A legislator has underscored the imperatives of creating an independent investigation body to conduct inquiries into serious maritime accidents.
Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon cited instances of sea-borne tragedies in the country the investigations of which were usually long-drawn and the results ambiguous.
He specifically recalled case of the vessel MV Mercraft 2 which caught fire that left seven of its passengers dead, among them the mother of the ferry’s captain.
Biazon indicated that it is high time for Congress to pass the measure creating the PhilippineTransportation Safety Board (PTSB).
“The proposed bill has a long-standing justification, which came from a government body tasked to investigate maritime accidents, the Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI). I was the Chief Legislative Officer of Sen. Sergio Osmeña III when he, as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Services, conducted an inquiry in aid of legislation, on the MV Princess of the Orient tragedy,” Biazon said.
“It was there that I learned about the processes taken in the course of the investigation of maritime accidents. That’s why when I eventually became a legislator in the 12th Congress, I filed a bill proposing the creation of the National Transportation Safety Board,” he added.
Biazon recalled that in 1999, the BMI, which investigated the 1998 sinking of Sulpicio Lines’ MV Princess of the Orient, listed as the first of their recommendations the creation of a National Transportation Safety Commission, described as an “independent government agency to promote transportation safety by conducting independent accident investigations and by formulating safety improvement recommendations.”
“From that time, it remained a pending bill even when Sulpicio Lines lost another ship in 2008, the MV Princess of the Stars. Already in my third term then, I had once again emphasized the importance and relevance of the proposed National Transportation Safety Board in light of the recommendation of the Board of Marine Inquiry years before,” he said.
Biazon lamented that 19 years after he first filed the bill, the proposed law remained pending as the 18th Congress draws to a close, although this time, the measure has reached the Bicameral Conference Committee.
“What remains is the reconciliation of disagreeing provisions between the Senate and House versions. It is in this light that I call on our colleagues to hasten the reconciliation in order to beat the end of the 18th Congress and hopefully have the President sign it into law,” he said.
“The obvious need and the recommendation to create the Transportation Safety Board has been painfully awaiting action by the legislature at the expense of the safety of passengers of public conveyances,” he added.
Biazon re-filed House Bill 548 on July 1, 2019, the first day of the 18th Congress. The bill was eventually substitute by HB 9030, which was passed by the Lower House on June 1, 2021.
Biazon revealed that the contentious provision that stands in the way is the position of some legislators to not allow any part of the report of the Transportation Safety Board to be used for any suit or claim for damages against transportation companies, not even the fact that may be uncovered by an investigation by the Board.
“If this is adopted, aggrieved parties will be denied access to evidence brought about by investigations done by scientific and technical experts in the field of transportation,” he said.
“Time is running out. We should not let the inaction of six Congresses on a recommendation brought about by the loss of two ships and 914 lives to be continued by the 18th Congress,” he stressed.
The outgoing Muntinlupa lawmaker said the tragedy of the MV Princess of the Stars, where 819 lives were lost, ended with the grant of a demurrer to evidence for the persons brought to court for accountability.