Pinoy crew of ill-fated ship in Italy commended for 'brave efforts'

The Filipino crew on board the Costa Concordia was hailed for helping passengers get off the ship amid the panic when it ran aground off Giglio Island in Italy last week.   In a statement on Tuesday, the Magsaysay Maritime Corporation said it is “proud of our crew” after receiving the news “about the brave efforts” of the 296 Filipinos working for the ship.   “A French passenger said, ‘Those who helped us were cooks and stewardesses, all Filipinos. They roped themselves together to help us get down to the lifeboats. We were able to get in at the last moment,’” the statement read.   The company also affirmed that all 296 Filipino workers are safe in Rome, Italy, where they are awaiting for their flight schedules back to the Philippines this week.   It said Philippine Ambassador to Rome Virgilio Reyes has completed the travel documents of the crew members, which are currently checked in a five-star hotel in the area. Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said late on Tuesday that the crew is due to arrive on Wednesday, assuring that they are entitled to added benefits and repatriation assistance from their employer. Filipinos can go back at sea   In an interview with GMA reporter Kara David, Magsaysay Maritime Corporation President Marlon Roño said they see that the Filipinos can go back at sea. “We have invested so much on them in terms of resources, in terms of training, so there should be no reason why they shouldn’t be back on board,” he said. Captain under fire   Meanwhile, the online edition of the British newspaper The Daily Mirror on Wednesday quoted Filipino cook Rogelio Barista, who said Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino “had a meal with a mystery brunette” and had  “sipped drinks in the restaurant and had dessert almost 30 minutes after the collision.”   “Everything was falling apart, including our cooking. I willed myself not to get scared. I peered out and saw the captain was still waiting for his drink. I asked myself why he was still there waiting for his companion’s dessert with what was happening,” the Filipino cook said in the report.   Schettino is also currently under fire after Italian newspapers released the transcript of the audio recording of his telephone conversation with coast guard official Gregorio Maria De Falco.   On Tuesday, a post on “The Lede” blog of the New York Times site said: “After initially reaching the captain of the ship by radio late Friday night, subsequent calls were unanswered and the Italian Coast Guard finally reached Mr. Schettino by telephone, apparently aboard a lifeboat alongside the stricken liner. He told them he had abandoned the ship, then immediately denied it.”    The transcript of exchanges in Italian, translated in English, showed that De Falco was telling the captain that there are already dead bodies.   When De Falco told the captain to check how many are dead, Schettino replied: "But you realize that it’s dark and here we see nothing…"   "Do you want to go home, Schettino? It’s dark and you want to go home? Go up on the bow of the ship on a rope ladder and tell me what you can do, how many people are there and what they need. Now!" De Falco ordered. The incident’s death toll went up to 11 on Tuesday, after rescue workers found five bodies in the submerged part of the Italian cruise liner, which carried around 3,000 passengers, Reuters reported.    The 52-year-old Schettino was placed under house arrest on Tuesday after being released from jail, the Mirror said, adding that under Italian law, a captain who abandons his ship before all crew and passengers are accounted for can be jailed for 12 years. - VVP, GMA News