The Philippine Coast Guard in Dumaguete has confirmed that some 51.05 tons of tanbarks from Mindanao that were ferried on board a motor launch that encountered engine trouble this week off Siaton, Negros Oriental had been transported recently to Cebu after they were found to have legitimate papers.
Lt. Commander Agapito Bibat, commander of the Coast Guard station in Dumaguete, said the tanbarks, packed in 1,997 sacks, were being transported by the Motor Launch (ML) Amina which departed the Sta. Maria wharf in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte en route to Cebu. The vessel encountered some engine trouble on Monday some 85 nautical miles off Siaton, Negros Oriental.
A fishing boat, F/B Joan 3, which was en route from Palawan to Cebu, responded to the distress call and towed the M/L Amina to the port of Dumaguete, arriving around 11:3 0 a.m. Monday, Bibat said.
Upon arrival at the city port, Bibat said he called the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in the province for assistance after verifying that the motor launch was ferrying tanbarks, a forest product that required legitimate papers for transport.
Tanbark is the bark of certain tree species with its product commonly used in the Philippines as coloring for “tuba” or coconut wine, among other purposes.
The DENR representatives, after finding that the documents of the tanbarks were in order, allowed the cargo to be transported to Cebu, its original destination, said Bibat. The tanbarks were loaded on the M/V Filipinas Ozamis, a RORO ship of Cokaliong Shipping, which left the port of Dumaguete Wednesday evening.
According to Lt. Commander Bibat, nobody has so far appeared at his office to file a complaint on the release of the tanbarks, which were earlier reported to have been confiscated by authorities in Tawi-tawi.
Bibat said he was informed that the tanbarks were auctioned to bidders in Mindanao after no one claimed ownership of the same.
The ML Amina, meanwhile, is currently docked at the Dumaguete port awaiting the repair of its damaged engine, Bibat said. (PNA)
