SO as not to inconvenience seacraft riders during typhoons, members of the City Council of the Island Garden City of Samal asked the Coast Guard on Tuesday to coordinate with the city government before issuing no-travel orders to seacraft during typhoons.
During the city council’s session, Councilor Charles Ligan said more than 2,000 people, including himself, going to the island were stranded in Davao City wharfs last December 21, when the Coast Guard canceled all travel by ferry boats and lanchas sailing between the mainland Samal Island and nearby Talicud Island as the weather bureau declared Signal No. 1 when Tropical Depression Agaton hit the islands.
He added the city needs to help during emergencies as many people were stranded with some of them getting sick. There was also pandemonium when the order was lifted when they raced to get into the first ferry boat, thus endangering themselves.
Ligan said the Samal local government unit could help, such as in providing food packs to the stranded.
The councilor added they need to be informed of the standard operating procedure of the Coast Guard in declaring suspension of boat travels due to typhoons, even as he batted on the need for the Coast Guard to coordinate specifically with the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC).
Councilor Guillermo Olden asked why the ferry boats were prevented from sailing when there were no big waves battering Samal and Sasa, Davao City, that day.
Coast Guard Lt. George Maganto, who was invited by the City Council to shed light on the matter, said they follow their agency’s guidelines to meet specific conditions before they declare no-sail zone and time.
He added the Coast Guard made no-travel directives effective at 3:30 p.m. on December 21, 2017, and 6 a.m. on January 1, 2018, based on the Signal No. 1 advisory of the Pag-asa.
He said the Coast Guard is “flexible,” agreeing on the proposition of Vice Mayor Orly Amit that even if it is Signal No. 2, they would still allow travel provided it is day time, “from sunrise to sunset.”
He added that a condition for Signal No. 1 is the boat must arrive “30 minutes before sunset.”