SolGen asks SC to restore raps against Sulpicio owner

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Office of the Solicitor General has asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision clearing Sulpicio Lines Inc. owner Edgar Go of liability for the tragic sinking of MV Princess of the Stars during a typhoon in 2008, where some 800 people were killed.

In a 26-page petition filed on Aug. 4, government counsels led by Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza supported the petition filed by some of the victims’ relatives asserting that Go should pay for failing to ensure the safety of passengers and for committing negligence by allowing the vessel to leave port despite the threat of Typhoon “Frank.”

The solicitor general’s plea sought a reversal of the high court’s July 2 resolution that upheld the Court of Appeals’ ruling that dismissed charges of reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide, physical injuries and damage to properties which the justice department had filed against Go for the passenger ferry’s sinking on June 21, 2008, off Sibuyan Island, Romblon.

Second hard look

It asked the high court to “take a second hard look at the instant petition for review, reverse and reconsider its resolution, and exercise its discretionary power of appellate jurisdiction in this case.”

The petition noted “reversible errors” that the Court of Appeals had committed in clearing Go, including its interference in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) mandate of determining probable cause in criminal cases.

In its ruling last year, the appellate court reversed the DOJ’s resolution that found probable cause against Go. The high court last month sided with the decision, saying the “ship owner’s liability for the death of or injuries to passengers resulting from the negligence of the ship captain, with or without concurring negligence on the part of the ship owner, arises from the contract of carriers, hence, is civil in nature.”

No grave abuse

The solicitor general disputed this, arguing that the determination of probable cause was “an executive function that belongs to the prosecutor, and ultimately to the Secretary of Justice, hence, courts should refrain from interfering with said executive function.”

“Verily, absent any showing of grave abuse of discretion on the part of the panel of prosecutors and Secretary of Justice in the determination of the existence of probable cause to indict respondent Edgar S. Go, their findings and recommendation deserve weight and respect, and, more importantly, warrant the noninterference by courts,” read the reconsideration plea.

The government argued that “Go was remiss in his responsibilities as an officer of Sulpicio Lines Inc.” It asserted that he “failed to exercise extraordinary care and precaution in securing the safety of the passengers” when he gave the discretion to the ship’s officers “whether to permit the vessel to depart or not, notwithstanding the severe weather condition at that time.”

It added that Go “did not even dictate upon … or discourage” the ship’s officers from pushing through with their trip or “give any specific instruction to take shelter or drop anchor in order not to come face to face with the eye of the typhoon.”

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