Sunday, July 13, 2008 Malilong: Suazo's claim By Frank Malilong The Other Side
I NEARLY fell off my seat when I saw the headline in Friday’s issue of Sun.Star quoting no less than the highest official of the Maritime Industry Authority as saying that all ships in Central Visayas are not fit to sail. Stated otherwise, what Marina Administrator Vicente Suazo Jr. was supposed to have said was that not a single ship in the region is seaworthy.
Vic is a prudent man. So unless he was quoted out of context, he must not only have meant everything he said, he also had enough basis to say it. If that were the case, then he should immediately cancel the certificates of public convenience of all, and I repeat all, the ships that are owned by companies that are based in Central Visayas. Failure to do so constitutes nonfeasance at the very least and can render him administratively liable.
If, on the other hand, he had been misquoted then Vic should immediately say so. It is unfair not only to his men in Cebu, the local ship owners but most of all, the sea-traveling public for him to wait even one minute longer to clarify that his purported statement was not accurate.
Indeed, the sweeping conclusion maligned not only the region’s Marina personnel but also the shipping companies. Marina 7 Director Glenn Cabañez, whose office has been accused by Suazo’s inspection team of questionable granting of CPCs, disputed his superior’s assessment rather timidly, expressing the hope “that he was quoted out of context.”
We still have to hear from the shipping companies. Cebu is home to many of the country’s biggest shipping lines and I expected them to come up strongly with a statement refuting the allegation that their vessels suffer from many defects but have nevertheless been allowed to sail by the local Marina office, many of whose men are in their payroll. Their silence is baffling.
I sympathize with Glenn, who has been doing his job quietly and without fanfare until he was thrust to the limelight by his colleagues’ unfavorable assessment. It was the Manila inspection team sent by Suazo that came up with the adverse report that the latter cited. In fairness to all concerned, the process that led to the findings should be explained. How long was the study, how many ships had been inspected and how qualified were the inspectors?
In the meantime, I am waiting for Aboitiz Transport Services, among others, to deny or confirm Vic Suazo’s claim.
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Let’s stop kidding ourselves. The President doesn’t appoint someone because he is loyal to the people but because he is loyal to her. It’s a trait that is not unique to Mrs. Arroyo. It is human nature. Who likes to work with someone who you’re not sure would not stab you when you’re not looking?
Romulo Neri is eminently qualified to be Social Security System administrator, if our only bases were academic credentials and professional experience and competence. Many, however, doubt his integrity because he refused to reveal to the Senate his conversations with Arroyo on the ZTE deal.
Neri obviously believes in the code of omerta that binds members of the same gang: “Piyait must die.” His loyalty has earned him ridicule but not from the person who has the power to appoint people to high government office Guess who has the last laugh.
