VECTOR SHIPPING CORPORATION and SORIANO vs. AMERICAN HOME ASSURANCE COMPANY and SULPICIO LINES, INC.G.R. No. 159213
VECTOR SHIPPING CORPORATION and SORIANO vs. AMERICAN HOME ASSURANCE COMPANY and SULPICIO LINES, INC.G.R. No. 159213
VECTOR SHIPPING CORPORATION and SORIANO vs. AMERICAN HOME ASSURANCE COMPANY and SULPICIO LINES, INC.G.R. No. 159213
FACTS:
Vector was the operator of the motor tanker M/T Vector, while Soriano
was the registered owner of the M/T Vector. Respondent is a domestic
insurance corporation.
M/T Vector and the M/V Doña Paz, the latter a vessel owned and
operated by Sulpicio Lines, Inc., collided in the open sea.
The collision led to the sinking of both vessels. The entire petroleum cargo
of Caltex on board the M/T Vector perished.
On July 12, 1988, respondent indemnified Caltex for the loss of the
petroleum cargo in the full amount of P7,455,421.08.
The CA reversed the decision of the RTC absolving Sulpicio Lines, Inc. of
any liability to respondent, the CA held Vector and Soriano jointly and
severally liable to respondent for the reimbursement of the amount
RULING: NO.
Article 1144.The following actions must be brought within ten years from the
time the cause of action accrues: (1) Upon a written contract; (2) Upon an
obligation created by law; (3) Upon a judgment.
The court clarified that t the present action was not upon a written contract,
but upon an obligation created by law. Hence, it came under Article 1144 (2)
of the Civil Code. This is because the subrogation of respondent to the rights
of Caltex as the insured was by virtue of the express provision of law
embodied in Article 2207 of the Civil Code (see notes #1.
APPLICATION
Considering that the cause of action accrued as of the time respondent
actually indemnified Caltex in the amount of P7,455,421.08 on July 12, 1988,
19 the action was not yet barred by the time of the filing of its complaint on
March 5, 1992, which was well within the 10-year period prescribed by Article
1144 of the Civil Code.
______
NOTES:
1. Article 2207 of the Civil Code is founded on the well-settled principle of
subrogation. If the insured property is destroyed or damaged through the fault
or negligence of a party other than the assured, then the insurer, upon
payment to the assured, will be subrogated to the rights of the assured to
recover from the wrongdoer to the extent that the insurer has been obligated
to pay. Payment by the insurer to the assured operates as an equitable
assignment to the former of all remedies which the latter may have
against the third party whose negligence or wrongful act caused the
loss. The right of subrogation is not dependent upon, nor does it grow
out of, any privity of contract or upon written assignment of claim. It
accrues simply upon payment of the insurance claim by the insurer