MANILA - PHILIPPINE justice officials on Tuesday approved the filing of criminal charges against the owner and missing captain of a huge ferry that capsized last year during a typhoon, killing hundreds of people.

The charges of negligence stem from a criminal complaint filed by victims' families accusing the owner of the 23,800-ton Princess of the Stars of ignoring storm warnings, said Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera.

Of about 800 passengers and crew, only 33 survived after the ferry overturned in the storm-swollen waves and fierce winds near central Sibuyan Island on June 21, 2008.

Authorities have identified more than 400 bodies, and 316 others are believed to be trapped in the wreckage, whose bow is still jutting from the sea, Transport Undersecretary Maria Elena Bautista said.

If convicted, Sulpicio Lines Inc. official Edgar Go, the respondent in the complaint, could face up to six years in prison.

The company is facing a separate civil case.

Go did not comment immediately, but Sulpicio Lines said last year that the ferry left Manila with coast guard approval, although storm warnings had already been raised.

The body of the captain, Florencio Marimon, has not been recovered, Mr Devanadera said. Coast guard officials said last year that they approved the voyage because the storm signal was weak but that the captain should have the final word, taking into consideration weather conditions along the way.

Justice officials say the skipper and others in charge of the ferry should have canceled the trip. 'They should have practiced extraordinary diligence considering the very bad weather at the time,' Mr Devanadera told The Associated Press.

State prosecutors will continue the investigation to determine if about eight others accused in the case should also be indicted, she said. -- AP