G.R. No. 19541 ; March 8, 1923
DEMETRIO MAXION, plaintiff-appellee, vs. THE MANILA RAILROAD COMPANY, defendant-appellant.

FACTS

For many years prior to 1911, the inhabitants of Barrio Binday, San Fabian, Pangasinan, maintained an irrigation system (Binday System) supplied by a wing dam on the Bued River. In 1907, the Manila Railroad Company constructed a railroad line and a bridge over the irrigation canal near the dam’s intake. On September 18, 1911, during a severe flood, the railroad’s inspector, Jose D. Ramirez, fearing the floodwaters would destroy the bridge, ordered workmen to breach the dam to divert water away from the bridge. The breach destroyed the dam. After the flood, when the inhabitants attempted to rebuild the dam, Ramirez, supported by company officials, prevented them, claiming the dam encroached on the railroad’s right-of-way. Demetrio Maxion, a landowner dependent on the irrigation system, filed an action for damages against the Manila Railroad Company in 1915.

ISSUE

Whether the Manila Railroad Company is liable for damages to Demetrio Maxion for the destruction of the irrigation dam and the prevention of its reconstruction.

RULING

Yes, the Manila Railroad Company is liable. The act of its employee, Jose D. Ramirez, in destroying the dam to save the company’s bridge was done within the scope of his employment, making the company vicariously liable. The company’s subsequent act of preventing the reconstruction of the dam was a separate wrong that continued the injury. The defense that the dam was on the company’s right-of-way was not a valid justification to destroy an existing, long-standing irrigation system. The prior case of Turner vs. Manila Railroad Company, which involved an improper consolidation of claims via assignment to an attorney, did not constitute res judicata barring Maxion’s separate action. The judgment of the lower court awarding damages to Maxion was affirmed.