Hontiveros calls on DFA to compel Gulf Livestock 1 owner to expedite retrieval, recovery ops
MANILA, Philippines — On behalf of the families of 36 still-missing Filipino seafarers, Sen. Risa Hontiveros this week urged Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. to compel the owner of the ill-fated Gulf Livestock 1 to recover the ship and, possibly, the bodies of those missing.
"I would like to respectfully convey their request that the owner of the vessel – Gulf Navigation Holding – be pressured to expedite marine salvage operations for the purpose of recovering any remains that may still be within the wreck of the ship,” Hontiveros said in a letter addressed to Locsin.
The families of the missing Filipino seafarers last month made the same plea to the government during an online forum hosted by Hontiveros, emphasizing the need to check the ship for trapped bodies.
In her letter, the senator noted that the Panamanian-flagged vessel recorded mechanical defects and operational issues before it sank off the coast of southwest Japan in September amid Typhoon Maysak.
"Gulf Livestock 1 had a noticeably checkered past, with European shipping database Equasis listing 25 port state control deficiencies in 2019 and 2020 alone, including a number related to the main engine," she said.
"On 25 July 2020, a Philippine Navy vessel, the Miguel Malvar-class patrol corvette BRP Magat Salamat was even directed to deploy to an area 6.6 nautical miles off Davao Occidental province so that its engineers could assist in repairing the engine of the ill-fated vessel," Hontiveros added.
Citing what she called the negligence of the ship's owner, the senator argued that Gulf Navigation Holding be made primarily liable for the expenses incurred for retrieval operations.
“Gulf Navigation Holding must be held accountable for the sinking of their ship. The [ship] already had problems but it was still made to travel. They also should not be allowed to ignore seafarers who are technically their employees," a separate statement released by Hontiveros reads in Filipino.
'Families of missing seafarers need closure'
In her letter to Locsin, Hontiveros emphasized the plight of the families affected by the tragedy who are still seeking closure more than two months after their relatives went missing.
Maya Addug-Sanchez, sister of the sunken vessel's captain, Dante Addug, last month said that she and other relatives of the missing crew members had been writing directly to the ship's owner but received non-committal replies.
While Addug-Sanchez acknowledged the government's support through its coordination with foreign countries such as Japan and China, she emphasized that the families' most urgent request is to have the boat checked and that they need the government's help to convince the ship's owner to do so.
"I feel like if we had the full support of the government and if…the ship owner and the principal can see that our government is supporting that call, I think they would feel... pressured [to do so]," she said. "Its very unfortunate and I feel sad and frustrated because there is no response to our request," she added in a mix of English and Filipino.
Mary Joy Fortun, wife to one of the missing seafarers, during a House panel hearing similarly pleaded with the government to lobby for surface and island-to-island rescue operations.
"The Philippines is not allowed to enter because it is their territory. But we do not lose hope and we believe that our counterparts are good people. Our assurance is that we will do our best," DFA Undersecretary Sarah Arriola replied in Filipino.
DFA assistance
At the same hearing, Administrator of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Hans Leo Cacdac told lawmakers that the OWWA board of trustees agreed on a package of assistance for families of the crew members that would include the following:
- death and burial benefits
- livelihood package benefits
- P200,000 financial assistance
- financial assistance or scholarship for one dependent until they graduate
- for the two survivors: psychosocial counseling, stress debriefing, P100,000 financial assistance, and financial aid or scholarship for one dependent until they graduate
- For the lone confirmed fatality: death and burial benefit, livelihood benefit, scholarship for one dependent
— with a report from Xave Gregorio
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