Senator Raffy Tulfo asked the Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Thursday, Feb. 12, to study filing murder charges against Aleson Shipping Lines, which owns the sunken MV Trisha Kerstin 3 that killed 51 passengers.

"Pag-aralan niyo po kung baka pwedeng murder (Please study whether murder charges can be considered)," Tulfo told DOTr Asec. Manuel Cabochan during the hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Services.

Tulfo stated this is because of the fact that the shipping lines knew that the vessel was not seaworthy and overloaded, and yet they still allowed it to sail.

"Alam na nila na may mamatay kapag nag-go sila sa pagpapalaot nung barko...Mas maganda siguro murder (They already knew that people could die if they allowed the ship to set sail...It's better if they're charged with murder)," he added.

Cabochan explained that the investigation report is still partial and that the filing of cases would be completed once retrieval operations on the sunken vessel are finished.

Tulfo rejected the idea of limiting the charges to administrative violations, noting that since 2019, Aleson Shipping Lines has accumulated 32 recorded violations.

He also pointed out that the vessel was 31 years old, exceeding the 30-year operational limit, and should have been retired, yet it was still allowed to operate and was even issued a safety certification.

Aside from Aleson Shipping Lines, Tulfo is also asking the DOTr to file criminal cases against personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and MARINA who were negligent in the incident.

On the other hand, he pressed officials from the Philippine National Police (PNP), the DOTr, and the PCG on how the number of missing passengers was determined.

PNP Forensic Group Acting Director Police Colonel Pierre Paul F. Carpio said their unit had already received 34 cadavers for disaster victim identification (DVI) processing.

Tulfo questioned why authorities continued to cite 24 missing persons, saying the actual number could be significantly higher.

“Hindi dun sa missing bakit niyo nasabi na 24 ang missing, pwedeng 50 yan, pwedeng 60 (Why did you say there are 24 missing when it comes to the missing passengers? It could be 50, it could be 60),” Tulfo said, stressing that reliance on the vessel’s passenger manifest may be unreliable if the ship was overloaded.

Cabochan said the figure of 24 missing was based on numbers earlier provided by the PCG.

Tulfo said that if overloading occurred, there could be passengers not listed in the manifest, making the official count unreliable.

“Kasi inamin niyo overloading yun. Pag overloading may mga excess passengers dun na wala sa manifest na pwedeng may kasama sa missing (Because you admitted there was overloading. If the vessel was overloaded, there could be extra passengers not listed in the manifest who may be among the missing),” he said, urging authorities to avoid giving fixed numbers and instead use estimates such as “24 or more.”

Cabochan acknowledged inconsistencies in the passenger manifest, confirming that some recovered survivors and cadavers were not listed.

“Meron hong inconsistencies sa passenger manifest dahil ho dun sa pagrecover ho ng survivors and yun pong cadavers is wala ho sila dun sa manifest (There are inconsistencies in the passenger manifest because, in the process of recovering survivors and cadavers, some of them were not listed in the manifest),” he said.

Tulfo said the discrepancies must be addressed to ensure proper identification of victims, accurate reporting to families, and accountability for safety violations.