Wednesday, June 25, 2008 Victims’ kin lament info delay
LOVELY Nichole and Lemar Diamos’ love story began on a Sulpicio Lines Inc. ship.
While working as a field nurse for the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), Lovely Nichole, 25, frequently boarded the mv Cotabato Princess.
She recalled that in one of her rides, she met the man who would later become her husband. She is now on her seventh month of pregnancy with their first child.
Lemar then worked as a crew member of the mv Cotabato Princess, a Sulpicio Lines vessel, and currently works on board the mv Princess of the Star as sanitary personnel.
With the recent disaster involving the Princess, Lovely Nichole now worries that their love story might just end on another Sulpicio lines ship.
“It’s like a storybook ending, it ends just like that,” she told Sun.Star Cebu.
Lovely Nichole joined more than a thousand concerned family members at the action center at the Cebu City Sports Complex, with hopes of finding out whether or not Lemar is still alive.
She came all the way from Daanbantayan town to see for herself the list of survivors and bodies found after the sinking of the Princess, but was dismayed that there were no clear updates.
After hearing that bodies have been found, she asked Coast Guard officials if the bodies would be brought to Cebu, and still, she did not get a clear answer.
“They are not talking, they are not giving us any clear updates and the destination or where they would be bringing the bodies...I’ve been waiting since Saturday and there’s still no word,” Lovely Nichole lamented.
She admitted that she was dismayed with the response of the management of the Sulpicio Lines, saying they were “too slow in disseminating” information to the public. She joined other relatives in asking owners of the shipping company to deal with them personally.
The clamor for survivors and dead victims to be brought to Cebu mounted yesterday after it was reported that they were transported to Manila instead for an autopsy to be performed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), which has its equipment there.
“I don’t understand that. To identify the person, it is better if the body is identified by relatives and family members. Their dental and medical records are also here because they are from here,” said Cebu City Councilor Sylvan Jakosalem.
He also said that Sulpicio Lines is taking too long to bring the survivors to Cebu, the destination point of the Princess when it capsized off Sibuyan Island in Romblon Saturday morning.
“I texted President Arroyo and Sec. Cerge Remonde: Relatives here are already on borderline in emotional anxiety! I strongly suggest to bring the bodies here directly to Cebu and ask the NBI to send the personnel and equipment here,” he said in a text message sent to Sun.Star Cebu.
He said that most of the passengers, including the survivors and those who are still missing, are from Cebu, so it’s only logical that the bodies are brought here.
He said he immediately called Department of Transportation and Communication Undersecretary Maria Elena Bautista when he saw her being interviewed on television, and was promised that she will raise his concerns.
Lovely Nichole and other relatives of missing passengers gathered at the action center agreed, saying they have waited too long to get updates on their loved ones.
She said that the last time she was able to talk to her husband was around 10 p.m. last Friday yet.
“I asked why they sailed when there was a storm. He replied that the Coast Guard gave them the go-signal and that they can’t do anything because he’s just a crew member,” Lovely Nichole quoted her husband as saying.
She asked him what the captain thought about setting sail, and his only reply was: “We can manage, it’s not a problem.”
“Look now at what happened,” she added.
Anne (real name withheld), the wife of another passenger, spoke to her husband for the last time last Saturday. “He said that they were having difficulty in the ship, that
he pitied the passengers and asked me to pray,” she said.
Like other wives and relatives there, Anne expressed her dismay with Sulpicio Lines Inc. and the Coast Guard for their failure to provide new updates on the status of her husband.
Anne said that every time they would ask for names or the number of survivors, they would not present an updated list.
Family members at the action center want owners of Sulpicio Lines Inc. to come forward and meet with the victims’ families.
“They should be accountable for what they have done,” said Lovely Nichole.
“What we really want is for the management to step forward and meet all of use. That way, we will be able to talk and truly understand the situation. That’s all that we are asking,” said Rose Abidania, 53.
Jakosalem has asked the media to publish the ship manifest or list of survivors and dead victims for the benefit of the relatives and family members.
He said the list will also help people know whether or not friends were among the passengers and crew members so they could extend help to the victims’ families. (EPB/RHM)
