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SUMMARY: elements of Cuso lortulto
A fortultous event ls ossessed of the followlng churucterlstlcs:
(u) the cuuse of the unforeseen und unexected occurrence, or the fullure of the debtor to comly
wlth hls obllgutlons, must be lndeendent of humun wlll,
(b) lt must be lmosslble to foresee the event whlch constltutes the !"#$ &$'()*($, or lf lt cun be
foreseen, lt must be lmosslble to uvold,
(c) the occurrence must be such us to render lt lmosslble for the debtor to fulflll hls obllgutlon ln
u normul munner, und
(d) the obllger must be free from uny urtlclutlon ln the uggruvutlon of the lnjury resultlng to the
credltor.



LlCLS1:
lAC1S:
- Souses 1lto und Leny 1umboy und thelr mlnor chlldren numed Ardee und 'usmln, borded u
Yobldo Llner bus bound for Luvuo Clty.
- Along Plco Roud ln lm. ,, Stu. Murlu, Agusun del Sur, the left front tlre of the bus exloded.
1he lncldent resulted ln the deuth of z8yeurold 1lto 1umboy und hyslcul lnjurles to other
ussengers.
- A comlulnt for breuch of contruct of currluge, dumuges und uttorney's fees wus flled by Leny
und her chlldren ugulnst Albertu Yobldo, the owner of the bus, und Cresenclo Yobldo, lts
drlver.
- vhen the defendunts thereln flled thelr unswer to the comlulnt, they rulsed the ufflrmutlve
defense of !"#$ &$'()*($.
- 1he lulntlffs usserted thut vlolutlon of the contruct of currluge between them und the
defendunts wus brought ubout by the drlver's fullure to exerclse the dlllgence requlred of the
currler ln trunsortlng ussengers sufely to thelr luce of destlnutlon.
- Accordlng to Leny 1umboy, the bus left Mungugoy ut :cc o'clock ln the ufternoon. 1he
wlndlng roud lt truversed wus not cemented und wus wet due to the ruln, lt wus rough wlth
crushed rocks. 1he bus whlch wus full of ussengers hud curgoes on to. Slnce lt wus "runnlng
fust," she cuutloned the drlver to slow down but he merely stured ut her through the mlrror.
At uround :c .m., ln 1rento, she heurd somethlng exlode und lmmedlutely, the bus fell
lnto u ruvlne.
- the defendunts trled to estubllsh thut the uccldent wus due to u fortultous event.
- Abundlo Sulce, who wus the bus conductor, testlfled thut the zseuter bus wus not full us
there were only z, the bus wus runnlng ut u seed of "6c to c" und thut lt wus golng slow
becuuse of the zlgzug roud. Ee ufflrmed thut the left front tlre thut exloded wus u "brund
new tlre" thut he mounted on the bus on Arll z, 88 or only flve () duys before the
lncldent.
- LCvLR CCUR1 - dlsmlssed the uctlon for luck of merlt. Cn the lssue of whether or not the tlre
blowout wus u !"#$ &$'()*($, lt found thut "the fulllng of the bus to the cllff wus u result of no
other outslde fuctor thun the tlre blowout." ln thls cuse, however, "the cuuse of the
exloslon remulns u mystery untll ut resent." As such, the court udded, the tlre blowout wus
"u !"#$ &$'()*($ whlch ls comletely un extruordlnury clrcumstunce lndeendent of the wlll" of
the defendunts who should be relleved of "whutever llublllty the lulntlffs muy huve suffered
by reuson of the exloslon ursuunt to Artlcle ,

of the Clvll Code."
- 1he lulntlffs ueuled to the Court of Aeuls. CA reversed the Lower court. "1o Cur mlnd,
the exloslon of the tlre ls not ln ltself u fortultous event. 1he cuuse of the blowout, lf due to
u fuctory defect, lmroer mountlng, excesslve tlre ressure, ls not un unuvolduble event.
Cwlng to the stututory resumtlon of negllgence ugulnst the currler und lts obllgutlon to
exerclse the utmost dlllgence of very cuutlous ersons to curry the ussenger sufely us fur us
humun cure und foreslght cun rovlde, lt ls the burden of the defendunts to rove thut the
cuuse of the blowout wus u fortultous event. Provlng thut the tlre thut exloded ls u new
Coodyeur tlre ls not sufflclent to dlschurge defendunts' burden.
- 1hus, thls ueul.

