Sulpicio exec cleared in Princess of the Stars sinking

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has cleared a top executive of Sulpicio Shipping Lines in connection with the sinking of the M/V Princess of the Stars in June 2008.

In a three-page resolution, the high court affirmed a decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) last January granting a petition of Edgar Go, Sulpicio’s first vice president for administration, questioning his indictment by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The high tribunal dismissed a petition filed last March by families of the casualties and survivors in the incident questioning the CA ruling.

The SC held the petitioners failed to prove that the CA erred in finding no probable cause to indict Go for reckless imprudence and for ordering the case dismissed. 

It said the CA was correct when it ruled that the “respondent’s act of allowing the officers of the vessel to decide whether to set sail or not and for failing to instruct them to seek shelter during the storm, did not render him criminally liable.”

The SC said Go’s liability was merely civil.

Chief public attorney Persida Rueda-Acosta, counsel for the petitioners, said they would appeal the SC ruling.

Acosta said the ruling came when Go was standing trial before a Manila court. She said the prosecution panel presented nine witnesses during the trial when the CA cleared the accused.