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    Mecenas vs. CA

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    FelyDiloy
    Two ships collided resulting in the sinking of one ship and hundreds of passenger deaths. The families of two passengers filed a lawsuit. The trial court awarded damages but the Court of Appeals reduced the award. The Supreme Court restored the original trial court award, finding both ships negligent and one captain grossly negligent for playing games instead of steering, and for overloading the ship with passengers.

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    Mecenas vs. CA

    Uploaded by

    FelyDiloy
    229 views2 pages
    Two ships collided resulting in the sinking of one ship and hundreds of passenger deaths. The families of two passengers filed a lawsuit. The trial court awarded damages but the Court of Appeals reduced the award. The Supreme Court restored the original trial court award, finding both ships negligent and one captain grossly negligent for playing games instead of steering, and for overloading the ship with passengers.

    Original Description:

    Transportation Law Digest

    Original Title

    5. Mecenas vs. CA

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    Two ships collided resulting in the sinking of one ship and hundreds of passenger deaths. The families of two passengers filed a lawsuit. The trial court awarded damages but the Court of Appeals reduced the award. The Supreme Court restored the original trial court award, finding both ships negligent and one captain grossly negligent for playing games instead of steering, and for overloading the ship with passengers.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    229 views2 pages

    Mecenas vs. CA

    Uploaded by

    FelyDiloy
    Two ships collided resulting in the sinking of one ship and hundreds of passenger deaths. The families of two passengers filed a lawsuit. The trial court awarded damages but the Court of Appeals reduced the award. The Supreme Court restored the original trial court award, finding both ships negligent and one captain grossly negligent for playing games instead of steering, and for overloading the ship with passengers.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    Mecenas vs.

    CA

    Facts: On the evening of April 22, 1980, M/T "Tacloban City," a barge-type oil tanker of Philippine registry
    owned by the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC), and M/V "Don Juan," an interisland vessel owned
    and operated by the Negros Navigation Co., Inc., collided at the Talbas Strait near Maestra de Ocampo
    Island in the vicinity of the island of Mindoro. When the collision occurred, the sea was calm, the weather
    fair and visibility good. As a result of this collision, the M/V "Don Juan" sank and hundreds of its passengers
    perished.

    Consequently, petitioners, the seven surviving legitimate children of two of the ill-fated passengers, the
    spouses Perfecto Mecenas and Sofia Mecenas, filed a complaint against private respondents Negros
    Navigation and Capt. Roger Santisteban, the captain of the “Don Juan” for the recovery of actual damages
    of not less than P100,000.00 as well as moral and exemplary damages.

    The RTC awarded damages of P400,000.00 for the death of their [petitioners’] parents and P15,000.00
    attorney’s fees. On appeal by Negros Navigation and Capt. Santisteban, the Court of Appeals reduced the
    award to P100,000.00 as actual and compensatory damages and P15,000.00 as attorney's fees.

    Issue: W/n the CA was justified in decreasing the awarded damages in the instant case.

    Held: No. In an action based upon a breach of the contract of carriage, the carrier under our civil law is
    liable for the death of passengers arising from the negligence or willful act of the carrier's employees
    although such employees may have acted beyond the scope of their authority or even in violation of the
    instructions of the carrier, which liability may include liability for moral damages. Further, in accordance
    with the provisions of Article 2232 of the Civil Code, whether petitioners are entitled to exemplary
    damages depends upon whether or not private respondents acted recklessly, that is, with gross
    negligence.

    In the instant case, the trial court found that M/ V Don Juan and Tacloban City became aware of each
    other's presence in the area by visual contact at a distance of something like 6 miles from each other.
    Nonetheless, Don Juan steered to the right while Tacloban City continued its course to the left. There can
    be no excuse for them not to realize that, with such maneuvers, they will collide. They executed
    maneuvers inadequate, and too late, to avoid collision. Thus, both vessels were at least negligent.

    It was further found that M/V Don Juan's Master, Capt. Rogelio Santisteban, was playing mahjong before
    and up to the time of collision. Moreover, after the collision, he failed to institute appropriate measures
    to delay the sinking M/V Don Juan and to supervise properly the execution of his order of abandonship.
    The record does not show that was the first or only time that Capt. Santisteban had entertained himself
    during a voyage. Negros Navigation in permitting, or in failing to discover Capt. Santisteban’s behaviour,
    must be deemed grossly negligent.

    There is also evidence that the "Don Juan" was carrying more passengers than she had been certified as
    allowed to carry. The total number of persons on board the "Don Juan" on that ill-starred night was
    approximately 1,004, or 140 persons more than the maximum lumber that could be safely carried by the
    "Don Juan," per its own Certificate of Inspection.

    The foregoing considered, the SC restored the trial court’s order and modified the award as follows: (a)
    P126,000.00 for actual damages; (b) P60,000.00 as compensatory damages for wrongful death; (c)
    P307,000.00 as moral damages; and (d) P307,000.00 as exemplary damages making a total of
    P800,000.00; and (e) P 15,000.00 as attorney's fees.

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