The 87 million pesos (about $1.94 million) that the Philippines has been
asking from the United States as payment for the damage caused by its
Navy ship on a marine sanctuary is now on the "documentation stage," a
senior government official said Saturday.
Presidential
Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the
87 million pesos were the amount of compensation that the Philippine
government sought from the US after USS Guardian, a minesweeper ship of
America, ran aground on the south atoll of the Tubbataha Reefs off
western Philippine province of Palawan in January 2013.
The Philippine government vowed Wednesday to continue seeking
compensation from the United States for the damage caused by its navy
ship to parts of a protected marine reserve.
The Department of
Foreign Affairs (DFA) issued a statement a day after the Supreme Court
junked a petition by environmental groups for a writ of kalikasan
(nature) against the minesweeper USS Guardian that ran aground in the
Tubbataha Reef in January 2013.
