Saturday, December 02, 2006 Editorial: A likely waste of time
WHY there is a need at all for an investigation into the sinking of the ferry that resulted in scores of lives being lost when the Marina itself admitted it doesn't have a system to determine if there is overloading or not in that ill-fated vessel can puzzle a lot of observers.
With no system in place to determine overloading of passengers or even cargo -- despite the observation that overloading was the primary cause behind the sinking -- there is little hope to determine the culpability of those irresponsible crew members or management officials as well as the authorities or agencies that approved the trip in the first place.
According to one Provincial Board (PB) member in Surigao del Sur, he was heeding the advice of fellow lawyers not to travel by sea in that province at the risk of losing his life at sea. With a warning like that, it is a wonder why there are still officials such as the missing town mayor and councilor who still insist on going to that province.
The provincial officials there said the alleged practice of overlooking the cargo capacity of the vessel had been prevalent since before the mv Leonida II tragedy and as such, there is the danger that this won't be the last sinking that would occur in that province. The PB member's warning is only a grim reminder of this.
As such the offer of a board inquiry into the incident may only be seen as mere window-dressing by the agencies concerned to cover up this embarrassment on their part. Maybe their investigation would cite another cause for the vessel's sinking like engine failure or electrical malfunction. Maybe that won't sound so bad after all to the public.
But to the victims of this latest maritime tragedy, the investigation may only serve to remind them further of their loss and re-kindle their anger and open wide emotional wounds on their part.
Legal recourse is perhaps the only way to redress their grievances though we know how long the courts churn out their decisions. And court cases in this country can go either way or else why do these shipping firms still exist?
In the meantime, they can also continue to raise public attention on the negligence and complacency not only of shipping companies but the maritime agencies concerned in upholding passenger safety above all else, including pecuniary interests and the need to expedite sea travel at the expense of convenience and protection for the passengers.
