Title
People vs. Go
Case
G.R. No. 210816
Decision Date
Dec 10, 2018
M/V Princess of the Stars sank during Typhoon Frank in 2008, killing 227, with 592 missing. SLI executives charged with reckless imprudence for failing to ensure safety. Supreme Court reinstated criminal case against Edgar S. Go.
criminal case
negligence
responsibility
A

Case Summary (G.R. No. 210816)

Factual Background

On June 20, 2008, M/V Princess of the Stars (Stars), a passenger-cargo vessel of Sulpicio Lines, Inc., prepared to sail from Manila to Cebu. PAGASA issued Severe Weather Bulletins (SWB) No. 7 and No. 8 during the afternoon and evening, progressively hoisting Storm Warning Signals up to Signal No. 3 in areas along or near the vessel’s regular route. After a pre-departure conference, the Master, Captain Florencio Marimon, and Sulpicio Lines’ Manila Port Captain, Captain Benjamin Eugenio, agreed to await further forecasts. The Philippine Coast Guard inspected the vessel, approved an alternate voyage plan presented by the Master, and cleared Stars to depart at 8:04 p.m. on June 20, 2008. The vessel carried 709 passengers, 29 contractors and 111 crew, a total of 849 persons. Communications and weather bulletins between the ship and shore continued through the night. Early on June 21, 2008, the Master signaled that he steered away from the regular course to take shelter. By 8:30 a.m., the vessel was in the vicinity of Aklan Point and, by about 12:30 p.m., Stars capsized and sank in the Sibuyan Sea. Rescue reached the site only on June 23, 2008. Of 849 persons, thirty-two survived, 227 were confirmed dead, and 592 were reported missing.

Board of Marine Inquiry Findings

The Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI) issued a thorough Investigation Report on August 18, 2008. The BMI concluded that the immediate cause of the capsizing was the Master’s failure to exercise extraordinary diligence and good seamanship which placed Stars in harm’s way into the eye of Typhoon Frank. The BMI also found that Sulpicio Lines, Inc. failed to exercise extraordinary diligence to prevent or discourage the Master from sailing despite PSWS No. 3 along the vessel’s route, and that the company failed to monitor the vessel during the critical period. The BMI identified systemic and managerial failures, including deficient implementation of the company’s Safety Quality Management Manual and inadequate ship/shore coordination and contingency response. The BMI explicitly criticized several corporate officers for failing to exercise extraordinary diligence.

Preliminary Investigation by the Department of Justice and the Information

On September 2, 2008, heirs of passengers and the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption filed complaints for reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide, serious physical injuries, and damage to property against Sulpicio Lines, its officers, and Captain Marimon. A DOJ Panel conducted a preliminary investigation, including clarificatory hearings, and on June 22, 2009 found probable cause to indict Captain Marimon and respondent Edgar S. Go for reckless imprudence under Article 365, Revised Penal Code. The Panel reasoned that as First Vice-President for Administration and team leader of the Crisis Management Committee, respondent oversaw the officers who reported to him, including Capt. Eugenio and the safety officer, and that he was involved in decisions on whether vessels would be allowed to sail. The Panel concluded respondent failed to exercise extraordinary care and to cancel or discourage the voyage after SWB No. 8. An Information was filed in the Regional Trial Court, Manila, as Criminal Case No. 09-269169.

Administrative Determination by the Department of Transportation and Communications

During the pendency of respondent’s petition for review before the DOJ Secretary, the Secretary of Transportation and Communications issued an independent Resolution on August 28, 2009, exculpating Sulpicio Lines and attributing proximate cause of the tragedy to the Master, Captain Marimon. That administrative finding emphasized human error by the Master and concluded that navigation and operation were dependent on his skill and discretion.

Proceedings in the Department of Justice and the Court of Appeals

Respondent’s petition for review with the DOJ Secretary was denied on March 22, 2010, and reconsideration was likewise denied on June 8, 2010. The Court of Appeals, however, entertained a petition for certiorari and mandamus and, in a Decision dated March 22, 2013, dismissed the charge against respondent. The CA held that the rule of non-interference in preliminary investigations is not absolute but found that the DOJ Panel committed error in imputing to respondent a power to direct vessel navigation at sea. The CA concluded there was no evidence that respondent had the authority to instruct the Master to take shelter or drop anchor and that his act of leaving the decision to ship officers did not make him criminally liable. The CA denied the petitioners’ motion for reconsideration on January 8, 2014.

Issues Presented to the Supreme Court

Two principal issues were consolidated before the Supreme Court: first, whether the Court of Appeals erred in assuming jurisdiction over the petition for certiorari despite respondent’s failure to implead People of the Philippines as an indispensable party; and second, whether the CA erred in concluding there was no probable cause to indict respondent Edgar S. Go and in dismissing Criminal Case No. 09-269169 against him.

Parties’ Contentions

The People argued that the CA improperly exercised jurisdiction and wrongly substituted its judgment for the prosecutor’s determination of probable cause. The People maintained that the DOJ Panel conducted adequate preliminary investigation, including clarificatory hearings, and that respondent failed to exercise extraordinary care by allowing the officers to decide on departure and by not instructing the Master to seek shelter. The consolidated private petitioners in G.R. No. 210854 contended that respondent had authority and duty to control vessel navigation decisions through direct reporting port captains and safety officers and that his failure to act warranted criminal prosecution. Respondent countered that criminal culpability in a reckless imprudence case involving a common carrier ordinarily lies with the ship captain who is in command at sea, that respondent was a land-based officer without authority to direct navigation, that any corporate liability is civil in nature, and that the DOJ Panel and the Secretary of Justice committed manifest injustice in ordering his prosecution.

Standard of Review and Non-Interference Doctrine

The Court reiterated the long-standing rule that judicial intrusion into executive determinations of probable cause is disfavored. The policy of non-interference leaves to the prosecutor “ample latitude of discretion” to determine whether facts constitute probable cause, and courts will not reverse such determinations except upon a clear showing of grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction. The petitioner for certiorari must show that the prosecutor acted in an arbitrary and despotic manner so patent and gross as to amount to evasion or unilateral refusal to perform a duty enjoined by law.

Supreme Court’s Analysis of Probable Cause and Elements of Reckless Imprudence

The Court examined the elements of reckless imprudence under Article 365, Revised Penal Code and the factual matrix developed by the BMI and the DOJ Panel. The DOJ Panel identified specific omissions by respondent: failure to monitor the vessel against the typhoon’s movement, failure to instruct the Master to take shelter in Batangas despite PAGASA forecasts, voluntary but non-malicious conduct, and resulting deaths and missing persons. The Court found that the DOJ Panel did not rely solely on affidavits but held clarificatory hearings where key Sulpicio Lines personnel testified. The Court concluded that the Panel’s findings established a reasonable and honest belief that respondent committed reckless imprudence. The Court stressed that a finding of probable cause does not establish guilt. It merely binds the accused over for trial. Whether the elements are proven beyond reasonable doubt is for the trial court to determine after presentation of evidence.

Distinction Between Civil Liability of Carrier and Criminal Liability

The Court emphasized the legal distinction between a carrier’s contractual and civil obligations under Articles 1755, 1756, and 1759, Civil Code, and criminal liability under Article 365, Revised Penal Code. Civil liability of a common carrier arises from the contract of carriage and from presumptions of fault when passengers are injured or killed. Criminal liability for reckless imprudence, by contrast, penalizes negligent conduct that, if intentional, would be a felo

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