The Manila Times reports that the Philippines' Court of Appeals (CA) has upheld an existing verdict against the owners of a local shipping company, thus reiterating that the latter are indeed responsible for a maritime accident that left over 800 people dead in 2008.
In a 237-page ruling issued on June 28, 2024 and made available only recently, CA Associate Justice Wilhelmina Jorge-Wagan determined that the owners of shipping company Sulpicio Lines (SLI) were guilty of gross negligence, which resulted in the capsizing and subsequent sinking of the Ro-Pax ferry Princess of the Stars off Romblon province as the area was experiencing bad weather on June 21, 2008.
Philippine authorities said the death toll from the tragedy reached 814. At least another 50 individuals are still missing even after the search and recovery effort extended into the middle of 2010.
The ferry's owners were charged with reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide, damage to property, and serious physical injury. The charges were filed after authorities found evidence suggesting that the vessel was allowed to depart Manila at the height of Typhoon Fengshen, which both local and foreign weather agencies forecast as having 10-minute sustained wind speeds of up to 89 knots.
The owners have also been ordered to pay around PHP129.8 million (US$2.21 million) in damages to the victims' families and relatives.
The case against SLI, now operating under the name Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corporation (PSACC), had been elevated to the CA after the owners claimed that they cannot be held liable, as the capsizing occurred simply "because of a fortuitous event."
However, the court argued that the appellants could not evade liability and were instead "grossly negligent in their management and in their failure to take decisive action, which could have prevented the tragic event."
The CA also cited an earlier Philippine Supreme Court ruling that said that for a party to be exempt from liability due to a fortuitous event, that party should be "free from any previous negligence or misconduct by reason of which the loss may be occasioned."
The CA added that SLI could not attribute the mishap to purported negligence on the part of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, the country's meteorological agency. The court declared that there is no evidence supporting such a claim.
