Instead of focusing on the legal aspect, senators on Thursday, Oct. 12 insisted on speeding up the provision of the assistance needed by the fishermen who were affected by the ramming incident in Bajo de Masinloc 10 days ago.

During the motu proprio inquiry on the ramming incident of the Senate Special Committee on Maritime and Admiralty Zones chaired by Sen. Francis Tolentino, he told Senior State Counsel Atty. Fretti Ganchoon from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to not be too "legalistic" and instead focus on what assistance can be provided to the fishermen considering that they have no source of income since their boat was destroyed and that the survivors also suffered emotional damage, hindering them from going out again to fish.

The panel chairman stressed that without disregarding international law, there is no need to wait for the resolutions of other jurisdictions to provide humanitarian help to the bereaved families and survivors.

Tolentino also found out during the hearing from one of the survivors Michael An that they had to throw out their catch which weighed approximately 60 kilograms in order to bring back the remains of their companions as well as the fuel they needed to get back to shore.

“Huwag na natin hintayin ‘yong ilang provisions ng international law na mabuksan dito (Let's not wait for the provisions under the international law to be opened here). Mas maganda siguro (It may be better that) we assert jurisdiction, ‘yong criminal jurisdiction ng coastal state,” he said.

“Mas maganda siguro mabigyan natin ng hustisya rin itong mga namatayan without (It's better that justice be given to those who died) waiting for the results of, for instance, the reply coming from Singapore or from the flag state,” Tolentino said.

Ganchoon affirmed this by saying that there is no international law that prevents the speedy process of humanitarian remedy for the families of fatalities and survivors.

Tolentino then urged the State Counsel and other concerned authorities present at the hearing to personally talk to the families and survivors “not just to commiserate but to arrive at an amicable resolution."

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III also believes that countries under international law are encouraged to make a compromise in order to speed up the processes of resolving incidents such as this.

Through the investigation of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the pieces of evidence that it gathered, its theory is that M/T Pacific Anna most likely rammed Filipino Fishing Boat (FFB) Dearyn. Pimentel asked if charges need to be filed just to establish liability.

"Accidents do happen. Posible namang pure accident ito eh (It's possible that this was purely an accident). If it's a pure accident, does anybody have to go to jail? Hindi (No), but we have to compensate those damaged," he said.

"Sana hindi tayo ganun ka-legalistic pagdating sa pagtulong sa mga victims (I hope we're not too legalistic when it comes to helping the victims)," he added.

He also urged the Republic of Marshall Islands not to be afraid to admit liability because in real life there are actual accidents and no one has to go to jail.

Meanwhile, Sen. Robin Padilla stressed that the government must speed up the process of giving compensation to the victims as they and their families are very poor.

"Ang akin lang gustong imungkahi sa ating taga-gobyerno at siyempre dito sa ating mga bisita, for humanitarian purposes ika nga, if we could consider because these are very poor fishermen ... I hope we could consider giving them compensation right away (I want to suggest to the government and to our visitors that for humanitarian purposes, we could consider giving them early compensation because these are very poor fishermen. I hope we could consider giving them compensation right away)," he said.

He noted that the fishermen are poor and because of this, the victims do not understand legal terminologies like the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Also, he said the victims could not afford to wait until the investigation and court processes are completed, as this could take years.

"Masyado kayong legalistic. Hindi naman nila maintindihan yan ang UNCLOS natin, kung ulit ulitin natin yan, ang UNCLOS. Mismo ang kababayan natin gulong gulo na diyan eh. Di natin maipaliwanag kung ano ang sovereignty, ano ang sovereign rights (We are too legalistic. They may not understand what UNCLOS is, or sovereignty or sovereign rights)," he said.

Capt. Leo Bolivar, Deputy Commissioner for Maritime Affairs of the Republic of Marshall Islands said that he will cascade what was discussed to his superiors.