Lopez v. Duruelo

LOPEZ v. DURUELO 52 Phil 229

February ry 10, 1927, 1927, plaint plaintiff iff August Augusto o Lopez Lopez was desiro desirous us of embark embarking ing upon upon te FACTS: On Februa interisland interisland steamer steamer !an "a#into in order order to go to $ebu, te plaintiff plaintiff embarked embarked at te landing in te motorboat "ison wi# was engaged in #on%eying passengers and luggage ba#k and fort from te landing to te boats at an#or&  As te motorboat approa#ed !an "a#into in a perfe#tly 'uiet sea, it #ame too near to te stern of  te sip, and as te propeller of te sip ad not yet #eased to turn, te blades of te propeller  stru#k te motorboat and sank it at on#e& As it sank, te plaintiff was trown into te water against te propel propeller ler,, and te re%ol% re%ol%ing ing blades blades infli# infli#ted ted %ariou %arious s in(uri in(uries es upon upon im& im& )e plaint plaintiff iff was ospitalize ospitalized& d& *e filed a #omplaint #omplaint seeking to re#o%er re#o%er damages damages from te defendant& defendant& )e defendant owe%er alleged tat te #omplaint does not a%e a rigt of a#tion, a demurrer was submitted dire#ted to te fa#t tat te #omplaint does not allege tat te protest ad been presented by te plaintiff, witin twenty+four ours after te o##urren#e to te #ompetent autority at te port were te a##ident o##urred as pro%ided for Arti#le -. of te $ode of $ommer#e& /eter er te te moto motorb rboa oatt "iso "ison n is a %ess %essel el pro% pro%id ided ed for for by Arti# rti#le le -. -. of te te $ode $ode of  ISSUE: /et $ommer#e HELD: )e word %essel as used in te tird se#tion of tile , 3ook  of te $ode of $ommer#e, dealing wit #ollisions, does not in#lude all sips, #raft or floating stru#tures of any kind witout limita limitatio tion& n& )e said se#tio se#tion n does does not apply to minor minor #raft #raft engage engaged d in a ri%er ri%er and bay traff traffi#& i#& )eref )erefore ore,, a passen passenger ger on boat boat like like te "ison, "ison, is not re'uired re'uired to make make protes protestt as a #ondit #ondition ion pre#edent to is rigt of a#tion for te in(ury suffered by im in te #ollision des#ribed in te #omplaint& Arti#le -. of te $ode of $ommer#e does not apply&

G.R. No. L-29166

O!o"#$ 22% 192&

AUGUSTO LOPEZ% 'l(i)!i**-(''#ll()!% v+. ,UAN DURUELO% ET AL.% #*#)()!+. ALINO ,ISON% (''#ll##.

 Angel S. Gamboa for appellant. Feria and La O for appellee.

STREET% ,.:

)is a#tion was instituted in te $ourt of First nstan#e of O##idental 4egros by Augusto Lopez, for  te purpose of re#o%ering damages for personal in(uries infli#ted upon im by reason of te negligen#e of te defendants, "uan 5uruelo and Albino "ison& )e defendants demurred to te #omplaint, and te demurrer a%ing been sustained, te plaintiff ele#ted to stand upon is #omplaint, wi# was a##ordingly dismissed6 and te plaintiff appealed& )e fa#ts ne#essary to an understanding of te #ase as set out in te #omplaint are briefly tese On February 10, 1927, te plaintiff, wo is a resident of te muni#ipality of !ilay, O##idental 4egros, was desirous of embarking upon te interisland steamer !an "a#into in order to go to loilo& )is boat was at te time in te an#oring+ground of te port of !ilay, some alf a mile distant from te port& )e plaintiff terefore embarked at te landing in te motor boat "ison, wi# was ten engaged in #on%eying passengers and luggage ba#k and fort from te landing to boats at an#or, and wi# was owned and operated by te defendant Albino "ison, wit "uan 5uruelo as patron& )e engineer  8ma'uinista aboard on tis trip was one :odolin 5uruelo, a boy of only 1; years of age& *e is alleged to a%e been a mere no%i#e witout e120,000& )ese damages e seeks to re#o%er of te defendants in tis a#tion&

