Archive for the ‘disasters’ Category
feeling the fall of america
wow. who would have thought that we would see the american economy collapse like a house of cards, bringing the whole world down with it. diyata’t hindi pala invulnerable ang superpower na ito. diyata’t nagkakamali rin, pumapalpak, bumabagsak. at ngayo’y nangangapa, ikot ang puwet, trying to figure out how to reboot a financial-economic system that has crashed.
to get a handle on what happened and why, read
francis fukuyama’s the fall of america, inc.
john gray’s a shattering moment in america’s fall from power
walden bello’s a primer on the wall street meltdown
nobel laureate joseph stiglitz’s how to get out of the financial crisis
the question is: tayong mga bilib na bilib sa amerika — we who allow america to dictate our economic policies — what lessons should we be taking away from this? it’s not enough to breathe a sigh of relief that our banks are relatively sound — that’s only because praning na sila after having been burned by the asian meltdown in 1997.
at the very least we should be seeing, and acting on the fact, that america’s kind of deregulated and globalized and greedy free-market capitalism is no longer the appropriate model for li’l 3rd world us, not if we truly aspire for economic recovery and stability and prosperity for the majority of filipinos.
otherwise, things are just going to get worse. those foreign investments that government expects to come in from middle east now that america and europe are in financial doldrums are, as usual, not going to make that much difference to the poor, not in the long run, if the same discredited rules and systems continue to apply.
economic growth will continue to be a myth, except for the already-rich. what will grow for sure lang besides would be the population, hunger, joblessness, and the diaspora, which is the saddest of all. we’re a country of broken families, broken hearts, no thanks to economic policies that serve the interests of the few at the expense of the many.
what to do to turn things around? said john bellamy foster, editor of the socialist-anti-imperialist monthly review, when asked by pagina/12 what kind of policies the u.s. government should implement to sort out the crisis, how to bail out the people and not just the banks:
I don’t think anyone knows how to “sort out” or stop this crisis. What we are seeing is a lot of improvising while the house is falling down around us. There is no possibility of avoiding a very severe world economic crisis at this point….
My own view is that the sole object at this point — though it is hard to imagine this in the United States at present due to the weakness of labour and of working-class organisations in general — should be to reorganise social and economic priorities to meet the needs of those at the bottom. It is a fact that the US economy over decades has drastically weakened the conditions of the wider population, which is at the root of the whole problem. So addressing those conditions is the real key.
But even if that were not the case, the goal of those who identify with the great majority of the population, with the working class, the propertyless, the poor, should be clear: to put the employment, food, nutrition, housing, health, education, environmental conditions of those at base of society first. This is simple humanity and justice.
Why flood the financial world (which means first and foremost the rich, the near-rich and corporations) with trillions of dollars ultimately at taxpayer expense, probably to no avail, when something might be done for the greater population?
Marx said, in one of his ironic moments, that the only part of the national wealth that was held in common amongst all the people was the national debt.
If the wealth is not shared, why should the public take on more debt, supporting the opulence at the top while the great majority of the people are seeing their basic conditions deteriorate?
Let the system take care of itself; let us devote our public resources to the people. More good would be accomplished that way. Of course what this means is a reactivation of class struggle from below; something we haven’t really seen in the United States in a long time.”
interesting. now that america is down, we’re so like america.
teehankee panky — lessons from maureen
wikipedia’s version of what happened the night when 16-year old maureen hultman with friends roland john chapman and jussi leino were accosted and shot in cold blood by claudio teehankee jr. is accurate enough.
