DOJ recommends filing of criminal charges vs Solar I skipper

The Special Task Force on Guimaras of the Department of Justice (DOJ) recommended yesterday the filing of criminal charges against the owners of MT Solar I and the skipper of the sunken oil tanker.

Task Force chairman and DOJ Undersecretary Ernesto Pineda said their initial investigation showed Sunshine Maritime Development Corp., the owners of the Solar I , as well as its skipper Capt. Norberto Aguro should be held liable for reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide and civil liability for damages caused by the oil spill.

Pineda said Aguro should be held criminally liable for running a ship that he is not qualified to handle.

"We found out that the license of Capt. Aguro expired on Jan. 21, 2000. He said that he is a Master Mariners Certificate holder. It means that he is a master in running vessels valid only for chemical tankers. Aguro can only man a chemical tanker. But Solar I is a bunker oil tanker," Pineda pointed out.

He said Aguro is guilty of negligence for accepting to transport the bunker oil in his tanker notwithstanding that he is only a master mariner certificate holder.

"The qualifications are not the same for the two running vessels," Pineda said.

"We recommended the filing of violation of the penal code for reckless imprudence resulting to homicide and damages because there were two crew (members) who remained missing," he said.

Pineda claimed the ship was also overloaded when it left Bataan for Zamboanga under inclement weather.

He said Aguro allowed four more people on board the ship that had a capacity of only 16.

"The extra persons were sent by Petron (which chartered the Solar I) to the cargo up to Zamboanga City. The ship captain committed three violations in Bataan. He did not use a tug boat in docking the vessel. Under maritime rules, you must have a tug assistance which will guide the main vessel when it docks. Petron refused to tug the vessel. They merely appointed an auxiliary captain," he said.

Pineda said Aguro also admitted during the hearing last Monday of proceeding to Zamboanga City despite the bad weather.

Aguro had told the DOJ panel that after pumping out volumes of water from the starboard (right) portion of the ship on the day before it sank, they proceeded with their voyage.

He also admitted having forgone use of a tug boat to guide them, claiming this would spare employer Sunshine Maritime considerable expense.

Pineda said they would submit their findings and recommendations to President Arroyo.

Mrs. Arroyo had vowed a full investigation into the country’s worst- ever oil spill off Guimaras and ordered the DOJ to head an investigation into the criminal aspect of the case.

Pineda said the panel will continue its investigation on the oil spill on Friday where officials of the Philippine Coast Guard and the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) are scheduled to appear.

He said the crew of the sunken vessel, the alleged Japanese owners and their Filipino business partners will be among those who are expected to testify.

"We intend to summon the crew of the vessel to find out the true situation of the captain. Was he sleeping? Was he drunk? Was he present during the accident so that this will not happen again?" Pineda said.

He said the DOJ will also determine whether the Filipino and Japanese owners have violated a number of statutes over the oil spill.

He said the officials of Sunshine, who were earlier placed under the watchlist of the Bureau of Immigration, would be summoned in the hearing.

Among them are Dionisio Parulan, Gregorio Flores, Clemente Cancio, Roberto Mena, Angelita Buenaventura and Japanese nationals Mototsugu Yamaguchi, Hiroyasu Yamaguchi, Tomoki Tsubomoto and Hiromi Irishika.

The tanker was contracted by Petron to carry two million liters (500,000 gallons) of bunker oil when it sank 24 kilometers off Guimaras coast on Aug. 11.

The incident caused an ecological disaster after some 50,000 gallons of oil initially leaked into the sea causing black sludge to be washed up on more than 300 kilometers of coastline on Guimaras. — With Ronilo Pamonag, Katherine Adraneda