Oil exec apologizes for blaming Pinoys for 2012 US oil rig fire

The Philippine Embassy in Washington said oil executive John Hoffman, president of Black Elk Energy oil company, has apologized for blaming Filipino workers for the explosion on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico on November 16 last year. In a statement on Wednesday, the embassy said Hoffman conveyed his apology through Philippine Ambassador Jose Cuisia Jr. The embassy said Cuisia "protested and obtained an apology from Black Elk President John Hoffman for the statement the oil executive had given to media attributing the platform accident to the incompetence and lack of English language skills of Filipino offshore oil workers.” A report on GMA News TV’s News To Go in November last year aired a clip from Black Elk Energy, which owns the oil rig, saying the Filipino workers committed an error in using the equipment, resulting in the explosion and fire. “The line that was cut was supposed to be cut with a cold cutting device, a non-sparking device. Apparently the construction crew used a cutting torch that ignited vapors in the line, which then ignited the tanks,” said Black Elk Energy CEO John Hoffman. However, the workers' manning agency said that it dispatches well-trained personnel abroad. Three Filipinos died in the November 16 incident:

• Jerome  Malagapo, 28, a fitter from Danao City, Cebu;
• Avelino Tajonera, 49, a welder from Bataan, and
• Ellroy Corporal, 42, a rigger from Iligan City.

Sit down with migrants groups Meanwhile, the Philippine embassy said it sat down and discussed with migrants groups the concerns of about 100 Filipino offshore oil workers in Louisiana who filed a class suit against their employer, Grand Isle Shipyard and D & R Resources, for alleged human trafficking. The representatives of the Justice for Grand Isle Shipyard Filipino Workers Campaign said they want the Philippine government to probe the allegations that the workers were "being treated like slaves and kept in prison-like conditions" The embassy said the representatives included Dante Simbulan and Josef Cadgugay of the Katarungan Center for Peace, Justice and Human Rights in the Philippines and Katrina Abarcar and Ann Beryl Corotan of Philippine Forum and the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns. Call to step down Meanwhile, the embassy said the groups called for Cuisia to step down because of his supposed inaction over the matter. In January, the Philippine Embassy in the US denied allegations that it was doing nothing to help Filipino oil rig workers. Cuisia said the assertions were "unfair" and that the groups saying there was inaction on the part on the embassy should "have first done their homework and get their facts straight." The embassy reiterated it is concerned with the problems of the Filipino workers. “The embassy actually shares their concern for the rights and welfare of Filipino offshore oil workers here in the United States—not just those involved in the class suit against Grand Isle but also the majority who have not joined the case,” said First Secretary and Consul Elmer Cato, also the embassy spokesperson. “We hope the Embassy was able to present a clear picture of what the Philippine Government has done and what it continues to do in protecting the rights and welfare of our workers,” Cato added. Round of discussions The embassy said it was "satisfied" with the first round of discussions. “The embassy is satisfied with the outcome of the discussions,” said Cato, who represented the embassy in the meeting with migrant groups along with Welfare Officer Saul de Vries and Assistant Labor Officer Oliver Flores. On the migrant workers groups' demand to shut down the Grand Isle Shipyard, the embassy said "could be better addressed" if the call was made to the US government, which has the capacity to do so. - Gian C. Geronimo, VVP, GMA News