Court records show that Roland John Chapman, Maureen Hultman, and another friend, Jussi Leino, were coming home from a party at around three o’clock in the morning of July 13, 1991. Leino was walking Hultman home along Mahogany street in Dasmariñas Village, Makati City when Teehankee came up behind them in his car. He stopped the two and demanded that they show some identification. Leino took out his wallet and showed Teehankee his Asian Development Bank ID. Teehankee grabbed the wallet. Chapman, who was waiting in a car for Leino, stepped in and asked Teehankee: “Why are you bothering us?” Teehankee drew out his gun and shot Chapman in the chest, killing him instantly. After a few minutes, Teehankee shot Leino, hitting him in the jaw. Then he shot Hultman on the temple before driving away. Leino survived and Hultman died two months later in hospital due to brain hemorrhages caused by the bullet fragments. Teehankee was arrested several days later on the testimony of several witnesses. The witnesses were Domingo Florence and Agripino Cadenas, private security guards, and Vincent Mangubat, a driver, all three being employs of residents of the village.”
but if memory serves, there’s much more to the story that bears telling, that’s worth sharing specially with the young. if maureen had lived to tell the tale, i dare think that she would have warned every teenager from making the same mistakes she made that awful awful night. such as, going out without permission, as in making takas, defying parental rule, thinking that parents exaggerate how unsafe it can get, refusing to believe that there are evil forces out there, evil as in dark and mad and criminal.
then again who would have thought nga naman that she was in any danger. she was in the company of two male friends seeing her safely home, except that they never made it. a few houses (a block or two?) before hers she got off to walk the rest of the way, the more quietly to sneak back in, or the easier to explain? or maybe maureen and jussi just thought a walk would be pleasant, why not, they were in dasmarinas village, well-secured enclave of the rich and powerful, nice tree-lined street, perfect for quiet paseos, oye oye.
as it turned out the rich village was not safe from its own. evil was literally lurking in the shadows, cruising around with a gun, looking for victims. bobbin teehankee must have fancied himself a cop, maybe a vigilante, who knows what was going on in his twisted mind. he must have seen maureen and jussi get out of the car and walk on. he must have concluded that the two were up to no good. or maybe it was a racist thing, maybe he had/has a thing against whites. or maybe it was their youth? their beauty? their hormones? who knows what was going on in his twisted mind. who knows what he thought he was ridding the world of. or maybe he was just bored with practice-shooting, he wanted to fire at real people for a change, just like in the movies. who knows what was going on in his crazy twisted mind.
and now he’s free again. too soon. says philippine star’s jose c. sison:
Claudio Teehankee Jr. He was sentenced to one count of reclusion perpetua and two counts of reclusion temporal. Reclusion perpetua entails imprisonment of 20 years and one day to 40 years while reclusion temporal is from 12 years and one day to 20 years….
Following the pronouncement of the DOJ, the executive clemency extended to Teehankee Jr. was clearly more of a commutation of his sentence. He was not pardoned. He was freed on October 2, 2008 because he was considered to “have already served his full term” by virtue of the order of the President dated September 9, 2008 commuting his sentence. According to DOJ Secretary Gonzalez, Teehankee Jr. had already served more than 21 years because his detention in the Makati jail during the trial of his case prior to his transfer to the National Penitentiary was included in the computation of the time he has served….
But the controversy lingers because of some unanswered questions. Considering that there are three sentences meted against Teehankee Jr. for the three offenses he has committed, which of these sentences was commuted? Under the law, these penalties are to be served successively in the order of their severity although their maximum period cannot exceed 40 years (Article 70 Revised Penal Code). Hence, it can be inferred that only the severest penalty which is reclusion perpetua that has a maximum period of 30 years has been commuted to 21 years, unless it is expressly stated that all three sentences have been commuted. Unfortunately Gonzalez is vague on this issue.”
another 20 years in jail to pay for the murder of chapman and and the attempt on leino sounds just about right to me. at least by the time it’s done, he’d be too old to cruise and play deadly cop.
as for the joker senator’s comment that gma’s teehankee-panky is no different from the erap pardon — no way. erap’s case was political – his freedom poses no threat of violence to any life. teehankee’s case was criminal — he killed not once, but twice, almost thrice, in the space of a few minutes. society needs to be assured not only that he has been punished enough but that he has been cured of whatever dis-ease ails him. also it would be great if he were prohibited from carrying a gun for any reason ever after. otherwise, is the community safe from this man who is at large again?
stop sulpicio?
the exchange in the comments section of manolo’s post supporting the blogswarm “stop sulpicio lines” is worth sharing – an edited version, of course, highlighting why the stopping of sulpicio is problematic.
banat ni djb rizalist (bully for him ;)
Considering the volume of cargo and passenger traffic that Sulpicio Lines handles, it is inconceivable that their operations would be entirely taken out…that would cause a major economic dislocation, not to say suffering on the part of many impoverished families and big and small businesses.