 As a general ground of demurrer it is assigned by te defendants tat te #omplaint does not sow a rigt of a#tion, and in te #ourse of te argument submitted wit te demurrer attention is dire#ted to te fa#t tat te #omplaint does not allege tat a protest ad been presented by te plaintiff, witin twenty+four ours after te o##urren#e, to te #ompetent autority at te port were te a##ident o##ured& t is a##ordingly insisted tat, under arti#le -. of te $ode of $ommer#e, te plaintiff as sown no #ause of a#tion&  Assuming tat te arti#le of te $ode of $ommer#e relied upon states a #ondition pre#edent to te maintenan#e of an a#tion in #ase were protest is re'uired and tat te making of protest must be alleged in te #omplaint in order to sow a good #ause of a#tion ? an assumption tat is possibly witout basis, for te reason tat la#k of protest in a #ase were protest is ne#essary would seem to supply matter of defense proper to be set up in te answer, ? we ne%erteless are of te opinion tat protest was not ne#essary in te #ase now before us& )e arti#le in 'uestion 8-., $ode of  $om& is found in te se#tion dealing wit #ollisions, and te #onte
n Bu $on %s& pil 8C1 >il&, 770, tis #ourt eld tat a small %essel used for te transportation of  mer#andise by sea and for te making of %oyages from one port to anoter of tese slands, e'uipped and %i#tualed for tis purpose by its owner, is a %essel, witin te pur%iew of te $ode of  $ommer#e, for te determination of te #ara#ter and effe#t of te relations #reated between te owners of te mer#andise laden on it and its owner& n te #ase before us te "ison, as we are informed in te #omplaint, was propelled by a se#ond+and motor, originally used for a tra#tor plow6 and it ad a #apa#ity for only eigt persons& )e use to wi# it was being put was te #arrying of  passengers and luggage between te landing at !ilay and sips in te arbor& )is was not su# a boat as is #ontemplated in arti#le -. of te $ode of $ommer#e, re'uiring protest in #ase of  #ollision& n Bu $on %s& pil, supra, te autor of te opinion 'uotes a passage from te treaties on =er#antile Law by 3lan#o& /e now a%e before us te latest edition of 3lan#o, and we reprodu#ed ere, in bot !panis and nglis, not only te passage tus 'uoted but also te senten#e immediately following said passage6 and tis latter part of te 'uotation is 'uite pertinent to te point now under  #onsideration& !ays 3lan#o Las palabras @na%e@ y @bu'ue@, en su sentido gramati#al se apli#an para designar #ual'uier #lase de embar#a#iones, grandes o pe'uenas, mer#antes o de guerra, signifi#a#ion 'ue no difiere esen#ialmente de la (uridi#a, #on arreglo a la #ual se #onsideran bu'ues para los efe#tos del $odigo y del :eglamento para la organiza#ion del :egistro men#antile, no solo las embar#a#iones destinadas a la na%ega#ion de #abo ta(e o altura, sino tambien los di'ues flotantes, pontones, dragas, ganguiles y #ual'uier otro aparato flotante destinado a ser%i#ios de la industria o del #omer#io maritimo& @Aun #uando, #orforme a este #on#epto legal, pare#e 'ue todo aparato flotante 'ue sir%e dire#tamente para el trasporte de #osas o personas, o 'ue indere#tamente se rela#ionen #on esta industria, an de su(ertarse a los pre#eptos del $odigo sobre propiedad, transmision, dere#os, ins#rip#iones, et#&, entendemos #on el !r& 3enito 8obra #it& y asi o#urre en la pra#ti#a, 'ue no son apli#ables a las pe'ueDas embar#a#iones, 'ue solo estan su(etas a los de la administra#ion de marina para el ser%i#io de los puertos o e(er#i#io de la industria de la pes#a& 83lan#o, 5er& =er&, %ol& , pag& 22& )e words @sip@ 8na%e and @%essel@ 8bu'ue, in teir grammati#al sense, are applied to designate e%ery kind of #raft, large or small, mer#ant %essels or war %essels, a signifi#ation wi# does not differ essentially from its (uridi#al meaning, a##ording to wi# %essels for te purposes of te $ode and :egulations for te organization of te =er#antile :egistry, are #onsidered not only tose engaged in na%igation, weter #oastwise or on te ig seas, but also floating do#ks, pantoons, dredges, s#ows and any oter floating apparatus destined for te ser%i#e of te industry or maritime #ommer#e& Bet notwitstanding tese prin#iples from wi# it would seem tat any

