4 Pinoy seamen get P12 M reward

Four Filipino seamen received $250,000 (roughly P12 million) from the US government yesterday as a reward for reporting violations of US and international environmental laws to the US coast guard.

Jonathan Sanchez, Jimmy Piamonte, Florencio Tolentino and Richard Santillan received the cash awards from US Embassy chargé d’affaires Joseph Mussomeli during a ceremony held at the Charles Parsons Ballroom of the US Embassy in Manila.

The US Embassy said the seamen’s initiative resulted in convictions and a fine for the shipping company that owned M/V Katerina, a large ocean-going vessel found to be polluting Los Angeles Bay. — Pia Lee-Brago