SC restores case vs Sulpicio exec over ‘Princess of the Stars’ mishap

MANILA, Philippines —The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the reinstatement of the criminal case against an official of the Sulpicio Lines, Inc. (SLI) in connection with the 2008 M/V Princess of the Stars tragedy that resulted in the death of 227 passengers.

In a 20-page decision penned by Justice Jose Reyes, Jr., SC directed Manila City Regional Trial Court Branch 5 to reverse and set aside its March 22, 2013 decision and the January 8, 2014 resolution of the Court of Appeals that ruled in favor of respondent Edgar Go, SLI First Vice-President for Administration and team leader of the Crisis Management Committee.

“In this case, the criminal action instituted against (the) respondent involved exclusively the criminal and civil liability of the latter arising from his criminal negligence as (the) responsible officer of SLI,” Reyes said.

“It must be emphasized that there is a separate civil action instituted against SLI based on culpa contractual incurred by it due to its failure to carry safely the passengers of Stars to their place of destination. The civil action against a ship owner for breach of contract of carriage does not preclude criminal prosecution against its employees whose negligence resulted in the death of or injuries to passengers,’ he added.

In 2009, a Department of Justice (DOJ) panel indicted Go and several others for reckless imprudence at the Manila RTC.

The DOJ panel found that Go was involved in making decisions on whether a vessel should be allowed to sail such that he should have canceled or discouraged the voyage considering the severe weather at that time.

Go appealed the decision but was later denied. He then elevated the case to CA, which eventually sided with him.

CA ruled in Go’s favor holding that “respondent’s act of allowing the officers of the vessel to decide whether to set sail or not did make him criminally liable as such decision was within the authority of the captain of the vessel, in coordination with the [Philippine Coast Guard] PCG, in view of the weather bulletin.”

In ordering the reinstatement of the case, SC stressed that the DOJ panel did not only rely on affidavits of complainants but also conducted clarificatory hearings in finding that Go failed to closely monitor and assess the movement of the vessel and track of Typhoon “Frank” such that he did not instruct Captain Marimon to take shelter in the vicinity of Batangas despite information from the weather state bureau that the vessel would come face to face with the storm if it continued along its regular route.

It also found that Go’s act of allowing the vessel to sail despite the severe weather condition demonstrated “inexcusable lack of precaution” on his part.

In June 2008, the passenger cargo M/V Princess of the Stars owned by SLI capsized off Sibuyan Island in Romblon province at the height of Frank. Of the 849 persons on board, only 32 survived as 227 died and 592 others went missing.

READ: Wounds far from healed 10 years after ‘Princess of the Stars’ tragedy

/kga