The Philippines faces an “unfolding chemical disaster” right after the capsizing of a 24,000-ton ferry that presumably killed hundreds of people at the height of Typhoon Fengshen last weekend, authorities said Saturday. Following the discovery of a 10-ton cargo of the highly toxic chemical endosulfan inside the capsized MV Princess of the Stars off the coast of Romblon province, officials banned fishing in the area. Vice President Noli de Castro Jr. said the ban will stay until the chemical is removed, which experts said will be a long and arduous process. De Castro is also chief of a Task Force overseeing retrieval and relief operations following the sinking of the ferry. Commercial divers headed to a sunken Philippine ferry Saturday to remove a toxic cargo before authorities can resume retrieving hundreds of bodies believed trapped inside the ship. Transportation Undersecretary Maria Elena Bautista said the divers will first determine whether the wreck of the ferry is stable before they cut a hole in the hull. That would allow them to pull out a 40-foot (12-meter) steel container with 22,000 pounds (10,000 kilograms) of the pesticide endosulfan. The government learned about the cargo only after it was informed by Del Monte Philippines, which was to use it on its pineapple plantations in the south. Officials halted the retrieval operations Friday fearing for the safety of 103 divers, including eight US servicemen. Most of the local divers have been sent to Manila for medical tests for possible contamination. The chemical is used to kill mites in pineapples but can be lethal to humans. Bautista said ferry owner Sulpicio Lines violated maritime rules that prohibit carrying toxic or hazardous materials on passenger vessels. The government has advised the public not to eat fish caught in the area where the ferry capsized off central Sibuyan island. Bautista said initial laboratory tests showed there was no water contamination around the ferry. Another test has been conducted but the results were not immediately available, she said. Retrieval of the bodies will resume only after the toxic cargo is removed, she said. It remains unclear how many passengers and crew were trapped inside when the 23,824-ton Princess of the Stars suddenly listed and went belly up in a half hour or less, leaving just the tip of its bow jutting from the water. Only 56 survivors have been found, while 146 bodies have washed ashore or have been recovered while floating at sea, some in life jackets, coast guard Commander Danilo Avila said. Typhoon Fengshen also left 540 people dead and 277 missing elsewhere in the country, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said. Six US Navy ships alongside the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan were helping in rescue and relief operations in the wake of the typhoon. Seahawk helicopters from the Reagan have delivered bottled water and rice to nearby Panay island, one of the worst hit by the typhoon. Meanwhile, a national coalition of 14 fishermen federations, called on the Philippine government to “do everything” to prevent the chemical from spreading. In a statement, the fishermen also called on the government to “hold liable those who are responsible for exposing the Filipino people and the environment to this danger of an insecticide spill--as part of their overall responsibility for allowing this sea tragedy to happen at the cost hundreds of lives.” – With agencies __
