Court awards P241 M to Sulpicio victims’ kin

MANILA, Philippines - The Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) has found Sulpicio Lines Inc. guilty of negligence and awarded over P241.7 million in damages to the victims of the sinking of its ship MV Princess of the Stars off Sibuyan Island in Romblon in 2008.

In a decision handed down on Sept. 18 by Manila RTC Branch 49 Presiding Judge Daniel Villanueva and received by the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) only yesterday, the court ruled in favor of the victims and heirs of the tragedy led by Celerma Calayag.

The Court awarded a total amount of P241,761,206 to the 62 victims and their heirs.

More than 300 persons died when the Princess of the Stars capsized on June 21, 2008 off Sibuyan Island during the onslaught of the Typhoon Frank.

More than 70 complaints for damages had been filed but the court only granted 62 due to failure of the relatives of the victims to present evidence.

The court ruled that the prosecution has proven, based on preponderance of evidence, the negligence of Sulpicio Lines, now called the Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corp. (PSACC), and its owners Enrique Go, Eusebio Go, Carlos Go and Victoriano Go.

The court also said that the victims and their heirs have established that there was a contract of carriage between the passengers and Sulpicio Lines as proven by the passenger’s manifest and the releases of quit claims, which serve as express admission on the part of Sulpicio that the recipients of the amounts covered therein are victims and survivors of the tragedy.

The court also gave credence to the fact that Sulpicio Lines failed to observe extraordinary diligence required of common carriers.

“The fact that M/V Princess of the Stars never reached its destination as it capsized along the waters of Sibuyan, San Fernando, Romblon created the presumption that Sulpicio/PSACC and its owners were negligent. No evidence was presented to rebut this presumption,” the court said.

In his testimony, Police Officer 2 Felix Rizaldy Sardan, Philippine Coast Guard clearing officer and boarding officer Captain Amado Romillo, an expert in Maritime Industry and Rear Admiral Luis Tuason of the Philippine Coast Guard testified that the disaster was brought about by the gross negligence of the ship owner and ship management.

Romillo said that the capsizing of the Princess of the Stars cannot be attributed to a fortuitous event nor can it be considered an act of God.

He said it could not also be blamed on the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) or the Philippine Coast Guard.

He said that the disaster was brought about by the gross negligence of the ship owner and ship management when they failed to effectively implement their safety management system under the ISM code and its deliberate act of allowing the Princess of the Stars to navigate on its regular route where typhoon signal No.3 was hoisted by PAGASA, including the trackline of Typhoon Frank from June 18, 2008 at 11 a.m. to June 23, 2008 at 11:20 a.m.

Romillo said that the ship captain Florencio Marimon and crew deliberately failed to take the alternative route.

“Defendants’ negligence under the following circumstances is manifest. It is not disputed that there was already a forecast from PAGASA that storm signal No. 2 and 3 were raised in the areas where MV Princess of the Stars will be cruising, but still defendants did not give any specific instructions to take shelter,” the Court said.

The court said that it is also not unmindful of the fact that on July 14, 1995, the Supreme Court upheld the findings of the trial court when it ruled Sulpicio Lines liable to pay the plaintiffs for moral and exemplary damages involving its vessel the MV Doña Marilyn.

“The facts are similar. In the MV Doña Marilyn case, the trial court and the Court of Appeals found that the crew vessel took a calculated risk when it proceeded despite the typhoon brewing somewhere in the general direction to which the vessel was going,” the court said.

“Surely Capt. Marimon and the members of the crew were negligent when they proceeded to take the regular route of the MV Princess of the Stars to Cebu instead of taking shelter or taking the alternative route Capt. Marimon showed to POE Sardan,” the court said.

The court also gave credence to the testimonies of survivors Francisco Batula, Gerardo Pelimer, Susan Lisbo and Rodel Laborte that there was no emergency crisis management employed by the defendants during and after the ship capsized.