The families of the 14 Filipinos who went missing after their fishing boat collided with a Chinese cargo vessel in the waters off Cape Calavites, Occidental Mindoro, would receiver P1 million each, the Philippine Coast Guard said Thursday.
Family members of the 12 Filipino fishermen and two other passengers of a fishing boat who went missing after a collision with a Chinese ship will receive P1 million each, the Philippine Coast Guard announced Thursday.
MV Vienna Wood registered in Hong Kong, a select administrative region of China, collided with FV Liberty 5 on June 28.
According to Adm. George Urabia Jr., commandant of the PCG, the management of MV Vienna Wood and FV Liberty 5 would hold a formal settlement at the coast guard headquarters on August 24.
MV Vienna Wood would compensate the family of the victims with P1 million each.
“That’s highly acceptable for the realities of the missing persons,” Ursabia said in a mix of English and Filipino during a virtual press briefing.
Aside from the compensation, the Chinese cargo ship would provide a settlement amount of P40 million to Irma Fishing and Trading Inc., the owner of FV Liberty 5.
Also read: Coast Guard files motion to stop MV Vienna Wood crew from leaving PH
The Vienna Wood collided with F/V Liberty Cinco at around 1 am on June 28. Fermin Soto, general manager of the boat owner Irma Fishing and Trading, said the ship left the badly damaged in the middle of the sea.
Irma Fishing and Trading started to search for the boat after it failed to meet its scheduled radio call to port and did not arrive at Navotas Fish Port when it was expected at 7 am.
The company tasked its other boats to the perimeters of the Liberty Cinco’s last reported location off Cape Calavite in Occidental Mindoro. It was then that other fishermen told the crew of the Liberty Cinco’s sister boats of the collision, Soto said. They also found tubs and other items from the boat marked “Irma” floating on the water.
They found the capsized boat at around 10 pm. However, its 12 fishing crew and two other Irma employees onboard the Liberty Cinco were nowhere to be found.
The government already ended the search and retrieval operations for the victims on July 7.