguard lives at sea, or in lakes and rivers,” Quezon City Rep. Marvin Rillo said in a statement on Sunday.
“If you visit beach resorts nowadays, and you hire a motorized boat for an island-hoping tour, they will require everybody onboard to put on a life jacket for protection. The same rule should be applied to all light watercraft carrying paying passengers,” Rillo said.
Rillo is vice chairperson of both the committee on Metro Manila development and the committee on tourism of the House of Representatives.
The MB Aya Express capsized in Laguna Lake on July 27, shortly after setting out from Barangay Kalinawan in Binangonan, Rizal.
With a seating capacity of 42 passengers, the vessel was overloaded with 67 people, 27 of whom drowned in the lake that has an average depth of 2.8 meters or 9 feet and two inches.
The watercraft was on its way to Talim Island near the center of the country’s largest lake when it was buffeted by strong waves and rolled over.
A criminal investigation is underway, and the Philippine Coast Guard since relieved two of its officers who allowed the vessel to set out despite the “no-sail policy” due to Supertyphoon Egay and the apparent overloading.
Motorized boats routinely ferry passengers across various points around the lake that is surrounded by Metro Manila and the provinces of Rizal and Laguna.
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