TORTS

RES IPSA LOQUITUR

EDDIE CORTEL Y CARNA AND YELLOW BUS LINE, INC.

v.
CECILE GEPAYA-LIM
G.R. No. 218014
December 07, 2016
CARPIO, J.:

FACTS: On 29 October 2004, Eddie Cartel was driving a bus, operated by Yellow Bus Line, and at around 9:45 in
the evening, the bus hit a black motorcycle, driven by Robert C. Lim, which allegedly had no tail light
reflectors. Cortel drove the bus away and went to a nearby bus station where he surrendered to authorities,
claiming that he left the scene of the incident because he feared for his life. Cecile Gepaya-Lim, Lim's widow,
filed a complaint for damages against Cortel and Yellow Bus Line.

RULING: We agree that res ipsa loquitur applies in this case.

As pointed out by the Court of Appeals, the result of the collision speaks for itself. If, indeed, the speed of the
bus was only 20 kilometers per hour as Cortel claimed, it would not bump the motorcycle traveling in the
same direction with such impact that it threw its rider upward before hitting the base of its right windshield
wiper. If Cortel was driving at 20 kilometers per hour, the bus would not drag the motorcycle for three meters
after the impact. Cortel had the exclusive control of the bus, including its speed. The bus and the motorcycle
were running in the same traffic direction and as such, the collision would not have happened without
negligence on the part of Cortel. It was established that the collision between the bus and the motorcycle
caused Lim's death. Aside from bare allegations that petitioners failed to prove, there was nothing to show
that Lim had contributory negligence to the accident.
TORTS
AWARD OF DAMAGES

SAMSODEN PANGCATAN
v.
ALEXANDRO "DODONG" MAGHUYOP AND BELINDO BANKIAO
G.R. No. 194566
November 16, 2016
BERSAMIN, J.:

FACTS: Samsoden Pangcatan hired the van owned by Dodong Maghuyop, and driven by Belindo Bankiao, to
transport him and his goods to his store, when Bankiao stopped in the middle of the highway to call for
passengers and thereafter got bumped by a dump truck. Pangcatan lost consciousness as a result of the
collision, fractured his leg and lost all of his goods, so he commenced this case to recover various damages he
suffered from the vehicular accident. Pangcatan also filed his Ex Parte Motion for Leave to File Case as Pauper
Litigant, which the other party disagrees with since they maintained that Pangcatan was not an indigent
litigant and therefore was not entitled to the services and representation of any lawyer from the Public
Attorney's Office.

RULING: If the RTC had incorrectly granted Pangcatan's Ex Parte Motion for Leave to File Case as Pauper
Litigant, the grant was not jurisdictional but an error of judgment on its part as the trial court. It can hardly be
disputed that the RTC apparently believed based on its erroneous application of the aforementioned
guidelines set by the Rules of Court that Pangcatan was entitled to be exempted from the payment of the
filing fees because his daily income was P400.00. For sure, all that Pangcatan had done was to apply for the
exemption, leaving to the RTC the decision whether or not to grant his application. Moreover, the CA
disregarded the fact that the RTC, through its order of September 4, 2002, had granted his Ex Parte Motion for
Leave to File Case as Pauper Litigant and had allowed him to litigate as an indigent party subject to the
condition that the legal fees would constitute a first lien on the monetary judgment to be rendered after trial.

Accordingly, we affirm the judgment rendered in favor of Pangcatan ordering the respondents Alexandra
Maghuyop and Belindo Bakiao, liable jointly and severally to pay petitioner Samsoden Pangcatan as follows:
(1) P50,000.00 as medical expenses; (2) P34,465.00 for the cost of the lost goods; (3) P10,000.00 as
transportation expenses; (4) P60,000.00 as temperate damages; (5) P50,000.00 moral damages; (6)
P20,000.00 as exemplary damages; (7) Interest at the legal rate of 6% per annum on each of the foregoing
amounts stated in items (1) to (6), inclusive, from the finality of this decision until fully paid; and (8) Costs of
suit.