AFTER claiming that the sinking of MV Princess of the Stars was “an act of God,” the owners of the ferry asked a Roman Catholic bishop for help in convincing Malacañang to lift the suspension of the operation of Sulpicio Lines Inc. (SLI).

Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos of Butuan said that Edgar Go, whose family owns Sulpicio Lines, is a personal friend and has asked for his help in lifting the company’s suspension of operation.

“I went to Malacañang the other day because of the request of the owner of Sulpicio Lines because this is the only livelihood they have,” Pueblos said on Wednesday.

Some 100 bishops are in Manila to attend their semiannual plenary meeting, an occasion some interest groups and politicians take advantage of to lobby their causes and get the blessing of the Roman Catholic Church.

The government has grounded the company’s 21 ships—13 passenger liners and eight cargo vessels—following‚the sinking of MV Princess of the Stars off Sibuyan Island on June 21.

Pueblos, a known ally of President Arroyo, agreed to broker for the company and asked Malacañang to consider the economic repercussions of grounding the vessels, especially the cargo ships that deliver goods to and from the Visayas and Mindanao.

He said some representatives of Arroyo, who he declined to name, met him in Malacañang and agreed to take up his appeal to the President.

“They were positive about it,” said the Butuan bishop, who earlier called for the impeachment of Iloilo Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, president of the Catholic
Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), over his criticisms of the Arroyo administration.

Pressed for the main purpose for his brokering for the Gos, Pueblos said the family is concerned of the shipping line’s survival.

Some groups have been calling for a government takeover of the shipping line over its history of sea tragedies, including the sinking of MV Doña Paz that killed some 4,300 passengers and crew when it collided with a tanker on Tablas Strait off Mindoro Island in 1987. 

Meanwhile, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Vidal, also a known Arroyo ally, appealed for sobriety over the issue.

“Our nation is in pain and we want to make sense of our tragedy. However, the pain will not go away if we start blaming each other or come out with superficial conclusions,” Vidal said in a statement.

As this developed, Speaker Prospero Nograles said the government has no business taking over private businesses.

Nograles made the statement as he opposed earlier pronouncement by Malacañang that a government takeover of beleaguered SLI remains an option that would depend largely on the findings of the Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI) on the MV Princess of the Stars disaster and the practicality of having state-run shipping lines during the typhoon season.

Nograles, who earlier ordered the House transportation committee headed by Lakas Rep. Monico Puentevella of Bacolod City to conduct a marathon inquiry to get into the bottom of the tragedy, said the correct supervision and the regulation and oversight of officials of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and its responsible agencies is one of the major defects that causes sea mishaps.

Senators are wary of the government’s plan to take over SLI following the latest sea tragedy.

“Instead of thinking about a government takeover, the government should focus all of its energy and resources in finding out what’s wrong with the maritime industry, in setting up safety standards and ensuring this tragedy does not happen again. It has no business contemplating a takeover,” Sen. Pia Cayetano said.

At the same time, Sen. Mar Roxas II noted that Sulpicio Lines carries about 40 percent of domestic cargo traffic. “Kaya importante iyan. Pero may pananagutan pa rin sila dito sa trahedyang ito,” he added.

The government can prolong the grounding of the passenger fleet of SLI, the owner of sunken MV Princess of the Stars, until November this year, as the DOTC still has no timetable yet for the lifting of the grounding.

Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) Administrator Vicente Suazo Jr. said the government can afford to ground the SLI cargo-passenger vessels until later this year since it is still off-peak season.

“There are other newer vessels that will capture the volume that will be left by Sulpicio and it won’t be a problem [the lack of cargo ships],” he told the BusinessMirror, adding that the government still does not have a timetable for the lifting of the grounding of Sulpicio’s fleet.

At the moment, Suazo said that Marina inspectors have finished the audit of some of the vessels of Sulpicio and the results will be presented to the Marina board meeting on Friday.

A preliminary inspection report as of Tuesday included that on MV Princess of the South, MV Cagayan Princess, MV Princess of the Earth, MV Palawan Princess and MV Princess of Paradise.

Marina Deputy Administrator Primo Rivera told reporters on Tuesday that the audit team has found “deficiencies” on the inspected vessels of Sulpicio. He declined to say what those deficiencies are.

Undersecretary for Maritime Transportation Maria Elena Bautista on Thursday gave Sulpicio Lines until Saturday to look for a salvage company to do the immediate refloating of the passenger vessel MV Princess of the Stars.

Bautista said, after a meeting with members of Task Force Princess of the Stars on Thursday afternoon, that cutting through the overturned ship could further endanger the surrounding marine environment.

“We reiterate that the priority in the operation is safety of life and the protection of environment,” said Bautista.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Environment Program-Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Environment Unit has offered to help the country in mobilizing expertise for sampling, technical advise and response to other related environmental emergencies.

Bautista said the task force welcomes the assistance from the experts.

Help, she added, would also be sought from the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute and Worldwide Fund for Nature in gathering data to help the task force.

During the meeting, members of the task force discussed ways to address the concerns raised by the local government of Romblon.

“The task force has agreed to review all available scientific data and shall make announcements as soon as possible. So far, all tests of the water samples gathered around the surface of the vessel and from inside the cargo deck revealed nondetectable levels of any endosulfan,” Bautista said. (With F. Marasigan, B. Fernandez, VG Cabuag and L. Lectura)

Sulpicio owners turn to bishop for help

AFTER claiming that the sinking of MV Princess of the Stars was “an act of God,” the owners of the ferry asked a Roman Catholic bishop for help in convincing Malacañang to lift the suspension of the operation of Sulpicio Lines Inc. (SLI).

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