how many deaths will it take…

my mind keeps singing to me these haunting lines from bob dylan’s sixties classic “blowing in the wind”:

…how many ears must one man have
before he can hear people cry
…how many deaths will it take till he knows
that too many people havedied…”

too many of our people have died, too many more of our people will die, if this fourth disaster courtesy of the notoriously careless sulpicio lines is allowed, as usual, to go unpunished.

writes marlen v. ronquillo of the manila times:

From time immemorial, the Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI), Philippine-version, has been identified with two things. It is either a fangless tiger or a board that almost always tilts to the side of a negligent shipowner.

Nothing on the voluminous archives of the BMI inquiries reveal sympathy and empathy for the victims of sea tragedies. The anti-victim tilt is understandable. It is the scum of the earth, the poor, thewretched that board the overloaded floating coffins. They can perish at sea and no one-after the initial media hysteria-will mourn their passing.

The owners of the shipping lines are rich, powerful, politically connected. They have lawyers and political sponsors, if they are not big political families themselves. The past and present names of Philippine shipping giants, including the responsible ones, are a collection of Philippine society’sWho’s Who: Aboitiz, Escano, Madrigal, Chiongbian, Go, Ledesma, etc….

The inquiries and recommendations of BMIs, past and present, have a pattern. Ship tragedies, even those that kill passengers by the thousands, are always ” acts of nature.”

Shipownersand operators, if they are cited at all, are mostly given a slap on the wrists.

It is the shameless and almost criminal pandering of past and present BMIs to the interest of shipowners and operators that provides the ideal environment for the creation of special admiralty courts. These are the courts that try maritime cases.

England and the other First World countries with long maritime traditions have these courts. Maritime justice is rendered fairly and swiftly. In England, the courts always tend to rule in favor of the victims, not the shipowners and operators, even if this means a hemorrhage at the Lloyd’s of London, which insures the ships, cargo and passengers.

If there is an ideal time and context to create Philippine admiralty courts, it is now.”

bushwhacking gloria

by ninotchka rosca

It’s the most popular item on the HuffPost, with nearly 200,000 viewers and nearly 1,500 comments, most expressing astonishment at what George W. said to Gloria Mac-Arroyo, de facto president to de facto president. He said “First, I want to tell you how proud I am to be the President of a nation that — in which there’s a lot of Philippine-Americans. They love America and they love their heritage. And I reminded the President that I am reminded of the great talent of the — of our Philippine-Americans when I eat dinner at the White House.” And then added: “And the chef is a great person and a really good cook, by the way, Madam President. ”

I wish she’d replied, with a smile, “thanks and General Taguba was no pushover either” or “I hope she serves you dinuguan” or “have you checked on your dogs lately?” But she sat there like stone, muttering “thank you” as George W. Bush stereotyped her and her entire nation.

Oich! To discern ethnic stereotyping can be difficult, especially if one has had little experience with racism. In my early months in New York, a guest at a dinner given in my honor started telling me about her maid in Italy. This guest was Rome bureau head of a mega news magazine and she had a “Filipino maid” who was, as she put it, a “good person” but who had started pilfering small items. Embarrassed, I vacillated between allegiance to my compatriot (how much was this news great paying her?) and being polite, per Catholic nuns’ instruction. Fortunately, my host returned from the kitchen, asked what we were talking about, gave me a swift glance, and started shouting at her guest: “Why are you telling her this? She’s a journalist and a writer. What’s she got to do with maids? With your maid?”

The Rome bureau head stuttered, turned red and said, “I just thought…” My host snapped: “Well, you just stop that thought right now!”

Not having experienced insidious, constant and subtle ethnicstereotyping, I had to work out the subtext of that conversation in my sleep and woke up furious. A year later, as guest of honor at a one-woman show at a Washington D.C. art gallery, I was introduced to the artist’s mother, who promptly said: “Oh, you’re from the Philippines! My daughter’s nanny is from the Philippines.” By then, I could snap back: “What a coincidence! My secretary’s white!”

How ironic that one had to be prickly to fit into this society, especially when one wasn’t white. But one had to acquire armor against the subtle put-downs, usually given when one was occupying, in the eyes of the put-downer, a “privileged” position. When my first book was reviewed favorably by the Times and my excited landlady made practically everyone in our building read the article, one neighbor who had a toy terrier with a diamond collar asked, “is it true Filipinos eat dogs?” I said of course and called out to his dog, “here, Foxy, here; straight to the kitchen, I’ll make you a good dinner.”

Sometimes you just have to out gross “them.”

Many Filipinos do not get this kind of nuanced insult. Some would even be flattered that George W. remembered the Filipina chef in the White House kitchen, “a very good cook,” chrissakes. It’s akin to the pleasure we feel when a feudal warlord joins the town fiesta and dances with the hoi polloi; never mind that he’s just taken away half of the harvest. I’ve had Filipinos tell me to “please not insult our American friend” who’s just insulted me galore, as if they, despite citizenship, weren’t Americans. I would’ve dearly loved to have said “neither can your president” to this guy in my neighborhood – a guy who, upon catching sight of me walking on the sidewalk, said over his cell phone that the place was beginning to be full of aliens “who can’t even speak English.” As it was, I could only advise him to buy a Vlasik and sit on it.

