GR 83768; (February, 1990) (Digest)
G.R. No. 83768 February 28, 1990
RADIO COMMUNICATIONS OF THE PHILIPPINES, INC. (RCPI) and GLOBE MACKAY AND RADIO CORPORATION, petitioners, vs. RUFUS B. RODRIGUEZ, respondent.
FACTS
On September 8, 1978, respondent Rufus B. Rodriguez, as President of the World Association of Law Students (WALS), sent two overseas cablegrams through petitioner RCPI. One was addressed to Mohamed Elsir Taha in Khartoum, Sudan, advising of Rodriguez’s arrival for a conference, and the other to Diane Merger in the United States. RCPI relayed the telegrams to its correspondent, Globe Mackay, for international transmission. Rodriguez arrived in Khartoum on September 18, 1978, but Taha was not at the airport to meet him because the telegram was never delivered. Consequently, all preparations for the international conference were cancelled, causing significant disruption.
Rodriguez filed a complaint for damages against RCPI and Globe Mackay. The trial court held them jointly and severally liable, awarding actual, moral, and exemplary damages plus attorney’s fees. The Court of Appeals affirmed this decision. RCPI, as the sole petitioner in this review, argued that its responsibility ceased upon relaying the telegrams to Globe Mackay and that Rodriguez was partly at fault for providing incomplete addresses.
ISSUE
The primary issues are: (1) whether RCPI remains liable for the non-delivery of the telegrams after relaying them to Globe Mackay; and (2) whether the awards for moral damages, exemplary damages, and attorney’s fees are justified under the circumstances.
RULING
The Supreme Court modified the decision of the Court of Appeals. On the first issue, the Court affirmed RCPI’s liability. RCPI, as the originating carrier that contracted directly with the sender, Rodriguez, cannot absolve itself of responsibility by merely passing the telegrams to a correspondent. The law imposes upon a public utility like RCPI the duty to ensure the proper transmission and delivery of messages it accepts for sending. Its failure to do so constitutes negligence, making it liable for the resulting damages. The Court found RCPI’s claim of incomplete addresses unsubstantiated by clear proof.
Regarding the awards, the Court sustained the grant of actual damages, as the expenses incurred by Rodriguez due to the cancelled conference were duly proven. However, it reduced the moral damages from P100,000 to P10,000, finding the original award excessive. The award of exemplary damages was deleted, as there was no showing of wanton or fraudulent conduct by RCPI that would warrant such punitive award. Finally, the award of attorney’s fees was also deleted because the trial court’s decision failed to state the factual and legal justification for it in the body of the text, as required by jurisprudence. The decision was affirmed in all other respects.