GR L 33722; (July, 1988) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-33722 July 29, 1988
FEDERICO YLARDE and ADELAIDA DORONIO, petitioners, vs. EDGARDO AQUINO, MAURO SORIANO and COURT OF APPEALS, respondents.
FACTS
In 1963, private respondent Edgardo Aquino, a teacher at Gabaldon Primary School in Tayug, Pangasinan, undertook to help bury hazardous concrete block remnants from a destroyed school shop. On October 7, 1963, he ordered eighteen of his male pupils, aged ten to eleven, to dig a hole beside a one-ton concrete block after class. The next day, he directed four of these pupils to continue the excavation. When the pit was deep enough, Aquino left the four children alone at the site to level loose soil while he went to borrow a rope from a colleague about thirty meters away, allegedly after telling them “not to touch the stone.” Shortly after Aquino departed, the children playfully jumped into the pit. One of them, Ismael Abaga, jumped onto the concrete block, causing it to slide into the excavation. While two pupils escaped, Novelito Ylarde was pinned against the wall, sustaining severe crushing injuries that led to his death three days later. The child’s parents filed a damages suit against teacher Aquino and school principal Mauro Soriano.
ISSUE
The core issue is whether, under Articles 2176 and 2180 of the Civil Code, respondents Edgardo Aquino and Mauro Soriano can be held liable for damages arising from the negligence that caused the death of Novelito Ylarde.
RULING
The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and held teacher Edgardo Aquino liable for damages, while absolving principal Mauro Soriano. The Court applied the doctrine established in Amadora vs. Court of Appeals, which interprets Article 2180. It ruled that in academic schools, liability for torts committed by students attaches to the teacher-in-charge, not the head of the school. Responsibility for the head of the school is confined to establishments of arts and trades. Therefore, as principal of an academic institution, Soriano could not be held vicariously liable.
The Court found Aquino grossly negligent under Article 2176. It rejected the lower courts’ findings that the activity was part of “Work Education” or that Aquino exercised utmost diligence. The excavation involving a massive concrete block was an inherently dangerous activity unsuitable for ten-year-old children. Aquino, standing in loco parentis, failed to exercise the requisite care of a reasonably prudent person. Leaving the children unattended at a hazardous site with only a vague warning was a direct failure to ensure their safety. This omission proximately caused the fatal accident. Consequently, Aquino was ordered to pay the petitioners indemnity for death, moral damages, and exemplary damages.