CEBU CITY — The Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) on Friday called on the Philippine Coast Guard to monitor boats for rent which transport passengers despite bad weather.
Cebu PDRRMO chief Baltazar Tribunalo Jr. said Cebuano passengers stranded in Negros Oriental, desperate to be home for Christmas, hired a private boat and departed from Negros in the early hours of Friday.
However, the motorized boat was stranded afloat between the waters of Negros Oriental and Cebu after big waves battered the small vessel and damaged some of its parts.
Luckily, the boat survived the rough waters and arrived on the shores of Samboan in Cebu around 11 a.m., Tribunalo said.
“The Philippine Coast Guard should also be on the lookout for banca-for-hires, which are endangering the lives of their passengers in exchange for big bucks,” Tribunalo said.
More than 900 passengers were reported stranded in the southern towns of Cebu as no motorized boats were allowed to sail.
PDRRMO records showed at least 500 travelers were stranded in the Liloan-Bato port of Santander, Cebu and some 46 tourists were left marooned in Sumilon Island.
Although tropical storm Vinta’s path is far from Cebu and the Central Visayas region, Tribunalo said the PDRRMO should always be ready as the incessant downpour would likely cause flooding and landslide.
“We should never be complacent. We should always be vigilant,” Tribunalo told his team in a meeting at the PDRRMO command center at the Cebu Provincial Capitol.
The Cebu Provincial Tourism Office has also suspended tourist activities — like whale watching, diving, and canyoneering — in the southern towns from Moalboal to Santander as Vinta is expected to pass by the Central Visayas region Saturday.
Several flights of Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, and Air Philippines to and from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport were also cancelled as early as 5 a.m. Friday.
Scattered rains from moderate to heavy prevailed over Cebu on Friday but no untoward incidents were reported in the southern part of the province which remained under Storm Signal No. 1.
Tribunalo said that as of 3 p.m. Friday they did not receive any report of a flash flood or a landslide from Southern Cebu, except for a couple of minor incidents in Naga City and Samboan town.
Tribunalo said a small portion of an access road leading to a mountain barangay in Naga City collapsed due to soil erosion. (Luel Galarpe/PNA)
