It was the Captain’s Call
I was going to do my weekly post as one of the blog contributors over at FHM.com.ph, but I just had to express how I feel about this news item that I came across this morning.
A ranking official of Sulpicio Lines Inc. (SLI) yesterday said that it was the call of the captain of the ill-fated M/V Princess of the Stars whether to push through with the voyage or cancel the trip.
Engineer Edgar Go, SLI senior vice president, yesterday informed the seven-member Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI) that ship captain Florencio Marimon Sr. had the sole prerogative to continue with the voyage or not.
I know that if I were in Sulpicio Lines’ position, I would also do and say everything to save my ass as well, but is this BS the best they could come up with?
I was on my way home from the gym with some officemates last Saturday night when I noticed that most of the billboards along Katipunan had already been taken down. Believe it or not, that was the only time I found out that there was a typhoon alert. It sure brought back memories of fallen billboards along Edsa and C5 more than a year ago.
If the OAAP was smart enough to issue a memorandum that billboards should be taken down during typhoons, how hard a decision could it have been to prevent a passenger vessel from proceeding even if an alert had already been issued?
I don’t wish for anyone to be blamed/punished for what happened, and I feel the same way about what happened during the Wowowee incident in Ultra more than two years ago. Though someone should take the heat, and that those who perished can never be brought back, I can only wish that Sulpicio Lines does everything in their power to give a lifetime of aid to the families of those whose lives were lost.
Let’s try to be more logical next time eh? You don’t say pwede pa yan when people’s lives are on the line.
