EN BANC

[G.R. No. L-10126. October 22, 1957.]

SALUD VILLANUEVA VDA. DE BATACLAN and the minors

NORMA, LUZVIMINDA, ELENITA, OSCAR and ALFREDO
BATACLAN, represented by their Natural guardian, SALUD
VILLANUEVA VDA. DE BATACLAN, plaintiffs-appellants, vs.
MARIANO MEDINA, defendant-appellant.

Lope E. Adriano, Emmanuel Andamo and Jose R. Francisco for plaintiffs-

appellants.

Fortunato Jose for defendant-appellant.

SYLLABUS

1. DAMAGES; CARRIER'S LIABILITY; WORDS AND PHRASES;

PROXIMATE CAUSE DEFINED. — "The proximate legal cause is that the acting
first and producing the injury, either immediately or by setting other events
in motion., all constituting a natural and continuous chain of events, each
having a close causal connection with its immediate predecessor, the final
event in the chain immediately affecting the injury as a natural and probable
result of the cause which first acted, under such circumstances that the
person responsible for the first event should, as ordinarily prudent and
intelligent person, have reasonable ground to expect at the moment of his
act or default that an injury to some person might be probably result
therefrom."
2. ID.; ID.; OVERTURNING OF BUS; PROXIMATE CAUSE OF DEATH. —
When a vehicle turned not only on its side but completely on its back, the
leaking of the gasoline from the tank was not unnatural or unexpected; that
the coming of the men with the lighted torch was in response to the call for
help, made not only by the passengers, but most probably by the driver and
the conductor themselves, and that because it was very dark (about 2:30 in
the morning), the rescuers had to carry a light with them; and coming as
they did from a rural area where the lanterns and flashlights were not
available, they had to use a torch the most handy and available; and what
was more natural, that said rescuers should innocently approached the
overtuned vehicle to extend the aid and effect the rescue requested from
them. Held: That the proximate cause of the death of B was overturning of
the vehicle thru the negligence of defendant and his agent.
3. ID.; ID.; CARRIER'S NEGLIGENCE; BURNING OF THE BUS. — The
burning of the bus wherein some of the passengers were trapped can also
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 be attributed to the negligence of the carrier, through the driver and
conductor who were on the road walking back and forth. They should and
must have known that in the position in which the overtuned bus was,
gasoline could and must have leaked from the gasoline tank and soaked the
area in and around the bus, this aside from the fact that gasoline when
spilled, especially over a large area, can be smelt and detected even from a
distance, Held: That the failure of the driver and the conductor to have
cautioned or taken steps to warn the rescuers not to bring the lighted torch
too near the bus, constitute negligence on the part of the agents of the
carrier under the provisions of the Civil Code, particularly, Article 1733, 1759
and 1763 thereof.

