Filipino officers sought to join US probe on Tubbataha incident

MANILA, Philippines - The United States (US) will invite officials of the Navy and Coast Guard to participate in the probe on the grounding of the warship USS Guardian in Tubbataha Reef.

Lt. Col. Jason Chamness, deputy chief of the Joint US Military Assistance Group (JUSMAG), said the Philippine officials would be invited to their headquarters in Japan.

“The Philippine Navy and Coast Guard have been invited to come to Japan to also partake and be briefed on the investigations,” Chamness said in a press briefing Thursday.

“They’re (US investigators) bringing Philippine officials over and we’re coordinating that and they’ll probably go back a couple more times as investigating continues,” he added.

Chamness did not say when the probe would be completed. However,  he said,  the retrieval operations of USS Guardian may be completed next month.

When asked whether the crew members of the USS Guardian would be slapped with administrative sanctions, US officials said they cannot speculate.

“They will be considering all things in it. If there is any violation of the uniformed code of military justice, I’m sure they will be handled in the appropriate manner.” Chamness said.

“I invite you to look at the uniformed code of military justice to see what is included in the code but to answer the question directly, that would be prejudging the investigation,” said Steve Weston of the US Embassy’s political section.

US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. said they would help the Philippines rehabilitate the reef, which is known for its extensive coral network.

“We’ve been working carefully with the Philippine Navy and Coast Guard to remove the ship without additional damage to the reef,” Thomas said.

“We know honestly it will take years to repair that part of the reef,” he added.

The 1,300-ton, 68-meter-long USS Guardian got stuck dawn of Jan. 17 at the reef’s south atoll. The vessel was on its way to Puerto Princesa after a port call in Subic Bay when the incident happened.

The US Navy has attributed the incident to “faulty navigation chart data” but some sectors believe the incident was caused by human error.

Transportation Sec. Joseph Abaya previously said he has been hearing theories that US sailors manning the ship may have had too much “rest and recreation” in Subic.

The reef pans 130,028 hectares and has been named a World Heritage Site.