AS ANGER mounted over the slow pace of recovery, government officials suspended operations yesterday after learning that the mv Princess of the Stars was carrying large amounts of highly toxic pesticide.
Authorities also threatened legal proceedings against Sulpicio Lines for not immediately informing them of the toxic cargo.
Some 100 US and Filipino divers have been working at the site after the Princess went down in a typhoon a week ago, carrying more than 850 people.
Sulpicio Lines has “a lot to answer for,” Vice President Noli de Castro, who is overseeing the recovery operation, said in a radio interview.
But lawyer Manuel Espina, Sulpicio Lines’ legal counsel, said the mv Princess of the Stars ferried the endosulfan shipment because it was covered by a clearance from the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) of the Department of Agriculture.
Apart from the FPA’s approval, the 40-foot container van bearing 400 boxes of endosulfan underwent regular screening at the Bureau of Customs when it arrived in Manila, he said.
“It’s a transshipment of a foreign container that passed through the Bureau of Customs,” he said. It was reportedly consigned to Del Monte Philippines Inc.
News wire agencies quoted Espina as saying the company had no idea the container was packed with toxic chemicals.
“The container was not packed by us. We merely received it for transport,” he said. “It was cleared by customs and there was nothing that indicated toxic chemicals.”
No contamination
Health Secretary Francisco Duque said the pesticide does not easily dissolve in water, but could be lethal to humans. He warned against eating fish caught in the area until tests show they have not been contaminated.
Norlito Gicana, executive director of the FPA, said four water samples have been taken from the ship and initial test results indicated no contamination.
“With the results of the two samples obtained in the area, it appears negative, we have nothing to be worried about,” he said.
“We will still wait for the results of the two (other) samples.”
Still, Sulpicio Lines could be held liable if there’s proof it failed to secure a special permit from the Coast Guard (CG) to load 10 metric tons of highly toxic pesticides on the mv Princess of the Stars, a CG official said yesterday.
Commander Antonio Cuasito, CG Central Eastern Visayas District chief of staff, said that securing a special CG permit is mandatory considering that the pesticides are classified as “dangerous cargo.”
Cuasito could not say for sure if the CG had cleared the Cebu-bound vessel to ferry the cargo, saying it’s the responsibility of their counterparts in Manila.
Dangerous
Although not banned in the country, endosulfan is a controlled chemical substance that is used to prevent mites from causing discoloration in pineapples.
Marina Administrator Vicente Suazo, in a separate interview, said that a passenger vessel is not barred from carrying “dangerous cargo.”
As long as the ship-ment’s papers are aboveboard and the shipment is covered by a clearance from maritime authorities like the Coast Guard, a passenger ship may still be permitted to ferry the pesticides, he said.
The latest news is likely to complicate an operation whose slow pace is already causing mounting anger.
As of Thursday, only 15 bodies had been pulled from the wreckage. Forty-nine bodies, including many that had washed ashore, arrived in Cebu yesterday for identification.
Endosulfan has been blamed for causing mental and genetic disorders, skin diseases and even cancer in rural communities in India.
Late warning
The pesticide, consigned to pineapple grower Del Monte, was supposed to have been carried in a cargo ship, according to Norlito Vicana, executive director of the fertilizer authority.
“They (Sulpicio) only told Del Monte on Wednesday, in writing, that the cargo had been switched to the passenger ship,” he told ABS-CBN.
“That was five days after the ferry sank... this type of chemical is not allowed on board passenger ships,” he said.
President Arroyo, who is on a visit to the United States, instructed the government to “focus efforts in trying to contain the chemical and carefully retrieve the container so as not to contaminate the environment.”
Coast Guard commander Wilfredo Tamayo said one of his divers has already complained of itchiness all over his body, although the cause was not clear.
Authorities had earlier been pondering a risky operation to bore a hole in the side the ship, which is reported to be carrying 250,000 liters of bunker oil and is balanced delicately on a reef.
It remains unclear how many of the 850-plus passengers and crew were trapped inside when the 23,824-ton ferry went belly up in a half-hour or less during the powerful typhoon. (AP/AFP)/GC)
