The zip line industry is taking off. However...

Last Thursday, my friends and I rode our motorcycles to Balamban not for a bike ride, but to take our first ever zip line adventure thrill. It was a 400-meter ride, strapped in mountaineering safety gear for that short but exciting thrill of a lifetime. Then after a short wait, we once again zipped back to the main base. It was undoubtedly a great short (it cost P150 per ride) and thrilling ride that has become a tourist attraction in itself.

Actually, the first time I did this was in Subic when Globe Telecom invited us for an adventure trip a few years back, although it was a very short one. I gathered that the longest zip line adventure zone in the country is the Dahilayan Adventure Zone in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon. But I also heard that the zip line in Danao, Bohol is quite breathtaking because it passes through a deep gorge and a lot of tourists go there now.

There is no doubt that these adventure zones have begun attracting not only our local tourists, it also attracts a lot of foreign tourists. But which governmental agency regulates these type of tourist activity? I understand that there is a Safety Organization of the Philippines, Inc. (SOPI) or the Association of Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) that gives out standards on the safety procedures and manuals on how to operate zip lines, but I heard that they are not really regulatory in nature; rather, they merely make suggestions on how these safety measures are done and hopefully, it would be followed.

The zip line industry is catching up fast and in just a few months, there are already four such zip line activities in the central mountains of Cebu. I’m sure there would be more coming up in the many other scenic areas of Cebu, which is a great business to go into, especially because it develops the tourism industry of an area. Thankfully, we still haven’t come across any accidents, but when the competition gets stiff, it goes without saying that someone will then cut certain safety measures to make a profit.

But as we know too well that we are a nation of reactionaries. We only react when something terrible has happened. A case in point is the infamous Aug. 23rd bus hostage rescue attempt that killed 8 hostages from Hong Kong, the story of which continues to hug the headlines. So before we get into potential problems like accidents in the zip line industry, especially one involving a foreign tourist, we should ask certain questions regarding safety precautions.

For instance, what are the safety manuals in constructing a zip line? What is the optimum strength or thickness of the wires that is needed for a particular weight of a person? What are the rescue procedures if any, just in case a person gets stuck in the middle of the zip line and is hanging on to dear life? Who are the persons trained to handle such emergencies?

Please don’t get me wrong. I have tried the zip line already and I really had a great time with my friends. But it is no fun if there are emergencies that occur and it gets worse when people are helpless in their rescue efforts. I just hope that the people running the zip line would be able to answer these questions.

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It was big news yesterday that was splashed by the news media about a newborn baby boy found by aircraft cleaners inside a garbage bin on board a Gulf Air flight from Bahrain that arrived in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at 11:20AM. It is more than obvious that this newborn babe was born on that flight and surely, a pregnant woman cannot board any aircraft unless it has a doctor’s certificate that would give her a nod to fly on a plane.

While NAIA authorities did a commendable job in securing the baby boy and even naming him Jorge Francis, then turning him over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) however, it should be said that the police authorities should do more than have this issue considered as case closed. It is easy enough for the authorities to get the names and address from Gulf Air or for Immigration authorities to hunt the mother down so that she can be punished for abandoning this child.

Already, pundits are pointing to a possible Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) as the mother of this child. We have for so many reasons considered these Filipino workers as our national heroes. But here is one mother who almost killed her newborn child when she dumped him in the garbage bin. I have always believed that in this country life is so cheap. However, we must change our attitudes and give some importance to those in society who are considered helpless, like in the case of this child. Authorities should find the mother and she should be charged under the Child Welfare Act.

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