January 20, 2019

Mr. Joel Santiago

Talisay City

Dear Mr. Santiago,

This refers to your request for my legal advice relating to the incident you were involved in.

The following are the facts narrated in our discussion. You were hit by a bus driven by Jimmy. The
latter admitted that he was sleepy when the incident happened. You talked to Jimmy and Laura (bus
operator) regarding the possible compensation for your injuries, but Laura claimed that she is not the
real owner of the bus. According to her, the real owner of the bus is Alex, and the latter is only using
her name in order to operate a public utility bus (PUB) under a “kabit system”. Jimmy signified his
intention to help; but you know that Jimmy does not have the financial capacity. Moreover, the
certificate of registration of the PUB reflects the name of Laura instead of Alex.

As what I have understood, you wanted to know if, aside from Jimmy, who else can be held
responsible. In my opinion, Laura, who is the bus operator and the registered owner of the vehicle
can be held liable.

In the cases of Baliwag Transit, Inc. V. CA, 147 SCRA 82 (1987) and Abelardo Lim, et al. V. CA, et al.,
G.R. No. 125817, January 16, 2002, the Supreme Court held that the “registered owner rule’ is
applicable to persons who are engaged in the “kabit system”. Under the aforementioned rule, the
person who is the registered owner of a vehicle is liable for any damages caused by the negligent
operation of the vehicle although the same was already sold or conveyed to another person at the
time of the accident.

In your case, although Laura claimed that it was Alex who was the real owner, the certificate of
registration showed that it was Laura’s. Hence, she can be held liable for your injuries.