Saturday, August 16, 2008
Grandmother represents 2 kids in latest damage suit vs. Sulpicio
TWO children, represented by their grandmother, and a public school teacher from Bantayan Island are the latest complainants in a growing string of suits against Sulpicio Lines Inc. over the sinking of the mv Princess of the Stars.
Ryan Jersi Himaya and June Rovic Visitacion, represented by Norma Abadilla-Himaya, are asking the court to award them P2 million in damages for the death of their mother, Jerluna Himaya, 25, one of the casualties when the vessel sank during a typhoon last June 21.
Rogelyn Escaran, on the other hand, wants the court to order the firm to pay her P20.7 million for the death of her husband, 34-year-old Ramil, a seaman who went to Manila to renew his working papers.
They also asked the court to levy the shipping company a total of P800,000 for each case as moral and exemplary damages.
These are cases number nine and 10 against the shipping firm here in Cebu City. Five have already been raffled to different courts.
Two of the five raffled cases—Sillar vs. SLI and Tigcom vs. SLI—may have to be re-raffled to other courts, however, as Judge Estela Alma Singco issued an order of voluntary inhibition last Thursday.
She acknowledged that one of the victims was a relative. Last May, she also issued an unfavorable ruling against SLI for the 1998 Princess of the Orient tragedy.
Norma, in the affidavit-complaint prepared by the Public Attorney’s Office, said she heard about the sinking while watching the news.
She immediately left for Cebu City, where the main office of Sulpicio Lines Inc. is located, to get information.
“As days passed, plaintiff... lost hope of ever finding her daughter, thus making her conclude that she perished when the mv Princess of the Stars sank,” she said.
Rogelyn, for her part, said her husband sent a text message to her mobile phone, saying he was taking the voyage home. He kept in contact with her even after the ship left port, up until he was no longer under his mobile service provider’s network coverage.
She said she waited for her husband to arrive until 3 p.m. of June 22 and got worried when he failed to arrive.
She said she asked a friend in the mainland for details regarding the ship’s arrival schedule and was instead told that it sank off the coast of Romblon.
Like the eight other complaints filed in the days prior, the Himayas and Escaran cited the shipping company’s “absence or lack of care and foresight.”
They alleged that it left the port with passengers and cargo, which included the toxic chemical endosulfan, despite knowing that storm warning signal number three had been hoisted because of typhoon Frank.
“The rough seas encountered by the mv Princess of the Stars were reasonably foreseeable by defendants, considering that defendants are duty-bound to ensure the safe voyage of said vessel,” they said.
And like the other complainants, they admitted to having signed a release and quitclaim agreement when they were given the P200,000 insurance money that SLI obtained from Oriental Assurance Corp. (KNR)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (August 16, 2008 issue)
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