G.R. No. L-28014-15 May 29, 1970
SPOUSES MARCELO LANDINGIN and RACQUEL BOCASAS, plaintiffs-appellees, vs. PANGASINAN TRANSPORTATION CO. and MARCELO OLIGAN, defendants-appellants.

SPOUSES PEDRO GARCIA and EUFRACIA LANDINGIN, plaintiffs-appellees, vs. PANGASINAN TRANSPORTATION CO. and MARCELO OLIGAN, defendants-appellants.

FACTS

The spouses Marcelo Landingin and Racquel Bocasas, and the spouses Pedro Garcia and Eufracia Landingin, filed separate complaints for damages against Pangasinan Transportation Co. (PANTRANCO) and its driver, Marcelo Oligan, in connection with the deaths of their respective daughters, Leonila Landingin and Estrella Garcia. The daughters were passengers on a PANTRANCO bus on an excursion trip from Dagupan City to Baguio City on April 20, 1963. Upon reaching an uphill point at Camp 8, Kennon Road, a sudden snapping or breaking of a metal cross-joint below the bus floor was heard, causing the bus to stop abruptly and then roll back. Some passengers, including Leonila and Estrella, panicked and jumped out of the bus despite the driver’s shouted warnings to remain seated; they suffered fatal injuries. The trial court found that the cross-joint had been inspected and found in order the day before the trip, that the driver maneuvered the bus safely to the mountainside after the malfunction, and that there was no negligence on the part of the defendants. The court concluded the accident was a fortuitous event. However, based on evidence that PANTRANCO had made settlement offers without admitting liability in related cases and to assuage the plaintiffs’ feelings, the trial court, while absolving the defendants of negligence and dismissing the complaints, ordered PANTRANCO to pay P6,500.00 to the Landingin spouses and P3,500.00 to the Garcia spouses as an expression of sympathy and goodwill. The defendants appealed this award.

ISSUE

Whether the trial court erred in ordering defendant PANTRANCO to pay damages to the plaintiffs after having absolved it of negligence and dismissed the complaints.

RULING

The Supreme Court modified the judgment of the trial court. It held that the trial court erred in dismissing the complaints. PANTRANCO, as a common carrier, was bound under Articles 1733 and 1755 of the Civil Code to observe extraordinary diligence and the utmost diligence of very cautious persons to carry passengers safely. The death of the passengers gave rise to a presumption of negligence under Article 1756, which the carrier must rebut by proving such extraordinary diligence. The Court found that the carrier did not successfully rebut this presumption. The mere recent inspection of the cross-joint, without showing that the inspection considered the particular taxing circumstances of the heavily laden bus traveling on mountainous roads, was insufficient. The breaking of the cross-joint, a mechanical defect, was not a fortuitous event exempting the carrier from liability. Consequently, PANTRANCO was liable for breach of contract of carriage. The monetary awards made by the trial court were sustained but were deemed to be damages for breach of contract, not mere expressions of sympathy. PANTRANCO was ordered to pay the awarded amounts with legal interest from the filing of the complaints.