G.R. No. 186305 - V-Gent, Inc. vs. Morning Star Travel and Tours, Inc.

In June and September 1998, V-Gent, Inc. (V-Gent) purchased twenty-six two-way Manila–Europe–Manila plane tickets from Morning Star Travel and Tours, Inc. (Morning Star).
V-Gent returned fifteen unused tickets (worth US$8,747.50) on June 24 and September 28, 1998; Morning Star refunded six tickets (US$3,445.62) but refused to refund the remaining nine (US$5,301.88) despite repeated demands.

On December 15, 2000, V-Gent filed a money claim in the MeTC (Civil Case No. 169296-CV) for the unrefunded US$5,301.88 plus attorney’s fees; Morning Star countered that the tickets were sold under a “buy one, take one” promo and that only seven of fourteen unused tickets were refundable and questioned V-Gent’s standing.
On January 27, 2006, the MeTC dismissed the complaint for lack of cause of action and held that V-Gent, as agent of the passengers, failed to prove its claim by a preponderance of evidence.

V-Gent appealed to the RTC (Civil Case No. 06-115050), which on September 25, 2006 reversed the MeTC, finding V-Gent had established its claim and ordering Morning Star to pay for the nine unrefunded tickets plus attorney’s fees.
Morning Star appealed to the Court of Appeals (CA-G.R. SP No. 97032), which on November 11, 2008 granted the petition, dismissed V-Gent’s complaint for lack of standing, and denied reconsideration on February 5, 2009.

Whether the MeTC’s finding that V-Gent was the real party-in-interest became final and binding.
Whether V-Gent, as agent of the ticket passengers, has legal standing to sue in its own name.

Whether Morning Star’s partial refund estops it from contesting V-Gent’s standing to file suit.
Whether acceptance of refund implies authority to litigate on behalf of the passengers.