15 years after sea tragedy, MV Princess of the Stars heirs, survivors still await justice

HEIRS and survivors of the ill-fated MV Princess of the Stars that capsized 15 years ago and resulted in the deaths of 814 passengers have asked the Court of Appeals (CA) to hand its verdict.

The victims' relatives, as well as some survivors, met with Public Attorney's Office (PAO) Chief Persida Rueda-Acosta and other PAO officials, led by Forensics Division Director Erwin Erfe, on Thursday at a Quezon City restaurant where they commemorated the 15th anniversary of the sinking of the ship owned by the Sulpicio Lines Inc. (SLI) on June 21, 2008.

Following the tragedy where over 500 still remain missing, SLI has since been renamed the Philippine Span Asia Carriers Inc.

In this file photo Philippine Coast Guard rescue personnel approach the bow of the sunken ferry MV Princess of the Stars, off the coast of central Sibuyan island on June 23, 2008. AFP FIle PHOTO

Rueda-Acosta, whose agency handles their civil cases, joined them in their plea amid alleged delaying tactics by the camp of the vessel owners to evade paying the compensation due the aggrieved families.

“The justice, the relatives of the victims have been longing for, remains elusive and maybe tomorrow there will be light and there is still hope,” the chief public attorney said.

She assured the relatives and the 32 survivors that the PAO under her leadership will not slow down as they will continue fighting for their interest “even if others would back out.”

The victims' relatives present during the commemoration were still confident that justice would be served soon.

“We heard that the Court of Appeals will soon release its ruling, we just hope that the verdict will be made this year so that we can start moving on even without our loved ones who perished during the tragedy,” the victims' relatives said in Filipino.