Four Philippine Coastguardsmen Dismissed Without Honor Over Ferry Sinking

PCG servicemembers deliver the bodies of recovered victims from the Trisha Kerstin 3 sinking (PCG file image)

The Philippine Coast Guard has dismissed four servicemembers with dishonorable discharges in connection with the loss of the ferry Trisha Kerstin 3, which resulted in at least 65 deaths.

Unlike other maritime nations, the PCG conducts a pre-departure inspection and signoff before every voyage for merchant vessels. This means that PCG personnel bear some responsibility for the condition of the vessel when it leaves the dock, including its loading arrangements.

Survivors claim that the Trisha Kerstin 3 was heavily overloaded on departure, and investigators have found discrepancies between the passenger manifest and the total number of people on board. The PCG accused the four servicemembers of failing to conduct an independent assessment of the loaded condition of the vessel, including failure to verify the passenger count or to check the load line markings. Some survivors have claimed that the vessel already had a list when it left the pier.

The four people on the pre-departure inspection team for the casualty voyage - identified as PO1 Sabhal Turaini, PO3 Khalid Asmawil, PO3 Al-Yazar Muyong, and ASW Mar-Iya Anawie - have been "dismissed without honor."

In addition, the duty officer that night, PO3 Jestoni Barretto, has been demoted one rank for "lack of due care" in performance of his duties. The two top officers at the station in Zamboanga, Lt. Cmdr. Tristan Jener Erediano and Lt. Jason Pagbonocan, have been suspended without pay and ordered to attend leadership retraining courses.

The number of confirmed fatalities from the sinking of the ferry has continued to rise over the weeks, especially as technical divers completed searching interior compartments of the wreck. On February 26, a team of five divers conducted a re-sweep through all accessible areas of the vessel, the PCG said, in a last effort to recover remains. No further victims were found, and the final toll stands at 65 dead, 293 survivors and 14 missing (pending further developments). A surface search is still active, in conjunction with local good Samaritans.

The confusion about the status of the passenger manifest was a result of scalpers reselling tickets, a lawyer for vessel operator Aleson Shipping told a hearing of the Philippine House Transportation this week. Nelson Tan, attorney for the now-suspended ferry operator, said that the company simply had no way to match passenger tickets to passenger ID cards, so the reselling or transferring of tickets to other people was a perennial issue - making it hard to tell who was actually on board. Many of the survivors and the deceased were unlisted passengers.

"Once they give away the ticket and something happens, the holder of the ticket will become unmanifested [though on board] and the buyer will be declared missing [though never on board]," he told the committee, as reported by GMA.