Sulpicio victims want reconsideration

SEVERAL relatives of the victims of a sea tragedy involving Sulpicio Lines Inc. in 2008 have asked the Cebu Regional Trial Court to reconsider its Oct. 6 decision to indemnify them.

The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) filed separate motions for reconsideration on behalf of the plaintiffs Jose Eric Manigos for the death of his wife Marissa, and children Erica Marie and Filcire Marc; Honeylyn Garces for her parents Lorenzo and Lourdes; Ritchie Bryan Furia for her mother Jocelyn, and Farah Guinitaran for her husband Marlon before Branch 16 Judge Dante Corminal, seeking the reversal of his decision

dismissing their civil suits filed against Sulpicio Lines, now renamed as the Philippine Span Asia Carrier Inc.

PAO chief Persida Rueda-Acosta said the plaintiffs also suffered the same degree of pain, anxiety, mental anguish and sleepless nights undergone by the 55 heirs of the other victims whose damage suits had been granted.

More than 13 years after M/V Princess of the Stars owned by Sulpicio Lines capsized on June 21, 2008, Corminal ordered the indemnification to 55 heirs of the victims amounting to P199.1 million.

But the lower court dismissed the cases of Manigos, Garces, Furia, and Guinitaran for failure to submit a formal offer of evidence to substantiate their suits.

Rueda-Acosta maintained that the court’s findings of negligence against Sulpicio Lines and its owners must “redound to the benefit of all the herein plaintiffs in the consolidated case,” therefore the heirs of those dismissed cases must also be granted claims for indemnification.

She invoked Article 2206(3) of the Civil Code of the Philippines allowing the plaintiffs to demand moral and moral damages for the mental anguish the victims suffered because of the death of their loved ones who were passengers of m/v Princess of the Stars.

She, however, clarified that “it has always been ruled that moral damages are not intended to enrich a plaintiff at the expense of the defendant.”

Another plaintiff, Elvira Chua through PAO filed a motion for partial reconsideration, asking the court to order Sulpicio Line to release her quitclaim of P200,000 as insurance proceeds for the death of her husband Henry.

The Cebu court previously ordered the shipping line to indemnify Chua P100,000 in moral damages, P100,000 in exemplary damages, P5,279,231.90 as loss of earning capacity, and attorney’s fees equivalent to 10 percent of the total monetary award.