Friday, July 04, 2008 Lawyer cautions against waivers in money claims from shipping firm
WITH the identification of remains in full swing, Sulpicio Lines Inc. is starting to process the money claims from those that survived and from the relatives of those that perished.
But a lawyer who asked not to be named warned that the shipping company might attach conditions for the release of the claim initially pegged at P200,000—that the claimants first sign a waiver of the right to file a civil suit.
“We can’t fault them for trying. I’m sure they want to prevent the filing of any suit that will later force them to pay actual, moral, exemplary or, in the case of the death of a family’s main income earner, compensatory damage,” the lawyer said.
When separately sought for comment, Cesar Olaer, head of the Insurance Commission for Central Visayas, said quitclaims might be required to release the insurance company from further liabilities, but not the shipping company.
“This should not be used as a bargaining chip. What they should do is just release,” he said.
But the law is not clear on the matter. Seeing to it that shipping firms like Sulpicio Lines will release all substantiated claims without condition “does not belong” to the purview of the Insurance Commission.
Requirement
Sulpicio Lines, Olaer confirmed, is the legal holder of the insurance policy even if the insurance coverage was intended for its passengers.
“The requirement is that shipping companies take a group insurance for its passengers. If an accident happens, they claim the insurance and use the money to compensate the victims. The money isn’t directly for the victims but for the shipping company,” he said.
Lawyer Gregorio Fuentes, who represented a group of claimants in two civil suits against Sulpicio Lines for the 1998 sinking of the Princess of the Orient, confirmed that settlements were offered to his clients on the condition that they drop the case.
“They all didn’t want to, so the case continued,” he said. He recently secured back-to-back victories in both suits (see separate story.)
But these were victories that took close to 10 years to obtain.
With the shipping company having the right to file an appeal all the way to the Supreme Court, Fuentes admits that his clients may have to wait just as long to finally receive their compensation.
Settlement
“My advice is that if the amount is at least fair, then they should consider accepting it,” he said.
The clients Fuentes represented did not accept the shipping company’s offer of settlement. But others have.
Judge Generosa Labra is hearing one such case. A source from the sala said that only four of the original eight complainants remain—spouses Ricardo and Geraldine Ocampo, Manuel and Marietta Abelgas, spouses Pedro and Beatriz Laurente and Mrs. Praxedes Llenos.
The rest, according to the source, have withdrawn after compromise settlements. The compromise amount isn’t known.
The Ocampos who lost their children, Jose Mari and Kathleen, spearheaded the suit.
The lawyer-source said compromise settlements are part of the process and may be expected in suits involving compensation and damages.
However, he stressed, the P200,000 that Sulpicio gets for each of the victims in the Princess of the Stars incident should not be part of that settlement. (KNR)