Two things mystify me about this Gloria Mac-Arroyo visit. First, the “roll-in-the-dust” gratitude for the paltry sum of $700 million in aid, considering the public humiliation. If it’s just a matter of money, overseas Filipino workers send home up to $20 billion per year, without needing to insult anyone. Had Gloria Mac-Arroyo been attentive to their needs – ordered the government to negotiate for really decent wages and working conditions for domestic workers, instead of the monthly $200 they get at the United Arab Emirates, for instance, working 16 hours 24/7 – the bloody $700 million would’ve meant only a hundreddollar donation per OFW. Were the Philippine government just a shade more caring, OFW’s would’ve sent home an extra billion dollars, with pleasure and without subjecting even the most deserving public servant to public embarrassment.

More, that would’ve been cold, hard cash — unlike foreign aid, which is usually spent on goods made by American corporations and on salaries for American experts who tell Filipinos what to do and how to do it. Aid is not aid for the recipient country; it is aid for American big business who thus are spared the need to be grateful for U.S. taxpayer’s money. More, such goods invariably change the lifestyle of the recipient country so it becomes a vulnerable market for U.S. goods. It’s part of the national US budget for advertising. Consider that at one time, the weight-loss meal replacement Metrecal was sent to the Philippines as part of foreign aid.

After all these years of receiving foreign aid, one would expect Philippine government officials to conclude that foreign aid, foreign investments, etc., do not solve/resolve anything; that issues of poverty and inequity have to be resolved at ground level, by our bootstraps, as it were.

The second mystifying thing is why Gloria Mac-Arroyo started thanking U.S. congress people for the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill – which is not even approved yet. The bill is intended to provide pensions for the few surviving Filipinos who fought with USAFFE in WWII; they were denied equal benefits as U.S. soldiers by the Rescission Act of 1946 which declared that the services of some 250,000 Filipinos under the U.S. Armed Forces in the Far East “shall not be deemed to be or to have been service in the military or national forces of the United States or any component thereof or any law of the United States conferring rights, privileges or benefits.”

That clause meant no medical attention, no recognition, nothing whatsoever, all history of that service erased. I have occasionally exclaimed, “that’s what you get for fighting under a foreign flag” but this is such a palpable act of racism it cannot be overlooked.

Over the years, the veterans and a few allies have fought to eke out “rights, privileges or benefits,” starting with access to the Veterans Hospital. Now here comes Gloria Mac-Arroyo thanking US legislators for an unpassed bill, pretending that she had had a role in the struggle for veterans’ rights. And who weren’t thanked for this struggle for equal rights? Why the veterans themselves, the Fil-Am community of supporters, advocates who’d gotten old and hoarse trying to correct this discrimination. As 86-year-old veteran Faustino Baclig said, “sobra ang tsu-tsu” (too much of a suck-up).

Because the Philippine government refuses to recognize and rely on the indomitable character of the people it purportedly governs and represents, because the Philippine government continues to be led by suck-ups, all who are of Philippine ancestry become vulnerable to ethnic stereotyping, public humiliation and the disgrace of being perpetual beggars even as the Philippines gives away all of its resources — from human to natural. Sad, just too sad. — ##

giggling gloria, blundering bush

someone should tell gma to STOP with the happy press releases trumpetting US aid and investment prospects etc. and to STOP with the videos showing her giddy and giggling and pa-cute while conferencing with her disaster officials.because back home here where death and destruction reign, we’re in no mood for such sophomoric shows of “success” and gaiety.

i just saw a woman ranting (justifiably) on tv news, demanding na tulungan sila, gusto nilang mahanap ang mga katawan ng mga pamilya nilang nadisgrasya ng sulpicio, ang nanay niya, dalawang anak niya, kapatid niya, gusto niyang mailibing man lang sila nang maayos, wag naman ilibing na lang kung saansaan ang mga bangkay… she started out dry-eyed, then became teary-eyed, and by the time she was cut off, i was in tears too.

