Sulpicio Lines filed a civil case against the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) and two of its officials for "gross negligence and incompetence" in forecasting the path of typhoon Frank, which it blamed for the sinking of its ship M/V Princess of the Stars.
In the civil case, the PAGASA, as an agency, as well as its director Prisco Nilo and chief weather forecaster Nathaniel Cruz, are being sued for "gross negligence and incompetence" in forecasting the weather, particularly the projected path of the typhoon from June 20 to June 21.
Sulpicio Lines lawyer Arthur Lim said the agency first announced on the evening of June 20 that the storm was moving northwest, but at 5 a.m. of June 21 the agency announced the storm had moved westward. In effect, Sulpicio Lines said that due to faulty weather forecasting by the national weather bureau, the ship's captain directed the ferry towards the typhoon path.
"The point is… at the time they made the wrong forecast, PAGASA knew the actual movement of the typhoon westward, but still anounced it and broacast it as northwest, thereby deceiving the captain who plotted his own course going down south to Cebu," Lim told ANC's Top Storynewscast Monday.