Makati City: The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has launched a full investigation into the disappearance of 28-year-old Filipino seafarer Ralph Bobiles while onboard MV Prestige Ace on December 5 last year. In a media briefing Thursday at the DMW office in Makati City, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac announced the suspension of the Parola Maritime Agency Corporation’s license. The agency, responsible for Bobiles’ deployment, failed to provide a sufficient explanation regarding the incident.

According to Philippines News Agency, the lack of an investigation report or a captain’s report on Bobiles’ disappearance prompted the DMW’s decision. Furthermore, when requested to present Bobiles’ co-seafarers, only five out of the 16 all-Filipino crew members on MV Prestige Ace were made available to the department.

Cacdac detailed that the ship departed Veracruz Port in Mexico, heading to Baltimore, Maryland in the United States, when Bobiles vanished. The crew’s failure to report his disappearance to US authorities upon reaching Baltimore has raised serious concerns about potential negligence.

“So these are all badges of negligence, of non-care, and therefore we are taking action against the licensed manning agency and the principal shipowner in this case, until they account until they fully explain what happened on board that ship,” Cacdac stated.

The secretary dismissed speculations that Bobiles may have taken his own life, citing the absence of concrete evidence. Bobiles had recently spoken with his wife about his excitement over an upcoming promotion from cadet to ordinary seaman, which would have secured his position in the company.

Cacdac emphasized that the recently enacted Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers requires that families of missing seafarers be granted access to investigative reports and relevant information concerning their loved ones’ disappearance. The DMW is committed to pursuing all legal avenues to ensure accountability and justice for Bobiles and his grieving family.

The department has pledged immediate assistance to the family, including support for Bobiles’ three young children, aged five to eight years. “Kaya again, we’re taking the agency and the ship owner to task about this matter. One life is just too many, at ang pamilya, nagdudusa, nagdadalamhati (and the family is suffering, grieving), they deserve to know what happened, just as the DMW deserves to know what happened,” Cacdac concluded.