Lara, Et Al. vs. Valencia

III. Transportation of Passengers 1. Extra Ordinar Ordinary y Diligence Diligence – b) Accomm Accommodat odation ion Passeng Passenger er

Lordes Lara! et al "s. #rigido $alencia %& 'o. 'o. L(*+ L(*+ ,ne -*! 1/ 000.la0pil.net23d3ris23ri1 000 .la0pil.net23d3ris23ri1/23n1/2gr4l(*+41 /23n1/2gr4l(*+41/.tml /.tml

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 Te deceased. Demetrio Lara! 7r.! 7r.! 0as an inspector of te #rea #rea of 5orestry 5orestry stationed in Da"ao. Defendant! #rigido $alencia $alencia is engaged in te bsiness of exporting logs from is lmber concession in 6otabato. Lara 0ent to said concession pon instrctions of is cief to classify te logs of $alencia $alencia 0ic 0ere abot to be loaded on a sip ancored in te port of Parang. 9is 0or: lasted for six days dring 0ic e contracted malaria fe"er. One morning! Lara as:ed $alencia if e cold ta:e im in is pic: p to Da"ao as tere 0as ten no oter means of transportation! to 0ic $alencia agreed.  Te pic:(p left Parang bond bond to Da"ao ta:ing along along six passengers inclding Lara. Lara 0as in"ited by te defendant to come sit 0it im on te front seat! bt e declined. Dring te trip! Lara sat at te bac: of te pic:(p! on a bag in te middle 0it is arms on a sitcase and is ead co"e red by a  3ac:et. ;pon reacing barrio 6atidtan! Lara accidentally fell from te pic:(p and ten ss 6linic of ?idapa0an. ?idapa0an. #t 0en Lara arri"ed! arri"ed! e 0as already already dead. It terefore appears tat te deceased as 0ell as is companions 0o rode in te pic:(p of defendant! 0ere merely accommodation passengers 0o paid noting for te ser"ice! and so s o tey can be considered as in"ited gests. As accommodation passengers or in"ited gests! defendant as o0ner and dri"er of te pic:(p o0es to tem merely te dty to exercise reasonable reasonable care so tat tey may be transported safely to teir destination. Defendant is only re@ired to obser"e ordinary care! and is not dty bond to exercise extraordinary diligence as re@ired of a common carrier by te la0.

I77;E8

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eter or not te t e defendant failed to obser"e ordinary care or diligence in transporting te deceased from Parang to Da"ao

9ELD8

 Te 7preme 6ort rled in fa"or of te respondents! respondents! re"ersing te decision decision appealed from. Te 7preme 6ort eld tat all tings considered! te accident occrred not de to te negligence of te defendant bt to circmstances beyond is control and tat e sold be exempt from liability.  Te 7preme 6ort stated tat tere is noting to indicate indicate tat defendant defendant as acted 0it negligence or 0itot ta:ing te precation tat an ordinary prdent man 0old a"e ta:en nder similar circmstances. Tere is e"ery reason to belie"e tat te nfortnate appening 0as only de to an nforeseen accident by te fact tat at te time te deceased 0as alf(asleep and mst a"e fallen from te pic:(p 0en it ran into some stones casing it to 3er: considering tat te road 0as ten bmpy! rog and fll of stones. Te 7preme 6ort also states tat tey may rater attribte te incident to lac: of care on te part of te deceased considering tat te pic:(p 0as open and e 0as ten in crocing position. Indeed! te la0 pro"ides tat BA passenger mst obser"e te diligence of a good fater of a family to a"oid in3ry to imselfC Article 1+1! '66)! 0ic means tat if  te in3ry to te passenger as been proximately cased by is o0n negligence! te carrier cannot be eld liable.