Phil Am Gen Insurance v. MGG Marine Services

DIGEST, SY 2016-2017

PHIL PHILIP IPPI PINE NE

AMERICA MERICAN N

Atty. Norianne Tan

Transport ation Law GENE GENERA RAL L

INSU INSURA RANC NCE E

v.

MGG MGG

MARI MARINE NE

SERV SERVIC ICES ES

(VILLARIN, L.) G.R. No. 135645, March 8, 2002 (Common Carriage- Carriage of Goods FACTS

San Miguel Corporation (SMC) insured several beer bottle cases wit an aggregate value o! "#,$%&,'''.$ wit petitioner "ilippine Aerican Aerican *eneral Insurance Copan+. e cargos were loaded on board te M-V "eatera+ "atric* to be transported !ro Mandaue Cit+ to /islig, Surigao del Sur. A!ter aving been cleared b+ te Coast *uard Station in Cebu te previous da+, te vessel le!t te port o! Mandaue Cit+ !or  /islig, Surigao del Sur on Marc ', 01$2. e weater was cal wen te vessel started its vo+age. e !ollowing da+, Marc Marc %, 01$2, M-V "eatera+ "atric* listed and subse3uentl+ sun o!! Cawit "oint, Cortes, Surigao del Sur. As a conse3uence tereo!, te cargo belonging to San Miguel Corporation was lost. SMC claied te aount o! te loss !ro "ila *en (petitioner). "etitioner sent a surve+or to investigate te circustances surrounding te loss o! te cargo. e surve+or !ound tat te vessel was structurall+ sound and tat e did not see an+ daage or crac tereon. 4e concluded tat te pro5iate cause o! te listing and subse3uent sining o! te vessel was te si!ting o! ballast water !ro starboard to portside. e said si!ting o! ballast water allegedl+ a!!ected te stabilit+ o! te M-V "eatera+ "atric*. 4ence, petitioner  paid SMC te aount o! "#,$%&,'''.$ and was subrogated te rigts o! SMC. "etitioner !iled a case !or collection against respondents and obtained a !avourable decision. Meanwile, te /oard o! Marine In3uir+ conducted its own investigation o! te sining o! te M-V "eatera+ "atric* and !ound tat te captain and crew sould be e5onerated !ro liabilit+. liabilit+. It !ound tat te pro5iate and onl+ cause o! te sining o! te vessel was te e5istence o! strong winds and enorous waves in Surigao del Sur, a !ortuitous event tat could not ave been !oreseen at te tie. "rivate respondents !iled an appeal and te CA reversed te RC6s decision. ISSUE/S

7eter respondent is liable !or te loss o! te cargo. 8 N9 HELD

Coon carriers, as a general rule, are presued to ave been at !ault or negligent i! te goods transported b+ te are lost, destro+ed or i! te sae deteriorated. e e5ceptions, as provided in Article 02%: o! te Civil Code, are te !ollowing; (0) (') (%) (:) (#)

0 !eet waves coupled wit strong winds tat increased !ro # nots to 0# nots witin an our was a !ortuitous event. e board board !ound tat ?along te port side platings, a sall ole and two separate cracs were !ound at about idsip.@ is caused water to ingress and resulted into an ibalance o! te sip. espite te e!!orts o! te captain and crew to pup all te water out, te sip still continued to sin and te+ were le!t wit no coice but to abandon sip.

Arcaina ♠ Austria ♠ Bañadera ♠ Cheng ♠ Coloquio ♠ Diploma ♠ Fajardo ♠ Layno ♠ Lim, J. ♠ illarin, L. ♠ illarin,"

DIGEST, SY 2016-2017

Transport ation Law

Atty. Norianne Tan

ere was tus no error on te part o! te Court o! Appeals in rel+ing on te !actual !indings o! te /oard o!  Marine In3uir+, !or suc !actual !indings, being supported b+ substantial evidence are persuasive, considering tat said adinistrative bod+ is an e5pert in atters concerning arine casualties.

Arcaina ♠ Austria ♠ Bañadera ♠ Cheng ♠ Coloquio ♠ Diploma ♠ Fajardo ♠ Layno ♠ Lim, J. ♠ illarin, L. ♠ illarin,#