Survivors seek PAO help for lost luggage

After surviving the  the sinking of the MV St. Thomas Aquinas,    survivors want to know who’s going to pay for their baggage that went down with the ship.

Twenty of them went to the  Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) in Cebu City to seek legal aid.

PAO Regional Director Maria Gree Calinawan said so far  the office  sent demand letters to shipping firms of both vessels that collided three miles off the Cebu City port last Aug. 16.  “From what I learned, they immediately got paid,” Calinawan said.

She said PAO has not  discussed the possible filing of charges against 2GO or Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corp. , owner of the Sulpicio Express Siete. In a separate interview, Luzviminda Guarte, a relative of a missing passenger,  said 2GO Travel offered to pay P6,000  for their lost baggage.

Indigents or those whose monthly income is below P13,000 are entitled to avail of free legal services from PAO.

Cebu City officials led by Mayor Michael Rama yesterday sailed  to Lauis Ledge  on board the Coast Guard ship BRP Pampanga to offer prayers and flowers for the victims of the sea  tragedy. “We join the mourning of the families of the victims especially those who have not yet been found until now,” Rama said.

Fr. Wesley Noel of the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral led the prayer offering and blessed the site of the collision.

Rama then led the group in throwing  roses into the sea.  Rama said he noticed  traces of oil on the sea’s surface  going southwest away from Cordova town.

3 bodies recovered

Divers yesterday recovered three more bodies from the wreck of the St. Thomas Aquinas bringing  the number of fatalities to 108. One of them was a pregnant woman.  Another  29 people remain missing, officials said. Remains of 40 passengers are still unidentified at the funeral home.   Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes manager Bong Ebo said they released 57 cadavers to their  families.  Only two victims remain confined for treatment in Cebu City hospitals. /Ador Vincent S. Mayol, Reporter with Correspondents Michelle Joy L. Padayhag and Santino S. Bunachita