MANILA, Philippines—Two lawyers Monday lashed out at the government and the courts for allowing Sulpicio Lines to get away with one of the worst maritime disasters without the shipping company having to pay hefty damages to the families of most of the victims, or its owners and officers having to serve time in prison.“That’s why [these accidents] are repeated ... The courts don’t award huge enough damages to make [Sulpicio Lines] bankrupt,” lawyer Harry Roque said in a telephone interview. “The pattern is the government’s failure to prosecute and discipline [Sulpicio Lines] … The government just leaves the victims on their own,” lawyer Joel Butuyan said in a separate interview. Roque and Butuyan handled cases involving families of victims of the Dec. 20, 1987, sinking of the MV Doña Paz, which is considered the world’s worst peacetime sea tragedy. The Sulpicio Lines ferry collided with the oil tanker, MT Vector, at the Tablas Strait, leaving more than 4,000 people dead. Twelve years after the maritime disaster, the Supreme Court found Sulpicio Lines liable for overloading the ferry. The Doña Paz carried 4,000 passengers, but only 1,493 were listed on the manifest. The high court ordered Sulpicio Lines to pay the family of two victims—47-year-old public school teacher Sebastian Cañezal and his 11-year-old daughter Corazon—a total of P1.2 million representing moral and exemplary damages, attorney’s fees, and loss of future earnings of Sebastian. The latest court ruling involving the Doña Paz was handed down in September 2006—19 years after the accident. The Court of Appeals found Sulpicio Lines liable but only for breach of contract and ordered the shipping line to pay P14.9 million to the family of geodetic engineer Maximo Lorenzo Jr., who died in the maritime disaster. Lucky few The Lorenzos and the Cañezals were among the lucky few who were awarded more than a million pesos in damages by the courts. The families of the other victims opted for lesser sums in out-of-court settlements. “I remember we won the case, but our clients eventually settled,” Butuyan said in a separate interview. Both Butuyan and Roque couldn’t remember the exact figure but said amount of damages awarded by the court was rather small. He said Sulpicio Lines managed to settle with the victims after appealing the decision of the lower court. “The settlement amount was even smaller,” Roque said. Butuyan said he didn’t blame the families for opting for a lesser out-of-court settlement because of the long delay and the high cost of litigation. “They really need the money,” he said. Still, Butuyan said the government should hold Sulpicio Lines criminally liable accountable for the accident. “The government can still proceed with the criminal case … You can’t settle the criminal aspect,” Butuyan said. More accidents A year after the Doña Paz sank, another Sulpicio Lines vessel—the MV Doña Marilyn—capsized, leaving 250 people dead. Authorities allowed the Doña Marilyn to sail from Manila to Tacloban City at the height of Typhoon “Unsang.” Again, Sulpicio Lines was not held responsible for the maritime disaster. “It was an act of God,” the Board of Marine Inquiry concluded. In 1998, the largest Sulpicio Lines ship—the MV Princess of the Orient—sank at the height of Typhoon “Gading.” At least 150 were confirmed dead. Two years later, Sulpicio Lines was again absolved of any criminal liability by the Department of Justice. The three maritime disasters were but a prelude to the recent sinking of the ill-starred MV Princess of the Stars of Sulpicio Lines. Reports by Norman Bordadora and Eliza Victoria, Inquirer Research | 