Could the upshot (of) a successful campaign against Sulpicio then merely result in the government taking it over, as GMA has hinted? Would that not conceivably result in some even bigger tragedy, considering that the typhoon season has barely begun? I’m mad at Sulpicio Lines too, but what exactly are we asking for here?”
susog ni bencard:
given that sulpicio is the ONLY major shipping line in the philippines providing relatively cheap transportation to and from each major island of the country, how could you afford to stop its operations instantaneously, even if you could legally? do you think “accidents” would not occur under someone else’s control, including the government’s? meanwhile, should life for all the people and families depending on the company be put on hold while a suitable replacement is being determined?”
agree si dominique:
More than punitive measures we need remedial measures to address the shipping industry, in terms of safety, competition, and cost.
suggest ni cvj:
Since the government needs funds, taking over Sulpicio so that its earnings from operations can fund the improvement of the shipping industry, instead of further enriching the Go Family, should be looked into. Perhaps it can temporarily be attached to the Philippine navy, which also need ships.
agree si leytenian:
This tragedy is not only domestic. The history and bad reputation of this company will actually scare foreign capital and hurt our credibility even further. Let’s do what’s right for the country and for the majority. (Under the government) the students and seniors will enjoy a discounted rates, at the same time small businesses can be subsidized thru discounted shipping of goods. The government can hire more employees…
unimpressed si kg:
government takeover? yeah winston garcia should do it but with the same fleet? rejects junk and retirable vessels, what can a government takeover do. are we back to the question of nationalization and denationalization.
say ni bencard:
cvj, while the navy may have the knowhow to sail a ship for sea battle, i don’t know if it has the expertise to operate a shipping line to transport passengers and cargo. it sounds “simple, really” but i think there’s more to sailing a commercial ship than just keeping it afloat and reaching its destination. so you guys think the government can handle it better, huh? can you name one government-run common carrier that operates efficiently and prosperously? are you familiar with the manila railroad co. and what happened to it after the politicians took over?
balik ni cvj:
The logic of resorting to privatization because we fear the incompetence of government has reached its limit in the case of Sulpicio. We have seen how market forces and private competition are useless against the negligence of an oligopoly. In any Society, government is the last resort to handle these kinds of failures, so at some point, we have to tackle the problem of government incompetence head on. Failing to rejuvenate government would leave us at the point where the public has no choice but to tolerate the practices of Oligarchs like the Go family.
sa ganang akin cvj and leytenian have a point, but it aint gonna happen – there’s simply no rejuvenating government overnight; maybe in 2010 ;)
samantala it doesn’t have to mean we’re tolerating the practices of oligarchs like the go family. not if sulpicio is allowed to resume operations only under certain conditions:
1. ititigil nito ang paghahabla sa pagasa at ang pagbintang kay god. sa halip ay aaminin, aakuin, ang major responsibility for the disaster, magpa-public apology, and magpa-promise to indemnify both survivors and victims’ families in appropriate amounts, the records to be open to public scrutiny
2. upang ma-break ang pattern of disasters na associated na with “sulpicio lines,” the owners will change the name of the shipping line and the ships – enough already with the donyas and prinsesas – again in the full glare of the public eye, sabay upgrade its safety standards, thus signalling a rebirth, a new beginning, and hopefully better karma all around for a change.
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 have died…”
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. (more…)
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), and the 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 Marilyn was 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.