STRANDED. The Marinduque-bound Virgen de Peñafrancia X that got stranded by tons of garbage and debris at the Dalahican Port in Lucena City.
DUE to bulk of garbage left by typhoon “Paeng,” a commercial Mariduque-bound Roll-on and Roll- off (RoRo) ship failed to ferry hundreds of passengers to the island province.
Merian Reyes, general manager of Star Horse Shipping Lines, condemned officials of the Philippine Ports Authority over its failure to remove the tons of garbage at the Dalahican Port in Lucena City.
Reyes said the tons of trash ruined their ship,
She said a big volume of garbage got stuck on the cooling system of the M/V Virgen de Peñafrancia X causing trouble to its engine.
Reyes said the incident even earned the ire of their passengers.
She assailed the inefficiency of the PPA officials under its port manager Elegio Fortajada.
“As ship owner and operator, we are doing our part in serving well the commuting public and the PPA should do its share,” Reyes lamented.
To address the problem, Reyes sought the assistance of Lucena City Mayor Mark Alcala and asked him to send a backhoe and a dump truck from the City Engineering Office.
Alcala has been receiving complaints from stranded ship passengers that the port officials have been refraining them from staying in the port facilities while waiting for the resumption of the ship operation.
Whenever there is typhoon, the passengers alleged that the port officials would always ask the local government units, especially the barangay officials, to take the responsibility in providing their temporary shelter.
Reyes is calling the attention of Department of Transportation (DOTr) Sec. Jose Bautista to take necessary action on the matter.
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