G.R. No.

L-13884

February 29, 1960

NORTHERN MOTORS, INC., plaintiff-appellant, vs. PRINCE LINE, ROOSEVELT STEAMSHIP AGENCY INC., COLUMBIAN ROPE COMPANY OF THE PHILIPPINES, INC., and/or DELGADO BROTHERS, INC., defendants-appellees. FACTS: Northern Motors Inc. is the owner, by transfer from Liddel & Co., Inc., of a consignment of merchandise, consisting of 33 cases of auto spare parts and accessories, covered by Bill of Lading No. 19, discharged in Manila into the custody of Delgado Brothers, Inc., and later cleared and taken delivery of by Luzon Brokerage Co., Inc., as agents of the consignee, upon presentation of the corresponding release papers from the Bureau of Customs. However, instead of 33, cases, only 32 were delivered to Northern Motors Inc. broker. Northern Motors Inc., thereupon, demanded payment of the reasonable value (P3,117.53) of the missing case from Delgado Brothers, Inc., but later offered to refund only P500.00, claiming that under paragraph 15 of its Management Contract, its liability is limited only to P500.00 unless the value of the merchandise is otherwise specified or manifested. *Court of First Instance of Manila ordered Delgado Brothers, Inc., as the arrastre contractor in the Port of Manila, to pay Northern Motors the amount of P500.00 and costs, instead of P3,117.53 as demanded by it in its complaint. ISSUE(s): (1) WON the provisions of Paragraph 15 of the Management Contract between Delgado Bothers, Inc. and the Bureau of Customs are valid (2) If the provisions of Paragraph 15 of the Management Contract is valid, WON Northern Motors Inc. is bound by said provisions. RULING: Wherefore, Delgado Brothers, Inc., is hereby ordered to pay Northern Motors the amount of P500.00 REASON(s): (1) Anent the first issue, Paragraph 15 of the Management Contract provides: 15. . Delgado Brothers, Inc shall be solely responsible as an independent contractor for, and promptly pay to the steamship company, consignee, consignor, or other interested party or parties the invoice value of each package but which in no case shall be more than five hundred pesos (P500.00) for each package, unless the value is otherwise specified or manifested, and the corresponding arrastre charges had been paid, including all damages that may be suffered on account of loss, destruction, or damage of any merchandise while in the custody or under the control of the Delgado Brothers, Inc upon any pier, wharf or other designated place under the supervision of the BUREAU, . . . Consequently, the questioned provision is neither unfair nor arbitrary, as contended, because the Northern Motors Inc has it in his hands to hold, if he so wishes, the Delgado Brothers, Inc responsible for the full value of his merchandise by merely specifying it in any of the various documents required of him,1 in clearing the merchandise from the customs. What would, indeed, be unfair and arbitrary is to hold the Delgado Brothers, Inc liable for the full value of the merchandise after the consignee has paid the arrastre charges only a basis much lower than the true value of the goods. This Court has held as valid and binding a similar provision in a bill of lading limiting the carrier's liability to a specific amount, unless the shipper expressly declares a higher valuation and pays the corresponding rate thereon. (H. E. Heacock Company vs. Macondray & Company, Inc., 42 Phil., 205; Freixas and Company vs. Pacific Mail Steamship Co., 42 Phil., 199.)2 The principle above enunciated was finally incorporated as law in Article 1749 of the new Civil Code, which reads: ART. 1749. A stipulation that the common carrier's liability is limited to the value of the goods appearing in the bill of lading, unless the shipper or owner declares a greater value, is binding. The same is true in the warehousing business where limitation on the warehouseman's liability is universally recognized and upheld. Thus

