Complaint filed vs tanker firm, PCG, Marina over oil spill

THE NATIONAL Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Tuesday filed a criminal complaint against the owners of the sunken fuel tanker that caused a major oil spill in Oriental Mindoro.

Officials from the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) were also named in the complaint that cites falsified documents for the vessel MT Princess Empress.

At a livestreamed news briefing, Justice spokesman Jose Dominic F. Clavano IV said officers from the NBI’s Environmental Crime Division filed the complaint over an alleged conspiracy between the government officials and the ship owners to illegally register the vessel.

“There were those who made statements under oath and then there are statements that contradicted these, stating that the condition of the ship is not how they present it to be,” he said in mixed English and Filipino

The Department of Justice and the NBI have yet to release a copy of the complaint to the media.

The tanker was carrying 800,000 liters of industrial oil when it sank off Naujan, Oriental Mindoro on Feb. 28, affecting the fisheries and tourism sectors. — John Victor D. Ordoñez