Jinggoy calls for probe on Keppel shipyard workers’ death

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada yesterday moved to have the upper chamber step into the Keppel Subic Shipyard accident that killed six of its workers and se-riously injured several others, following reports the company has not lifted a finger since the incident took place last Friday.

Estrada stressed during his privilege speech that the action he seeks is not “intended to be another journey into the world of finger pointing. But there is a serious need to ferret out the truth if justice is ever to be done for the workers who lost their lives while they were trying to earn a decent living.”

Immediately after the tragic incident took place, Estrada lost no time in urging the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) to conduct a tho-rough investigation to determine if there was any lapse in the overall safety measures in the said workplace.

The Senate leader, however, noted that while the issue of establishing the exact liability of Keppel is still at a standstill, the matter of providing for the needs of the injured personnel and families of deceased workers is also the same.

“What reports we received

then remain practically the same today – stagnant. There are hardly any developments that could assure the families of the deceased that the full measure of the law will be imposed on those who may have been remiss in ensuring the safety of their workers,” Estrada, chairman of the Senate committee on labor, employment and human resources development and the joint congressional oversight committee on labor and employment, declared.

“For how safe could safe have been if an entire steel ramp broke from its supporting foundation posts to fall on the unsuspecting workers toiling below?

“These workers were not exposed to everyday risks. The very size of the vessels they were working on were epic. Those who lost their lives last Friday were part of the repair crew working on the MV Tombarra, a 22,650-ton container ship. With the capacity to carry within its massive girth more than 6,000 cars, we can all imagine the immense shadow it cast. We can also imagine the gigantic platforms that were created to support those who needed to reach its vast exterior. Something went very, very wrong there last Friday, and there is a rightful demand from many sectors and individuals to determine how something of this magnitude could happen in a firm that prides itself on its safety standards,” he explained.

The elevated platform was reportedly being used as a bridge by the workers repairing M/V Tombarra, at the drydock of Subic Shipyard and Engineering Inc., an enterprise managed by Singapore’s Keppel Shipyard Ltd.in Barangay Cawag which is part of a special economic zone. Keppel is said to be engaged in ship repair and conversion, shipbuilding and offshore engineering.

Estrada also brought to the attention of his colleagues what he described as “some disturbing reports” that put into question the safety standards being enforced by the company.

“For instance, it has come to light that victims of on-site injuries have been regular visitors to Subic’s Our Lady of Lourdes hospital – an average of one every three months. There were also reports on a worker falling to his death from a scaffolding, and an oil tanker exploding in the shipyard’s premises. This last one is distinct from another oil tanker explosion which occurred in 2003, also within its premises. That tragedy claimed five lives.

“For the sake of all those whose lives were lost in these terrible incidents, for the benefit of their grieving families, and for the welfare of the millions of Filipino workers who daily put themselves in harm’s way in order to put food on the table to join me in demanding that an open and thorough inquiry immediately be conducted to determine the liability of Subic Shipyard, and its management in last Friday’s tragedy.

“Let us punish the guilty for whatever sanction and or penalty that is commensurate to the gross neglect that the company may have committed,” he said. –Virgilio J. Bugaoisan with Angie M. Rosales, Daily Tribune