Saturday, August 30, 2008 Widow, ma of 4 files 13th suit in Cebu vs. SLI
THE lawsuits filed against Sulpicio Lines Inc. reached 13 yesterday, with the latest case filed at the behest of a woman whose husband was on his way home to bring money for their children’s tuition.
Elpedia Payawal, in the complaint prepared by the Office of the Public Attorney, said she now has to support their four children on her own and asked the Regional Trial Court (RTC) to make Sulpicio pay damages reaching over P3 million.
“It is basic that common carriers are liable for the death of or injuries to passengers through the negligence or willful acts of the former’s employees,” she said.
Rafael Payawal, her husband, boarded what would later become the final voyage of the mv Princess of the Stars to visit his family in Cebu and to pay their children’s school fees.
Elpedia, in her lawsuit, said she received a text message from Rafael at 8:30 p.m. last June 20 telling her that the ship was about to depart from Manila.
An hour and a half later, she said, her husband called her to say that he was okay and that the ship was scheduled to dock at 5 p.m. of the following day.
At noon of June 21, Elpedia called up Sulpicio to confirm the time of the vessel’s arrival and was told that it would be at the pier by 5 p.m.
So, at 4:30 p.m., Elpedia went to the port.
“When plaintiff arrived at the pier, she noticed that there were only a few people there. She asked somebody from Sulpicio Lines what time the vessel will arrive. A certain Leo answered that the vessel had run aground in Romblon and that it will arrive in Cebu by early dawn of the following day,” she said.
The vessel did not make it.
Anguish
At 6 p.m. of the following day, Elpedia and the family received the grim news. The vessel capsized.
“Upon knowing the news, plaintiff immediately went to the Sulpicio Lines office and asked if the same was true. When she arrived at the office, nobody from the defendant company answered their queries or entertained them because they themselves were waiting for their lawyer,” the complaint said.
Elpedia recalled how she requested that she be brought to Romblon, but was told it was too risky.
“When days and weeks passed and the plaintiff and her family did not receive information as to the whereabouts of Rafael Payawal, the former lost hope of ever finding the latter alive,” it added.
Elpedia accused the shipping company of negligence, saying it sailed despite knowing that a storm was moving in its plotted course.
“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,” she added. (KNR)