floating apparatus wi# ser%es dire#tly for te transportation of tings or persons or wi# indere#tly is related to tis industry, ougt to be sub(e#ted to te prin#iples of te $ode wit referen#e to ownersip, transfer, rigts, registration, et#&, we agre wit 3enito 8obra #it& and it so appens in pra#ti#e tat tey are not apli#able to small wi# are sub(e#t to administrati%e 8#ustoms regulations in te matter of port ser%i#e and in te fising industry&1awpEl&net /e may add tat te word @na%e@ in !panis, wi# is used inter#angeably wit @bu'ue@ in te $ode of $ommer#e, means, a##ording to te !panis+nglis 5i#tionary #omplied by dward :& 3ensley and publised at >aris in te year 19;, @!ip, a %essel wit de#ks and sails&@ >arti#ularly signifi#ant in tis definition is te use of te word @de#ks@ sin#e a de#k is not a feature of te smallest types of water #raft& n tis #onne#tion a most instru#ti%e #ase from a Federal $ourt in te nited !tates is tat of te =amie 8. Fed&, 1-, werein it was eld tat only %essels engaged in wat is ordinarily known as maritime #ommer#e are witin te pro%isions of law #onferring limited liability on te owner in #ase maritime disaster& n te #ourse of te opinion in tat #ase te autor #ites te analogous pro%isions in te laws of foreign maritime, nations, espe#ially te pro%isions of te $ommer#ial $ode of Fran#e6 and it is obser%ed tat te word @%essel@ in tese #odes is limited to sips and oter sea+going %essels& @ts pro%isions are not appli#able,@ said te #ourt, @to %essels in inland na%igation, wi# are espe#ially designated by te name of boats&@ Guoting from te Fren# autor 5ufour 81 5roit =er&, 121, te writer of te opinion in te #ase #ited furter says @)us, as a general rule, it appears to me #learly, bot by te letter and spirit of te law, tat te pro%isions of te !e#ond 3ook of te $ommer#ial $ode HFren#I relate e<#lusi%ely to maritime and not to flu%ial na%igation6 and tat #onse'uently te word JsipJ wen it is found in tese pro%isions, ougt to be understand in te sense of a %essel ser%ing te purpose of maritime na%igation of seagoing %essel, and not in te sense of a %essel de%oted to te na%igation of ri%ers&@ t is terefore #lear tat a passenger on a boat like te "ison, in te #ase before us, is not re'uired to make protest as a #ondition pre#edent to is rigt of a#tion for te in(ury suffered by im in te #ollision des#ribed in te #omplaint& n oter words, arti#le -. of te $ode of $ommer#e does not apply& 3ut e%en if said pro%ision ad been #onsidered appli#able to te #ase in and, a fair  interpretation of te allegations of te #omplaint indi#ates, we tink, tat te in(uries suffered by te plaintiff in tis #ase were of su# a nature as to e<#use protest6 for, under arti#le -;, it is pro%ided tat want to protest #annot pre(udi#e a person not in a #ondition to make known is wises& An indi%idual wo as suffered a #ompound fra#ture of te femur and re#ei%ed oter pysi#al in(uries suffi#ient to keep im in a ospital for may monts, #annot be supposed to a%e in a #ondition to make protest witin twenty+four ours of su# o##urren#e& t follows tat te demurrer in tis #ase was not well taken and sould a%e been o%erruled& n teir brief in tis #ourt te attorneys for te defendant a%e #riti#ised te #omplaint for a general la#k of #ertainty and pre#ision in more tan one respe#t& *owe%er, we a%e read te do#ument attenti%ely and, in our opinion, it states a good #ause of a#tion upon a #i%il liability arising from tort under arti#les 1902 and 190- of te $i%il $ode, and our attention as not been drawn to any pro%ision of law wi# would #onstitute an obsta#le to te maintenan#e of te a#tion&

/e a%e repeatedly #alled te attention of trial #ourts to te general rule tat a #ase sould not be dismissed on demurrer wen, under any reasonable interpretation of te #omplaint, a #ause of  a#tion #an be made out6 and te fa#t tat a #omplaint is inartifi#ially drawn or in a #ertain degree la#king in pre#ision #onstitutes no suffi#ient reason for dismissing it& n passing upon a demurrer, e%ery reasonable intendment is to be taken in fa%or of te pleader& n tis #onne#tion it sould be borne in mind tat if a #omplaint does not sow a good #ause of a#tion, te a#tion #an be dismissed at a later stage of te pro#eedings6 and e%en were no ob(e#tion as been pre%iously made, te point #an be raised in te !upreme $ourt under se#tion 9- of te $ode of $i%il >ro#edure 8Abiera %s& Orin,  >il&, 19-& Little or no appre#iable pre(udi#e to te defendant will terefore ordinarily result from o%erruling a demurrer, and no arm is done to anyone by re'uiring te defendant to answer& On te #ontrary, gra%e pre(udi#e may result to a plaintiff from te erroneous sustaining of a demurrer, be#ause of te delay and e%en e