To MARINA: Would you buy a 20-year-old car?

During the last full council meeting of the Regional Development Council (RDC-7), the body approved two important issues. The first was the creation of a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that would investigate all aviation, maritime, rail and bus disasters. For the past 20 years since the sinking of Sulpicio Lines’ Doña Paz, Congress, despite all the high-profile investigations on all ship disasters, has failed to come up with any laws that would have helped our maritime industry.

That the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) allows shipping companies to purchase 20-year-old ships has never been questioned or the subject of an intense investigation by Congress. But whenever a vessel sinks or burns, this issue surfaces and resurfaces and eventually forgotten. Today, thanks to the sinking of the M/V Princess of the Stars this issue has once more resurfaced and since we are all Filipinos, I know in my heart that when the news of this disaster is no longer headline-worthy, it will once again be forgotten until the next disaster strikes! If there is anything woefully wrong with us Filipinos, we never learn the bitter lessons of our past!

Last Friday afternoon, I had coffee with my good friend, Deputy Speaker Rep. Raul del Mar, at Figaro’s at Cebu’s Asiatown IT Park and we talked about this issue and a host of other issues. I convinced him to support the RDC’s call to create the NTSB; after all, he was the principal author of the law that created the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) and the Cebu Port Authority (CPA). With the domestic shipping industry headquartered in Cebu, it is only natural that the NTSB law should come from our Cebuano legislators. This is supported by all Cebuano legislators, from Deputy Speaker Pablo Garcia and his son, Rep. Pablo John Garcia, to Rep. Benhur Salimbangon.

As for the issue on whether the MARINA should allow shipping companies to buy 20-year-old ships, the only question to ask should be directed at the officials of MARINA: “Would you buy a 20-year-old car?” Actually I threw this question to Rep. Del Mar and his reply was, “Only if it was a vintage car that was well maintained!” So now may I direct this same question to another good friend, MARINA Administrator Vic Suazo: “Would you buy a 20-year-old car?” I hope Vic Suazo would have the time to reply to this query.

For my TV show Straight from the Sky tonight, I have with us Councilor Edgardo Labella, one of Cebu’s most distinguished public servants who once served at the Office of the Ombudsman. He was one of the survivors of the sinking of the M/V Princess of the Orient off the coast of Batangas on Sept. 18, 1998. It wasn’t easy to have him on the show; after all tragedies like that give a person scars that can’t easily be forgotten.

But as a public servant who wanted our people to learn from the mistakes of the past, he agreed to do the show.

Councilor Labella was with his wife Joy on their way to Cebu because there was a typhoon brewing and many flights were cancelled. But since the M/V Princess of the Orient was Sulpicio Lines’ flagship, those who had important appointments in Cebu took that ill-fated ship. But the storm grew stronger that night and Councilor Labella heard a loud crash (investigators believe that this was the shifting of the cargo which was not properly lashed) and then the ship tilted dangerously. He was able to put his wife on a raft, but waves separated them as the ship rolled over and sank.

Councilor Labella was found two days later by fishermen and was reunited with his wife. He attributes his survival to no one but God’s love for him. While Cebu continues to be blessed by the work of Councilor Labella, we did lose a great Cebuano in the sinking of the M/V Princess of the Orient – Justice German Lee.

One thing I learned from Councilor Labella is that often passengers insist that a ship sails despite the heavy seas. Thus the blaming game should also include the victims of the disaster themselves! Indeed, how many passengers would insist or even bribe a Coast Guard employee so he or she could board a ship, otherwise they might miss their fiesta? Scenes like this are repeated over and over in different ports in this country! If we want to solve this problem, then MARINA or the Coast Guard ought to establish a fail-safe system to prevent the overloading of ships.

Now as for Sulpicio Lines, some kind of PR work is apparently in the offing, with one-page ads both in the national and local newspapers asking the President to allow Sulpicio Lines to operate once more. This PR effort seems to make Sulpicio Lines the victim in this incident. But with their grim track record in ferrying passengers to their deaths, Sulpicio Lines’ public conveyance ought to be cancelled. But let them operate their cargo ships!     

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.philstar.com. He also hosts a weekly talkshow, “Straight from the Sky,” shown every Monday, 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.