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ONE of the most puzzling questions—but puzzling
only because there are “millions of answers”—is why the many
bills that have been filed to reform the ancient Maritime Code of
the Philippines are not being acted on. As a result, nothing could
be done to streamline the maritime industry of our country. And
there would be no end to such scandals as Sulpicio Lines’ happy
escape from liability and accountability, despite its record of
disasters and deaths.
The passage of these laws, or
their consolidation into a new Maritime Code, might be one key to
the end of sea disasters like those that Sulpicio Lines has become
notorious for.
A hint of why a better Maritime
Code can’t be passed was seen in the House of Representatives’
hearings on the sinking of the flagship of Sulpicio Lines Inc., the
MV Princess of the Stars. Despite public opinion and a number of
editorials, columns and broadcast commentaries asking for a thorough
probe into the circumstances of the sinking, the House investigation
did not at first (and maybe until now) seem to be going anywhere. It
was obvious that there were enough congressmen whose moves worked
against their colleagues whose aims were to dig up the truth and, if
supported by correct findings, declare Sulpicio liable.
In fact, one of the questions
bothering those who wish to reform the maritime industry and create
a new Maritime Code is why the House opened its hearing as if to
steal the thunder from the investigation of the Board of Marine
Inquiry (BMI). The members of the BMI have been doing quite an
effective job. Sulpicio succeeded in getting the most incisive
members of the board to resign. We hope that does not make the BMI a
less rigorous investigative body.
Muntinlupa’s Congressman Ruffy
Biazon probably wrote the most comprehensive maritime industry
reform bill pending—or gathering dust—in the House. He has
reminded his colleagues that since 1999 there has been in existence
a complete set of findings and recommendations to effectively
prevent sea disasters. The findings were arrived at from testimonies
at the House hearings on the disaster of another Sulpicio ship, the
MV Princess of the Orient.
Against Congressmen Biazon, Roilo
Golez, Congresswoman Riza Hontiveros Baraquel and a handful of
others, some congressman moved in a way that seemed designed to
deflect questions about Sulpicio’s culpability.
Similar behavior was seen in the
House when it was discussing what has been passed, thank God, and is
now called Republic Act 9502 or the “Universally Accessible
Cheaper and Quality Medicine Act of 2008. Congressmen acting as
lobbyists for the foreign pharmaceutical industry did everything to
frustrate passage of the House version of the bill which the Senate
had already passed almost half a year earlier.
At one point the foreign pharma
people even made the mistake of passing on a note of instructions to
Congressman Teodoro Locsin Jr., who promptly exposed the vile deed.
That incident confirmed suspicions that some congressmen where in
fact doing errands for business and other vested-interest groups.
These lobbyists in
congressmen’s clothing are a despicably malevolent breed. They
serve their masters to the point of destroying honest and patriotic
men and women who are campaigning effectively for reforms to serve
the common good, who expose acts and systems harmful to the Filipino
people, the Philippine Republic and the economy.
Using some columnists and
commentators who do their bidding, these lobbyist-congressmen wage
media and innuendo campaigns to make upright congressmen,
congresswomen and media people look bad, portraying them as takers
of bribes. They invent the existence of a lobby fund in the service
of invented vested-interest groups. This way they succeed in
maligning the reformers and making other congressmen reluctant to
support reforms, lest they too be stained.
These congressmen-lobbyists are
traitors. They must be stopped and punished.
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