Friday, June 27, 2008 Seares: ‘Unsinkable, big’ ship By Pachico A. Seares News Sense
IF it's true that Sulpicio Lines and its ship captain were left to decide whether to sail on that fateful Friday, then hubris must have something to do with plunging mv Princess of the Stars headlong into killer typhoon Frank's path.
Hubris is defined as "wanton insolence or arrogance resulting from excessive pride or passion."
We can't presume that from shipping company owners who know they must balance desire to make profits with concern for public safety,
Neither from master captain Florencio Marimon who must know he has to temper pride in or passion for his ship with the quirks of storms.
It may be unfair to suggest hubris when company owners are tangling with assaults from victims' relatives as state bureaucrats are looking for scapegoats to appease public outrage.
It even sounds mean to relatives of skipper Marimon who might have gone down with the ship unless, as cynics speculate, he were holed up somewhere safe and dry and far from the angry crowd.
'Kaya na'
Marimon reportedly said: "Kaya na. Malaki ang barko. (It can do it. The ship is big.)"
Sounds like hubris all right. But it may just be plain confidence in the vessel which, with its 16,040.10 tons, looked unsinkable.
But then so was Titanic and other bigger vessels that sank despite their immensity and power.
Being huge matters in some cases. Women and gays lust for "Mr. Big" in "Sex and the City" largely for his vital stats. People hate but fear big government for its capacity to destroy private initiative.
It doesn't always work. An equally large force of nature can crush even a humongous ship.
