The National Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday charged several individuals for piracy after they allegedly seized last month in Sual, Pangasinan a vessel owned by a Hongkong-based company.
Charged by the NBI before the Department of Justice were Daniel Luste, Eldrine Christopher Lasanas, and Rene Matados.
The complaint stemmed from the complaint filed by Hongkong River Engineering Co.Ltd. who sought the assistance of the NBI to recover the M/Tug ASL Prosper and to arrest those it said “illegally seized the vessel.”
In its complaint, the company accused PENCON8 Salvage Corporation, a local salvage company, of “maliciously claiming “that the tugboat is abandoned and a hazard to navigation” sometime in November 2024.
The company said that despite their effort informing the Philippine Coast Guard-North Western Luzon station that the tug is not abandoned and asked it to be wary of unscrupulous individuals making such claim, the Sual, Pangasinan coast guard station still issued an emergency salvage permit in favor of PENCON8.
It added that on December 17, three individuals it identified as Rhina Follero, Alberto Platino, and a certain Margie boarded the tug and threatened the vessel’s watchmen saying that cases would be filed against them should they refuse to leave. Out of fear, the vessel’s watchmen disembarked.
On New Year’s Day, the company said it received information that their vessel was sighted at the Navotas Fish Port, prompting them to immediately seek coast guard assistance.
The coast guard, according to the complaint, said the vessel arrived from Sual towed by another vessel, the M/T Magilas, which was crewed by Luste and Ricardo Padua Jr.
On January 4, NBI operatives sighted the tug “surreptitiously hidden” in the fish port and when boarded, the former found Luste, Lasanas and Matados on board.
The NBI said when their operatives asked the three for identification, they said they were connected with Sealoader Shipping Corporation owned by a certain Ricardo Veloso.
“When asked for any documents to prove their authority to board or possess M/T Tug ASL Prosper, they could not present any. Since Luste, Lasanas and Matados are in flagrante delicto committing the crime of piracy having been in possession of M/T Tug ASL Prosper which vessel was taken against the will of the registered owner thereof and was transferred from Sual, Pangasinan to Navotas Fish Port Complex, hence, they were placed under arrest,” the NBI said. It added that the three were informed of the nature and cause of their apprehension. The NBI also included in the complaint the persons who seized the vessel at its berthing place in Sual-Follero, Patino and Margie.
