GR L 60859; (December, 1982) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-60859 December 27, 1982
Globe-Mackay Cable & Radio Corporation and Ernesto Q. Torrejos, petitioners, vs. George G. Barrios and Olga Theresa Cruz-Barrios, respondents.
FACTS
The respondent-spouses, both physicians, were expecting a cablegram from Mercy Hospital in Buffalo, New York, regarding the wife’s admission for a rotating internship. While an identically addressed telegram from another cable company was successfully delivered, the crucial cablegram from the hospital was never delivered by petitioner Globe-Mackay. This failure prevented the wife from accepting the internship offer, resulting in the position being given to another applicant.
Consequently, the respondents suffered financial difficulties during their stay in New York due to the loss of approximately six months of earnings. They also experienced serious anxiety and sleepless nights. The Trial Court and the Court of Appeals found Globe-Mackay grossly negligent and held it liable for damages.
ISSUE
Whether the awards for actual, moral, exemplary damages, and attorney’s fees granted by the lower courts were excessive.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the finding of gross negligence and liability but modified the damages as excessive. The Court agreed that as a public service corporation, a telegraph company owes a duty to the public and is liable for damages proximately caused by its breach, as established in precedents like Western U. Tel. Co. vs. Ramsey. The failure to deliver the cablegram was a clear violation of this duty.
However, the Court reduced the awards. Considering that Globe-Mackay is a quasi-public corporation, that the respondents would have incurred living expenses reducing any net earnings, and that the wife secured another, better-paying job after six months, the damages were deemed inordinate. The Court modified the judgment by reducing the actual damages to the equivalent of $2,703.00, moral damages to P5,000.00, exemplary damages to P5,000.00, and attorney’s fees to P8,000.00, all computed at the July 31, 1973, exchange rate where applicable. The decision was affirmed in all other respects.