MANILA, Philippines — Family members of the 12 Filipino fishermen and two other passengers of a fishing boat who went missing after a collision with a Chinese ship will receive P1 million each, the Philippine Coast Guard announced Thursday.
On June 27, FV Liberty 5 sank in the vicinity waters off Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro after a collision with Hong Kong-flagged MV Vienna Wood.
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Adm. George Urabia Jr., commandant of the PCG, said the stakeholders of MV Vienna Wood and FV Liberty 5 will hold a formal settlement for the damages caused by the collision at the coast guard headquarters on August 24.
MV Vienna Wood will provide compensations worth P1 million each to the families of the 14 Filipinos who went missing following the maritime mishap.
"That's highly acceptable for the realities of the missing persons," Ursabia said in a mix of English and Filipino during a virtual press briefing.
Aside from the compensation for the families, the Chinese vessel will provide a settlement amount of P40 million to Irma Fishing and Trading Inc., the owner of FV Liberty 5.
Initial investigation showed that the Hong Kong-flagged vessel took three hours to report the collision to authorities.
The PCG received the distress call from the master of MV Vienna Wood at around 1 a.m. on June 28 while the collision happened at around 10:20 p.m. on June 27.
A week after launching the search and rescue operations for the missing Filipinos, the PCG filed criminal charges against the shipping company, master and officers of MV Vienna Wood.
At least four individuals were charged with reckless imprudence resulting to multiple homicide and damage to property before an Occidental Mindoro court. — Patricia Lourdes Viray