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Saturday, March 19, 2005
Shipping bosses take Tomas’ cue, thrash Pag-asa
Shipping and stevedoring firms lost millions of pesos, which they blamed on the weather bureau’s allegedly erroneous forecast when tropical storm Auring hit parts of the Visayas last Thursday.
The Visayan Association of Ferryboat and Coastwise Service Operators (VAFCSO) is supporting Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s view that the bureau should be sanctioned for raising public storm signal number three in Cebu.
VAFCSO president Jeffrey Solon said shipping companies suffered estimated revenue losses of about P60 million because of the blunder committed by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pag-asa).
He pointed out that one Supercat fastcraft can earn as much as P500,000 for a round trip.
Solon said he plans to talk with Osmeña to discuss what actions to take against Pag-asa.
The storm also overturned a motorbanca anchored off Ormoc City port, killing at least four people. The body of one missing passenger was found Thursday night.
Storm signal number three was raised in Cebu on Wednesday and was downgraded to signal number two the following day.
The Pag-asa advisory caused the Philippine Coast Guard to hold the departure of various vessels from the Cebu ports.
But blame for the inaccurate weather bulletin should be placed on the Pag-asa office in Manila, not Pag-asa Mactan, said a bureau official.
“If they want to persecute someone, they should focus on the people in the Pag-asa office in Quezon City,” said engineer Oscar Tabada, chief meteorological officer of Pag-asa Mactan.
The different 64 meteorological stations in the country, he said, make observations in their respective areas, but it is their head office in Manila that does the final analysis and issues the bulletin.
Stalled
Florentino Palacio of FJP Shipping Lines said his company lost about P2 million because their vessels were not allowed to depart for Leyte, Masbate, Samar and other routes.
George Dajao, chairman of the Cebu Arrastre and Stevedoring Corp. (Casscor), said they lose about P20,000 if they are unable to operate for a day.
There are five cargo handling services operators, including Casscor, in Cebu’s ports. All five suffered financial losses on Wednesday and Thursday.
Palacio said although their vessels were unable to depart, which resulted in income loss, the shipping firm still had to pay its employees.
“Because of the wrong weather forecast, our vessels did not earn money but our expenses continued,” he said.
He said “incompetent” Pag-asa officials and personnel should be replaced, and the agency’s equipment should be modernized to avoid future mistakes.
More bulletins
Palacio suggested that Pag-asa decentralize its weather forecasting system, while weather bulletins must be released every 30 minutes or every hour when there is a typhoon, and not every six hours as normally done.
Coast Guard (CG) operatives found Thursday night the body of missing passenger Rey Celendron. He was trapped inside mb Esperanza, bringing to six the number of typhoon-related fatalities in the Visayas.
But the CG is still looking for Helen Suralta, whom rescuers believed to have been swept away right after mb Esperanza, a passenger boat, capsized off Ormoc City port in Leyte.
The passengers of mb Esperanza were just taking shelter in the boat when battered by strong winds and waves past 2 a.m. Thursday.
In Central Visayas, the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC) 7 recorded only two fatalities, with no major damage to infrastructure and agricultural crops.
Demetria Desamparado, 72, of Bantayan town, and Rowena Alburo, 5, of Medellin, Cebu, died after coconut and gmelina trees pinned them down.
Fair weather
Strong winds spawned by typhoon Auring downed the trees and damaged banana plantations in the northern towns of Bantayan, Medellin and Daanbantayan, Cebu.
But the RDCC 7 said that engineering personnel of Daanbantayan had already cleared fallen trees that blocked the highway in Barangays Malingin and Bitoon.
RDCC 7 coordinators in Tagbilaran City and the towns of Bien Unido and Garcia Hernandez, Bohol reported no damage and loss of lives in the province.
They observed “general fair weather throughout the day” when Pag-asa hoisted storm signal number one over Cebu and its neighboring provinces last Thursday. (EOB/AIV/GC)
(March 19, 2005 issue)
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