Case Digest (G.R. No. 188144)
Facts:
F.F. Cruz & Company, Inc. v. Philippine Iron Construction and Marine Works, Inc., and/or Anchor Metals Corp., G.R. Nos. 188144 & 188301, August 30, 2017, Supreme Court First Division, Jardeleza, J., writing for the Court.The Department of Public Works and Highways engaged F.F. Cruz & Company, Inc. (F.F. Cruz) to construct a government pier at Brooke's Point, Palawan. In September 1988, F.F. Cruz brought to the site the tugboat M/T Imma, Barge 609, Barge 1001, and the barge piling rig Pilipino. On November 4, 1988 the tugboat M/T Jasaan (Jasaan), towing Barge Florida (Florida), arrived; Florida was owned by Anchor Metals Corporation (AMC) while Jasaan was bareboat-chartered from Philippine Iron Construction and Marine Works, Inc. (PICMW). That evening typhoon Welpring hit the area.
During the typhoon, F.F. Cruz’s Barge 609 and Pilipino sank and Barge 1001 struck driven piles. Jasaan towed Florida to a supposedly safer place but suffered a snapped rudder cable and drifted ashore; the masters of Imma and Jasaan filed marine protests attributing the damage to Jasaan and Florida. The Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI) absolved PICMW, AMC, Capt. Pino and Florida’s patron of administrative liability and recommended fault against the patrons of F.F. Cruz’s barges; the Philippine Coast Guard affirmed the BMI recommendations.
F.F. Cruz sued AMC and PICMW for damages in the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Quezon City. The RTC found an allision between Jasaan and Barge 1001 and held AMC and PICMW solidarily liable (finding Jasaan unseaworthy for lack of functioning radio and defective rudder), awarding P6,168,028.50 plus attorney’s fees and costs. AMC and PICMW separately appealed to the Court of Appeals (CA). The CA's February 25, 2009 Decision reviewed the evidence, held that Jasaan and Florida could not have maintained the asserted safe distance and that Jasaan and Florida were the immediate and proximate cause of the allision, but it also adopted portions of the BMI report that established F.F. Cruz’s failure to properly secure Barge 609 and Barge 1001 and, on that basis, apportioned liability by finding contributory negligence on F.F. Cruz’s part. The CA absolved PICMW from liability on the ground that the bareboat charter made AMC effectively the owner during the voyage. Motions for reconsideration before the CA were denied in a Resolution dated June 8, 2009.
F.F. Cruz filed a petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45, docketed G.R. No. 188144 (filed July 30, 2009). AMC/PICMW filed its own petition, docketed G.R. No. 188301 (filed August 13, 2009). The Supreme Court consolidated the two petitions on October 26, ...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Under Rule 45, Sec. 1, may the Supreme Court review and reweigh the Court of Appeals’ factual findings in a petition for review on certiorari?
- Did the Court of Appeals err in finding F.F. Cruz guilty of contributory negligence for failing to secure its barges during typhoon Welpring?
- Did the Court of Appeals correctly hold AMC liable as the proximate cause of the allision and correctly absolve PICMW...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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