Marina director sacked over Mindoro oil spill

MANILA, Philippines — A regional director of the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) has been ordered dismissed for grave misconduct and gross negligence of duty in connection with the sinking of the MTKR Princess Empress that resulted in a massive oil spill in February last year, affecting Oriental Mindoro’s marine ecosystem.

In a statement, Transportation Secretary instructed Marina administrator Sonia Malaluan to immediately implement the dismissal of Region V Director Jaime Bea.

Bautista affirmed Bea’s dismissal after it was reportedly confirmed that he was culpable of grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of service over his role that led to the incident.

“We have had sinkings before, but no one has been held to account. This time all parties, whether private or public, will be held accountable. There will be no exception. Our policy is zero tolerance to shortcuts, official negligence and disregard of rules. The rule of law, good governance and best practices must prevail throughout the department and its agencies,” Bautista said.

He added that Bea allegedly signed and approved the Certificate of Ownership (CO)/Certificate of Philippine Registry (CPR) of Princess Empress which is in direct contravention of established rules and procedures, on the venue of registration of trampers.

Bea also allegedly failed to maintain the integrity of the processes in the Domestic Shipping Section and enforce the provisions of the Citizen’s Charter, which allowed Marina Regional Office V engineer Joe Buban to process documents outside the scope of his duties.

Bea’s actions resulted in millions of pesos of damage to the government when it conducted oil spill response operations and tarnished the image and integrity of Marina, according to Secretary Bautista.

On Feb. 28 last year, Princess Empress was carrying 900,000 liters of industrial fuel oil when it sank near Naujan, Oriental Mindoro and affected several coastal towns in the area, including the livelihood of residents.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) yesterday reported that an estimated 300 liters out of the 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil had already been removed from the MTKR Terranova that sank off Bataan last July 25 at the height of Typhoon Carina’s onslaught.