YET another ferry tragedy has struck the Philippines. This time maybe over 500 passengers and crew have perished when the Princess of the Stars ferry, en route from Manila to Cebu, foundered in apparently shallow waters where it had been driven by a typhoon. Marine investigators may in due course argue this was a disaster caused almost entirely by the storm that reportedly changed course and bore down on the ferry. But many will take this latest ferry loss as further damning evidence of the parlous maritime safety record in the Philippines.

The sinking of the Princess of the Stars brings to 16 in the last nine years the number of accidents involving multiple deaths on inter-island ferries and takes the total death toll in these tragedies to over 6,000. Included in this figure is the loss of 4,375 passengers and crew when the overloaded ferry Doٌa Paz collided with a coastal oil tanker in 1987 — one of the worst maritime disasters anywhere.

With each successive catastrophe, the authorities have wrung their hands and declared that henceforth laws are going to be toughened and existing regulations rigorously enforced. But still the sinking and loss of lives have continued. The response of President Gloria Arroyo to the news of this tragedy yesterday was one of anger. She demanded to know why the vessel had been allowed to sail when a typhoon was close by. She blamed the Coast Guard and civil defense authorities and said that she wanted answers. These made good sound bites, but in truth Arroyo already knows many of the answers. The ferry system in her country is poorly regulated, poorly equipped and, on occasions, poorly run. This is in part because of the limited profits to be made from carrying tens of thousands of people to and from some 7,100 islands.

The Philippines is a poor country but allowing its passenger ferry fleet to be run so badly is nonetheless inexcusable. Trying to apportion blame is not really the point. Successive presidential administrations have looked on while officials, through negligence or bribery, have allowed basic rules on safety and seaworthiness to be flouted. Every time lives are lost in ferry accidents, inquiries are held, findings published and the authorities promise to be tougher — but still the tragedies occur.

The Philippines is not alone in its grievous neglect. Even a country with rapidly increasing wealth such as China has an appalling record of deaths in its mining sector. The cause is in large measure greed overcoming basic health and safety considerations. With some small justice, China could point to the terrible death tolls among workers when the US and European economies were expanding rapidly in the 19th century. But that is actually to suggest that Beijing is too busy to bother to learn the bitter lessons of the past that others have learned.

The Philippines, sadly, does not have the distraction of rapid economic growth as an excuse. Instead these largely unnecessary deaths at sea tend to incriminate authorities who are too inept or corrupt to take proper care of their people.

Triumph for terror in Zimbabwe

A wind of change blowing through southern Africa might — just — still finish Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, said The Guardian (UK) in an editorial yesterday. Excerpts:

Over several weeks, it had become obvious that Morgan Tsvangirai would simply not be allowed to win the second round of Zimbabwe’s presidential election, which had been set for Friday. Taking part would lend dignity to a contest that had become, in his words yesterday, “a violent, illegitimate sham”. But the only alternative was pulling out, and allowing President Robert Mugabe to claim instant triumph. Yesterday Mr. Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) decided the second option was the lesser evil, and he announced he was quitting the race.

Making that call was excruciating because it killed any lingering hope that Mr. Mugabe’s tyrannical rule might be ended by the ballot box. For all the intimidation, the MDC might have gambled on hope winning out over fear if the vote had been scrutinized. In the first round there were independent election observers, domestic civil society organizations provided 10,000 monitors, giving a check on returns. But after much delay, only 500 licenses were handed out for such observers this time. Neither they nor the few hundred being admitted from abroad stood any chance of scrutinizing proceedings in 9,000 polling stations.

The regime may not need its people’s support, and so can continue to punish them. But it does need South Africa for electricity, and other supplies from its neighbors. They have been slow to condemn Mr. Mugabe, owing a shared anti-imperial past. But in recent days the Angolan president and the Tanzanian foreign minister have spoken up. Now Mr. Mugabe will lack the fig leaf of even a claimed election victory, and his reputation could suffer further. The South African president has been shamefully complicit in Mr. Mugabe’s survival, but, facing resistance from within his own party, had started maneuvering for a delay in the Zimbabwean poll even before yesterday. A wind of change blowing through southern Africa might — just — still finish Mr. Mugabe.