THE CONGRESSIONAL inquiry into the sinking of Sulpicio Lines’ MV Princess of the Stars has inexplicably changed course with the rejection by the House committee on transportation last Monday of the demands by a number of congressmen to expand the scope of the inquiry to include the company’s sordid record of sea mishaps in the past 28 years.

The outrage sparked by the publication last Sunday of the authoritative Lloyd’s MIU—which reported that Sulpicio Lines’ fleet had figured in 45 sea accidents since 1980—fizzled last Monday when Bacolod City’s Rep. Monico Puentevella, committee chair, announced that the inquiry would focus on the June 21 sinking of Princess of the Stars.

His announcement splashed cold water on public expectations of fireworks at the resumption of the hearings. It was hoped that the hearings would put Sulpicio in the hot seat to determine its culpability in the sinking of its ferry with more than 800 passengers on board off Sibuyan Island at the height of Typhoon “Frank” last June 21.

In limiting the scope of the inquiry, solely to the Princess of the Stars sinking, Puentevella not only went against the current of outrage generated by the disclosure of Sulpicio’s involvement in several other mishaps aside from the sinking of seven ships. Puentevella narrowed the scope of the inquiry despite expressions of outrage by Speaker Prospero Nograles that the inquiry should cover all sea mishaps involving Sulpicio, as well as the threat by Albay province’s Rep. Edcel Lagman, chair of the committee on appropriations, that Congress should cancel Sulpicio’s franchise to operate maritime transport. Lagman was vehement in denouncing Sulpicio, saying that “this is an act of recidivism on the part Sulpicio,” referring to Lloyd’s summary of the shipping line’s accident record.

Setting a course contradicting that expressed by the House leadership and senior members, Puentevella said, “Whether it’s 45, four or five, I don’t think we should dwell on the past. We should focus on the future and craft laws that would help avoid similar tragedies later on.”

These contradictory positions raised questions as to whether senior House members could get their act together on the Sulpicio issue, or whether Puentevella’s decision had opened the way for a cover-up and the coddling of Sulpicio.

By narrowing the scope of its inquiry, the committee has tied its own hands. It has deprived itself of the context offered by the Lloyd’s report in delving deeper into the causes of the trail of mishaps involving Sulpicio vessels, in a record that has not been approximated by other shipping lines in the country. This context would not be available if the inquiry is focused on the Princess of the Stars sinking. The examination of the mishaps in which Sulpicio ships figured in the past 28 years offers material on which to draw in drafting remedial legislation which Puentevella himself said “would help prevent similar tragedies” in the future.

Rich material can be drawn on the Lloyd’s, report which underlined seven sinkings of Sulpicio vessels, including that of the Princess of the Stars. In the most recent disaster, only 50 out of the 864 people on board have been found alive. Aside from the seven Sulpicio Lines vessels that sank, according to the Lloyd’s summary, six have collided with other ships, six have caught fire, seven have had engine problems and stalled at sea, and 19 have run aground

The deadliest mishap was the 1987 sinking of MV Doña Paz after it collided with MT Vector. As many as 4,300 people perished in the worst peacetime maritime disaster in history. In all the mishaps where Sulpicio vessels were involved, more than 5,000 people have died. A close examination of how these happened, and how Sulpicio responded to the disasters in terms of compensating the victims and adopting practices that would prevent similar occurrences in the future would be instructive.

By limiting the scope of its inquiry into a solitary accident, the Puentevella committee has slammed the door to an exhaustive inquiry. It has lent itself to a cover-up on behalf of Sulpicio. It has excluded from examination aspects of Sulpicio’s operations that should enable the committee to determine the penalties to be slapped on the shipping line for drowning thousands; and to determine the all-important question of whether Sulpicio should be permanently barred from transporting human beings and sending them to graves underneath the sea.

At the rate the House committee is excluding from examination material offered by an expanded inquiry, it is not investigating in aid of legislation but in aid of Sulpicio. It is playing into the hands of Sulpicio. It is putting off limits material that Sulpicio would not want examined in a public inquiry.

Cebu business organizations, which are apparently friendly to Sulpicio, have been pushing the line that the suspension of its operations has taken a toll on the transport of passengers and cargos. This lobby is based on the claim that Sulpicio vessels carry 40 percent of the inter-island cargo traffic. This lobby seeks to blackmail the public and the authorities to put higher priority on the early resumption of Sulpicio’s services even before a thorough inquiry has been completed to determine whether the shipping line can be trusted to transporting human beings and cargos safely across the country.

The public can live without Sulpicio. There are other shipping lines that can fill the vacuum. The public can’t accept more mishaps and deaths.

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