DECISION

MONTEMAYOR, J : p

Shortly after midnight, on September 13, 1952, bus No. 30 of the

Medina Transportation, operated by its owner, defendant Mariano Medina,
under a certificate of public convenience, left the town of Amadeo, Cavite,
on its way to Pasay City, driven by its regular chauffeur, Conrado Saylon.
There were about eighteen passengers, including the driver and conductor.
Among the passengers were Juan Bataclan, seated beside and to the right of
the driver, Felipe Lara, seated to the right of Bataclan, another passenger
apparently from the Visayan Islands whom the witnesses just called Visaya,
apparently not knowing his name, seated on the left side of the driver, and a
woman named Natalia Villanueva, seated just behind the four last
mentioned. At about 2 :00 o'clock that same morning, while the bus was
running within the jurisdiction of Imus, Cavite, one of the front tires burst
and the vehicle began to zig-zag until it fell into a canal or ditch on the right
side of the road and turned turtle. Some of the passengers managed to
leave the bus the best way they could, others had to be helped or pulled out,
while the three passengers seated beside the driver, named Bataclan, Lara
and the Visayan and the woman behind them named Natalia Villanueva,
could not get out of the overturned bus. Some of the passengers, after they
had clambered up to the road, heard groans and moans from inside the bus,
particularly, shouts for help from Bataclan and Lara, who said that they could
not get out of the bus. There, is nothing in the evidence to show whether or
not the passengers already free from the wreck, including the driver and the
conductor, made any attempt to pull out or extricate and rescue the four
passengers trapped inside the vehicle, but calls or shouts for help were
made to the houses in the neighborhood. After half an hour, came about ten
men, one of them carrying a lighted torch made of bamboo with a wick on
one end, evidently fueled with petroleum. These men presumably
approached the overturned bus, and almost immediately, a fierce fire
started, burning and all but consuming the bus, including the four
passengers trapped inside it. It would appear that as the bus overturned,
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 gasoline began to leak and escape from the gasoline tank on the side of the
chassis, spreading over and permeating the body of the bus and the ground
under and around it, and that the lighted torch brought by one of the men
who answered the call for help set it on fire.
That same day, the charred bodies of the four doomed passengers
inside the bus were removed and duly identified, specially that of Juan
Bataclan. By reason of his death, his widow, Salud Villanueva, in her name
and in behalf of her five minor children, brought the present suit to recover
from Mariano Medina compensatory, moral, and exemplary damages and
attorney's fees in the total amount of P87,150. After trial, the Court of First
Instance of Cavite awarded P1,000 to the plaintiffs, plus P600 as attorney's
fee, plus P100, the value of the merchandise being carried by Bataclan to
Pasay City for sale and which was lost in the fire. The plaintiffs and the
defendants appealed the decision to the Court of Appeals, but the latter
court endorsed the appeal to us because of the value involved in the claim in
the complaint.
Our New Civil Code amply provides for the responsibility of a common
carrier to its passengers and their goods. For purposes of reference, we are
reproducing the pertinent codal provisions:
"ART. 1733. Common carriers, from the nature of their
business and for reasons of public policy, are bound to observe
extraordinary diligence in the vigilance over the goods and for the
safety of the passengers transported by them, according to all the
circumstances of each case.
Such extraordinary diligence in the vigilance over the goods is
further expressed in articles 1734, 1735, and 1745, Nos. 5, 6, and 7
while the extraordinary diligence for the safety of the passengers is
further set forth in articles 1755 and 1756."
"ART. 1755. A common carrier is bound to carry the
passengers safely as far as human care and foresight can provide,
using the utmost diligence of very cautious persons, with a due regard
for all the circumstances."
"ART. 1756. In case of death of or injuries to passengers,
common carriers are presumed to have been at fault or to have acted
negligently, unless they prove that they observed extraordinary
diligence as prescribed in articles 1733 and 1755."
"ART. 1759. Common carriers are liable for the death of or
injuries to passengers through the negligence or wilful acts of the
former's employees, although such employees may have acted beyond
the scope of their authority or in violation of the orders of the common
carriers.
This liability of the common carriers does not cease upon proof
that they exercised all the diligence of a good father of a family in the
selection and supervision of their employees."
"ART. 1763. A common carrier is responsible for injuries
suffered by a passenger on account of the wilful acts or negligence of
other passengers or of strangers, if the common carrier's employees
through the exercise of the diligence of a good father of a family could
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 have prevented or stopped the act or omission."
We agree with the trial court that the case involves a breach of
contract of transportation for hire, the Medina Transportation having
undertaken to carry Bataclan safely to his destination, Pasay City. We also
agree with the trial court that there was negligence on the part of the
defendant, through his agent, the driver Saylon. There is evidence to show
that at the time of the blow out, the bus was speeding, as testified to by one
of the passengers, and as shown by the fact that according to the testimony
of the witnesses, including that of the defense, from the point where one of
the front tires burst up to the canal where the bus overturned after zig-
zagging, there was a distance of about 150 meters. The chauffeur, after the
blow-out, must have applied the brakes in order to stop the bus, but because
of the velocity at which the bus must have been running, its momentum
carried it over a distance of 150 meters before it fell into the canal and
turned turtle.
There is no question that under the circumstances, the defendant
carrier is liable. The only question is to what degree. The trial court was of
the opinion that the proximate cause of the death of Bataclan was not the
overturning of the bus, but rather, the fire that burned the bus, including
himself and his co-passengers who were unable to leave it; that at the time
the fire started, Bataclan, though he must have suffered physical injuries,
perhaps serious, was still alive, and so damages were awarded, not for his
death, but for the physical injuries suffered by him. We disagree. A
satisfactory definition of proximate cause is found in Volume 38, pages 695-
696 of American Jurisprudence, cited by plaintiffs-appellants in their brief. It
is as follows:

