Sunday, September 14, 2008 Court orders SLI: Pay P23M to 4 families
WITH claims against Sulpicio Lines Inc. (SLI) reaching P181 million and counting, winning claimants have to be a step ahead of the game.
The latest successful petitioners are four families that filed a class suit for damages over the 1998 sinking of the mv Princess of the Orient.
Regional Trial Court Judge Generosa Labra of Branch 23 ordered SLI to pay Ricardo and Geraldine Ocampo, Manuel and Marietta Abelgas, Pedro and Beatriz Laurente and Praxedes Llenos P22,859,995, covering moral and actual damages plus attorney’s fees.
They lost loved ones when the mv Princess of the Orient sank 10 years ago.
When asked if he has a timetable to compel SLI to pay his clients, lawyer Caesar Tabotabo said, “Asap!”
But Tabotabo is more realistic than that, and expects payments to drag for more or less 20 years.
“I’m working out something,” he told Sun.Star Cebu in a phone interview yesterday, but begged off from revealing details.
SLI has claimed net losses of P229.1 million in 2006 and P211.46 million in 2007.
When asked if this would affect his clients’ claim, Tabotabo said he still does not know. He received the decision two Fridays ago and is still studying his moves.
Although he is not trying to read SLI’s moves, the lawyer said he does not believe that the company will be filing for bankruptcy anytime soon. SLI’s fight to keep its license should be an indication, he said.
In Cebu alone, there are already 16 cases filed against SLI for the June 2008 sinking of the mv Princess of the Stars, as of Sept. 8, 2008.
The claims currently amount to P180,972,000.
More damage suits are expected.
Sept. 18 marks the 10th anniversary of the sinking of the Princess of the Orient, which killed 140 people.
Aside from the four successful petitioners in the Princess of the Orient damage suit, four other families filed the class suit with the Ocampos and others, but eventually settled.
Tabotabo said his other clients met last year with SLI, which asked them for their settlement price.
When his clients proposed an amount, Tabotabo said the company slashed the amount so much that it killed a possible deal. (JGA)
