SULPICIO Lines, Inc. (SLI) can continue to ferry cargo, but not passengers.

The Court of Appeals dismissed the petition of SLI, now known as Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corp., to have its license to carry passengers reinstated.

The operator of the Princess of the Stars should have availed itself of all administrative remedies before filing an appeal at the appellate court, the CA ruled, in a report first published yesterday by Rappler.

“SLI’s failure to appeal to the Office of the President before filing the instant petition before this Court is a premature invocation of the Court’s intervention, thus denies SLI a cause of action for judicial relief. Direct recourse to this Court, when administrative remedies are still available for Sulpicio, is a ground for the dismissal of the petition,” the CA said.

In December 2009, Sulpicio Lines changed its name after it suffered a major loss with the sinking of the MV Princess of the Stars at the height of Typhoon Frank. The Cebu-bound ship capsized off Sibuyan Island in Romblon Province last June 21, 2008, leaving 227 people dead and 592 missing. Only 32 people survived.

The Securities and Exchange Commission approved Sulpicio’s change, which was initiated via a resolution following a majority vote of the board of directors and stockholders last Dec. 19, 2009.

Sulpicio filed an appeal before the CA after the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) cancelled its certificate of public convenience to carry passengers in 2015. Marina held that the vessels Sulpicio owned can carry only cargo and not passengers. Sulpicio filed a motion for reconsideration, but the court denied it in 2016. (GMD)