Petitioner Vs Vs Respondent: Second Division

SECOND DIVISION
[G.R. No. 161946. November 14, 2008.]
MEDARDO AG. CADIENTE , petitioner, vs . BITHUEL MACAS , respondent.
DECISION
QUISUMBING , Acting C.J : p
For review on certiorari are the Decision 1 dated September 16, 2002 and the
Resolution 2 dated December 18, 2003 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CV No.
64103, which af rmed the Decision 3 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Davao City,
Branch 10, in Civil Case No. 23,723-95. aETDIc
The facts are undisputed.

Eyewitness Rosalinda Palero testi ed that on July 19, 1994, at about 4:00 p.m.,
at the intersection of Buhangin and San Vicente Streets in Davao City, 15-year old high
school student Bithuel Macas, herein respondent, was standing on the shoulder of the
road. She was about two and a half meters away from the respondent when he was
bumped and run over by a Ford Fiera, driven by Chona C. Cimafranca. Rosalinda and
another unidenti ed person immediately came to the respondent's rescue and told
Cimafranca to take the victim to the hospital. Cimafranca rushed the respondent to the
Davao Medical Center.
Dr. Hilario Diaz, the orthopedic surgeon who attended to the respondent, testi ed
that the respondent suffered severe muscular and major vessel injuries, as well as open
bone fractures in both thighs and other parts of his legs. In order to save his life, the
surgeon had to amputate both legs up to the groins. 4
Cimafranca had since absconded and disappeared. Records showed that the
Ford Fiera was registered in the name of herein petitioner, Atty. Medardo Ag. Cadiente.
However, Cadiente claimed that when the accident happened, he was no longer the
owner of the Ford Fiera. He alleged that he sold the vehicle to Engr. Rogelio Jalipa on
March 28, 1994, 5 and turned over the Certi cate of Registration and Of cial Receipt to
Jalipa, with the understanding that the latter would be the one to cause the transfer of
the registration.
The victim's father, Samuel Macas, led a complaint 6 for torts and damages
against Cimafranca and Cadiente before the RTC of Davao City, Branch 10. Cadiente
later filed a third-party complaint 7 against Jalipa.
In answer, Jalipa claimed that he was no longer the owner of the Ford Fiera at the
time of the accident. He alleged that he sold the vehicle to Abraham Abubakar on June
20, 1994. 8 He thus filed a fourth-party complaint 9 against Abubakar.
After trial, the court ruled:
WHEREFORE, judgment is rendered in favor of the plaintiff declaring Atty.
Medardo Ag. Cadiente and Engr. Rogelio Jalipa jointly and severally liable for
damages to the plaintiff for their own negligence as stated above, and ordering
them to indemnify the plaintiff jointly and severally as follows:
TcDIaA
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(a) P300,000.00 as compensatory damages for the permanent and
almost total disability being suffered by him;
(b) P150,000.00 for moral damages;
(c) P18,982.85 as reimbursement of medical expenses;
(d) P30,000.00 for attorney's fees; and
(e) costs of suit.
SO ORDERED. 1 0
On appeal, the Court of Appeals held that the ndings of the trial court were in
accordance with the established facts and was supported by the evidence on record.
Thus, it decreed as follows:
WHEREFORE , premises considered, the instant appeal is DENIED and
the decision of the Regional Trial Court of Davao City in Civil Case No. 23723-95
is hereby AFFIRMED .
SO ORDERED . 1 1
From the aforequoted decision of the Court of Appeals and the subsequent
denial of the motion for reconsideration, only Cadiente appealed to this Court.
The instant petition alleges that the Court of Appeals committed serious errors
of law in af rming the decision of the trial court. Petitioner Cadiente raises the
following as issues:
I.
WAS THERE . . . CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE ON THE PART OF THE
INJURED PARTY?
II.
ARE BOTH DEFENDANT CADIENTE AND THIRD-PARTY DEFENDANT

JOINTLY AND SEVERALLY LIABLE TO THE INJURED PARTY?
III.
THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEAL[S] COMMIT[T]ED GRAVE LEGAL

