Case Digest (G.R. No. L-24836)
Facts:
The Yek Tong Lin Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd. v. Manila Port Service and/or Manila Railroad Company, G.R. No. L-24836. September 13, 1967, the Supreme Court En Banc, Concepcion, C.J., writing for the Court.
The dispute arose from an import shipment by Blue Bar Company (consignee) of five cases of cutlery shipped from New York on board the SS Troubadour. The goods were discharged to the custody of the Manila Port Service (MPS), acting as agent of the Manila Railroad Company (the arrastre operator), on May 18, 1960. When the consignee took delivery on July 14 and July 20, 1960, the shipment was short five dozens cook knives and one dozen butcher knives, valued at P157.46.
As insurer of the goods, Yek Tong Lin Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd. (plaintiff) paid the consignee the P157.46 and, as subrogee, filed a claim for the non-delivered goods with the MPS within the fifteen-day period required by the Management Contract. Plaintiff then instituted suit against the MPS and the Manila Railroad Company in the Municipal Court of Manila on July 13, 1961. The Municipal Court rendered judgment for plaintiff.
Defendants appealed to the Court of First Instance of Manila. The CFI dismissed the complaint on the ground that the action had been filed beyond the one-year limitation stated in Section 15 of the Management Contract, which, defendants contended, runs from the date of discharge of the goods (May 18, 1960) and therefore expired on May 18, 1961. Plaintiff countered that (a) the one-year period should be computed from the delivery of the last package by the arrastre operator to the consignee (July 20, 1960) under the spirit of Tomas Grocery v. Delgado Brothers, Inc. and De la Rama Steamship Co., and (b) alternatively, where the operator fails to deny a claim, the claim is deemed rejected upon the expiration of one year from discharge, thereby giving the claimant an additional year to sue....(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Is the action instituted by plaintiff within the period provided in Section 15 of the Management Contract — i.e., is the one-year limitation to be computed from the date of discharge of the goods or from delivery of the last package to the consignee?
- If the arrastre operator fails to deny or reject a consignee's claim, may the claimant treat such inaction as a deemed rejection so as to invoke the alternative one-year period runnin...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)