Snake smuggling probe pins two ASG men, but…

Logically, after the interception of the two suitcases from Bacolod filled with wriggling snakes and other reptiles, there was the inevitable investigation into how the luggage had passed through the Aviation Security Group in Bacolod.

The most surprising was the claim by the luggage owner, 42-year-old Erlinda Vergara, who is actually listed in her passport as a resident of Quezon City, that she did not know the person who had asked her to bring along the suitcases.

But even the Visayan Daily STAR, the Bacolod daily, pointed out "that is the fiction of this case, because who would believe a tale as tall as that?"

Therein lies the mystery. Who was the real shipper of those "smuggled" reptiles? It is inconceivable that Vergara did not even care to ask for his name.

The Bacolod daily pointed out: "In these days when air passengers virtually have to pass through a fine-toothed comb before departing, would anyone just agree to bring as part of her luggage a big suitcase (actually two) containing things unknown?"

Therein lies the poser. And the authorities must be able to elicit from Vergara the identity of the shipper. Also to whom was she supposed to hand over the luggage in Bangkok? Surely, it is unconscionable that she just agreed to bring them along without knowing whom they were supposed to be handed over.

But the most laughable outcome was the recommendation by Bacolod Aviation Security Group’s Chief Inspector Leonardo Olandesca Jr. that administrative charges for less grave neglect of duty be filed against officer-in-charge SPO3 Nelson Donesa and for simple neglect of duty against duty team leader SPO2 Arnel Villanueva for their alleged failure to check the baggage that contained the reptiles.

But Olandesca, during a TV interview by ABS-CBN, said Donesa reportedly told Villanueva that the owner of the suitcases was his friend and just to let them pass. But this was not included in his later report.

I suppose that either Donesa or Villanueva must be able to pinpoint the identity of the shipper.

While Olandesca blamed the DENR’s lack of personnel at the airport for the failure to intercept the suspected shipment, he apparently failed to exercise the necessary option to have them inspected before allowing them to go through the Aviation Security Group.

Somehow, I hope the ASG could probe deeper into the incident. True, the DENR did not have the assigned personnel at the airport. But the thing is, when a suspicious cargo is detected, is it not the duty of the ASG to inspect the luggage?

There’s something queer about it. The way the report had been done should not be allowed; more things need to be investigated. What if the luggage contained explosive devices?

That oil barge sinking off Misamis Occidental

The sinking of that oil barge off Plaridel in Misamis Occidental Monday was something that was bound to happen.

At least, the Philippine Coast Guard had opposed the use of barges to transport oil-contaminated debris from Guimaras province. But the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) and the regional inter-agency task force on the Guimaras oil spill allowed it anyway.

Capt. Luis Tuason, PCG commander for Western Visayas, said he had written Presidential Assistant for Western Visayas Rafael Coscolluela, chief of Task Force Solar I Oil Spill, and Marina regarding the risks of transporting the oil debris by barges.

But apparently that went over the head of the recipients of the PCG warning. And as Capt. Tuason pointed out, Marina issued a "special permit to transport hazardous cargo" to the barges contracted by Petron.

What surprised Tuason was that Marina asked the PCG to inspect the barges after the issuance of the special permits. Normally, he said, inspection should have been conducted before the permit was given.

"We already told them that we were not amenable to using the barges. But they still wanted us to inspect the vessel before going to Lugait in Misamis Occidental. And they wanted the inspection conducted after the permit had been issued," was how Tuason put it.

"In short, that was like washing their hands off the responsibility," he told Iloilo mediamen.

Barge Ras was on its way to Lugait when it sank Monday night off Plaridel, Misamis Occidental.

None of the six crew of the tugboat Vega, which was towing the barge, was reported missing.

The barge left Cabalagnan port in Nueva Valencia Sunday and was being towed by Vega when water entered the cargo hold of the barge and sank it.

Petron health, safety and environment manager Carlos Tan explained that strong winds blew off the tarpaulin covering the barge, allowing the water to come in.

Hazardous materials, Tuason pointed out, should be transported not in bulk and in sealed containers by regular cargo ships or other closed vessels like tankers.

Petron officials also said that no oil sheen has been detected. Company personnel, he claimed, are monitoring the shoreline to assess potential damage.

But Plaridel officials are not taking things lying down. The town mayor claimed on television that while there had been no perceptible oil oozing from the deadly chemical, there was no guarantee that the oily debris would not destroy the municipal fishing grounds of Plaridel.

But the point is, the barge sank despite the warnings from the PCG. So what is Marina’s answer to that? As well as Petron’s?

National Biofuels Act OK’d

As of this writing, I received a phoned report that the Senate and House bicameral conference committee had ironed out their differences over the transitory provision of the National Biofuels Act and passed the final version of the measure.

Sugar leaders, particularly those from Negros Occidental, hailed the yeoman’s effort by Rep. Miguel Zubiri (Bukidnon, third district), principal author of the bioethanol version of the House, for his efforts to remove the controversial transitory provision.

Sen. Mar Roxas, who had defended the transitory provision, explained that it was only intended to ensure that the country does not run out of sugar.

Anyway, the House and Senate panels agreed to a provision that would allow the Sugar Regulatory Administration to certify the adequacy of sugar before a permit is issued authorizing the operation of an ethanol distillery in any part of the country, including sugar-producing areas.

The enrolled copy of the Act may be out next week. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who had endorsed the measure as urgent, is expected to sign it into law.

That will usher in a new ethanol industrial era for the country.