Case Digest (G.R. No. 161760)
Facts:
LBC Express, Inc. and LBC International, Inc. v. Spouses Euberto and Sisinia Ado, G.R. No. 161760, August 25, 2005, Second Division, Callejo, Sr., J., writing for the Court.Petitioners LBC Express, Inc. and LBC International, Inc. (collectively, LBC) were sued by respondents spouses Euberto and Sisinia Ado after Euberto’s passport went missing while in LBC’s custody. Euberto was an overseas contract worker in Bahrain who, before departing for a three-month vacation to the Philippines on August 8, 1995, shipped five boxes through AMCP (an agent of LBC) and delivered his passport to LBC staff at the LBC Aviation Center in Pasay for processing of customs duty exemptions. He received a receipt for the passport but the passport was not returned with the shipments; despite inquiries and follow-ups, LBC could not locate it.
The Ados demanded return of the passport and later filed a Complaint for damages on September 22, 1997 in the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Naval, Biliran, Branch 16 (Civil Case No. B-1024), alleging that because of LBC’s gross negligence and loss of the passport, Euberto could not return to Bahrain and lost the opportunity for a renewed two-year employment contract; they prayed for compensatory, moral and exemplary damages, attorney’s fees and costs. LBC answered, claimed the delivery van was pilfered and that the Ados failed to mitigate damages by obtaining a replacement passport or visa, and filed a counterclaim.
At trial the plaintiffs offered documentary evidence (including a certification from Euberto’s employer showing his prior salary and that he had a re-entry visa) and testified; the defendants failed to appear at the scheduled hearing on October 10, 2001 and did not timely file comments to the plaintiffs’ formal offer of evidence, prompting the trial court to admit plaintiffs’ documentary evidence and declare the defendants to have waived their right to present evidence. On October 22, 2001, the RTC rendered judgment finding LBC solidarily liable and awarding P480,000 compensatory damages plus interest, P300,000 moral damages, P30,000 attorney’s fees and costs.
LBC appealed to the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CV No. 73732, which on July 10, 2003 affirmed the RTC’s judgment. The CA sustained the finding that the re-entry visa and the employer’s certification were sufficient to prove that Euberto’s employment was “assured” upon return, and it upheld the awards of compensatory and moral damages.
LBC filed a petition for review on certiorari with the Supreme Court, challenging (inter alia) the award of compensatory damages as speculative, the moral damages award, and the award of att...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the defendants’ non-appearance at the October 10, 2001 hearing and failure to file timely comments waive their right to present evidence and authorize the trial court to declare the case submitted?
- Were the respondents entitled to the award of actual/compensatory damages of P480,000 for lost future earnings based on the alleged automatic renewal of a two-year contract?
- Was the award of moral damages proper given the facts surrounding the loss of the passport? ...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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