The audacity of Sulpicio Lines to put one over the entire country and authorities when they didn’t even inform rescue teams that their ship was carrying poisonous cargo is nothing compared to what they are now trying to pull. In their recent “Public Announcement”, they are reiterating their willingness to give P200,000 to legal heirs of the victims, while they advise that the families don’t need lawyers. As they put it,

There is no need to hire the services of a lawyer because the claims will be acted upon with dispatch

said the company who has had four sea tragedies in two decades, and who never told anyone about dangerous pesticides in its cargo, the company who failed to respond with adequate force within 24 hours of the tragedy, and the company who has made the lives of so many families miserable.

Believe me when I say this, P200,000 is a bribe, to wave money at the families of the victims, especially in their hour of need. I say, give them P200,000 without having to sign away their rights, give them the money outright, without any documents, just identification and proof of being the heir, any other “form” that is needed, is definitely a form to circumvent their liabilities to the families.

Here’s their full statement,

We have lost our good ship, MV Princess of the Stars, the crown jewel in our fleet, and some of our best crew. But more than these, we have lost valued passengers without whose patronage the company would not have been where it is today. Even as we grieve and continue to mourn the loss of priceless human lives, we must now match that grief with decisive action to directly address the plight of the victims and their loved ones to ease their suffering.

Mindful, likewise, of the deep concern shown by our president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, for the victims and their families and her desire that their plight be alleviated by concrete actions, Sulpicio Lines, Inc. has decided to cast aside legal technicalities and waive the waiting period of one year within which missing passengers will be compensated. Instead, the legal heirs of ALL VICTIMS LISTED IN THE PASSENGER MANIFEST will be paid the amount of Two Hundred Thousand Pesos regardless of whether the bodies have been recovered or are still missing, and regardless of whether the bodies have been identified or not up to this time.
We therefore invite the next of kin or legal heirs of every passenger-victim (casualties) listed in the PASSENGER MANIFEST to fill up A CLAIM FORM which can be obtained from our Manila office at Pier 12, North Harbor, Manila or from our Cebu office at Reclamation Area, Cebu City, and submit this to either office, together with the following supporting documents (original copy):

1. Birth Certificate and Marriage Contract of victims;
2. Birth Certificate and Marriage Contract of claimant/s;
3. Valid cedula and government ID of the claimant/s;
4. Voter’s ID of the victim and claimant/s (if available or deemed necessary);
5. Affidavit of relationship of the claimant/s to the victim;
6. Death Certificate (if available).

There is no need to hire the services of a lawyer because the claims will be acted upon with dispatch and with as simple documentation as possible.

The PASSENGER MANIFEST is posted in conspicuous places at the office of Sulpicio Lines, Inc. in Manila and Cebu.

Human life is so precious that no money value can be attached to it.

But this is the least that we can do to show how deeply we commiserate with the victims of this unfortunate event, a tragedy that nobody wanted to happen, least of all Sulpicio Lines.

We would like to thank the NGOs, the PNRC, DSWD, DSWS, NDCC, NBI, DOTC and Marina, LGUs most especially the Cebu City Government, PN divers, PN, PNP and AFP, US Navy, Philippine Coast Guard auxiliary and most especially the Philippine Coast Guard for their invaluable assistance.

This announcement shall not be construed as an admission of liability on the part of Sulpicio Lines, Inc.

May Almighty God bless us all.

I say, May Almighty God Bless the victims and their families, and may God strike down this company with all his might.

How dare they give advice and tell the families not to procure a lawyer, any document that is worth signing especially when the other party is Sulpicio Lines, better be scrutinized by an army of lawyers, because trust me, in the hour of great despair, it is not human lives Sulpicio Lines is worrying about, it is how they can get out of this situation by losing the least amount of money. It is their bottom-line, and their business that they are worried about.

And in the end, this recent scam of theirs, is another reason, why in the chaos that they are bringing to the families, they feel that they can just slip this through. The scavengers of the earth are looking for more victims, those without lawyers.

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