In the absence of a prohibitory statute, the validity of a limitation of the amount of liability is generally upheld, where with a view to obtaining a compensation commensurate to the risk assumed, the warehouseman stipulates that unless the valuation of the property committed to his care is disclosed, his responsibility for loss or damage shall not exceed a certain amount or that in case of loss or damages the valuation fixed in the receipt shall be controlling." (Am. Jur., Vol. 56, p. 419, citing Taussig vs. Bode, 134 Cal. 260, 66 P. 159, 54 LRA 772, 86 Am. St. Rep. 250; Central Storage Whse. Co. vs. Pickering, 114 Ohio St. 76, 151 NE 29, 141 ALR 768). The legal relationship created between the Northern Motors Inc or owner of the imported goods who withdraws them from the customs house and the Delgado Brothers, Inc whose services are utilized for the purpose or that between a depositor and the warehouseman, to warrant, in our opinion, the application of the same or similar principle. (2) Article 1311 par (2) of the new Civil Code, states: If a contract should contain some stipulation in favor of a third person, he may demand its fulfillment provided he communicated his acceptance to the obligor before its revocation. A mere incidental benefit or interest of a person is not sufficient. The contracting parties must have clearly and deliberately conferred a favor upon a third person. Tested in the light of the above legal provision, Paragraph 15 of the Management Contract in question, it is believed, contains provisions which are in the nature of stipulations pour autrui, that is, for the benefit or in favor of a third party, the Northern Motors Inc in the case at bar. Delgado Brothers, Inc and the Bureau of Customs deliberately and purposely conferred benefit upon Northern Motors Inc t, because it is to the latter that the merchandise was to be delivered in good order and payment made, in the event of damage, destruction, or loss thereof while in Delgado Brothers, Inc s control or custody. Northern Motors Inc expressed its acceptance on the said favor and communicated it thereof to Liddel & Co. It is undisputed, therefore, that appellant took delivery of its cargo from Delgado Brothers, Inc, as arrastre operator under the Management Contract, and after the presentation and signing by it, through its duly authorized broker, of the pertinent documents covering the release of said cargoes. Under the law,6 before delivery of the cargo could be made, Northern Motors Inc or his representative must first clear them from the Bureau of Customs and obtain therefrom a Delivery Permit and a Gate Pass. Among the conditions imposed by law for this purpose is for Northern Motors Inc to submit to the Collector of Customs a written declaration containing, inter alia, a "just and faithful account of the actual cost of said merchandise, including and specifying the value of all containers or coverings, and that nothing has been omitted therefrom or concealed whereby the Government of the Republic of the Philippines might be defrauded of any part of the duties lawfully due on the merchandise." Both in the delivery permit and the gate pass thus obtained, the following annotation appears: All amendments thereto or alterations thereon, particularly but not limited to Paragraph 15 thereof limiting the company liability to P500.00 per package, unless the value of the goods is otherwise specified or manifested Even, Northern Motors Inc was not a signatory to said Management Contract, it legally became a party thereto when it (through its broker, the Luzon Brokerage Co. Inc.) obtained the delivery permit and gate pass in the above manner prescribed by law and, making use of them, demanded from Delgado Brothers, Inc the delivery of the 33 cases, pursuant to Delgado Brothers, Inc 's undertaking in virtue of the very same Management Contract. Again, it became bound when it brought court action against Delgado Brothers, Inc, also by virtue of the latter's obligations as the arrastre contractor under the same Management Contract, for the purpose of recovering the reasonable value of the missing case of auto spare parts and accessories. " Northern Motors Inc should not take advantage of the Management Contract when it suits him to do so and reject its provisions when it thinks otherwise." The principle is the same or similar to that involved in the case of Mendoza vs. Philippine Air Lines, Inc. (90 Phil., 836), wherein it was held that Mendozas demand for the delivery of the can of film to him at the Pili Air Port may be regarded as a notice of his acceptance of the stipulation of the delivery in his favor contained in the contract of carriage and delivery. In this case, he also made himself a party to the contract, or at least has come to court to enforce it. His cause of action must necessarily be founded on its breach. The limited liability provision in Paragraph 15 of the Management Contract in question has no statutory basis under Act No. 3002, as amended, inasmuch as the question was never raised by appellant in the court a quo. The rule is well-settled that no question will be considered by the appellate court which has not been raised in the court below. (Toribio vs. Decasa, 55 Phil., 461; San Agustin vs. Barrios, 68 Phil. 475.)