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The horrors of the great sea disaster involving the
sinking of the MV Princess of the Stars and the death of hundreds of
its passengers have made me take an inward-looking view of how to
avoid the risks of sea travel, not for me ( I am old enough to care
about risks) but for my teenage grandson.
The other night, while he was
with me in my bedroom, I told him about my bigoted idea of how to
stay away from sea tragedies. “If you are in love and thinking of
marriage,” I counseled him, “don’t ever choose a life partner
from the Visayas or Mindanao.”
My reason is that if he marries a
girl from the south, it becomes inevitable for him, sooner or later,
to cross the sea to visit his wife’s family for any reason. If the
trip falls on a stormy day, he faces the grave risk of recurring
maritime accidents in our Philippine seas.
Parents from the south who may be
of the same mindset as mine could also be telling their children not
to marry someone from Luzon for the same reason—to avoid the
dangers of a sea voyage to the north.
This is, of course, insular
thinking but I cannot be faulted for being too safety-conscious,
knowing the horrible fate of those who perished in the MV Princess
of the Stars tragedy and the appalling grief suffered by their
families.
The sea travel between Luzon, the
Visayas and Mindanao has really become a national problem with no
less than 20 typhoons slamming into our country every year. Cheaper
fares have made sea travel the common means of transportation.
The problem, however, is that
shipping companies are used to overloading their boats with
passengers and cargo in violation of maritime rules. Others, like
the Sulpicio Lines, allow their ships to sail even against typhoon
warnings. These result in maritime disasters.
The crew of the MV Princesss of
the Stars was reported to be aware of encountering a strong typhoon
last week but sailed on with the approval of the Philippine Coast
Guard. The PCG justified its action by saying a vessel of the size
of the MV Princess was capable of braving the storm.
It was a total miscalculation, of
course, because the vessel, despite its vaunted size, was no match
for the mountainous waves that buffeted and sank it, causing death
to over 600 passengers inside its cabins.
There are three major means of
transportation between Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao—by air, sea
and land. The cheapest and perhaps the safest is by land even in the
presence of a typhoon.
In 1965, the government started
operating a major highway called the Pan Philippine Highway (or
Maharlika Highway) in the hope of stimulating agricultural
production and encouraging social and economic development outside
the major urban centers through reduced transportation costs.
The highway involves a
“3,500-kilometer network of roads, bridges, and ferry services
that connect the islands of Luzon, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao.” The
highway begins in Laoag City and ends in Zamboanga City.
Financed partly by foreign
institutions, including the World Bank and the Japanese government,
it promises to be a major road achievement.
But this is not the kind of a
road network that I have in mind. I am thinking of a highway linking
Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao without resorting to ferries or
boats in between. The roll-on, roll-off system which involves the
use of ferries becomes dangerous, if not useless, during a typhoon.
The proposed highway should
consist wholly of road networks and bridges running from Luzon
through the Visayas to Mindanao. This will entail a huge expense but
it can be done if the government wills it.
The government should not be
parsimonious about constructing this noble project. It can suspend
the distribution of the “pork barrel” funds of congressmen and
senators for at least three years and use the money to help in its
construction.
This grand infrastructure can be
supported with the road user’s tax money and by other modes of
private sector participation under the build-operate-transfer
scheme. If completed, this project will give the riding public the
best option for traveling from Luzon to Mindanao away from the
perils of sea travel.
The highway will also expand
agricultural and industrial production, particularly in Mindanao,
for domestic and foreign markets.
agr0324@yahoo.com.
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