SC orders Sulpicio to pay heirs of M/V Princess of the Orient victim

More than a decade since the M/V Princess of the Orient mishap in 1998, the Supreme Court on Sunday announced it has affirmed the decision of lower courts to have Sulpicio Lines Inc. pay Napoleon Sesante — one of the survivors of the incident — for damages, albeit with increased penalties.

In a 19-page decision penned by Justice Lucas P. Bersamin promulgated on July 27, 2016, the Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeal's (CA) June 27, 2005 decision which penalizes Sulpicio Lines with higher fees.

The High Court said it ruled that Sulpicio Lines would have to pay Sesante's heirs — who have replaced him since his death — for moral damages worth P1 million, exemplary damages worth P1 million, temperate damages worth P120,000, and the costs of suit.

"In addition, all the amounts hereby awarded shall earn interest of 6 percent per annum from the finality of this decision until fully paid," it said.

The M/V Princess of the Orient mishap happened on September 18, 1998 near Fortune Island in Batangas where 70 people died and 80 more missing.

On June 27, 2005, the CA affirmed the Quezon City Regional Trial Court order mandating the award of damages: moral damages worth P1 million, temperate damages worth P120,000, and the costs of the suit.

Sesante died and was substituted by his heirs while the appeal before the CA was pending. Sulpicio called for the dismissal of complaint, contending that among others, Sesante's complaint for damages was purely personal and cannot be transferred to his heirs upon death.

The Court, however, ruled that this argument was unwarranted citing the Rules of Court which says that "(w)henever a part to a pending action dies, and the claim is not thereby extinguished... the heirs of the deceased may be allowed to be substituted for the deceased."

In its statement over the weekend, the High Court also held that Sulpicio and its agents on the scene "acted wantonly and recklessly."

"These actuations attending the unfortunate sinking of the M/V Princess of the Orient were far below the standard of care and circumspection that the law on common carriers demanded," it said. —Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/ALG, GMA News