President Arroyo is cracking the whip on the state maritime safety agencies as well as all shipping lines following two consecutive sea tragedies during the holiday season.

Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the President has ordered a thorough review of the competence of the officers and personnel of concerned government agencies dealing with sea transportation such as Philippine Coast Guard and Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) amid concerns on their regulatory functions.

A parallel thorough “safety audit” will also be implemented on the country's shipping agencies to ensure the seaworthiness of their vessels as well as the aptitude of their crew, according to Bello.

The latest directives related to sea transportation safety will be implemented by Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza as soon as possible, Bello added.

“The President will direct the Secretary of Transportation and Communications to require all the agencies like Marina and Coast Guard conduct a safety audit of all shipping lines to find out, determine the sea worthiness of all their vessels,” Bello said over government radio.

“In addition, there should also be safety audit on the competence of the people in Marina as well as in the Coast Guard. Because in the recent sea mishap, there was no storm, no overloading but why did the ship still sink? It may go into the competence of the people who are in charge of regulating the shipping industry,” he added.

A small sank off the coast of Batangas province last weekend, leaving six people dead. It was the second accident in the country during the Christmas holiday.

A few days ago, three people were killed when passenger ship Catalyn-B collided with a fishing boat and sank near Manila Bay last Thursday.