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Mendoza vs. Pal
Mendoza vs. Pal
The
JOSE MENDOZA, plaintiff-appellant, vs.PHILIPPINE AIR trial court, however, found and held that although the
LINES, INC., defendant-appellee. defendant was not obligated to load the film on any
specified plane or on any particular day, once said can film
The present appeal by plaintiff Jose Mendoza from the was loaded and shipped on one of its planes making trip to
decision of the Court of First Instance of Camarines Sur, has Camarines, then it assumed the obligation to unload it at its
come directly to this Tribunal for the reason that both point of destination and deliver it to the consignee, and its
parties, appellant and appellee, accepted the findings of unexplained failure to comply with this duty constituted
fact made by the trial court and here raise only questions of negligence. If however found that fraud was not involved
law. On our part, we must also accept said findings of fact of and that the defendant was a debtor in good faith.
the lower court.
The trial court presided over by Judge Jose N. Leuterio in a
In the year 1948, appellant Jose Mendoza was the owner of well-considered decision citing authorities, particularly the
the Cita Theater located in the City of Naga, Camarines Sur, case of Daywalt vs. Corporacion de PP. Agustinos Recoletos,
where he used to exhibit movie pictures booked from movie 39 Phil. 587, held that not because plaintiff failed to realize
producers or film owners in Manila. The fiesta or town profits in the sum of P3,000.00 due to the negligence of the
holiday of the City of Naga, held on September 17 and 18, defendant, should the latter be made to reimburse him said
yearly, was usually attended by a great many people, sum. Applying provisions of Art. 1107 of the Civil Code
mostly from the Bicol region, especially since the Patron which provides that losses and those foreseen, or which
Saint Virgin of Peña Francia was believed by many to be might have been foreseen, at the time of constituting the
miraculous. As a good businessman, appellant, taking obligation, and which are a necessary consequence of the
advantage of these circumstances, decided to exhibit a film failure to perform it, the trial court held that inasmuch as
which would fit the occasion and have a special attraction these damages suffered by Mendoza were not foreseen or
and significance to the people attending said fiesta. A could not have been foreseen at the time that the
month before the holiday, that is to say, August 1948, he defendant accepted the can of film for shipment, for the
contracted with the LVN pictures, Inc., a movie producer in reason that neither the shipper LVN Pictures Inc. nor the
Manila for him to show during the town fiesta the Tagalog consignee Mendoza had called its attention to the special
film entitled "Himala ng Birhen" or Miracle of the Virgin. He circumstances attending the shipment and the showing of
made extensive preparations; he had two thousand posters the film during the town fiesta of Naga, plaintiff may not
printed and later distributed not only in the City of Naga but recover the damages sought.
also in the neighboring towns. He also advertised in a
weekly of general circulation in the province. The posters Counsel for appellant insists that the articles of the Code of
and advertisement stated that the film would be shown in Commerce rather than those of the Civil Code should have
the Cita theater on the 17th and 18th of September, been applied in deciding this case for the reason that the
corresponding to the eve and day of the fiesta itself. shipment of the can of film is an act of commerce; that the
contract of transportation in this case should be considered
In pursuance of the agreement between the LVN Pictures commercial under Art. 349 of the Code of Commerce
Inc. and Mendoza, the former on September 17th, 1948, because it only involves merchandise or an object of
delivered to the defendant Philippine Airlines (PAL) whose commerce but also the transportation company, the
planes carried passengers and cargo and made regular trips defendant herein, was a common carrier, that is to say,
from Manila to the Pili Air Port near Naga, Camarines Sur, a customarily engaged in transportation for the public, and
can containing the film "Himala ng Birhen" consigned to the that although the contract of transportation was not by land
Cita Theater. For this shipment the defendant issued its Air or waterways as defined in said Art. 349, nevertheless, air
Way Bill No. 317133 marked Exhibit "1". This can of films transportation being analogous to land and water
was loaded on flight 113 of the defendant, the plane transportation, should be considered as included, especially
arriving at the Air Port at Pili a little after four o'clock in the in view of the second paragraph of Art. 2 of the same Code
afternoon of the same day, September 17th. For reasons which says that transactions covered by the Code of
not explained by the defendant, but which would appear to Commerce and all others of analogous character shall be
be the fault of its employees or agents, this can of film was deemed acts of commerce. The trial court, however,
not unloaded at Pili Air Port and it was brought ba to Manila. disagreed to this contention and opined that air
Mendoza who had completed all arrangements for the transportation not being expressly covered by the Code of
exhibition of the film beginning in the evening of September Commerce, cannot be governed by its provisions.
17th, to exploit the presence of the big crowd that came to
attend the town fiesta, went to the Air Port and inquired We believe that whether or not transportation by air should
from the defendant's station master there about the can of be regarded as a commercial contract under Art. 349, would
film. Said station master could not explain why the film was be immaterial in the present case, as will be explained later.
not unloaded and sent several radiograms to his principal in Without making a definite ruling on the civil or commercial
Manila making inquiries and asking that the film be sent to nature of transportation by air, it being unnecessary, we are
Naga immediately. After investigation and search in the inclined to believe and to hold that a contract of
Manila office, the film was finally located the following day, transportation by air may be regarded as commercial. The
September 18th, and then shipped to the Pili Air Port on reason is that at least in the present case the transportation
September 20th. Mendoza received it and exhibited the film company (PAL) is a common carrier; besides, air
but he had missed his opportunity to realize a large profit as transportation is clearly similar or analogous to land and
he expected for the people after the fiesta had already left water transportation. The obvious reason for its non-
for their towns. To recoup his losses, Mendoza brought this inclusion in the Code of Commerce was that at the time of
action against the PAL. After trial, the lower court found that its promulgation, transportation by air on a commercial
because of his failure to exhibit the film "Himala ng Birhen" basis was not yet known. In the United Sates where air
during the town fiesta, Mendoza suffered damages or rather transportation has reached its highest development, an
failed to earn profits in the amount of P3,000.00, but finding airline company engaged in the transportation business is
the PAL not liable for said damages, dismissed the regarded as a common carrier.
complaint.
One can readily sympathize with the appellant herein for his
loss of profits which he expected to realize. But he
overlooked the legal angle. In situations like the present
where failure to exhibit films on a certain day would spell
substantial damages or considerable loss of profits,
including waste of efforts on preparations and expenses
incurred in advertisements, exhibitors, for their security,
may either get hold of the films well ahead of the time of
exhibition in order to make allowance for any hitch in the
delivery, or else enter into a special contract or make a
suitable arrangement with the common carrier for the
prompt delivery of the films, calling the attention of the
carrier to the circumstances surrounding the case and the
approximate amount of damages to be suffered in case of
delay.