MANILA: Four people died, 217 were rescued and 30 are missing after a passenger vessel capsized off Infanta, Quezon near Manila on Thursday, Navy Commander Commodore Adeluis Bordado told Arab News.
The MV Mercraft III reportedly left the port of Real, Quezon at around 8.30 a.m. en route to Polilio Island.
After an hour’s travel the ferry encountered large waves, and capsized near Barangay Dinahican in Infanta town at around 11.30 a.m.
The vessel has a capacity of 286 passengers. At the time of the incident, it was carrying 251 people. The coast guard and navy search-and-rescue teams were immediately dispatched to the area.
Bordado said search-and-rescue operations were called off at around 4.00 p.m. due to rough sea conditions.
In the wake of the incident, Sen. Grace Poe is urging the creation of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to ensure better safety standards to prevent disasters.
“The first order of the day is the immediate rescue of the passengers from the capsized ship,” she said.
“Rescue teams with adequate equipment should be deployed at once to ensure all lives are saved.” Authorities should investigate whether the cause was natural or man-made, Poe said.
4 dead, 30 missing after passenger vessel capsizes in Philippines
4 dead, 30 missing after passenger vessel capsizes in Philippines
Pull him off TV: Steve Bannon shuts down Sen. Lindsey Graham
- Trump’s former chief strategist called for the senator to be registered as a foreign agent
DUBAI: Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon called on Tuesday for US Senator Lindsey Graham to be registered as a foreign agent of the Israeli government, escalating a growing conservative backlash against the senator’s vocal support for Israel.
Speaking on his podcast “War Room,” Bannon said Graham should be “pulled off of television,” adding: "This is dangerous… because you have guys like Lindsey Graham and dozens more that are doing the wrong thing.”
In a Fox News interview on Monday, Graham said: “To all the antisemites, to all the isolationists… I’m not with you, I’m with Israel, I will be with Israel to our dying day.”
Graham also urged Gulf Arab states to join military action against Iran. “What I want you to do in the Middle East, to our friends in Saudi Arabia and other places, [is] step forward and say, ‘this is my fight too, I join America, I’m publicly involved in bringing this regime down,’” he said.
In a post on X, Graham questioned the value of a US defense agreement with Saudi Arabia following the evacuation of the American embassy in Riyadh, writing: “Why should America do a defense agreement with a country like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is unwilling to join a fight of mutual interest?”
Faisal Abbas, editor-in-chief of Arab News, responded to Graham’s comments in a Sky News interview, saying: “He flip flops so much, it’s actually entertaining.”
“On one hand, he says he will never set foot in Saudi Arabia. The next day, he’s here signing multimillion-dollar deals.”
“I don’t think anyone here takes him seriously,” Abbas added.
He warned Graham to be careful what he wished for: “Do you really want Saudi Arabia involved in this war putting our oil facilities at risk or do you want us stabilizing the energy markets?”
Graham pressed further, warning that inaction would carry a price. “Hopefully Gulf Cooperation Council countries will get more involved as this fight is in their backyard. If you are not willing to use your military now, when are you willing to use it?”
“Hopefully this changes soon. If not, consequences will follow.”
Graham's remarks drew sharp criticism from Bannon and others including podcast host Megyn Kelly.
She questioned on X whether Graham was overstepping his authority as a senator, writing: “When did Lindsay Graham become our president?”
Kelly also said Graham had threatened Lebanon, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, the wider Arab region, and Spain within a 24-hour period.
The problem with Graham “isn’t (just) that he’s a homicidal maniac, it’s that Trump likes and is listening to him,” she said in another post.
