GRIM RETRIEVAL | Images from video footage released by the Philippine Coast Guard on Thursday show rescue workers (left photo) retrieving the body of one of the drowning victims whose boat capsized in Laguna Lake near Binangonan town in Rizal. The vessel (right) overturned due to strong winds and big waves whipped up by Typhoon Egay.’ (File photo from Agence France-Presse)
Updated
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Wednesday lodged a syndicated estafa complaint against the boat owner and boat captain of the motorized banca Princess Aya that capsized on Laguna Lake off Barangay Kalinawan in Binangonan, Rizal, last July 27.
This incident left 27 people dead and 43 who survived.
The complaint included as respondents members of the Talim Island Motorboat and Patrons Association (Tipmopa) for alleged fraud and misrepresentation before the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor in Taytay, Rizal, the PCG said in an advisory.
Rear Adm. Hostillo Arturo Cornelio, commander of PCG District in Metro Manila and Central Luzon, said Tipmopa was charged because they had no accreditation in operating the Port of Pritil on Talim Island in Binangonan where the motorbanca departed before capsizing.
“They’ve been operating the Port of Pritil for the past several years, and if you could notice, the pier was disorganized, it has no ticketing equipment, and they are the ones who control the scheduling of the motorbanca,” Cornelio added.