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The storm clouds were dark and threatening, weather stations had
raised and broadcast danger signals, the radio was announcing the
approaching onslaught of Frank, or by its official international
name “God of the Winds,” a massive typhoon packing
150-kilometer-an-hour wind and yet the ill-fated ferry MV Princess
of the Stars put to sea with 862 passengers and crew amid
treacherous waters from Manila to Cebu City on June 21.
The ferryboat of the Sulpicio Lines, owned by
the powerful Go family, was given the go ahead signal and sailed
into the fury of the typhoon. It was battered by mountainous waves
off Sibuyan Island in Romblon. It listed badly but the order to
abandon ship came too late. The ship turned turtle and as many as
800 hundred were trapped inside. Only 48 survived.
Weeks later, divers are still trying to retrieve
the bodies of the victims inside the upturned hull that is
protruding above the surface of the bay. It has now been discovered
that they too may be in grave danger. The ship was carrying 10 tons
of super-toxic hazardous pesticide “Endosulfan” that was not
listed, authorized or cleared by the Coast Guard. It in fact was an
illegal and criminal act. The entire area around the upturned hull
is a deadly pond of toxic poison. The recovery of the dead cannot be
continued. The coastline and fish stocks are contaminated.
The shipping lines owned by the vastly wealthy
and politically influential Go family have had huge disasters in the
past two of them because their ships were allowed to sail despite
typhoon warnings. The world’s worst peacetime sea disaster was
also with a Sulpicio Lines ferry, the Doña Paz. On December 20,
1987, it collided with an oil tanker, MT Vector, a Caltex contract,
in the Tablas Strait, near Mindoro. Human negligence was the cause
of 4000 people drowning in that horrific tragedy. Sulpicio Lines and
the Go family were not held liable.
During Typhoon Unsang on October 24, 1988, the
Doña Marilyn was ordered to sea by the owners and authorities did
not object. The ship was overwhelmed by waves and sank, 250 people
lost their lives. No one was held liable. During the Typhoon Gading
in September 18, 1998, the Sulpicio Lines ship MV Princess of the
Orient put to sea from Manila to Cebu City. It sank with the loss of
150 passengers.
Edgar Go, vice president of Sulpicio lines, said
they had no responsibility for the latest sinking. It was an “Act
of God.” The authorities seem to agree. They too have been cleared
of all liability for allowing the ship to put to sea into the teeth
of a typhoon. Blaming God is a total and shameful avoidance of
responsibility. The “Act of God” argument is archaic and
useless. Besides it is theologically abhorrent these days, where
most Christians believe in a loving, caring personal God that wishes
salvation, justice and happiness for all people. At least they could
have claimed it was “an Act of Nature.” However, allowing a
ferryboat to sail into a developing typhoon is criminal act of man.
Covering up and blaming God is morally repugnant and sinful.
As a consequence, tragedies continue one after
another. The moneymaking greed of mercantile moguls can be found
lurking behind the decision to take a chance with the lives of
hundreds of people. To cancel the trip would have been a huge loss
of profit for the shipping lines. Losing the rusting hulk of an
aging ferry, a sunken coffin, is no loss, but probably a benefit.
The insurance will be paid. The poor, who travel by the ferryboat,
suffer once again. The wealthy elite sail on past the bloated bodies
to their worldly paradise on a luxury yacht enjoying impunity from
prosecution, freedom from liability, blame and moral responsibility.
We can see the ugly bloated face of corrupt
government officials, many of whom owe their position to the money
of the powerful elite. Let’s stop blaming God and let criminal
liability fall where it should—on the heads of those who own and
protect the death ships of the Philippines.
preda@info.com.ph
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