Wednesday, July 02, 2008 VP suspects ferry captain in hiding to avoid probe
AUTHORITIES are now looking into reports that the captain of the sunken mv Princess of the Stars is still alive and is in hiding to avoid scrutiny into the sea mishap.
A report on www.gma-news.tv said that Vice President Noli de Castro, during the interview over radio dzXL, cited information claiming that ship owner Sulpicio Lines Inc. is keeping captain Florencio Marimon Sr. and at least one of the survivors in a safe house.
“I tend to believe that this is a possibility. Past incidents have shown the captain would go missing shortly after an accident. We’ll look into it,” De Castro said.
Clarification
The Coast Guard earlier said Marimon is in the best position to shed light on what happened before the mv Princess of the Stars sank at the height of typhoon Frank last June 21 in Romblon province. A Board of Marine Inquiry is now looking into the mishap.
Earlier reports indicated that Marimon and Dexter Lagahid, a survivor, managed to escape from the ship aboard a life raft. The two have not been heard from since.
Radio dzXL reported that while Lagahid is in a list of survivors that can be downloaded from Sulpicio Lines’ website, his relatives have so far failed to get in touch with him.
Meanwhile, De Castro said Sulpicio is now discussing “terms of payment” with a foreign company commissioned to retrieve a container van of endosulfan from the capsized vessel. (www.gmanews.tv)