". . . 'that cause, which, in natural and continuous sequence,

unbroken by any efficient intervening cause, produces the injury, and
without which the result would not have occurred.' And more
comprehensively, 'the proximate legal cause is that acting first and
producing the injury, either immediately or by setting other events in
motion, all constituting a natural and continuous chain of events, each
having a close causal connection with its immediate predecessor, the
final event in the chain immediately effecting the injury as a natural
and probable result of the cause which first acted, under such
circumstances that the person responsible for the first event should, as
an ordinarily prudent and intelligent person, have reasonable ground to
expect at the moment of his act or default that an injury to some
person might probably result therefrom."
It may be that ordinarily, when a passenger bus overturns, and pins down a
passenger, merely causing him physical injuries, if through some event,
unexpected and extraordinary, the overturned bus is set on fire, say, by
lightning, or if some highwaymen after looting the vehicle sets it on fire, and
the passenger is burned to death, one might still contend that the proximate
cause of his death was the fire and not the overturning of the vehicle. But in
the present case and under the circumstances obtaining in the same, we do
not hesitate to hold that the proximate cause of the death of Bataclan was
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 the overturning of the bus, this for the reason that when the vehicle turned
not only on its side but completely on its back, the leaking of the gasoline
from the tank was not unnatural or unexpected; that the coming of the men
with a lighted torch was in response to the call for help, made not only by
the passengers, but most probably, by the driver and the conductor
themselves, and that because it was very dark (about 2:30 in the morning),
the rescuers had to carry a light with them; and coming as they did from a
rural area where lanterns and flashlights were not available, they had to use
a torch, the most handy and available; and what was more natural than that
said rescuers should innocently approach the overturned vehicle to extend
the aid and effect the rescue requested from them. In other words, the
coming of the men with the torch was to be expected and was a natural
sequence of the overturning of the bus, the trapping of some of its
passengers and the call for outside help. What is more, the burning of the
bus can also in part be attributed to the negligence of the carrier, through its
driver and its conductor. According to the witnesses, the driver and the
conductor were on the road walking back and forth. They, or at least, the
driver should and must have known that in the position in which the
overturned bus was, gasoline could and must have leaked from the gasoline
tank and soaked the area in and around the bus, this aside from the fact that
gasoline when spilled, specially over a large area, can be smelt and detected
even from a distance, and yet neither the driver nor the conductor would
appear to have cautioned or taken steps to warn the rescuers not to bring
the lighted torch too near the bus. Said negligence on the part of the agents
of the carrier come under the codal provisions above- reproduced,
particularly, Articles 1733, 1759 and 1763.
As regards the damages to which plaintiffs are entitled, considering the
earning capacity of the deceased, as well as the other elements entering
into a damage award, we are satisfied that the amount of SIX THOUSAND
(P6,000) PESOS would constitute satisfactory compensation, this to include
compensatory, moral, and other damages. We also believe that plaintiffs are
entitled to attorney's fees, and assessing the legal services rendered by
plaintiffs' attorneys not only in the trial court, but also in the course of the
appeal, and not losing sight of the able briefs prepared by them, the
attorney's fees may well be fixed at EIGHT HUNDRED (P800) PESOS. The
award made by the trial court of ONE HUNDRED (P100) PESOS for the loss of
the merchandise carried by the deceased in the bus, is adequate and will not
be disturbed.
There is one phase of this case which disturbs if it does not shock us.
According to the evidence, one of the passengers who, because of the
injuries suffered by her, was hospitalized, and while in the hospital, she was
visited by the defendant Mariano Medina, and in the course of his visit, she
overheard him speaking to one of his bus inspectors, telling said inspector to
have the tires of the bus changed immediately because they were already
old, and that as a matter of fact, he had been telling the driver to change the
said tires, but that the driver did not follow his instructions. If this be true, it
goes to prove that the driver had not been diligent and had not taken the
necessary precautions to insure the safety of his passengers. Had he
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 changed the tires, specially those in front, with new ones, as he had been
instructed to do, probably, despite his speeding, as we have already stated,
the blow out would not have occurred. All in all, there is reason to believe
that the driver operated and drove his vehicle negligently, resulting in the
death of four of his passengers, physical injuries to others, and the complete
loss and destruction of their goods, and yet the criminal case against him, on
motion of the fiscal and with his consent, was provisionally dismissed,
because according to the fiscal, the witnesses on whose testimony he was
banking to support the complaint, either failed to appear or were reluctant to
testify. But the record of the case before us shows that several witnesses,
passengers in that bus, willingly and unhesitatingly testified in court to the
effect that the said driver was negligent. In the public interest, the
prosecution of said erring driver should be pursued, this, not only as a
matter of justice, but for the promotion of the safety of passengers on public
utility buses. Let a copy of this decision be furnished the Department of
Justice and the Provincial Fiscal of Cavite.
In view of the foregoing, with the modification that the damages
awarded by the trial court are increased from ONE THOUSAND (P1,000)
PESOS to SIX THOUSAND (P6,000) PESOS, and from SIX HUNDRED PESOS TO
EIGHT HUNDRED (P800) PESOS, for the death of Bataclan and for attorney's
fees, respectively, the decision appealed from is hereby affirmed, with costs.
Paras, C. J., Bengzon, Padilla, Reyes, A., Bautista Angelo, Labrador,
Concepcion., Reyes, J. B. L., Endencia and Felix, JJ., concur.

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