G.R. No. L-70458 October 5, 1988
BENJAMIN SALVOSA and BAGUIO COLLEGES FOUNDATION, petitioners, vs. THE INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURT, EDUARDO B. CASTRO, DIOMEDES B. CASTRO, VIRGINIA B. CASTRO and RODOLFO B. CASTRO, respondents.

FACTS

Petitioners Benjamin Salvosa (President of Baguio Colleges Foundation or BCF) and BCF itself were held solidarily liable with Jimmy B. Abon for damages under Article 2180 of the Civil Code by the trial court and the Intermediate Appellate Court. The liability arose from the fatal shooting of Napoleon Castro, a student of the University of Baguio, by Abon on March 3, 1977, at around 8:00 p.m. in BCF’s parking space. Abon, convicted of homicide, was a commerce student at BCF and the duly appointed armorer of the BCF ROTC Unit. He received his appointment, salary, and orders from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), not from BCF. The ROTC unit was under AFP control, with BCF merely providing office and armory space per a Department of Education order.

ISSUE

Whether petitioners can be held solidarily liable with Jimmy B. Abon for damages under Article 2180 of the Civil Code, which makes teachers or heads of establishments of arts and trades liable for damages caused by their pupils or students so long as they remain in their custody.

RULING

The Supreme Court reversed the appellate court and absolved petitioners from solidary liability. The legal logic centers on the interpretation of “custody” under Article 2180. Citing Palisoc v. Brillantes, the Court held that a school’s liability attaches only when the student is under its “protective and supervisory custody,” meaning the student is “at attendance in the school, including recess time.” Recess is a temporary adjournment where the student remains within the school’s call and premises, not dismissal. The Court found that at 8:00 p.m., Abon was not attending a class or school function. The fact that he might have been attending night classes and that the time was near dismissal did not place him within the legally contemplated “recess.” Being enrolled or on school premises alone does not constitute being in the school’s custody for liability to attach. Furthermore, the record showed Abon was specifically instructed by his AFP superior, the ROTC Commandant, to guard the armory and not leave the office, indicating he was acting under AFP orders, not within BCF’s academic supervision. Since Abon was not in BCF’s custody during the incident, the prerequisite for liability under Article 2180 was absent. The Court deemed it unnecessary to resolve the ancillary issue of whether BCF, as an institution offering both academic and technical courses, could be considered an “establishment of arts and trades” for a student enrolled only in its academic program.