{"id":84623,"date":"2026-02-11T06:38:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T09:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shipping.einnews.com\/article\/891334504"},"modified":"2026-02-11T06:38:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T09:38:16","slug":"administrative-criminal-charges-eyed-vs-shipping-firm-officials-over-basilan-ferry-sinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/02\/11\/administrative-criminal-charges-eyed-vs-shipping-firm-officials-over-basilan-ferry-sinking\/","title":{"rendered":"Administrative, criminal charges eyed vs shipping firm, officials over Basilan ferry sinking"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MANILA, Philippines<\/strong> \u2014 The Department of Transportation (DOTr) will file administrative and criminal charges against Aleson Shipping Lines, Inc. and several officials of the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) over the sinking of passenger ferry MV Trisha Kerstin 3 off Basilan, which killed 52 people, including a PCG personnel.<\/p>\n

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Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez said MV Trisha Kerstin 3 was allowed to sail despite \u201cglaring safety deficiencies,\u201d including problems in its passenger capacity certification, drydock and repair compliance, and overall seaworthiness.<\/p>\n

Initial findings by Marina investigators showed the vessel was overloaded with both passengers and cargo, failed to use the weigh bridge at the Global Port Zamboanga Terminal Inc. for rolling cargoes and private vehicles, and had inconsistencies between the official passenger manifest and the actual number of people on board.<\/p>\n

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Following the probe, the DOTr ordered the relief of eight Marina personnel, including the Zamboanga regional director, and six PCG personnel who conducted the vessel\u2019s pre-departure inspection.<\/p>\n

The PCG Zamboanga station commander was also relieved for command responsibility.<\/p>\n

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Lopez directed Marina to immediately file administrative cases against Marina Zamboanga Regional Director Jedini Nur Sibal, Shipping Operations Specialist Bevin Bibi, and Shipbuilding Specialist II Jose Ray Quimiguing for neglect of duty.<\/p>\n

He said criminal complaints may also be pursued if the administrative hearings establish gross negligence, including possible violations of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.<\/p>\n

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As part of corrective measures, the DOTr will issue a department order mandating risk-based categorization of vessels and shipping routes to strengthen safety monitoring.<\/p>\n

Lopez also ordered shipping companies to place life vests under passenger seats for easier access and ensure the availability of inflatable life rafts at all times.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThese are short-term, medium-term, and long-term measures. Maglalabas pa kami ng iba\u2019t ibang polisiya para masiguro na hindi na mauulit ang ganitong trahedya,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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… with both passengers and cargo<\/span>, failed to use the … Terminal Inc. for rolling cargoes<\/span> and private vehicles, and … Sibal, Shipping<\/span> Operations Specialist Bevin Bibi, and Shipbuilding<\/span> Specialist II … categorization of vessels and shipping<\/span> routes to strengthen safety …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84623\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}