An aerial image from environmental group Greenpeace taken around 4 kilometers off Hagonoy, Bulacan, shows the oil slick from a tanker, which sank on July 25 in Bataan due to bad weather. (NOEL CELIS/GREENPEACE)
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) sees a “red flag” in the successive maritime mishaps off Bataan recently, Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez said on Saturday.
When asked to comment on Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla’s statement suggesting a possible “interconnection” between the incidents, Vasquez said that is something that investigators are yet to find out.
“Iimbitahan sila, kasama sa fact-finding ‘yan,” he said, referring to the owners of the vessels and other persons that may be involved.
(We will invite them; that’s part of the fact-finding.)
“‘Yun ang isang red flag eh, pare-parehas na magkakadikit,” he added.
(That’s a red flag, they all happened one after the other.)
Motor Tankers (MTKRs) Terranova and Jason Bradley capsized off Limay and Mariveles, Bataan, respectively, while MV Mirola 1 ran aground in shallow waters off the coast of Sitio Quiapo, Barangay Biaan, also in Mariveles.
All three incidents occurred just a few days apart late last month.
“Maybe [they are] within three to five nautical miles away from each other, so you can draw a lot of conclusions there,” Vasquez further said, stressing that they cannot make any definitive conclusions yet.
In an ambush interview on Friday, Remulla mentioned they have “sufficient findings” indicating that the three maritime incidents may be interconnected.
“We have significant findings today which we will reveal in due time,” he said.
Remulla said the pieces of evidence would be sufficient to file complaints against those responsible for the mishaps.
“Yes, definitely. We’re not talking about an accident here. We’re talking about crime. A crime was committed against our people,” he said.
“All three are interconnected, I believe, especially the first two,” he added.