THE country is a water-based community spanning 2 million hectares of territorial waters with millions dependent on water for life and livelihood.
And yet the country’s marine technology was not enough to find missing persons from another ferry disaster that sunk off the western islands.
After a passenger vessel on the Zamboanga-Sulu route went down near Basilan, our communities held two truths at once: gratitude for every life pulled out of the water, and grief for those who did not make it home. For island people, the sea is not scenery — it is the road. When that road becomes lethal, peace feels thinner.
Many Mindanao Muslim families know this corridor by heart: students returning to school, workers earning a living, elders visiting kin — families moving because opportunities remain uneven across islands. The tragedy is not only about one voyage. It is also about the safeguards that should follow every paying passenger.
History sharpens the urgency. The waters off Baluk Baluk have seen major maritime incidents in recent years, including a deadly ferry fire in 2023 along the same general passage. In the latest sinking tragedy, regulators cited repeated safety incidents involving the operator and ordered broader audits. When disasters repeat on the same routes, we cannot treat them as mere misfortune. Patterns point to governance: maintenance culture, crew readiness, decision-making under pressure and accountability — both for operators and for the public agencies tasked to inform, inspect, certify and police safety.
We already have standards on paper. The Maritime Industry Authority’s (Marina) passenger ship safety rules require vessels to be designed, maintained, operated and inspected to protect life at sea and the marine environment. But rules protect people only when enforcement is consistent, adequately resourced and transparent. The public deserves clear answers: what certificates were valid, what deficiencies were found (if any), how passenger manifests were verified and what corrective measures will follow.
Seaworthiness is not just the ship. It is also the journey. Sudden squalls and seasonal winds can turn “good weather” into danger within minutes, especially in narrow passages and night crossings. That reality demands sharper protocols: real time weather coordination, route advisories that carriers actually follow, strict stability and load management for roll on-roll off operations, and drills passengers can understand.
Safety briefings no one can hear, life vests that are hard to access and alarms that fail to reach sleeping decks turn seconds into casualties.
Then there is dignity after tragedy. For Muslim families, burial is not a preference; it is a duty. The Philippine Islamic Burial Act was passed to prevent added suffering — requiring proper and immediate burial in accordance with Islamic rites, while allowing death registration to be completed after burial so families are not trapped by paperwork in the first hours of grief. In mass casualty events, this principle becomes even more urgent: swift identification, respectful handling of remains and coordination with families, imams, local governments, hospitals and rescue teams.
As Mindanao Muslims mark the anniversaries of the Jan. 21, 2019, plebiscite that ratified the Bangsamoro Organic Law and the March 29, 2019, inauguration of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao government, we speak often of peace as inclusion and normalcy. But normalcy also means safe passage — children arriving alive, workers returning intact, families reunited without fear. Peace does not end at the shoreline. It extends into the waters that connect our islands.
If we want peace to be felt beyond speeches, maritime safety must become a shared priority: modernize fleets, strengthen inspections, professionalize accountability and put the protection of life above convenience.
