Hole of Justice
By Peter G. Jimenea

A different Holy Wednesday experience

Last March 23, 2005, Holy Wednesday, this writer was among the many passengers waiting at the Bacolod Port Terminal for a ride aboard Weesam Express, a “fastcraft” plying the Iloilo City-Bacolod City route.

It was just 2:00 p.m. then yet the queue of passengers for the 2:30 p.m. scheduled trip was already getting long so my companion and I decided to take the next trip scheduled at 4 o'clock .

I purchased tickets from the first-class departing booth manned by a middle-aged lady. Asked of the boarding pass that indicates the number of reserved seat for a ticket holder, she told me to wait after the 2:30 p.m. trip would have left for Iloilo .

By 2:30 p.m. , I returned to her booth way ahead of all the other passengers to secure our boarding pass. Without much explanation, the same lady handed me two small cards marked C2 and C3, respectively.

Almost assured of confidence in our travel considering that we were the first to secure our boarding passes, we waited for the next trip. Still, we weren't able to leave Bacolod on time, eventually embarking at already past 4:00 p.m.

Onboard, a receptionist told us to proceed to the conference room. When we got there, I almost fainted. The conference room they pointed us to is nothing but a cubicle with a sala set for seats, which, needless to say, would obviously be uncomfortable for paying passengers. Adding to our anger was the information we got from the guard, who said the room is intended only for chance passengers, which we definitely are not!

Anyway, there were 12 of us in that cubicle they call a conference room. Six females and six males, making us look and feel like canned sardines inside.

A young man from Kalibo, Aklan, who bought his ticket even before 2:00 p.m. , voiced his lamentations on how he got into the mess we're all in.

A lady from Tigbauan, Iloilo also aired the same sentiment, claiming to have bought her ticket three days earlier. On why we were made to suffer during the Lenten season quite early than usual as imposed upon all 12 of us by Weesam Express, the management has a lot of explaining to do!

Had that middle-aged staff at the counter gave the passengers their corresponding boarding passes after paying for their tickets, this would not have happened. Since each boarding pass indicates the seat number assigned to a ticket-holder, our miserable situation could have been avoided.

Unfortunately, that employee has a Midas touch in reverse. The boarding pass she gave us turned not into gold--but unspeakable discomfort.

She should know that when we disembarked from the boat, we were already badly beaten judging by our looks! It maybe true, greed for money destroys the protocol of a first-come first-serve basis rule! This, as we believe the seats that should have been given us early birds were instead given to late-comers who have the money to spare for these unscrupulous employees!

What's more, the ticket clearly shows that 4:00 p.m. is the scheduled departure. But despite the good weather condition we were not able to leave Bacolod port until around 4:30 pm. !

What if one has an important transaction waiting until up to 5:15 p.m. only? Isn't the delay another breach in the contract of carriage?

The Coast Guard and the MARINA must be sleeping on their jobs to have inadvertently overlooked this Weesam mess right on their very noses. I hope to hear from these officials soon in our SKY Cable TV Talk Show “ Serbisyo Publiko ”--free of charge.

This is not an ordinary problem that merits no alarm. The law says shipping companies must first comply with all the safety nets and see to it that the comfort of passengers are paramount prior to the issuance of permits to operate a contract of carriage.

Now the problem seems no longer situational but a structural one. It is a common scenario in every port during official holidays.

Deliberate or not, our authorities failed to curb this apparent overloading practice by Weesam Express. This may be the reason why we were destined in a cubicle they fondly called a conference room!

This mess creates an erroneous suspicion without affirming the public perception that the Coast Guard and the Marina are yet another two syndicates we have to deal with.

Now, as to the lady employee's contrition for her misdeed, apology is definitely not accepted. If she cannot really understand what she is doing, the most logical solution to be drawn is that she resigns from her work!

And for that very lousy service orientation by Weesam, to staffers, perhaps, this is what you really deserved for your stupidity!

Well I hope to have made your day in this column. You asked for it. Not me and “Dirty Harry” who just wait for others to make our day!

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A GOOD DAY GREETINGS TO: PRO6 RD C/Supt. Doroteo “Ding” Reyes, S/Supt. Cornelio Salinas of MARICOM, S/Supt. Rey Rafal, S/Supt. Romeo Laurenalla and former Mayor Joy Valdez of Bacolod City.