OPLAN ISLAS. From left, Department of Tourism (DOT-7) regional director Shalimar Hofer Tamano, Philippine Coast Guard-Central Visayas chief Commodore Joseph Badajos and Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA-7) director Marc Anthony Pascua present the memorandum of agreement (MOA) implementing the Oplan Integrated System to Legitimize Activities at Sea (ISLAS). Under the program, the three agencies will visit small islands in Cebu and Bohol to convince operators to register their motorboats intended to carry passengers and tourists for island hopping. (PNA photo by John Rey Saavedra)
CEBU CITY – Amid concerns on security and health in Central Visayas, a multi-agency operations plan has been hatched to place smaller tourist-carrying watercraft under the government monitoring.
On Thursday, the Philippine Coast Guard-(PCG) Central Visayas, Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA-7) and Department of Tourism (DOT-7) signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) integrating registration system of motorized boats utilized to transport passengers and tourists.
Commodore Joseph Badajos, district commander who signed the MOA on behalf of PCG, said the program was conceptualized "to bring national government next to the doorstep of coastal community" and give the island folks an easy way to register their sea-going vessels with MARINA and to accredit them with the DOT.
Badajos, along with the DOT-7 regional director, Shalimar Hofer Tamano and MARINA-7 director Marc Anthony Pascua, signed the MOA in implementing the Oplan Integrated System to Legitimize Activities at Sea (ISLAS).
He said during the launching at the PCG-7 headquarters' Hawanan ni Lapu-Lapu (Hall of Lapu-Lapu), that the program is "part of the continuous implementation and strengthening of coast guard's iCARE (Intensified Community Assistance Awareness Response and Enforcement) campaign plan in ensuring safety and security of the region's coastal communities."
Under the MOA, the PCG will provide a boat ride for personnel of DOT and MARINA in visiting small islands in Cebu and Bohol to convince operators to register their motorized boats and secure safety, security and environmental number (SSEN).
MARINA and DOT will then provide a one-stop-shop on-site registration and accreditation of the watercraft.
With the new information that the third case of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) was a 60-year-old Chinese tourist who took a vessel from Pier 1 here to Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Badajos said Oplan Islas could be an avenue to help health authorities in contact-tracing.
Department of Health (DOH-7) regional director Jaime Bernadas confirmed on Wednesday that the Chinese woman tested positive of 2019-nCoV arrived at Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) from Wuhan via Hong Kong and went straight to the pier for her trip to Bohol.
“We hope that with this effort that we are launching today, it will become a big contributor to the effort of the national government in preventing the spread of this health threat,” Badajos said, adding that the coast guard is “working very closely with the DOH and working with the inter-agency task force” created by Governor Gwendolyn Garcia.
Badajos said they can help in back-tracking the travel path of any tourist suspected of being infected with the nCoV virus.
“For now, we could know which boat he used, how many passengers were there, who are these passengers and where are they now,” he said.
Pascua said the MOA reflects the past activities that the PCG and MARINA had undertaken in engaging with smaller watercraft operating either as passenger or tourist ferry in Cebu and Bohol.
Tamano recalled the three agencies' activity in Lapu-Lapu City where they were able to register and accredit 70 motorboats intended for island-hopping in Mactan Island.
“Island-hopping is a pillar of the tourism industry in Region 7. We are one huge marine park. As a maritime hub, the agreement is to closely monitor and register all of them (motorboats),” Tamano said.
He estimated that in Mactan Island alone, there are 600 motorboats for island-hopping, adding his office is consolidating a list of watercraft operating in Malapascua Island in Daanbantayan and Sta. Fe, both in Cebu and in Panglao in Bohol. (PNA)
