Tuesday, July 01, 2008 Conflict breaks out over claims on insurance, corpses By Katrina A. Balmaceda and Elizabeth P. Baumgart Sun.Star Correspondents
CONFLICTS arose as relatives of missing MV Princess of the Stars passengers began processing documents for claiming insurance. Legal disputes regarding rights to corpses and insurance were raised between separated spouses and family members.
At the Cebu City Sports Complex (CCSC) yesterday, the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) reported that there were discrepancies between some passengers’ birth certificates and their names listed in the ship’s official manifest.
These were solvable, though, by securing an affidavit of discrepancy along with the passenger’s birth certificate.
Since the birth certificates have to be authenticated by the National Statistic’s Office (NSO), the NSO set up a booth at the CCSC starting yesterday to issue and authenticate birth certificates and marriage certificates.
But an angry crowd protested NSO’s collection of the standard P140 fee for the immediate processing of needed documents.
The NSO later refunded the passengers’ relatives, upon the order of Acting Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama.
The PAO also confronted the legal aspect of hierarchy of claimants for the insurance and, even, the corpses.
William Yase is the sister of 24-year-old Evangeline Alcantara, the wife of Ramiro. Evangeline boarded MV Princess of the Stars last June 20 along with her two daughters, Archelle Alvarico and Hanna Mae.
The three were coming to Cebu because they ran away from their home in Manila. Evangeline is a native of Daanbantayan.
Yase alleged that Evangeline had been a battered wife since 2006. She only stayed with Ramiro, whom she married in 1994, because of their children.
But when Ramiro allegedly hit her with a big photo album in mid-May, it was the last straw for Evangeline.
She called up Yase and his wife, Jacqueline, asking for money to help her buy a ticket home to Cebu. In the meantime, she stayed with Rodulfo Yase, her cousin, who is now in Cebu to help process documents.
At noon last June 19, Jacqueline spoke with Evangeline. The latter said she was finally coming home. The family made arrangements for Hanna Mae to finish her education in Daanbantayan.
But because the ship sank, the three never made it here.
Now, the Yase family wants Evangeline’s body, as well as that of her daughters. Evangeline had reportedly been found in Sibuyas island last week, but her corpse was not among the first 49 bodies that arrived last Friday.
Archelle was found in Camarines Sur. Yase showed Sun.Star Cebu a voter’s ID, a boat ticket and a prayer book that had been found stuffed beneath Archelle’s clothes.
The family is still searching for Hanna Mae.
As her legal husband, however, Ramiro also wants Evangeline’s body. He is now in Manila and has not yet announced plans to come to Cebu.
Even Yase admitted that the insurance claim belonged primarily to Ramiro.
“Kasabot man ko ana, pero ang amo lang, ang lawas (We understand that, but we want the body),” Yase said. Arnulfo went to the PAO at the Palace of Justice yesterday to seek legal advice.
But according to public attorneys stationed at the CCSC, the law provides that a person’s spouse is the primary claimant. Next come the children.
If a person has neither spouse nor child, the claim belongs to the parents and, secondarily, the siblings.
But siblings must agree among themselves in claiming insurance. The special power of attorney (SPA) must be invoked for
persons other than the immediate family.
There were also reports of passengers who left behind no medical records or who were not registered at the NSO or at the civil registrar at birth.
The PAO, however, assured relatives of victims that the NSO could issue a certification for this, as well as a certification to establish the relative’s relationship with the passenger.
Sulpicio Shipping Lines attorney Manuel Espina said only those with complete documents can claim insurance.
Rama, however, reiterated the shipping company’s statement that giving of insurance was “not an admission of guilt”. He added that the company’s decision to waive the one-year waiting period for claiming of insurance was an act of “goodwill.”
Sulpicio Shipping Lines published an official statement saying that they were “not running away from responsibility.”
But Rama also reminded the people that the PAO was there at the CCSC only for legal advice regarding documents, not for filing cases.
Relatives, meanwhile, continue to wait for word on the whereabouts of the passengers.
After hearing of the mv Princess of the Stars tragedy, 59 year-old Boy Alcover immediately flew to Manila in hopes of
finding his daughter.
A native of Ormoc City, Alcover first flew to Cebu and spent the night at the pier before flying to Manila.
In his search for his 31-year-old daughter, Sandy, Alcover has traveled a lot of places.
“From Manila, we went to Batangas, then to Mindoro. We crossed the place and headed over to Caticlan,” said Alcover.
From Caticlan, they traveled by bus to Kalibo where they witnessed a flashflood in the area. They then went to Roxas City, with a plan of going to Sibuyan Island, where several bodies of passengers have been found.
Heavy rains, flashloods and his wife’s mild stroke later forced the family to head to Cebu City to await updates at the action center.
“We heard that bodies have been brought there, we decided to come. Once we arrived, we immediately went to the funeral parlor and saw the bodies,” said Alcover.
Spending the past week traveling from one place to another, Alcover said they would not stop until they would locate Sandy, no matter how much it would cost them.
“Dili gyud mi mo-uli ug Ormoc hangtod dili makakuyog sa amo si Sandy (We will not go back to Ormoc until she is with us),” said Alcover.
Alcover said the family has been deeply affected by the disappearance of Sandy since she was such a “good person.”
The worried father said they did not mind going through the entire process of filing papers and getting all the necessary documents requested by the Sulpicio Lines Inc. and other agencies. (KAB/EPB)
