G.R. No. 206184, December 6, 2017
SPOUSES ED DANTE LATONIO AND MARY ANN LATONIO and the minor ED CHRISTIAN LATONIO, Petitioners, vs. MCGEORGE FOOD INDUSTRIES INC., CEBU GOLDEN FOODS INDUSTRIES, INC., and TYKE PHILIP LOMIBAO, Respondents.

FACTS

Petitioners accompanied their eight-month-old child, Ed Christian, to a birthday party at a McDonald’s restaurant. During the event, a mascot “Birdie,” portrayed by respondent employee Lomibao, entertained guests. Petitioner Mary Ann placed Ed Christian on a chair in front of the mascot for a photograph. As she released her hold on the child to take the picture, the child fell headfirst onto the floor. The restaurant staff provided immediate assistance, and the company later reimbursed medical expenses and offered further medical consultation. However, after initially cooperating, petitioners refused to share the child’s medical records and instead demanded ₱15 million in compensation. Upon rejection, they filed a complaint for damages.
The Regional Trial Court found Lomibao and his employer, Cebu Golden Foods, solidarily liable for negligence, awarding moral and exemplary damages and attorney’s fees. The Court of Appeals reversed this decision, dismissing the complaint. It found that the proximate cause of the incident was the negligence of the child’s mother, Mary Ann, in letting go of the infant while he was perched on a chair, not any act of the mascot.

ISSUE

Whether the Court of Appeals erred in ruling that the proximate cause of the child’s fall was the negligence of petitioner Mary Ann Latonio, thereby absolving the respondents of liability.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals, ruling that no actionable negligence on the part of the respondents was established. For a cause of action based on quasi-delict to prosper, the plaintiff must prove a wrongful act or omission, negligence, a direct causal connection between the negligence and the injury, and resulting damage. The Court found the element of a wrongful act or negligence attributable to the respondents lacking.
The evidence demonstrated that the mascot, Lomibao, was merely posing with extended wings behind the child and did not touch or cause the child to fall. The proximate and immediate cause of the accident was Mary Ann’s own act of releasing her hold on her eight-month-old child who was positioned on a chair, an inherently unstable location for an infant. The parent’s failure to exercise the requisite degree of care superseded any other circumstance. Since the respondents committed no legal wrong or breach of duty, no cause of action for damages could lie against them. The law does not provide a remedy for every accident or injury, but only for those arising from a legal injury or wrong.