Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • La Mallorca and Pampanga Bus Co. vs. de Jesus, G.R. No. L-21486, May 14, 1966

    Uploaded by

    Abby Perez
    28 views1 page
    This Supreme Court case involved a bus accident that killed a passenger. The bus experienced a blowout of its front left tire, causing the driver to lose control and collide with an oncoming truck. The Court upheld the lower court's ruling that the bus company was liable, as the blowout was caused by a mechanical defect that could have been discovered through proper maintenance. While tire blowouts can sometimes be considered "acts of God", the known cause in this case - a slipped tire rim - meant it did not qualify. The Court also affirmed that moral damages are recoverable under the Civil Code for deaths caused by a common carrier's breach of contract.

    Original Description:

    Original Title

    15. La Mallorca and Pampanga Bus Co. vs. De Jesus, G.R. No. L-21486, May 14, 1966

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document
    This Supreme Court case involved a bus accident that killed a passenger. The bus experienced a blowout of its front left tire, causing the driver to lose control and collide with an oncoming truck. The Court upheld the lower court's ruling that the bus company was liable, as the blowout was caused by a mechanical defect that could have been discovered through proper maintenance. While tire blowouts can sometimes be considered "acts of God", the known cause in this case - a slipped tire rim - meant it did not qualify. The Court also affirmed that moral damages are recoverable under the Civil Code for deaths caused by a common carrier's breach of contract.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf or txt
    28 views1 page

    La Mallorca and Pampanga Bus Co. vs. de Jesus, G.R. No. L-21486, May 14, 1966

    Uploaded by

    Abby Perez
    This Supreme Court case involved a bus accident that killed a passenger. The bus experienced a blowout of its front left tire, causing the driver to lose control and collide with an oncoming truck. The Court upheld the lower court's ruling that the bus company was liable, as the blowout was caused by a mechanical defect that could have been discovered through proper maintenance. While tire blowouts can sometimes be considered "acts of God", the known cause in this case - a slipped tire rim - meant it did not qualify. The Court also affirmed that moral damages are recoverable under the Civil Code for deaths caused by a common carrier's breach of contract.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 1

    Republic of the Philippines

    SUPREME COURT
    Manila

    EN BANC

    G.R. No. L­21486             May 14, 1966

    LA MALLORCA and PAMPANGA BUS COMPANY, petitioner, 
    vs.
    VALENTIN DE JESUS, MANOLO TOLENTINO and COURT OF APPEALS, respondents.

    Manuel O. Chan for petitioners.
    Sixto T. Antonio for respondents.

    MAKALINTAL, J.:

    La  Mallorca  and  Pampanga  Bus  Company,  Inc.,  commonly  known  as  La  Mallorca­Pambusco,  filed  this  appeal
    bycertiorari from the decision of the Court of Appeals which affirmed that rendered by the Court of First Instance
    of Bulacan in its civil case No. 2100, entitled "Valentin de Jesus and Manolo Tolentino vs. La Mallorca­Pambusco."
    The court a quo sentenced the defendant, now petitioner, "to pay to plaintiffs the amount of P2,132.50 for actual
    damages;  P14,400.00  as  compensatory  damages;  P10,000.00  to  each  plaintiff  by  way  of  moral  damages;  and
    P3,000.00 as counsel fees."

    Two errors are attributed to the appellate Court: (1) "in sustaining the decision (of the court a quo) holding that the
    petitioners were liable for the accident which was caused by a blow­out of one of the tires of the bus and in not
    considering the same as caso fortuito," and (2) in holding petitioners liable for moral damages.

    The suit arose by reason of the death of Lolita de Jesus, 20­year old daughter of Valentin de Jesus and wife of
    Manolo  Tolentino,  in  a  head­on  collision  between  petitioner's  bus,  on  which  she  was  a  passenger,  and  a  freight
    truck  traveling  in  the  opposite  direction,  in  a  barrio  in  Marilao  Bulacan,  in  the  morning  of  October  8,  1959.  The
    immediate cause of the collision was the fact that the driver of the bus lost control of the wheel when its left front
    tire suddenly exploded.

    Petitioner maintains that a tire blow­out is a fortuitous event and gives rise to no liability for negligence, citing the
    rulings of the Court of Appeals in Rodriguez vs. Red Line Transportation Co.,  CA­G.R.  No.  8136,  December  29,
    1954, and People vs. Palapad, CA­G.R. No. 18480, June 27, 1958. These rulings, however, not only are not not
    binding  on  this  Court  but  were  based  on  considerations  quite  different  from  those  that  obtain  in  the  at  bar.  The
    appellate  Court  there  made  no  findings  of  any  specified  acts  of  negligence  on  the  part  of  the  defendants  and
    confined  itself  to  the  question  of  whether  or  not  a  tire  blow­out,  by  itself  alone  and  without  a  showing  as  to  the
    causative  factors,  would  generate  liability.  In  the  present  case,  the  cause  of  the  blow­out  was  known.  The  inner
    tube  of  the  left  front  tire,  according  to  petitioner's  own  evidence  and  as  found  by  the  Court  of  Appeals  "was
    pressed between the inner circle of the left wheel and the rim which had slipped out of the wheel." This was, said
    Court  correctly  held,  a  mechanical  defect  of  the  conveyance  or  a  fault  in  its  equipment  which  was  easily
    discoverable if the bus had been subjected to a more thorough, or rigid check­up before it took to the road that
    morning.

    Then  again  both  the  trial  court  and  the  Court  of  Appeals  found  as  a  fact  that  the  bus  was  running  quite  fast
    immediately before the accident. Considering that the tire which exploded was not new — petitioner describes it as
    "hindi masyadong kalbo," or not so very worn out — the plea of caso fortuito cannot be entertained. 1 ä w p h ï1 .ñ ë t

    The second issue raised by petitioner is already a settled one. In this jurisdiction moral damages are recoverable
    by  reason  of  the  death  of  a  passenger  caused  by  the  breach  of  contract  of  a  common  carrier,  as  provided  in
    Article  1764,  in  relation  to  Article  2206,  of  the  Civil  Code.  These  articles  have  been  applied  by  this  Court  in  a
    number of cases, among them Necesito, etc. vs. Paras, et al., L­10605­06, June 30, 1958; Mercado vs. Lira,  L­
    13328­29, Sept. 29, 1961; Villa­Rey Transit vs. Bello, L­18957, April 23, 1963.

    Wherefore, the judgment appealed from is affirmed, with costs against petitioners.

    Bengzon, C.J., Bautista Angelo, Concepcion, Reyes, J.B.L., Barrera, Dizon, Regala, Bengzon, J.P., Zaldivar and
    Sanchez, JJ., concur.

    You might also like