PCG should face raps for allowing MT Princess Empress to sail sans permit to operate —Tulfo

Philippine Coast Guard personnel who allowed MT Princess Empress to sail without permit to operate should face charges for dereliction of duty, Senator Raffy Tulfo said Tuesday.

The lawmaker issued the remark after PCG Vice Admiral Joseph Coyme said the inspectors did not tick off the box for MT Princess Empress’ Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC) in its pre-departure inspection checklist.

“Doon nagkaroon ng kapabayaan. Kung hindi lang po sana naging pabaya ang mga tao ninyo, hindi napayagang maglayag ‘yon dahil kulang sa dokumento, hindi sana tayo nag-uusap lahat dito,” Tulfo said at a Senate hearing on the oil spill.

(That's where the negligence occured. If your personnel were not negligent, they would have not allowed it to sail for lack of document. This would not have happened.)

“So dapat ‘yung mga nag-check niyan kasuhan at makulong dahil sa kapabayaan, dereliction of duty. 'Di ho ba? Pati ‘yung mga supervisor n’yan kasuhan din kasi po paulit ulit na lamang 'to, Madam Chair…Ito ngayon walang permit to operate…and yet nakalusot dahil hindi ininspect nang mabuti, nang maayos ng PCG ‘yung mga requirements,” he added.

(Those who checked it should be charged and jailed for negligence, dereliction of duty. Even their supervisors should be charged because this is a recurring incident. It has no permit to operate yet was able to sail because it was not inspected thoroughly, the PCG did not look for the requirements.)

Should this happen again next time, Tulfo said raps should be filed against high-ranking PCG officials.

“So next time, ‘wag na po ito mangyari dahil kung mangyari po ito 'di lang ang kakasuhan 'yung mga nag-iinspect, ‘yung commander na siguro, kataas-taasan,” he said.

(This should not happen against because if there will be a repeat of this, even the commander, the senior officials, should be charged as well.)

Senator Risa Hontiveros also grilled PCG after Vice Admiral Lizor Punzalan Jr., deputy commandant for operations, said their personnel did not board the vessel for inspection.

Pressed to answer if PCG personnel boarded MT Princess Empress for its pre-departure inspection, Coyme responded: “This is really what we really want to forward to national headquarters to conduct administrative investigation pertaining to lapses of our personnel, if such indicates.”

Punzalan said the personnel involved are currently under the custody of their unit while they are conducting their investigation.

“Wala akong ma-imagine na inspection ng barko na hindi binoard ang barko. Parang dumadami ‘yung mga list of agencies na possibly accountable sa nangyari na ito. Sa kabila ng mga heroic efforts ninyo to respond, pero ‘di ba sinasabi an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” Hontiveros quipped.

(I can't imagine an inspection where the PCG personnel did not board the vessel. It seems the list of agencies possibly accountable for this incident is getting longer. Despite your heroic efforts to respond, there is a saying that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.)

At the early part of the hearing, it was disclosed that the vessel had sailed nine times without the authority to operate.

In a post on its Facebook page, the PCG shared the CPC of MT Princess Empress issued by Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), contrary to the report that the PCG cleared the vessel without CPC.

The document showed that the vessel was granted a CPC on February 6, 2017 and valid for 25 years or until February 6, 2042.

Meanwhile, Oriental Mindoro Governor Humerlito Dolor said there was no direct assistance to affected residents from RDC Reield Marine Services.

“We met once po, but what we are asking is this, two things: the first one is on response clean-up, there, they are helping us…but as far as the direct assistance to our kababayan, 'yun po ang wala (there is none). And that’s what we are asking sana kasabay ng gobyerno kasi hindi po kaya ng gobyerno i-sustain. Masyado pong mabigat ito (they should assist us alongside the government because the government can't do it alone. This is a heavy task),” the governor said.

According to Fritzee Tee, vice president of the RDC Reield Marine Services—the owner of MT Princess Empress, the assistance on oil spill response is coursed through the PCG and they are mulling a cash-for-work program for affected residents.

Asked if they are already distributing the procured food packs for the affected residents, Tee revealed that Pola, Oriental Mindoro Mayor Jennifer Cruz refused to get help from their company.

Cruz explained they did not ask for help from RDC Reield Marine Services because the latter failed to give them a clear plan regarding the payment of the damages incurred.

“Ang sabi ko po sa kanila, ilatag mo 'yung kailangan na ilalatag ninyo for us. ‘Yung tulong ninyo na binibigay is mga bigas, mga ganyan pero hindi ninyo sinasabi sa amin 'yung clear na plano ninyo for Pola doon sa mga damages, and all that,” she said.

“Hindi na po kasi bumalik sa akin after that. Ang tagal kong naghihintay sa kanila for nine days…hinihingi ko sa kanya. Never sila nagreply sa amin, pinapatayan kami ng phone,” she added.

(I told them to show us the assistance they will provide us. They will give us rice but they are not telling us their clear plan for Pola, the damages and all that. They did not talk to me again after that. I waited for them for nine days. They did not reply to us, they hang up the phone.)

Cruz said Tee’s sister-in-law just reached out to them when they were about to speak on national television.

“Sabi ko, di ko tatanggapin 'yan kasi why now? Kasi sobrang tagal naming naghihintay sa inyo…marami nang nagkasakit, marami nang naapektuhan, pero walang tulong. Sobrang tagal, 14 days na po. Hanggang kailan kami maghihintay,” she said.

(I told them that I will not accept it because why now? We have been waiting for you for so long, many of our constituents have been sick, many have been affected but no assistance came. It's too long, 14 days. Until when are we going to wait.)—AOL, GMA Integrated News