An Inquiry That Cannot Reach Its Own Evidence

 An Inquiry That Cannot Reach Its Own Evidence

OPINION BY : Hem Kumar October 2026

Both cannot comfortably describe a body whose job is to establish what sank a vessel. Independence is not something an inquiry declares. It is something it holds, and it is measured by three things: control of its evidence, its record, and its report. On its first day the Commission held none of them.

Independence is not something an inquiry declares. It is something it holds.

The Evidence

The wreck is the central exhibit. The Commission says it cannot award the salvage contract or vet the contractor. Yet Dr Jasionowski told families he has met the salvage team personally, expects daily reports from it, and named BK International before any government announcement did. The NPTAB has since confirmed the award. Royston Frank, who lost his son Rawle, a crew member, put the families’ position plainly: they “don’t know nothing that is going on.”

A body that disclaims authority over the salvage while sitting inside its information loop has the worst of both positions. It cannot protect the evidence, and it will be tied to whatever happens to it. We have argued that the Commission should hold binding approval over any contractor. It now says it does not. So the questions fall to the Government and the NPTAB. Who bid, at what price, on what evaluation, and what did the board see? We have documented a pre-tender invitation to a different contractor and a sealed bidder list. The public has not been told how that process ended in this award.

The Commission is right that it cannot freeze its other work while the vessel lies on the seabed. It also deserves credit on scope. The Chairman told families that institutions responsible for ferry services will be examined for systemic failure, and fleet-wide document requests have gone out. But those requests were sent only last week, ten weeks after the swearing-in, while the stated goal of “about six months” runs against an exhibit still underwater.

The Record

The opening statement says the Rules of Procedure have been adopted and published. Three pages later it concedes that the website is not ready and that the Terms of Reference and Rules can be had by emailing the Secretary, at a Gmail address on the letterhead. Both cannot be true. A public inquiry that asks the public to email for its own mandate has no public record yet. Hearings open on Wednesday, October 14. The record must exist before the first witness does.

The Report

The statement says the report will be delivered “to him,” the President. It makes no promise that the report, or any interim recommendation, will ever be published or tabled. The President appointed all five commissioners alone, and the Secretary who runs witness intake and standing applications has links we have already documented.

The Chairman asks the public to trust the process. A process whose findings travel to one reader, with no disclosure commitment, gives the public little to trust.

What the Statement Leaves Out

It names two departments, not the ministry above them or the ministers who answered for them. It says nothing of the three crew members charged two days before the Commission was sworn in, or of how that prosecution will interact with the evidence the Commission needs. It offers no declarations of interest. And ten weeks on, no credible source has confirmed how many people were aboard, so the toll is reported as dozens confirmed dead, more than thirty missing, and by some accounts more than a hundred in all. The Commission’s own scope lists passenger numbers and manifests. It should say when it will publish a verified count.

None of this proves the outcome is fixed. The Chairman says he has no predetermined view, and the test of that is conduct. So we set the test now.

Our Demands

• Publish the Terms of Reference, Rules of Procedure, Presidential Order and all instrument dates before Wednesday’s hearing.

• Commit in writing to publish the final report, and any interim recommendations, in full on receipt.

• Publish declarations of interest from all five commissioners and the Secretary. Commissioner Alfonso should state on the record whether she or her firm has any relationship with BK International or any other bidder, given her stated salvage experience.

• Have the NPTAB and MARAD publish the bidders, prices, evaluation and award date for the salvage.

• Place the recovery under a published chain-of-custody protocol, with independent observers and a family representative present.

• Publish a verified account of everyone aboard: the dead, the rescued and the missing.

Until they do publish the above requested , we will deem the Commission’s inquiry not as formal  proceedings but as mere performance.

— The Board