PCG wants Sulpicio billed P15M

MANILA, Philippines – Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) commandant, disclosed yesterday the government will urge Sulpicio Lines Inc. (SLI) to reimburse the P15 million spent in the search and rescue operations for victims of the M/V Princess of the Stars that sank at the height of typhoon “Frank” off Sibuyan Island in Romblon last June 21.

He said the PCG conducted search and rescue and retrieval operations for almost a month in the area.

The PCG also implemented measures to prevent possible oil spill and hazardous effects of the tragedy to the marine environment.

PCG units have already spent P15 million worth of fuel and other expenses during the operations.

Tamayo said the PCG would request SLI to reimburse the expenses of the operations.

He recalled that the PCG also spent millions of pesos for the search and rescue and retrieval operations that lasted for three months following the bombing of SuperFerry 14, owned by Aboitiz Transport Systems Inc. in 2004.

The terrorists bombed the ferry that killed hundreds of persons. Aboitiz reimbursed the PCG for its expenses.

“We hope that Sulpicio Lines will also reimburse our expenses,” Tamayo said.

The Coast Guard set up oil spill booms around the shipwreck to prevent the spread of oil spill in case of an oil spill, he said.

Tamayo said the PCG would continue to secure the wreckage and assist in remediation of a potential oil spill and for other environmental protection measures.

Undersecretary Ma. Elena Bautista of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said during a recent press conference that SLI has not been helping out much.

Bautista is the chairperson of the inter-agency Task Force M/V Princess of the Stars, which is currently conducting assessments on the environmental condition of the site in Sibuyan Island where the vessel capsized.

They are also negotiating for the planned recovery of the toxic materials inside the ship, as well as the plan to either re-float the vessel or pull the ship to shore.

Bautista said the government is currently doing almost all the work in the operation with assistance from foreign agencies.

She said SLI that should be doing all the work and the firm should shoulder all the expenses of the tragedy, which SLI has not been doing since day one.

“They (SLI) should be spending for all of these,” Bautista was quoted as saying earlier.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said a joint team of experts from the United Nations and the European Union noted that the efforts of the Philippine government to prevent and control a potential environmental and human disaster have been successful.

He said according to the experts, the government is “on track with what they are doing to assess the situation.”

The presence of these international experts is part of the coordination of the Department of Health (DOH) with the World Health Organization.

The DOH sub-task force on hazardous materials has instituted preventive measures that include a fishing ban along a five-kilometer radius.

Ermita explained this is in keeping with an earlier advisory from Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on the need for such a prudent precaution.

The DOH is now looking at the acute health and nutrition effects of the fish ban and will work with the WHO and the local communities in Sibuyan to address concerns, he said.

“On the other hand, health assessments on the divers to detect exposures to the harmful chemicals have also been made by the DOH and no acute signs of pesticide poisoning were found,” he said. With Paolo Romero