Sulpicio Lines: Everyone Else Responsible for Ferry Disaster

By Rico, 7:07 am Fri Jul 11 2008 - Editorial - 3 Opinions

Remember when we wrote about mother nature owning technology? And how technology highlighted the poor record of Sulpicio Lines?

Turns out Sulpicio Lines Inc. (SLI) thinks everyone else is to blame for that unfortunate ferry disaster, even if they let a fully-loaded ship set sail during a typhoon.

This Yahoo report, taken from the Philippine Star, summarizes:

• SLI has accused the Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI) of having no “jurisdiction to investigate the incident”, accusing two of its members of holding bias.
• SLI filed a complaint against PAGASA, the government agency responsible for announcing typhoon warnings in the Philippines, “accusing it of issuing unreliable and erratic weather bulletins that led to the sea tragedy”, and two senior forecasters of “gross negligence and dereliction of duty”.
• The discovery of pesticides onboard the capsized ferry delayed rescue efforts. So SLI has filed a P5.5 million suit against local company Del Monte, contending that it failed to disclose the toxicity of its cargo. Del Monte lawyers have asserted that the container van containing the pesticide was properly labeled.

It’s just as the Professional Heckler jokes: “Sulpicio Lines owners refused to confirm rumors they’re shutting down their shipping business to start a law firm instead.”

Admittedly, there is some basis for the legal maneuvers employed by SLI. But we can’t take their attempts to pin the blame on other parties seriously, because of their less-than-stellar maritime record.

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