In a 51-page decision penned by Associate Justice Celia Librea-Leagogo, the CA’s sixth division said Sulpicio Lines is liable to pay the heirs of Maximo Lorenzo Jr. P13.8 million as compensatory damages for the loss of Lorenzo’s earning capacity, P1 million as moral and exemplary damages, P100,000 as attorney’s fees and P50,000 as death indemnity.
The CA ruling was a modification of the Quezon City RTC Branch 96 decision, which ordered the shipping lines to award only a total of P12.8 million as compensation to the Lorenzo family.
The CA said Sulpicio Lines is guilty of breach of contract of carriage for failing to exercise due diligence to safely bring Lorenzo to his destination.
Since the M/V Doña Paz failed to transport its passengers safely to their destination, Sulpicio Lines committed a breach of contract, the CA decision said.
It explained that the contract of carriage between Lorenzo and Sulpicio Lines was established when the shipping company admitted in its certification, dated Feb. 1, 1988, that Lorenzo boarded the vessel in Tacloban City and perished when the vessel sank off the coast of Marinduque on Dec. 20, 1987.
The relation of carrier and passenger continues until the passenger has been landed at the port of destination and has left the vessel’s dock or premises, the appellate court said.
Court records showed that Lorenzo’s wife, Manila RTC Branch 43 presiding judge Manuela Lorenzo, filed the complaint for damages on April 12, 1989 or more than a year after the M/V Doña Paz collided with M/T Vector, which was then carrying barrels of petroleum products, at the vicinity of Dumali Point between Marinduque and Oriental Mindoro.
Only 24 passengers reportedly survived the tragedy in what is considered as the world’s worst peacetime maritime disaster.
Mrs. Lorenzo said the directors and officers of Sulpicio Lines are guilty of gross negligence or bad faith because it was established that the ship was overloaded when it left Leyte, which is a clear violation of maritime laws.