Seaman's wife files 26th case vs Sulpicio

CEBU - Civil cases for damages continue to pile up in court against Sulpicio Lines Incorporated and its corporate officials including the captain of the ill-fated MV Princess of the Stars that sank off the seawaters of Romblon at the height of typhoon Frank on June 21.

The wife of a 28-year-old seaman, who remained missing until now, lodged the 26th complaint against the embattled shipping company before the Regional Trial Court in Cebu City.

Leonora Labajo of barangay Tangke, Talisay City filed the damage suit seeking almost P29 million in actual, moral and exemplary damages from SLI because of the company’s alleged negligence that resulted to the untimely demise of her husband.

Leonora, who was left with two children by her husband Jonathan, demanded P28,110,784 in actual damages from the shipping company. She likewise demanded P800,000 in moral and exemplary damages excluding the 20-percent of the total damages demanded as attorneys’ fees.

The complainant said that her husband was still very young and was earning P67,574 a month as an ordinary seaman working for an international shipping company.

She said that her husband went to Manila to undergo medical and psychological examinations in preparation for his job as an ordinary seaman in a foreign shipping company.

Leonora explained that since her husband’s scheduled embarkation in a foreign vessel was yet on July 15, the latter decided to go home to Cebu to be with his family.

However, because of the alleged negligence of the shipping company through its ship captain Florencio Marimon, her husband died along with several other passengers.

Leonora said the company’s negligence was evident in the vessel’s sailing to Cebu despite the fact that storm signal number three has already been hoisted by the weather bureau in the provinces where the M/V Princess of the Stars would pass.

The shipping company and its officials allegedly failed to exercise extraordinary diligence of care to ensure the safety of its passengers. — Fred P. Languido/WAB (THE FREEMAN)