The Department of Justice (DOJ) is looking into the grounding of the reported three sister vessels of MT Princess Empress which sank off the cost of Naujan in Oriental Mindoro and spilled 800,000 liters of industrial oil.
The oil spill has reportedly spread to nearby provinces and has affected several tourist sites and beach resorts. The greater disaster caused by the oil spill is the effects on the livelihood of thousands of fishermen.
On the grounding of the three alleged sister vessels of MT Princess Empress, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla said: “Dapat dito kung similar vessels i-ground din natin lalo na same owner ‘yan (These vessels should be grounded especially they belong to the same owner).”
Remulla said that “MT Princess Empress is the newest licensee. Apat na barko ‘yan. Hindi lang nila maipasok sa isang permit (These are four vessels. The owner just didn't place them in one permit).”
“Habang maaga awatin na natin kasi ito baka paulit-ulit mangyari sa atin (This early, we should stop them before the same incident happens again),” he said.
Earlier, Remulla had said that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has in its possession an affidavit from a person who is privy to information about MT Princess Empress. He did not identify the person.
“Isang major finding natin ay hindi siya brand new vessel (One of the major findings is that the vessel is no longer new),” said Remulla who noted some misrepresentations that MT Princess Empress was a brand- new vessel.
He said he was also informed that despite gale warnings, the vessel still left the port on Feb. 28 and eventually sank.
“It was not built to be a tanker from the very beginning. And we’re looking from the angle of insurance also kasi parang may insurance siyang napakalaki (because it appears it has a large amount of insurance),” he added.
Amidst reports that the vessel is insured for a billion dollars, Remulla assured that he will not allow any insurance fraud.
At the same time, Remulla said an inter-agency panel will be formed in the case-build up to determine civil and criminal cases that may be filed against the owners of the MT Princess Empress.
There is a need for a “whole government approach” to the oil spill issue and the NBI will be part of the panel, he said.
He said that officials of the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) will be summoned to the DOJ as part of the ongoing investigation.
“We will tell them to bring everything about the Princess Empress that they have on file and everybody who has something to do with the process na binigyan sila ng mga permits (that they issued the permits),” he said.
He said the vessel should have undergone inspection prior the issuance of permits.
He also said that MARINA will be asked “to give us the permitting process na dinaanan ng lahat (to give us the permitting process that everyone has to go through), to walk us through how they gave MT Princess Empress all these regulatory permits needed for it to be able to set sail in Philippine waters.”
Also, Remulla said that on top of civil and criminal liabilities, the panel would also look into the extent of the damage caused by the oil spill.
“We will be contacting one of the foremost authorities in the world’s marine biodiversity, Dr. Kent Carpenter, na tulungan tayo rito (to help us here) to estimate, to assess the damage brought by this oil spill,” he revealed.
Wikipedia says Dr. Carpenter “is a professor of a professor of biological sciences at Old Dominion University, in Norfolk, Virginia” and whose “ work in marine biogeography for the Indian Ocean and west Pacific Ocean has led to work in marine conservation and comparative phylogeography using population genetics, with a special interest in the Philippines.”