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EXPECT
the usual slew of inquiries, finger-pointing and
hand-wringing as the nation contemplates the immensity
of the tragedy that befell, for the nth time, a
passenger ferry of Sulpicio Lines.
The
Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) and the Coast
Guard, on the defensive, have been giving explanations
to the President and the public on why Sulpicio’s M/V
Princess of the Stars was allowed to sail Friday night
even as the weather bureau had sent notice of tropical
storm Frank’s hitting land.
As we’ve
heard the Coast Guard’s commandant, Vice Adm. Wilfredo
Tamayo, explain to an angry President Arroyo in a
videoconference on Sunday, a seemingly minor distinction
in the decade-old guidelines for clearing vessels during
storms was behind the decision to allow Princess to
sail—to tragedy, as it turned out.
Officials have been making distinctions between the
storm signal numbers and the weight of the ships
concerned, i.e., under a certain typhoon alert number, a
certain class of boats may leave. The Coast Guard said
Princess was allowed to leave because at the time she
set sail, the alert had not reached Number 3, and she
was a big vessel.
But that
doesn’t answer the question of why the engine of
Princess, touted as a relatively well-maintained boat,
conked out. So now it’s up to the maritime probers to
determine the truth behind this tragedy.
Whether
the Coast Guard officials will eventually be found
liable, it does not help Sulpicio Lines’ case that the
Saturday sinking off Romblon of a ferry that carried
more than 800 people was but the latest in a string of
sea accidents involving the same company.
As a
front-page story in this paper’s Monday issue showed,
the following Sulpicio boats were involved in some of
the country’s worst sea disasters: M/V Princess of the
Orient, which capsized off Batangas, killing 150
passengers; M/V Doña Paz, whose collision with the
tanker M/T Vector in 1987 killed 4,341; M/V Doña
Marilyn, which sank in 1987, with 250 fatalities; and
Princess of the World, which caught fire at sea in 2005,
fortunately with no casualties.
As this
was being written, President Arroyo, who ordered Vice
Admiral Tamayo to review the guidelines for sailing in
bad weather, had ordered the rest of Sulpicio’s fleet
grounded.
That may
provide some fleeting comfort for the families of the
Princess of the Stars passengers whose fate remain
unknown, but it’s far from resolving the deep-seated,
many-headed problems that confront local sea
travel—ironically, in a country where sea travel is
being promoted under an administration that made the
term “Ro-Ro” (roll-on/roll-off) a household word.
The
thrust to promote sea travel is logical considering the
archipelagic nature of the country, but, unfortunately,
the state of sea transportation is eons away from being
not even world-class but at least reaching decent
standards of safety and comfort.
In many
islands that serve as satellite producers to the major
agriculture zones, the sad reality is that people must
rely on small, sometimes decrepit, boats to ferry their
goods just so commerce could flow. That’s just the
demand of marketers; consider as well the requirement of
those who must visit these island communities to provide
vital services like health and education.
Through
the years, concerned agencies have been pushing reforms,
and under Marina administrator Vicente Suazo Jr., the
pace has considerably picked up. Yet, as Saturday’s
accident indicates, between the vision and fulfillment
of such avowed goals is the abyss of logistical
constraints, incompetence in some agencies, corruption
in both state regulators and private companies and poor
infrastructure.
Besides
the safety and comfort of the public, the maritime
sector requires serious attention because of policy
issues that make it a most expensive means for
transporting goods around the islands.
These
and many more crucial issues are bound to arise the next
few days in the aftermath of tropical storm Frank, and,
it is hoped, this time around, the questions raised will
get definitive answers and real, permanent solutions.
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