MANILA, Philippines—Yielding to a demand for impartiality, two members of the Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI) Tuesday withdrew from the investigation of the sinking of the MV Princess of the Stars.

But veteran ship captains Rear Adm. Benjamin Mata and Commodore Amado Romillo went out with guns blazing against Sulpicio Lines Inc., owners of the ill-fated ferry, denying that they had been biased.

Mata and Romillo said they were stepping aside “to preserve the integrity of the inquiry.”

Sulpicio Lines lawyer Arthur Lim asked the board to exclude Mata and Romillo for allegedly prejudging the case.

“The court or board must not only be impartial but it must appear to be impartial,” Lim said. “You sit here as judges. You cannot judge if you have already prejudged.”

The inhibition of Mata and Romillo halted Tuesday’s BMI hearing, which will be resumed Wednesday.

Sulpicio Lines has asked the Manila Regional Trial Court to stop the BMI inquiry claiming, among other things, that it has no authority to investigate commercial shipping lines because this has been transferred to the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) under a 2004 law.

The court has yet to issue a temporary restraining order on the request of Sulpicio Lines.

The Sulpicio Lines’ crown jewel capsized off Sibuyan Island, Romblon province, at the height of Typhoon “Frank” (international codename: Fengshen) on June 21 while en route from Manila to Cebu with more than 860 people on board.

Romillo, who earlier said it was “obvious” that the Princess of the Stars sailed without the proper amount of ballast and thus indicating the ship may have been unstable, said the records would show that he had factual basis for his statements.

He had also become emotional during one hearing upon learning that the Sulpicio Lines’ safety officer, Nelson Morales, had left only a radio operator in Manila to contact the ship at the height of the typhoon’s fury.

“Everything I said during the investigation, I meant it. I meant it and I can prove it again. And I can come up with the reasons again,” Romillo told reporters.

He added that he just analyzed the data that was given to the board and used his “common sense.”

Mata, the BMI vice chair who changed his uniform for civilian clothes before facing reporters, questioned why the Sulpicio Lines lawyer suddenly raised the board’s authority to investigate shipping firms when the company had participated in earlier hearings.

“Why all of a sudden he comes out by saying we are not authorized to hear it and so on and so forth? I cannot understand. He has placed himself under the jurisdiction of the board in a previous case or previous cases of the Board of Marine Inquiry,” he said.

Mata also denied Lim’s claim that he had pronounced Sulpicio Lines “guilty, guilty and guilty” during the congressional hearing on the June 21 incident.

Mata also gave reporters a copy of his statement wherein he criticized certain aspects of the maritime industry, including the BMI being toothless because it could only recommend and could not impose sanctions.

Tip of the iceberg

In the statement, he also railed against the Maritime Industry Authority, and the lack of capability and resources of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to ensure the seaworthiness of vessels.

“This is only the tip of the iceberg,” Mata noted. “It’s not anomalies, it’s stupidities that are happening.”

BMI law member Ramon Reblora, a PCG commodore, said the board was composed of seven members and if the two members were indeed biased, they would have to convince the other members of their views as well.

PCG Commandant Vice Adm. Wilfredo Tamayo recommended to Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza that maritime lawyer Gloria Bañas and master mariner Demetrio Ferrer replace Mata and Romillo.

“We respect their decision and commend them for the job they performed,” Tamayo said, adding that there was a need for the case to be resolved quickly.

Angry and grieving relatives of those who died have accused Sulpicio Lines of ignoring their plight and say they are planning to file a class action suit.

Joseph Solante, 47, whose son, Terry Joseph, was among those aboard the ferry said the owners “were playing with our emotions” and refusing to extend help.

“A representative from Sulpicio Lines had called me to tell me my son has been found alive, only to call back hours later to tell me their information was wrong,” Solante told Agence France Presse.

“My wife is inconsolable. She has had little sleep since the accident.”

Solante said he would join the lawsuit against Sulpicio being mulled by the relatives of those who perished.

“Sulpicio should be made to pay,” he said.

Only 56 people survived the disaster. More than 200 bodies have been recovered, but the rest remained unaccounted for. Hundreds of them were trapped inside the upturned vessel.

5 more bodies washed ashore

On Monday, three decomposing male bodies believed to have come from the ferry disaster were washed ashore at Pagsangahan in San Francisco, Quezon, according to Councilor Jim Abao. Two of the bodies were identified from Visa cards found in their wallets as Alex de la Cruz and Niel Tulda.

Two other corpses were found and later buried in the nearby village of Nasalaan.

Sulpicio Lines has figured in some of the Philippines’ major sea disasters, including the 1987 collision between its Doña Paz vessel and a small oil tanker. More than 4,000 were killed in the disaster, but the company was absolved of any criminal liability.