Wanted: A control tower for Cebu Port

A year ago, it was an aviation tragedy that took the lives of Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jesse Robredo and my dear friend, Capt. Jessup Bahinting and co-pilot Kshitiz Chand in an ill-fated flight on board a twin-engine Piper Seneca PA 34-200 that crashed off Masbate City just a couple of kilometers before it was about to land with one engine feathered. This crash was pointed to by CAAP as a pilot error. But I would like to believe that CAAP’s investigators did not do justice by blaming the pilot because there were many other reasons why the plane crashed.

Last Sunday I gathered that Rep. Leni Robredo, the widow of the late Sec. Jesse Robredo came to Cebu on her very first plane ride since the crash of her husband so she could finally confront her fears. But what was heartwarming for me is the report that she never blamed Capt. Bahinting for this tragedy. This shows that Rep. Leni Robredo has a good and kind heart.

She was quoted as to saying, “I have long sympathized with the Bahinting family because we both lost a loved one. We were all in mourning. But as far as my husband is concerned, the public response was very overwhelming. But in their case, there was blame. I wanted to go to the family to give them comfort because I know how difficult it is to lose a loved one.”

We know too well that when he was alive, the Aquino regime never gave any importance to Sec. Jesse Robredo and in fact he was even bypassed by the Commission on Appointments (CA) for reasons only the members of the CA know. But in death…the propaganda machinery of the Aquino Regime went full speed to lionize the late Sec. Jesse Robredo to the hilt. Was it their way of expressing their regret in not giving the late DILG Secretary the recognition that he so well-deserved, or did these hypocrites at the Malacañang Press Office merely jump in on the propaganda value they could get when they realized that the late Sec. Robredo was very well respected not just in his hometown in Naga but also the rest of the country?

Meanwhile, exactly a year later, we are once again confronted with another tragedy, this time it is a maritime incident with the sea collision between the MV St. Thomas Aquinas of 2GO Shipping and the MV Sulcon Express 7 off the Lawis Ledge near Talisay City that has now left some 40 people dead and 80 passengers still missing. At this point, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) now has to go on a search and retrieve mode as we cannot expect anymore survivors after three days underwater.

Incidentally, I noticed some blogs amongst our divers in the Social Networking sites asking the PCG questions why they were not given any clearance to dive into the sunken vessel? Apparently the Coast Guard did not give any valid or logical reason why those divers who volunteered to help were not given the go-signal to dive into the wreck? As an added report, these divers said that the diving equipments sent from Talisay (I’m not sure if these were sent by the Talisay government or that this equipment were brought in through the Talisay fishport) were useless as they didn’t work, including the speedboats that were sent which conked out in the sea.

Meanwhile I had a talk with some friends about the rules of the sea when entering or exiting the Port of Cebu. Another friend who wanted his name anonymous texted me this, “Since you wrote about the Lawis Ledge incident, do you think as in all investigations of the Marine Inquiry Board, the public will be told the results of the investigation? Why was the Sulpicio vessel exiting the channel at full speed? Maritime rules dictate that passenger vessels have right of way always. It is an untold fact that deck officers do not like to change their course to give way to a traversing vessel - like playing “Chicken”. And it is the owners of the vessels who pay for this irresponsible foolishness.”

 Indeed these are issues that the riding public or our poor passengers taking our ferry boats are not aware of. How many maritime accidents have our people endured…that we have even got the moniker of “Maritime Disaster Capital of the world.” Shipowners totally rely on the competence of its shipping crew…but many of them act like jeepney drivers and no longer follow maritime rules. At least in the aviation industry, pilots are thoroughly and rigorously checked every year. But what about ship captains?

Meanwhile we gathered that the captain on the MV Sulcon Express 7 wasn’t even at the helm when the disaster struck. Mind you, this is a very common practice about ship officers when they are entering or leaving port and there is no one monitoring this. In fact, I do recall some years back that during one Regional Development Council (RDC-7) meeting, we batted for a Control Tower for the Port of Cebu. If the Mactan Airport has an air controller to monitor flights coming in or leaving the airport…why can’t we have the same for the Port of Cebu? We should demand this from the DOTC.

*  *  *

Email: [email protected]