Sunday, June 29, 2008 Cabaero: Season of blame-throwing By Nini B. Cabaero Beyond 30
THERE have been a lot of passing of the blame in the tragedy in the sinking of the mv Princess of the Stars.
The shipping line versus the weather bureau. The shipper versus the shipping line. A former Transportation secretary versus the incumbent. And other such conflicts soon to arise as the investigation gets underway and parties try to minimize responsibility.
There was the Sulpicio Lines, owner of the vessel that had over 800 persons on board at the time of its sinking last week at the height of typhoon Frank, that blamed the weather bureau for not giving accurate warnings on time.
The weather bureau or the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said a signal no. 1 alert was already raised in the vessel’s destination when the ship officers decided to proceed to Cebu last June 20. Under current protocols, it is up to the ship’s captain and officers to decide whether to sail or not during a typhoon.
Such differing contentions are expected to continue as the Board of Marine Inquiry conducts the official investigation into the sinking of the passenger ship.
Then, there was the matter of the pesticide shipment found to have been placed on board the vessel. A shipment of endosulfan, a restricted pesticide for use in pineapple plantations, was inside a container van on the mv Princess of the Stars. It was not until after Del Monte Philippines informed the government of the shipment that authorities realized the additional danger in the waters off Romblon where the sinking happened.
The disclosure by Del Monte led to the suspension of rescue and retrieval operations based on fears the pesticide shipment could have contaminated the waters. Endosulfan is highly dangerous to humans and could affect the central nervous system.
The pineapple company blamed Sulpicio Lines for transferring the chemical shipment to the mv Princess of the Stars when it was supposed to have been carried on board a cargo vessel as per guidelines on the transport of such chemicals.
Another case of passing of the buck came with the realization that the country has not complied with regulations on sea safety prescribed by the United Nations International Maritime Organization. One regulation was for countries to purchase equipment for the Global Maritime Distress Safety System that would allow faster communications between the Coast Guard and ships during emergencies.
Current and past officials of the Transportation and Communications department that supervises the Coast Guard have been pointing fingers at each other for the failure to purchase the program that would run such distress safety system.
The greater tragedy would be if all those accountable could only perfect the art of passing the blame in this time of emergency and not take concrete action to correct policies and priorities to prevent a repetition.