ang sakit ng kalingkingan ay sakit ng buong katawan. whether or not acknowledged by the whole, the pain of the poor and the oppressed is the pain of all. nagluluksa ang bayan. kung hindi ka nasasaktan sa nangyari, ibig sabihin hindi ka totoong bahagi ng katawan -borloloy ka lang, singsing o sinturon o silicone.

~~~

on blundering bush, read fil-am benjamin pimentel. how disconcerting indeed that george w. it would seem knows no filipino in the u.s. other than the white house chef. and knows no philippine-american history other than the part where they “liberated” us from spain.

I want to tell you how proud I am to be the President of a nation that — in which there’s a lot of Philippine-Americans,” Bush told President Gloria Arroyo during her recent visit to the White House, where the head chef, Cristeta Comerford, is Filipino.

“They love America and they love their heritage. . . . I am reminded of the great talent of the — of our Philippine-Americans when I eat dinner at the White House.”

“And the chef is a great person and a really good cook, by the way, Madam President.”

… “America is proud of its part in the great story of the Filipino people,” he said.

But it quickly became pretty clear that he didn’t really completely get that story.

For Bush also declared before his Filipino hosts that the United States “liberated the Philippines from colonial rule” — conveniently forgetting that our homeland was once an American colony.

ONCE an american colony? more like, STILL an american colony, which would explain giggling gloria’s “special” relationship with the white house, AND why there are thousands of american troops in mindanao, AND why the u.s. government, according to ambassador kristie kenny herself, is building two airports in sulu and tawi-tawi, construction to begin before the year is out, “to encourage commerce and development in the two provinces.” kuno.

more like, to serve the anti-terrorist, anti-russia, anti-china purposes of the u.s. armed forces in this corner of southeast asia, a la subic and clark, never mind the constitution, never mind the muslims.

suing sulpicio

ngayon ko lang nalaman, salamat sa inquirer, na ito palang sulpicio lines ay napakasuwerte.

in ALL three disasters – the dona paz (4000 dead), the dona marilyn (250), andthe princess of the orient (150) – sulpicio lines was CLEARED of criminal responsibility for the deaths of the passengers.

On Dec. 20, 1987, a Sulpicio Lines ferry, the MV Doña Paz, collided with a Caltex-hired oil tanker, MT Vector, at Tablas Strait dividing Mindoro and Marinduque, an inter-island route wide enough for both vessels to pass. Only 26 people were rescued (24 passengers of the Doña Paz and two crew members of the Vector) after both ships sank.

The sinking of the Doña Paz, which was ferrying passengers from Tacloban City to Manila for the Christmas holiday, is considered the world’s worst peacetime sea tragedy that left more than 4,000 people dead.

On Oct. 29, 1988, the Board of Marine Inquiry “absolved” Sulpicio Lines of any responsibility and found the Vector at fault for the collision. In 1992, however, the Manila Regional Trial Court held Sulpicio Lines “solely responsible” for the accident and ordered the shipping firm to pay P1.2 million to the heirs of two victims.

Four years later, however, the Court of Appeals absolved the shipping company of any liability and laid the blame on the Vector and Caltex Philippines. In January 2006, the appellate court cleared Caltex Philippines of any liability for the 1987 sea tragedy.

By then, many relatives of the victims had settled out of court.

The latest court ruling involving Doña Paz was handed down in September 2006. The Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling ordering Sulpicio Lines to pay P14.9 million to the family of a geodetic engineer who died in the maritime disaster. Even so, the ruling still did not assign criminal responsibility to Sulpicio Lines and merely found the shipping company guilty of breach of contract for failing to bring the engineer to Manila.

Less than a year after the Doña Paz sank, another ill-fated vessel of Sulpicio Lines made the headlines as Typhoon “Unsang” lashed Eastern Visayas on Oct. 24, 1988. A day before, Storm Signal No. 2 was raised over Leyte as early as 5:30 a.m. The following day, Storm Signal No. 3 was hoisted over Leyte, but authorities allowed the Doña Marilyn to sail from Manila to Tacloban. The Doña Marilyn encountered huge waves and capsized, leaving at least 250 people dead.

The Board of Marine Inquiry later concluded that the sinking of the Doña Marilynwas a force majeure or “an act of God” and that no one was responsible for the sea tragedy.

Ten years later, it was the largest ship on the Sulpicio Lines fleet that sank at the height of a typhoon. On Sept. 18, 1998, Typhoon “Gading” lashed at the MV Princess of the Orient, which was allowed to sail from Manila to Cebu City. The 24-year-old Princess of the Orient went down near the mouth of Manila Bay. At least 150 were confirmed dead.

In September 2000, the Department of Justice junked the criminal case against Sulpicio Lines in connection with the sinking of the Princess of the Orient, saying the shipping firm could not be held criminally liable for the death of scores of passengers.”

ano ba yan! ang palusot na force majeure or act of god is not valid, not when any of those three disasters could have been avoided – in the case of the Dona Paz, if officers and crew had been more alert and competent and the ship better equipped with navigational aids; in the case of the dona marilyn and the princess of the orient, if typhoon warnings had been heeded and the ships forbidden from leaving port in the first place, as in the case of the princess of the stars, for which heads should roll, as blogger anna de brux insists.

walang duda, the courts and the department of justice are biased in favor of sulpicio lines.  why? i think because blogger benignO is correct:

Heads will not roll in this case (as in others) because Ces Drilon was not on that ship”.

a statement not in bad taste at all; rather, a painful political truth. it’s a class thing. kung pang-mayaman ang barkong yan, at tipong sosyal ang mga pasaherong nadisgrasya, tiyak, walang kalaban-laban ang sulpicio, at tulad ng white star line na may-ari ng titanic, it would be forced to make major improvements in its safety standards and operational procedures before being trusted with the lives of the rich and sosyal again.

to make matters worse for the families of the masa victims of sulpicio’s princess of the stars, recovered bodies of their loved ones are being buried without efforts to first identify them through proper forensic procedures, something that would be unheard of if the victims were well-off and well-connected. what a horrible state of affairs.