GR 39181; (December, 1933) (Digest)
G.R. No. 39181 December 20, 1933
MANILA RAILROAD COMPANY, applicant-appellant, vs. M.P. TRANCO, Inc., opponent-appellee.
FACTS
The Manila Railroad Company (MRC) established a joint rate for shipping fuel oil from Manila to mines near Baguio, involving rail transport to Bauang and then truck haul to the mines. MRC owned both the railroad and the trucking service (Benguet Auto Line). M.P. Tranco, Inc., a competitor operating a truck line from Bauang to the same mines, opposed the joint rate. The proposed rate division heavily favored the truck haul, effectively granting MRC’s truck line an unfair competitive advantage. The Public Service Commission, after a hearing, revoked the proposed rates and fixed new rates for the Bauang-to-mines haul.
ISSUE
Whether the Public Service Commission acted within its authority in fixing new freight rates for the truck haul from Bauang to the mines, instead of merely choosing between the old rates and MRC’s proposed joint rates.
RULING
Yes. The Public Service Commission has the authority to establish proper rates based on the evidence presented in the proceeding, and is not limited to selecting only between the old rates and a proposed new rate. The commission’s action was justified because the proposed joint rate manipulated divisions to create an unfair competitive advantage for MRC’s own truck line over its competitor, M.P. Tranco, Inc., and was set at an unremunerative level that would lead to ruinous competition. The new rates fixed by the commission were supported by evidence and were fair, just, and properly remunerative.
AI Generated by Armztrong.