Saturday, June 28, 2008 Barrita: Eyes and ears By Eddie O. Barrita Small Bites
IN an archipelagic country like the Philippines, most people rely on maritime transport to travel around the country.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is supposed to monitor all vessels plying the different routes but they don’t have the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) to do that.
On your next sea trip, remember the Philippine Coast Guard is deaf and blind.
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PCG Commandant Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo has appealed to authorities to secure a GMDSS, which is satellite-based and would hardly be affected by violent weather like typhoon Frank.
The GMDSS, he said, will be the PCG’s eyes and ears.
We’ll soon find out if this appeal will fall on deaf ears.
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Some politicians, too naďve to understand the need for people to know whether their relatives on board the ill-starred Princess of the Stars are still alive, questioned the United States’ deployment of the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier group to help in the search and recovery effort.
The aircraft carrier group is not here to subjugate us but to help in the rescue efforts.
As a Sun.Star Cebu editorial wryly noted, “there are still Filipinos who cannot accept our independence.”
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Princess of the Stars master captain Florencio Marimon, when told of typhoon signal number one hoisted because of typhoon Frank, reportedly said: “Kaya ito. Malaki ang barko.” (We can survive this. The ship is big.)
The ship sank.
Need I say more?
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Pag-asa’s weathermen have stricken off the name “Frank” from the list of names for typhoons entering the Philippine area of responsibility.
Sorry Frank, you’ll never have your way again in the Philippines.
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In every tragedy, there are always heartwarming stories – the stories of survivors.
Like the story of Norkis driver Jesus Gica who bobbed up and down in stormy seas only to be slammed by waves later to a rock and plucked by a fisherman who fed him and took care of him.
I would have been happy with Gica’s story until lawyer Pat Morales reminded me of Mark Twain’s barbed wit that “he who was destined to hang is safe on water.”
