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