Criminal complaints filed against ferry owner, captain for capsizal

Criminal complaints have been filed against the owner and the missing captain of an ill-fated ferry that capsized in the central Philippines in June with more than 800 people on board, reports said on Tuesday.

The Public Attorney's Office has lodged the suit before the Philippine Department of Justice on behalf of 13 families whose relatives were among those who perished in the incident, Philippine TV GMA reported.

The Public Attorney's Office is an attached agency of the Philippine Department of Justice which provides indigent litigants free legal assistance.

The Sulpicio Lines-owned ferry, named MV Princess of the Stars, was carrying 862 passengers and crew members when it sank off Sibuyan Island in Romblon province on June 21 at the height of typhoon Fengshen (locally known as "Frank"). No more than 60 people on board survived and the captain is among the hundreds still missing. The vessel, with "many" bodies trapped inside, has not yet been retrieved till now.

Named respondents in the suit were ship captain Florencio Marimon and Sulpicio Lines president Enrique Go among others, according to the report.

Persida Rueda-Acosta, chief of the Public Attorney's Office, said the respondents were charged with negligence and reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide and serious physical injury.

In the 14-page complaint, Acosta said respondents should be held criminally liable for allowing the ship to set sail despite a declaration by the country's weather agency that ships are not seaworthy in the areas concerned.

"Indeed, the negligence of the aforesaid respondent officials of Sulpicio has been shown by their absence of care and foresight to avoid damages, deaths and injuries to the passengers, respectively of said vessel," Acosta said.

"Further, the absence of skill on the part of respondent Captain Florencio Marimon was clearly demonstrated when he caused the M/V Princess of the Stars to navigate despite declaration of signal nos. 2 and 3 in the areas that it would be passing through, instead of seeking shelter," she added.