Cordova mayor to go after liners’ insurers

CORDOVA Mayor Adelino Sitoy voiced his suspicion over the refusal of shipping companies 2GO and Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corp. (PSACC) to disclose their insurers in last Monday’s closed-door meeting at the Capitol.

“I see two possibilities behind this. Either they don’t have insurance coverage or they collected the proceeds and aren’t telling us about it. They profited from the oil spill,” Sitoy told reporters last Monday.

Provincial Legal Officer Orvi Ortega said 2GO representatives were asked in last Monday’s meeting to reveal the identity of their insurer but they refused and insisted that “the case is still premature.”

Earlier reports pointed to Pioneer Insurance and Surety Corp. as 2GO and PSACC’s insurer. But Sitoy said the company denied this. The names “del Rosario and del Rosario” and “Pandiman Philippines Inc.” surfaced as the insurers of 2GO and PSACC respectively in last Monday’s meeting.

Sitoy said he wrote both firms last March demanding for compensation for the damage wrought by the oil spill resulting from last year’s collision between the vessels of both companies in Lawis Ledge, Talisay City near Cordova town.

In their May 26 letter to Sitoy, del Rosario said the firm isn’t engaged in any insurance business and is not an insurance agent or broker for 2GO.

Pandiman has not yet responded, Sitoy said. 2GO maintains its claim that they are not at fault and insisted that PSACC should pay the damages.