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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Pumaren flags compensation scheme for MV Trisha Kerstin 3 victims

Pumaren flags compensation scheme for MV Trisha Kerstin 3 victims

Published Feb 13, 2026 11:59 pm

At A Glance

  • House Committee on Transportation Chairman Quezon City 3rd district Franz Pumaren has flagged the way that Aleson Shipping Lines has been compensating the victims from MV Trisha Kerstin 3--the ferry that sunk off the waters of Basilan late last month.
Quezon City 3rd district Franz Pumaren (PPAB)
Quezon City 3rd district Franz Pumaren (PPAB)


House Committee on Transportation Chairman Quezon City 3rd district Franz Pumaren has flagged the way that Aleson Shipping Lines has been compensating the victims from MV Trisha Kerstin 3--the ferry that sunk off the waters of Basilan late last month.
The committee quizzed lawyer Zoe Goco--representative of Aleson, which owned the doomed vessel--on the compensation details during its inquiry Thursday, Feb.12 about the tragedy.
Goco told the panel that the company allegedly provided ₱50,000 to each survivor and ₱200,000 to the family of each fatality as a “cash advance,” amounting to a total of ₱21 million.
The lawyer said that the company was expecting an insurance claim, thus the cash advance.
However, Pumaren questioned this as he pointing out that the amount could still be reimbursed. This suggests that Aleson didn't actually release funds for tje victims.
Goco explained that there was a pending investigation regarding the incident, but the attending lawmakers didn't accept this reasoning.
Over 50 passenger perished from the sinking of MV Trisha Kerstin 3, which was reportedly overcrowded at the time of the incident. There were at least 316 survivors.
It was learned during the committee hearing that the life vests were kept inside locked cabinets, which the passengers had to frantically break open as the ferry began to sink.
When they did manage to retrieve the life jackets, they were found to be damaged and unusable.
If that wasn't bad enough, Pumaren noted that there weren't enough jackets for everyone to begin with. He said this was usually the case for vessels like MV Trisha Kerstin 3.
“In fact, I want to commend yung sea marshal, sa sobrang kulang ng life vest binigay niya yung life vest nya sa isang pasahero. Same thing dun sa kasama niya binigay yung life vest niya sa isang pasahero and yun ang medyo na-disgrasya,” Pumaren said.
(In fact, I want to commend the sea marshal. Because there were so few life vests, he gave his own to a passenger. The same thing happened with his companion, he handed over his life vest to another passenger, and that unfortunately led to his misfortune.)
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