may 28, 2003 disasters-Philippine style

The rains are here again. And with it the (more than expected) maritime disasters. When will they end? Probably never.

How many times have we seen bodies upon bodies of small children and elderly people in various state of stiffness and poses—as if they had been touched by Midas—being carried in half-open cadaver bags? How many times have we heard the authorities say after each accident that “heads will roll” only to realize later that what merely rolled was the price of oil, usually not “back” but forward? If this is the government’s way of numbing the people to pain and empathy, then it has been quite successful. After the cursory questions like “Talaga? May lumubog na naman? Ilan ang namatay? Saan? Anong barko?”, people would go about their usual chores as if these events happen ordinarily. In a way they do, what with the frequency of their happening. Give them two weeks and the people will have forgotten the latest disaster involving the M/V San Antonio and SuperFerry 12. The ocean is so wide one cannot imagine how a gigantic boat can bang itself to an even bigger boat.

If you ask me, we are a cursed people. We are cursed for getting the kind of ship captains and ship workers that we get. We are cursed because we do not give a damn about our and our children’s safety. We ride every overloaded passenger carrier imaginable—starting from the lowly overloaded pedicab to the overloaded motorcycle, the overloaded tricycle, the overloaded jeep, the overloaded bus, the overloaded ship, even the overloaded improvised tractor (the one being used in the province that does not have a reflectorized sticker and has caused not a few accidents specially at night). Ayay-yay!

Really. Gusto kong mangurot ng singit!