An accident waiting to happen?
Details
Published on Wednesday, 12 September 2012 00:00
Written by DUCKY PAREDES
By A Web design Company
‘As far as the accident is concerned, it is established that there was no foul play. Maybe it was an accident that was waiting to happen.’
THE en banc meeting of the congressional oversight committee on the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) ended with the conclusion that the August 18 plane crash was an accident that may have been caused by engine failure.
That is no finding. That is really not worth even saying. A cabinet secretary and the two pilots died in that crash and we deserve to know a little bit more than that the crash “may have been caused by engine failure.”
We have a law – RA 9497 that created the CAAP — and Senator Bong Revilla, CAAP Oversight Committee Chair, has constantly been asking the CAAP what it needs to bring Philippine Aviation back to Category 1 after we were downgraded to Category 2.
We have had four director-generals, each of them promising to bring us back to Category 1 and assuring us that we were nearing that goal. Said the senator: “We were assured that the civil aviation industry is on the right track towards Category 1, we are still far from achieving that status. “
Capt. John Andrews, CAAP deputy director general, said: “We are doing a parallel investigation as far as CAAP is concerned for possible punitive or other actions to be taken, for or against the airline concerned. As far as the accident is concerned, it is established that there was no foul play. Maybe it was an accident that was waiting to happen.”
“Maybe.” And, in the Philippines, apparently we will just have to leave it at that!
The plane, a Piper Seneca, was by the way, 40 years old.
Sen. Revilla: “One of the Safety Concerns is the hiring of Qualified Technical Personnel. CAAP admitted that this requirement is not fully complied with. We are asking them to set a time frame to fulfill this obligation. What we need is concrete measures, not pending promises.”
Capt. Andrews: “As far as the accident is concerned, it is established that there is no foul play. Maybe it was an accident that was waiting to happen.”
An accident waiting to happen? Does that succinctly describe the present state of aviation in the Philippines?
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Why is the Liberal Party, after winning the presidency in the last election, seemingly unable to pick winners for its senatorial slate in 2013? The latest update provided by the President has only five slots filled up of its 12-man ticket: Grace Poe-Llamanzares, Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, former senator Ramon Magsaysay Jr., former Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros, and Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara.
I see two likely and one more possible (maybe) winner. That’s it!
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Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno still has 18 years to go to the end of her term. Clearly, from the way that the other (older) Associate Justices have taken to actively boycotting the SC’s Monday morning flag ceremonies, this ritual is becoming an embarrassment.
The media has taken to counting heads each Monday and the list of non-attendees seems to be growing. Clearly, the associate justices are showing their displeasure at the President’s choice for CJ.
This reflects badly on the Associate Justices. It is a childish reaction that would have been normal for children in kindergarten, not for justices of the Court. Or, maybe the media is making too much of their non-attendance.
Let us hope that this is all that this is — a media thing.
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The stake of Danding Cojuangco in San Miguel Corporation has never been (as already decided by the Supreme Court) part of the coconut farmers’ stake in the food corporation.
Those shares that eventually went to Cojuangco were owned by the Ayala-Zobels. When Enrique Zobel asked his family to vote for him as Chairman in the stockholders’ meeting, his relatives refused Enrique and told him that he could buy them out instead.
Andy Soriano was chairman and was still on the ballot for the post. Soriano was sick with cancer and (probably) the family could not see itself going against a relative in his condition. So, they agreed to sell the stake to Enrique Zobel.
Zobel went to Danding and asked for a loan so that he could purchase the shares.
Enrique and Danding agreed on a short-term loan with the shares pledged as collateral.
The short of this tale is that even with his family’s shares. Enrique Zobel still lost to Andy Soriano. Unable to pay Danding when the loan had to be paid, Zobel gave up the mortgaged shares to Cojuangco. That is the whole story.
So, where and how do the so-called coconut farmers fit into that story?
As for the loan that Dandling took out to be able to help Zobel buy the shares, he was finally able to pay this back in monthly installments after several years.
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It is wrong for people to think that having a new CJ means that previous decisions of the Court can have another hearing. Decisions reached by one Court, even one from which the CJ was impeached, are final. We would be making a mess of our justice system if a change in personnel will mean that prior decisions can be reviewed and redone.
A court’s decision is one that stems from the application of pertinent laws as these pertain to a situation at the time that a decision is made. Our laws do not change with a change of CJs or even a change of all of the sitting justices.
A system where a change of judges produces a different decision would not be a system based on what the laws are.
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Article source: http://www.malaya.com.ph/index.php/opinion/12829-an-accident-waiting-to-happen
