GR 88052; (December, 1989) (Digest)
G.R. No. 88052 December 14, 1989
JOSE P. MECENAS, ET AL., petitioners, vs. HON. COURT OF APPEALS, CAPT. ROGER SANTISTEBAN and NEGROS NAVIGATION CO., INC., respondents.
FACTS
On April 22, 1980, the M/V “Don Juan,” owned by Negros Navigation, collided with the M/T “Tacloban City” in the Talbas Strait, causing the passenger vessel to sink and resulting in numerous fatalities, including spouses Perfecto and Sofia Mecenas. Their seven children, the petitioners, filed a complaint for damages against Negros Navigation and the ship’s captain, Capt. Roger Santisteban, alleging negligence. The trial court found the defendants liable and awarded the petitioners P400,000.00 for the death of their parents, plus attorney’s fees. On appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed the finding of liability but reduced the damages to P100,000.00, characterizing it as “actual and compensatory damages.”
ISSUE
Whether the Court of Appeals erred in reducing the award of damages from P400,000.00 to P100,000.00, thereby precluding an award for moral damages.
RULING
The Supreme Court ruled that the Court of Appeals erred. The proper characterization of the petitioners’ cause of action is crucial. While the appellate court treated it as a quasi-delict, the Supreme Court clarified that the action is fundamentally based on a breach of contract of carriage. The deceased spouses were paying passengers, and their surviving children sue as heirs to enforce the contractual obligation. In a breach of contract of carriage, the common carrier is liable for the death of passengers due to the negligence of its employees, and such liability can include moral damages under Article 1764 of the Civil Code, in relation to Article 2206. The trial court’s award of P400,000.00 was correctly understood as indemnity for death, which encompasses not only compensatory loss but also moral suffering. The appellate court’s reduction to P100,000.00, labeled strictly as “actual and compensatory,” erroneously excluded this component. Consequently, the Supreme Court reinstated the trial court’s award of P400,000.00 as the proper indemnity for the death of the two parents, consistent with prevailing jurisprudence. The decision underscores that in contractual breach involving death, damages are not limited to pecuniary loss.