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By Maricel V. Cruz, Reporter
The M/V Carmela sank more than
six years ago, but families of victims who died in that tragedy have
yet to receive justice—as the case remains aground in the Makati
Regional Trial Court.
Instead of waiting for the case
to finish, Rep. Antonio T. Kho of Masbate is pressing for
compensation for the families of the 211 passengers who died aboard
that ferry.
The Doña Carmela, which is owned
by the Montenegro Shipping Lines Inc., burned and sank off the coast
of Pagbilao, Quezon, in April 2001. The ferry was reportedly
carrying at least 500 passengers from Masbate to Lucena.
Kho, a first-term congressman,
was Masbate governor when the tragedy happened.
He appealed to the ship owners to
make an out-of-court settlement so as to “to give cheer to the
victims’ long-grieving kin,” Kho said in a recent privileged
speech.
“Most of these families are
poor and live below the poverty line and can hardly underwrite,
individually or collectively, expenses for sustained litigation,”
Kho said in his speech.
“I appeal to the sense of
compassion and understanding of Montenegro,” Kho said. “My
provincemates have been waiting for that elusive justice for more
than six years now, and that is almost an eternity of waiting.”
He said the settlement was
estimated to cost Montenegro Shipping at least P48 million. At the
same time, Kho called on the Makati RTC to expedite the case.
To prevent such long periods of
settlements from happening again, Kho said he plans to file a bill
preventing a shipping company from operating anywhere in the
Philippines until indem-nities are paid.
Montenegro Shipping is banned
from plying the Masbate-Lucena route, and Kho said that the Maritime
Industry Authority (Marina) should continue that ban.
Marina has banned another
shipping firm from plying the same route, the Magic Ferries Inc. It
owns the M/V Water Princess, which ran aground in July 2007 off San
Francisco coast in Quezon, claiming the lives of 10 passengers and a
crewmember.
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