‘US ship crewmen in Tubbataha case may not be criminally prosecuted’

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines– Crew members of the US ship that ran aground in Tubbataha Reef last month may not be criminally prosecuted due to practices granting immunity to foreign vessels, an official said yesterday.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya said efforts to make the crew of the USS Guardian criminally liable are “tricky” because of international law.

“It becomes tricky because it’s an accepted international belief, international law, general practice of international law, that men of war, foreign naval vessels, enjoy immunity, especially if there is a line of duty,” Abaya said on the sidelines of the Philippine Military Academy alumni homecoming here.

“That has been practiced (worldwide) so it would be difficult on that part,” he added.

Under Republic Act 10067, the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park shall be off limits to navigation except for activities like tourism and research. The law also prohibits the entry to the reef without the permission of the Tubbataha Protected Area Management Board.

Violators will be meted a jail term of up to one year and a fine ranging from P100,000 to P300,000 as determined by the board.

Abaya though gave assurance that the full extent of the law would be enforced on the USS Guardian crew.    

“Definitely this is a big embarrassment not only to the US Navy but the US government,” he said.

Tubbataha, which spans 130,028 hectares, was named a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1993. Because of its extensive coral network, the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Marine Park in the Sulu Sea has been declared a protected area.

On Jan. 17, the 1,300-ton, 68-meter-long USS Guardian ran aground at Tubbataha Reef’s south atoll, raising concerns about the destruction it would cause in the area.

The Guardian was reportedly on its way to Puerto Princesa in Palawan after a port call in Subic Bay when the incident happened.

The US Navy has blamed “faulty navigation chart data” for the incident. Some sectors, however, refuse to believe this and attribute the accident to human error.

Abaya said he has been hearing theories that US sailors manning the ship may have had too much “rest and recreation” in Subic.

“Some say they probably enjoyed too much of an R and R (rest and recreation) in Subic, they said (there was) error in digital charts. Some say they were doing a different thing there,” Abaya said without elaborating.

“All speculations so it would be irresponsible on my part to even assume,” he added.

Abaya said they remain hopeful that the salvage operations for the ship would be completed next month.

“We try to be confident because the operations there are coincidental, all dependent on the weather. Inasmuch as we want it to be continuous, if the weather deteriorates, for personal safety we have to stop,” he said.

The US Navy has hired crane ships to extract the ship and to prevent further damage to the reef.

The first ship, Singapore-based Smit Borneo, arrived at the atoll last Feb. 6 but failed to start the operations due to the failure of its anchors to latch onto the sandy bottom.

Authorities then decided to wait for the arrival of a second ship, M/T Jascon 25. The 14,829-gross ton and 118-meter-long crane vessel arrived in the area yesterday. – With Evelyn Macairan, Michelle Zoleta