Friday, August 15, 2008 Teacher files P12.9M suit vs. Sulpicio
HE could have stayed one more day in Manila, but since Sulpicio Lines Inc. (SLI) decided to travel last June 20 despite reports of typhoon Frank getting stronger by midnight, overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Narciso Ponpon decided to come home to Cebu.
Narciso’s wife Aileen, upon hearing the news about the typhoon, advised her husband not to push through with the trip. Narciso, though, asked Aileen to call SLI and ask whether the trip was canceled or not.
“The man from SLI informed her that the ship will sail as scheduled even though there is a typhoon, as the ship is big,” read the complaint that Aileen filed for damages before the Cebu City Regional Trial Court (RTC).
Aileen, a teacher, is the eighth plaintiff who filed a civil suit against SLI in Cebu City.
Aileen asked for damages amounting to P12,944,000, representing moral and exemplary damages and actual damages, computed based on Narciso’s earnings.
As an OFW, Narciso made $750 a month or about P33,000. He was 34 years old. The Ponpons have a daughter.
The computation is based on the American Expectancy Table of Mortality formula: 2/3 multiplied by 80 minus the victim’s age multiplied by the victim’s monthly income.
Even if she signed a “release and quitclaim” after receiving the insurance policy of P200,000, Aileen said this does not spare the SLI from a damage suit.
She said the amount was covered by the insurance company that insured each passenger of the mv Princess of the Stars that sank off Sibuyan Island in Romblon.
The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) is assisting the families of victims in filing cases against SLI.
The office, according to the suit, is entitled to a 20 percent cut from the eventual monetary award.
Five of the eight cases filed were already raffled off to different RTC branches. Two were raffled off to the sala of RTC Judge Estela Alma Singco while Judges Ramon Daomilas, Sylva Aguirre-Paderanga and Soliver Peras will be handling one case each. (JGA)
