‘Overloaded’ Romblon-bound vessel flagged

Despite the Transportation Department’s strict warning last week, the Philippine Coast Guard flagged a passenger vessel bound for Romblon due to overloading on Monday, the start of the Holy Week exodus.

In a media interview during his inspection at the North Passenger Terminal in Manila for the ‘Oplan Biyaheng Ayos: Semana Santa’, Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon said that a vessel is set to be sanctioned for violating the anti-overloading policy in sea travel after selling tickets beyond its capacity.

“The PCG discovered that the vessel is overloaded. The investigation is still ongoing, though, I will not mention the name of the shipping line. I pity our kababayans who were stranded, as the vessel was being investigated. However, we will not compromise the safety of our passengers. There’s that inconvenience but we have no choice,” said Dizon.

“But we will hold the shipping lines accountable and I already ordered compensation for the affected passengers,” Dizon added.

During his inspection in Batangas Port last week, Dizon ordered shipping lines not to overload passengers and announced that the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) will soon implement an e-ticketing system at the port this year to prevent passengers from queuing and waiting too long and to avoid vessel overloading.

The DOTr chief also noted that the e-ticketing system will prevent transactions with fixers, or those individuals who unofficially transact with passengers for a fee, bypassing legitimate procedures or regulations.

The electronic terminal management system (ETMS) was suspended by the DOTr in September 2022 and scrapped by the PPA Board in 2023 under then-Secretary Jimmy Bautista.

Meanwhile, as of Monday morning, the PCG monitored 15,941 outbound passengers and 16,214 inbound passengers in all ports nationwide.

Moreover, 4,032 deployed frontline personnel in 16 PCG Districts have inspected 308 vessels and 68 motorbancas.

The PCG has placed its districts, stations, and sub-stations on heightened alert from 13 to 20 April 2025 to manage the influx of port passengers.