Death penalty sought for ship overloading

Transportation Secretary Vicente Rivera angrily denounced shipowners yesterday for flouting safety rules, saying he would push for a law to make overloading in seacraft a "heinous crime" punishable with death.

Rivera, whose department supervises the Coast Guard and the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina), said this should compel shipowners to toe the line and handcuff them from jeopardizing passenger safety for the sake of profit.

"We must strengthen the law against overloading. We will push to make it a heinous crime, instead of reckless imprudence. They are playing with human lives here," he said in a radio interview.

Rivera said the country's shipowners "have no discipline" and called for an end to this "era of mediocrity."

The transportation chief said he has ordered the department's legal arm to draw up a draft measure, and that he would ask Congress to pass it immediately.

"It's sad that my office always gets the blame. Everything is being done to prevent such tragedies, but this still happens. So now, we will act accordingly," he said.

Rivera also warned that Coast Guard officials found guilty of negligence would be punished.

"I will not allow anyone to escape liability. It's high time we imposed discipline," he said.

Rivera said he has ordered the Marina to look deeper into the tragedy, noting that this was a peak season for overcrowding.

He cited reports showing that ship owners allegedly put one over authorities by having their vessels pick up additional passengers at sea on the way to their destinations.

"I am disgusted over what happened," Rivera said.

Meanwhile, Senate President Pro Tempore Blas Ople called for the integration of the 14 government maritime agencies into a single Department of Maritime Affairs.

"We need a radical restructuring to give maritime safety the priority it deserves," Ople said.

The senator joined colleague Rodolfo Biazon in calling for a Senate investigation of the Jolo tragedy.

Biazon lamented that a Senate probe would only be repeating "what is becoming a useless exercise." But he pointed out that a probe must be conducted if only to raise public awareness and serve as a wake-up call for concerned parties.

"Perhaps there is a flagrant disregard of maritime laws because of the constant delay in the resolution of maritime cases," Biazon said.

The senator proposed the creation of a special court to handle maritime cases.