$225,: whether or not the exloslon of u newly lnstulled tlre of u ussenger vehlcle ls u fortultous
event thut exemts the currler from llublllty for the deuth of u ussenger?

ELLL: CA declslon AlllRMLL. Not u cuso furtulto or fortultous event, thus Yobldo ls lluble.

RA1lC:
- As u rule, when u ussenger bourds u common currler, he tukes the rlsks lncldentul to the
mode of truvel he hus tuken. Eowever, when u ussenger ls lnjured or dles whlle truvelllng,
the luw resumes thut the common currler ls negllgent.
- 1hus, the Clvll Code rovldes: Art. ,6. ln cuse of deuth or lnjurles to ussengers, common
currlers ure resumed to huve been ut fuult or to huve ucted negllgently, unless they rove
thut they observed extruordlnury dlllgence us rescrlbed ln urtlcles , und ,.
- Artlcle , rovldes thut "(u) common currler ls bound to curry the ussengers sufely us fur us
humun cure und foreslght cun rovlde, uslng the utmost dlllgence of very cuutlous ersons,
wlth u due regurd for ull the clrcumstunces."
- Accordlngly, ln !)+," !$-('"!()"+, once u ussenger dles or ls lnjured, the currler ls resumed to
huve been ut fuult or to huve ucted negllgently. 1hls dlsutuble resumtlon muy only be
overcome by evldence thut the currler hud observed extruordlnury dlllgence or thut the deuth
or lnjury of the ussenger wus due to u fortultous event.


- Consequently, the court need not muke un exress flndlng of fuult or negllgence on the urt
of the currler to hold lt resonslble for dumuges sought by the ussenger.
- ln vlew of the foregolng, ;<=>=>?0<@AB C?0=<0=>?0 =D/= =D<E AD?FG1 H< <I<J;= K@?J G>/H>G>=E
H<C/FA< =D< =>@< HG?L?F= L/A 0? J?@< =D/0 / K?@=F>=?FA <'<0= =D/= C?FG1 0?= D/'< H<<0
K?@<A<<04 JFA= K/>G.
- A fortultous event ls ossessed of the followlng churucterlstlcs: (u) the cuuse of the
unforeseen und unexected occurrence, or the fullure of the debtor to comly wlth hls
obllgutlons, must be lndeendent of humun wlll, (b) lt must be lmosslble to foresee the
event whlch constltutes the !"#$ &$'()*($, or lf lt cun be foreseen, lt must be lmosslble to
uvold, (c) the occurrence must be such us to render lt lmosslble for the debtor to fulflll hls
obllgutlon ln u normul munner, und (d) the obllger must be free from uny urtlclutlon ln the
uggruvutlon of the lnjury resultlng to the credltor.


- As Artlcle , rovldes, no erson shull be resonslble for u fortultous event whlch could not
be foreseen, or whlch, though foreseen, wus lnevltuble. ln other words, there must be un
entlre excluslon of humun ugency from the cuuse of lnjury or loss.
- lN 1ElS CASL .M, ,N7+"2$"3 "6 .M, 3,O .$-, 8*! 3". #, )"32$%,-,% * 6"-.5$."52
,P,3.( 1here ure humun fuctors lnvolved ln the sltuutlon.
- Moreover, u common currler muy not be ubsolved from llublllty ln cuse of &$'!. /"0.)'. or
fortultous event ulone. 1he common currler must stlll rove thut lt wus -$( negllgent ln
cuuslng the deuth or lnjury resultlng from un uccldent.


- lt ls lnterestlng to note thut etltloners roved through the bus conductor, Sulce, thut the bus
wus runnlng ut "6cc" kllometers er hour only or wlthln the rescrlbed luwful seed llmlt.
Eowever, they fulled to rebut the testlmony of Leny 1umboy thut the bus wus runnlng so fust
thut she cuutloned the drlver to slow down. 1hese contrudlctory fucts must, therefore, be
resolved ln fuvor of llublllty ln vlew of the resumtlon of negllgence of the currler ln the luw
- Euvlng fulled to dlschurge lts duty to overthrow the resumtlon of negllgence wlth cleur und
convlnclng evldence, etltloners ure hereby held lluble for dumuges.