System failure
Its July 21 report “Marina: Weighed and found wanting” discussed the poor performance of the Marine Industry Authority (Marina), one of the government agencies being investigated for the M/V Princess of the Stars tragedy. The story was based on a 2004 performance audit report of the Commission on Audit (COA).
The 2004 audit showed that although there is an “adequate” policy system, the Marina has failed to monitor the compliance of the shipping companies and partner agencies with existing rules and regulations. For example, some ships have been allowed to sail despite clear violations of shipping guidelines. According to the audit, Marina has also failed to monitor the annual inspection of ships by the Philippine Coast Guard. Several certificates of inspection (CIs) have been issued to ships by the Coast Guard despite deficiencies. In an interview with GMANews.TV, an official of the Coast Guard said they are no longer in charge of issuing CIs.
The story also followed up on the implementation of COA’s recommendations to Marina. The site also provided a sidebar on Marina’s functions and duties.
GMANews.TV also discussed last July 7 the problems in maritime safety system in the Philippines (“Maritime safety not a priority in RP; Coast Guard struggles to stay afloat”). A July 14 report also identified three disaster-prone areas in the country by looking into where the major sea disasters from 1980 to 2008 happened (“Accident-prone-areas-at-sea-identified”).
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