Surviving crew of Princess of Stars jobless, seeks help

A crewmember who survived the sinking of the MV Princess of the Stars has yet to rebuild his life, five years after the tragic incident.

For Roel Libut, 37, although he had survived the accident, his dreams for his family especially for his three children aged 13, 9 and 5 years old seemed to have sunk with the vessel.

Libut, who worked for four years as assistant cook of MV Princess of the Stars, is appealing to the management of Sulpicio Lines Inc. (SLI), now called Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corporation (Psacc), to allow him to work with the company again.

Though he was able to work as reliever in some of the company’s vessels, until now he was not given a regular job since his last disembarkation last October.

Libut is one of the five crewmembers of the vessel who survived along with 27 passengers.

Libut said he has no contacts with the four surviving crewmen.

His family originally lives in Himbangan, St. Bernard, Southern Leyte.

But because of his failure to get a permanent job, his wife Angeline is now working as a domestic helper in Manila and their three children are now staying with Angeline’s parents in Aklan.

While waiting for the shipping company to call him for a job, he is staying in a small room with a makeshift bed at the old ALU building in Pier 1, Cebu City.

His stay there is free, but he needs money for his food and other basic needs.

“Mangayo lang ko sa akong mga amigo. Usahay padalhan ko sa akong mga ginikanan para palit og bugas”, he said.

(I just ask from my friends. Sometimes, my parents send me money to buy rice.)

After the accident, he was only given P20,000 from the company for the damages of his belongings.

In return, he was assured to be given P3,000 a month for two years. But it only lasted for four months.

He said Sulpicio asked him to report for work after four months, but he refused as he was still traumatized by the accident. He only reported in 2010, and has since then been given work as a reliever crew of Psacc ships. His last assignment ended in October last year.

Since then, Libut said, he is waiting for the management Psacc to allow him work again.

“Unta malooy sila nako kay gusto nako ma-paeskwelahon akong mga anak”, he said.

(I hope they will pity me because I want to send my children to school.)