Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 12) — The collision of a foreign vessel and a Philippine fishing boat off Bajo de Masinloc, which led to the death of three Filipinos, may have “purely been an accident,” Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel on Thursday said.
During the meeting of the Special Committee on Philippine Maritime and Admiralty Zones, Pimentel said that an accident means the ship owners “do not have to go to jail” but must pay just compensation for the deaths and damages caused by the tragedy.
“Accidents do happen,” Pimentel said. “Posible namang pure accident ito eh (It’s possible that this is purely accidental). If it’s a pure accident, does anybody have to go to jail?”
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The foreign oil tanker suspected to have rammed the boat was tagged as the “MT Princess Anna’’ from the flag state Republic of Marshall Islands. However, the owner of the boat was traced to a Singaporean company.
The Philippine Coast Guard reported that the foreign vessel came from Incheon, South Korea and collided with the fishing boat at 4:20 a.m. off Bajo de Masinloc on its course to Singapore.
Pimentel said international law “does not get in the way” of speedy settlements on accidents such as what happened to the fishing boat.
“We have to compensate those damaged. At wag na natin i-dribble or patagalin pa masyado,” he said. “That’s our appeal to our friend, neighbor, and ally the Republic of the Marshal Islands.”
“Don’t be afraid to admit liability, especially civil liability because sa tunay na buhay naman meron naman talagang tunay na aksidente (in real life there are really accidents). No one has to go to jail,” Pimentel added.
After the hearing, panel chair Senator Francis Tolentino asked the representative from the Marshall Islands and officials from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to talk to the survivors and widows from the collision to settle on proper compensation and the process the victims will go through.
Meanwhile, DOJ officials said they are still waiting for the results of PCG’s fact-finding investigation on the collision before deciding on a possible case to file.
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PCG earlier said the foreign vessel may have also violated two international regulations.
