(UPDATES) THE Court of Appeals (CA) has found the owners of Sulpicio Lines Inc. liable for the deaths of 814 passengers and more than 500 still missing in the sinking of the MV Princess of the Stars in Romblon in 2008 and ordered them to pay P129.8 million in damages to the families of the victims.
In a 237-page decision penned by Associate Justice Wilhelmina Jorge-Wagan, a copy of which was obtained by The Manila Times, the appellate court said it found the owners of Sulpicio Lines, now renamed Philippine Span Asia Carriers Inc. (PSACI), guilty of gross negligence.
In the June 28, 2024 ruling, which was sent to the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), the Appeals Court said the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 49 “committed no reversible error” when it declared that the owners failed to discharge their duties as common carriers.
The PAO handles the civil cases filed by the heirs and survivors of the MV Princess of the Stars that capsized off the coast of Romblon at the height of Typhoon Frank on June 21, 2008.
Affirming with modifications the award for actual, compensatory, moral and exemplary damages of the Manila RTC, the CA ordered the owners of the shipping company, Enrique Go, Eusebio Go, Carlos Go, Victoriano Go, Dominador Go, Ricardo Go, Edward Go and Edgar Go, to pay a total of P129,854,502.57 to the victims’ families and relatives.
“As borne by the case records, the appellants Gos were grossly negligent in their management and in their failure to take decisive action, which could have prevented the tragic event on June 21, 2008,” the CA said.
The appellate court stressed that the accused could not evade liability by “simply arguing that the Stars tragedy happened because of a fortuitous event.”
It cited a Supreme Court ruling that for a fortuitous event to exempt a person from liability, “it is necessary that he be free from any previous negligence or misconduct by reason of which the loss may be occasioned.”
The same high ruling also said, “An act of God cannot be invoked for the protection of a person who has been guilty of gross negligence in not trying to forestall its possible adverse consequences.”
Moreover, the CA said the appellants could not attribute the Stars’ mishap to the purported inexcusable and criminal negligence of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.
It said that such an argument was untenable and was not supported by any evidence.
“All told, we cannot turn a blind eye to this gruesome maritime tragedy, which is now a dark page in our nation’s history,” Jorge-Wagan said.
“We commiserate with all the victims, those who perished, young and old alike, but especially more so to the appellees in this case who still await justice for their deceased relatives,” she added.
As a final note, the associate justice emphasized that CA’s “ultimate purpose” was to dispense justice.
“To entertain the appellants’ insistence on the rigid application of procedural rules would not only prolong the appellees’ agony but would result in yet another tragedy at the expense of speedy justice,” she said.
PAO chief Persida Rueda-Acosta and other PAO officials led by Deputy Chief Public Attorney and concurrent Forensics Laboratory Division director Erwin Erfe hailed the appellate court’s ruling.
“For sure, the heirs and survivors would now be delighted with the favorable decision from the Court of Appeals, but, of course, they would be much happier if the pending criminal cases filed against the accused would also be resolved soon and turn favorable to them,” the PAO officials told The Manila Times.
Records showed that the passenger ferry sank off the coast of San Fernando in Romblon in rough seas at the height of the typhoon that passed directly over the island province.
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