Still no phaseout of wooden hulled vessels?

Another sea tragedy has happened at the Manila Bay, this time between WG& A’s Super Ferry 12 which was enroute to Cebu City and the M/V San Nicolas of San Nicholas Shipping which was headed for Palawan. Just another boring day in the disaster capital of the world! Judging from the time of the collision which was estimated at 11:45 a.m., it makes you wonder why the M/V San Nicolas wasn’t able to see the huge Super Ferry 12 which according to a spokesman from WG& A, was on the right of way? Well, that’s for the Maritime Authorities to find out.

What is surprising though is, why are wooden hulled boats still allowed to operate? When the M/V Gretchen sank off Bantayan Island a few years ago, there was a clamor to rid our seas with wooden passenger vessels. But after the news of the disaster died down… so did the clamor. Today, wooden hulled passenger vessels ply the Cebu-Jetafe, Bohol route from the Carbon Market. Why does the Coast Guard or the Marina still allow this I have no idea! I’ve seen those vessels and many of them don’t even have any navigational equipment, much less a radar. I’m sure that these micro passenger companies have dubious training programs for their crew, especially when it comes to emergencies. If we need to make our sea-lanes safer, we have to remove these vessels from service for the sake of the safety of our passengers.

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I was in Bacolod City over the weekend (which tells you that my travel bug still hasn’t worn off after that long North Luzon bike trip) to attend the 1st board meeting of our newly-formed non-government organization (NGO) Save Our Languages through Federalism (SOLFED) which was held at the Las Palmas del Mar Resort, attended by its founder Dr. Jose Dacudao, Victorias Councilor Francis "One Ton" Palanca and Fr. Joselito Amalla of Butuan City and Timilou of Bacolod together with student leaders from Kabangkalan, Butuan, Dumaguete and Iloilo. Nope, we don’t have one for Cebu yet, but in due time we will. Prof. Ricky Poca, radio commentator and political science professor at the University of San Carlos (USC) is also with the group.

SOLFED intends to teach our students through various chapters throughout the Visayas and Mindanao (and eventually in Luzon) that we can truly love our country equally or even better than those so-called "nationalists" even if you don’t speak that so-called "National Language" which is actually Tagalog disguised as Pilipino… that we can be a great Filipino nation even if the majority of us actually speak Bisaya…Ilonggo, Waray or Cebuano.

Yes, it’s about time we told the government that we are a nation of 160 languages and forcing our people to learn only one language to the detriment of our own indigenous tongue would make us lose our diverse cultures. We saw that in the war of Serbia against Croatia and we should never allow this situation to happen here and we believe that this can only stop if this country shifted to a Federal form of government. Meanwhile, tomorrow on the 27th, the Regional Development Council (RDC-7) will hold its ad-hoc committee meetings on Federalism, which should be a booster for those who believe that the present system of government is no longer relevant to our times.

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Call it providential that I also brought my family to Bacolod, and we were invited to a dinner party by Mrs. Paching Puentebella, the wife of Bacolod Congressman Monico Puentebella. Well, I met Mrs. Puentebella’s brother, Bro. Rolly Dizon at the party and learned that he is about to take over the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). It was great talking with a man on whose hands the destiny of our future generation depends. Yes, as Dr. Jose Rizal says, the youth is the hope of the fatherland, but what hope is there when our educational programs aren’t matched with the available jobs in the market. Like our system of government, our entire educational system also needs to be overhauled.

Indeed, we’re churning college graduates that can’t find work because there aren’t any jobs available and because most of them are really below par of what a college graduate ought to be. I dare say that it is time for Filipino parents to change attitudes and accept the reality that most of the jobs out there can be available for high school graduates, just like in Western countries… were a college degree, although desirable is quite expensive. While a diploma would look nice in the family room, it is meaningless if the person with the diploma is working in a foreign land doing menial jobs.

No doubt, the task facing Bro. Rolly Dizon is daunting, which is why he needs our support! So let’s provide him with the data from the various chambers and export processing zones so we can attune our educational system to match the needs for business. The same can be said for the professional sector.

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On the way to Bacolod, we crossed over the Tanon Strait for the hour and a half Ro-Ro ride to San Carlos City and went on a little adventure tripping. Instead of taking the usual roundabout trip from San Carlos City to Bacolod via Escalante, which takes 140 kilometers, I decided to cross through the Negros Occidental’s version of Cebu’s Trancentral Highway passing through Salvador Benedicto, Murcia and into Bacolod… a trip that takes only 80 kilometers and quite possibly, the most scenic route in Negros Occidental.

Unfortunately, major parts of the road hasn’t been finished yet… but what a road it was… you can see their Chocolate Hills, although they’re not as many as in Bohol and a wow… a mini Rice Terraces. I just visited the Rice Terraces three weeks ago and this one wasn’t bad at all. However the best treat was a beautiful waterfall, which can be seen from a lookout point as you enter the town of Salvador Benedicto, which is nestled in the shadows of Mt. Canlaon. With this new road, motorists from Cebu now have many other choices which road to use when they drive to Bacolod City.

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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talkshow entitled, "Straight from the Sky" shown every Monday only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 on SkyCable at 8:00 in the evening.