But what would it feel if your waiting takes several hours, even days only to find out that the boat your friend, loved one, or relative boarded has sank in the midst of the sea?
Reading about sea tragedies in newspapers is heart-breaking. Most especially if the tragedy has taken place just a few days before or after Christmas. In just a span of three days, two vessels sank in the country's sea water. The first one was caused by man's arrogance while the other was caused by man's negligence.
Arrogance because the collision between MB Catalyn B and a steel-hulled fishing boat in the waters off Cavite could have been prevented had one of the two captains veered away from the other. "Kung sino ang matigas sya ang panalo" was the attitude. But in the end, no one really won in the "pagmamatigas" of the captains. They could have just steered away from the other. But they stayed "matigas" and so the collision took place.
I joined PGMA in ordering the revokation of the licenses of the two captains. The two have no business maneuvering our sea vessels. Not even in operating an outrigger banca. They should be punished for their attitude and be given licenses only to operate a tricycle.
On Saturday night, a roll on-roll off (RORO) passenger vessel capsized off Verde Island in Batangas, killing six persons. At least 22 remained missing as of press time, 63 passengers and crew members have been rescued.The roro allegedly sailed faster than what it was allowed and met its fate when huge waves started pounding on the its dilapidated structure and water sipped in. The vessel sank in just a few minutes.
Looking at the picture of the roro before it sank, I can say that the vessel was way old to sail. An old man cannot brave huge wave, much more swim in turbulent sea waters. It is just like a vessel. Why force an old boat to sail even if we know it could sink with huge waves? I remember reading a newspaper columnist who described our sea vessels as floating coffins. I so agree and I thank our airline moguls for introducing cheap fares, giving me reason not to travel via boat.
Maybe it's about time we transfer the offices of Coast Guard or Marina or other agencies involved in issuing permits to vessels to any of the sailing vessels in the country. Let their offices be in one of those dilapited boats and give our officials a hands-on experience with the turbulent seas. Maybe this will give them reasons to be stricter in their inspection of our sea vessels and cancel the permits of those that are no longer sea-worthy.
I don't know if these officials have boarded any of those vessels in one of their trips.
