Still no 2GO response to Cordova’s demand

CEBU, Philippines - The management of 2GO Group, owner of the ill-fated M/V St. Thomas Aquinas that sank at Lauis Ledge in Talisay City, late last year, stressed that it will reserve its official response to the demand of the municipality of Cordova once it get hold of a copy of the letter. 

“We believe it would be prudent and proper to wait for the mayor’s letter before crafting our official response,” said 2GO Group Cebu General Manager Boy Mundo.

Earlier this week, Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy sent a formal demand letter to 2Go Group and Philippine Span Asia Corp., owner of cargo vessel Sulpicio Express Siete, stating that the oil spill caused by the sea collision has damaged the town in the amount of P126 million.

Mundo stressed that they would want to confer first with Sitoy to clarify important matters. 

“We likewise prefer to meet Mayor Sitoy first and learn first-hand why 2Go is being treated on the same level as the party responsible for the collision and had not been quite active in the oil spill cleanup efforts,” the statement added.

M/V Saint Thomas Aquinas sank shortly after it collided with Sulpicio Express Siete last August 16, 2013.

Both ship captains, in successive hearings after, claimed that they were in the right lane and it was the other ship that was at fault for crossing lanes. No formal announcement on the findings of the investigation has been released up to this date.

In a letter reply sent to Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) dated September 5, 2013, 2GO Group insisted that their vessel was not at fault.

“We advise that 2GO’s M/V St. Thomas Aquinas (STA) is not the vessel at fault for the collision that transpired last 16 August 2013. The sinking of STA is beyond 2GO’s control and whatever environmental impact the sinking of STA may have caused to Cordova, Cebu was an unavoidable and unintentional consequence of the foregoing,” the reply of 2GO on the notice of violation read.

In the same communication, they reiterated that the company adopted several measures to minimize and eradicate the environmental impact of the sinking of the STA.

These included tapping siphoning experts from International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF), the London Offshore Consultants (LOC) and Malayan Towage and Salvage Corporation and Nippon Salvage, dialogue with affected constituents, local disaster risk reduction council and Philippine Coast Guard.  (FREEMAN)