Sunday, June 29, 2008 Nograles seeks 'overhaul' of RP's maritime law
CONGRESS must undertake an immediate comprehensive review of the country's maritime policies and laws to "stop the never-ending cycle of sea tragedies."
House Speaker Prospero Nograles issued this statement after learning that more than 5,000 people have died due to maritime disasters in the last 21 years.
"We should find a permanent solution to these recurring maritime tragedies. While negligence, too much greed for profit, and incompetence are among the major factors that contribute to the country's poor maritime safety record, part of the problem might also be in our exiting maritime laws. I think that it is about time that we revisit and scrutinize our existing laws and policies on maritime operations," Nograles said.
Nograles said the world's most horrifying peacetime shipping tragedy killed at least 4,340 when the ferry Doņa Paz collided with the tanker MT Vector in the Tablas Strait, between the islands of Mindoro and Tablas.
Eight months later, another ferry - Doņa Marilyn sunk off Leyte during a typhoon, killing some 250.
Between the years 1990 and 1999, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)'s account had a total of 1,825 maritime accidents; averaging 182 reported cases per year.
Nograles said all policies and laws concerning maritime transport and port operations must be consolidated once and for all. This including the licensure and training of maritime captains and personnel even government maritime officials and personnel.
"We have to have a clear blueprint of a long-term program to modernize the industry," he added, noting that the MV Princes of the Stars is a "painful wake up call."
The poor safety record of the industry is only among the many problems that resulted from the inadequate in-flow of investments - the main obstacle to the development of the Philippine shipping industry.
"This is manifested in the relative age of the domestic merchant fleet, which consists mostly of vessels 20 years old or more. One major constraint in the industry is that ships require large investment to maintain," Nograles said.
Seven years ago, a 10-year-old cargo vessel weighing 6,800 Dead Weight Tons (DWT) needed a capitalization of around $3.616 million.
"That was seven years ago. With our inflation rate always on the upward momentum, it should be much more," he said.
Excluding data after 2001, 425 vessels sank within the Philippines seas from 1991 to 2001, with the most sensational incidents involving the Doņa Paz and Doņa Marilyn that claimed 4,600 lives.
"Safety should be a prime consideration for policy makers and policy implementers," the Speaker said.
He noted, however, that for 1990 to 1999 there had been a noticeable decrease in the number of maritime incidents from the high 456 in 1990 to 116 in 1999.
Other problems in the industry include high domestic shipping freight rates and poor passenger and cargo service standards.
A study done by the Congressional Planning and Budget Department showed that "most ships in the country tend to overload during peak passenger seasons. This is partly because majority of passengers have limited options and are willing to board even an overcrowded deck."
Nograles added that Congress must look into the government incentives policy for industry players to promote investments for fleet expansion and modernization.
There is also the high cost of domestic shipping business. According to the Philippine Inter-island Shipping Association (Pisa), domestic ship owners are subjected to comparatively higher operating costs relative to their Asean counterparts.
In terms of fuel cost, domestic ships spend higher on locally supplied fuel compared to ships operating within the Asian region, with the exception of Japan.
"These are the visible problems we have to look into. I expect that we should discover more loopholes once we sit down and scrutinize our maritime law and policies," Nograles said. (Press release)
