Empress execs indicted over Mindoro oil spill

Criminal charges have been recommended against the executives of a shipping company that owns and operates the motor tanker Princess Empress, which sank and caused a massive oil spill in the waters off Oriental Mindoro and nearby areas last year.

Aside from the officers of the RDC Reield Marine Services, owner and operator of the Empress, indicted were two crewmembers of the vessel, an employee of the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) and a private person, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement yesterday.

This developed after a panel of DOJ prosecutors reportedly uncovered irregularities in the construction of the Empress and its certificate of public convenience.

State prosecutors reportedly found out that the RDC submitted falsified documents, including the construction certificate and the affidavit of ownership of the vessel.

They said the charges to be filed included multiple counts of falsification of public documents by a private person, multiple use of falsified documents and multiple counts of falsification of official documents.

The prosecutors dismissed for lack of probable cause the charges filed against 19 employees of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and an employee of the MARINA.

The MARINA and the PCG said they have yet to receive a copy of the charge sheet.

The PCG, unaware that the charges against its employees were dropped, said it would provide them assistance.

“We respect the decision of the DOJ, but we need to read the official document to see and thoroughly study the charges filed against our personnel,” PCG spokesman Rear Admiral Armand Balilo said.

The MARINA said it would cooperate to ensure the immediate resolution of the case.

The DOJ did not identify the respondents including those whose charges were dismissed.

The Empress was loaded with 800,000 liters of industrial fuel when it sank near the coast of Naujan town on the morning of Feb. 28, 2023.

The oil slick spread to the shores of Antique, Batangas and Palawan.

It displaced thousands of fisherfolk and families in 107 villages.

In June last year, Mayor Jennifer Cruz of Pola town and the National Bureau of Investigation-Environment Crime Division filed a complaint against 35 people before the DOJ in connection with the sea accident.

Pola was among the towns in Oriental Mindoro that were badly affected by the oil spill.

Aside from the owners of the Empress, among the 35 respondents were employees of the motor tanker and the PCG as well as two employees of the MARINA.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla gave assurance that the people responsible for the oil spill would be held accountable.

Cruz welcomed the DOJ’s recommendation to file charges, saying the decision came in time for the first anniversary of the maritime catastrophe.

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