Surigao del Norte Gov. Robert Lyndon Barbers ordered yesterday an investigation into the worst sea tragedy to hit the province this year after a ferry boat sank last Saturday off Hinatuan Island. Officials said 15 people drowned while 17 others, including a local town mayor, remained missing. At least 66 passengers were rescued while search and rescue operations continue for the remaining missing passengers, including Mayor Arlencita Navarro of Del Carmen town where the ill-fated M/V Leonida II was headed when it sank at around 2 p.m. The boat’s manifest listed only 47 passengers.
The open-deck wooden vessel, with a capacity of 155 passengers, was one of the three ferry boats plying the route from Surigao City to Del Carmen and Siargao Island, which is noted for strong waves making the area a favorite tourist destination of local and foreign surfers. Del Carmen is an island town near Siargao. Barbers, who supervises the command center for the search and rescue operations at the Surigao del Norte Provincial gym here, said many questions were left unanswered like why only 47 passengers were listed on the boat’s official manifest while 66 have already been rescued. Barbers will seek a probe on the liabilities of the local officials of the Coast Guard, Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), and other concerned agencies.