Crumbling infrastructure may spark more disasters
Crumbling infrastructure may spark more disasters
By Martin Abbugao
MANILA (AFP): A crumbling infrastructure and corruption are
likely to spark more tragedies like the discotheque fire last
week that killed at least 154 persons, and could weigh down the
Philippines' modest economic gains, analysts here say.
The smoke has barely cleared from the blaze that turned
Manila's popular Ozone night club into a crematorium, but
Filipinos already betting on when the next man-made disaster will
strike.
Never mind officials who are frantically inspecting and
closing down night spots deemed to be potential fire traps and
filing criminal charges against those who approved Ozone's
operating license despite violations of the building code and
fire safety regulations.
"I bet you that after several months, the Ozone fire and
measures to prevent a similar occurrence will be forgotten until
another devastating fire takes place," said former press
secretary Jesus Sison last Saturday, reflecting popular cynicism.
"Regardless of the economic growth we manage to post in the
next few years, disasters will keep our quality of life low,"
political analyst Alex Magno warned.
He said that economic progress is not measured only in terms
of rising income and consumer spending.
"We speak also of reliable buildings, safe streets, effective
law enforcement, reassuring regulations, quality of processed
foods and strict enforcement of standards," he said.
Magno pointed to a "steep decline" in the competence and
integrity of government workers, who earn low salaries, and the
acceptance of bribes as the main causes for slack enforcement of
standards laws.
Unless such declines were reversed, Magno said "we threaten to
make disaster a way of life for Filipinos."
With the Philippines lying in the middle of typhoon and
earthquake belts, Filipinos are veteran victims of severe natural
calamities.
But disasters resulting from negligence by authorities who are
tasked to enforce safety rules and from the extensive destruction
of the environment have also struck the nation with murderous
regularity.
"This makes us the most disaster-prone area in the world
because we don't follow the rules," said political commentator
Amando Doronila.
"In this environment, it is almost certain that we will be
leaping from one disaster to the next," he added.
More than 4,000 people died when the ferry Dona Paz, allowed
to sail despite carrying passengers way above its capacity,
collided with a small oil tanker in the central Philippines in
1987 in the world's worst peacetime sea disaster.
Despite a flurry of investigations, no one yet has been
prosecuted or jailed under a cumbersome legal system.
Meanwhile, thousands more have died in disasters involving
overcrowded and dilapidated ferries which are allowed to operate
by inspectors who have been bribed, or are manned by skippers in
possession of fake licenses.
Cinemas with inadequate exits are also potential death
chambers, while decrepit vehicles, including antiquated buses and
right-hand-drive trucks running on roads designed for left-hand-
drive vehicles, are another danger.
One firm whose decrepit buses had maimed or killed several
Filipino pedestrians for years was ordered closed only last year
after one of the fatalities turned out to be a Canadian executive
of the Asian Development Bank.
Television reports earlier this month showed that some fire
stations housed in rundown buildings are themselves considered
fire hazards due to a lack of budget.