ERROR IN ORDERING DEFENDANT CADIENTE AND THIRD-PARTY DEFENDANT
JALIPA JOINTLY AND SEVERALLY LIABLE. 1 2
Essentially, the issues to be resolved are: (1) Whether there was contributory
negligence on the part of the victim; and (2) whether the petitioner and third-party
defendant Jalipa are jointly and severally liable to the victim.
The petitioner contends that the victim's negligence contributed to his own
mishap. The petitioner theorizes that if witness Rosalinda Palero, who was only two and
a half meters away from the victim, was not hit by the Ford Fiera, then the victim must
have been so negligent as to be bumped and run over by the said vehicle. 1 3 DHAcET
The petitioner further argues that having led a third-party complaint against
Jalipa, to whom he had sold the Ford Fiera, the Court of Appeals should have ordered
the latter to reimburse him for any amount he would be made to pay the victim, instead
of ordering him solidarily liable for damages. 1 4
The respondent, for his part, counters that the immediate and proximate cause of
the injuries he suffered was the recklessly driven Ford Fiera, which was registered in the
petitioner's name. He insists that when he was hit by the vehicle, he was standing on the
uncemented portion of the highway, which was exactly where pedestrians were
supposed to be. 1 5
The respondent stresses that as the registered owner of the Ford Fiera which
gured in the accident, the petitioner is primarily liable for the injury caused by the said
vehicle. He maintains that the alleged sale of the vehicle to Jalipa was tainted with
irregularity, which indicated collusion between the petitioner and Jalipa. 1 6
After a careful consideration of the parties' submissions, we nd the petition
without merit.
Article 2179 of the Civil Code provides:
When the plaintiff's own negligence was the immediate and proximate
cause of his injury, he cannot recover damages. But if his negligence was only
contributory, the immediate and proximate cause of the injury being the
defendant's lack of due care, the plaintiff may recover damages, but the courts
shall mitigate the damages to be awarded.
The underlying precept on contributory negligence is that a plaintiff who is partly
responsible for his own injury should not be entitled to recover damages in full, but
must proportionately bear the consequences of his own negligence. The defendant is
thus held liable only for the damages actually caused by his negligence. 1 7
In this case, records show that when the accident happened, the victim was
standing on the shoulder, which was the uncemented portion of the highway. As noted
by the trial court, the shoulder was intended for pedestrian use alone. Only stationary
vehicles, such as those loading or unloading passengers may use the shoulder. Running
vehicles are not supposed to pass through the said uncemented portion of the
highway. However, the Ford Fiera in this case, without so much as slowing down, took
off from the cemented part of the highway, inexplicably swerved to the shoulder, and
recklessly bumped and ran over an innocent victim. The victim was just where he
should be when the unfortunate event transpired. cAHIaE
Cimafranca, on the other hand, had no rightful business driving as recklessly as

she did. The respondent cannot be expected to have foreseen that the Ford Fiera,
erstwhile speeding along the cemented part of the highway would suddenly swerve to
the shoulder, then bump and run him over. Thus, we are unable to accept the petitioner's
contention that the respondent was negligent.
Coming now to the second and third issues, this Court has recently reiterated in
PCI Leasing and Finance, Inc. v. UCPB General Insurance Co., Inc., 1 8 that the registered
owner of any vehicle, even if he had already sold it to someone else, is primarily
responsible to the public for whatever damage or injury the vehicle may cause. We
explained,
. . . Were a registered owner allowed to evade responsibility by proving
who the supposed transferee or owner is, it would be easy for him, by collusion
with others or otherwise, to escape said responsibility and transfer the same to
an indefinite person, or to one who possesses no property with which to respond
nancially for the damage or injury done. A victim of recklessness on the public
highways is usually without means to discover or identify the person actually
causing the injury or damage. He has no means other than by a recourse to the
registration in the Motor Vehicles Of ce to determine who is the owner. The
protection that the law aims to extend to him would become illusory were the
registered owner given the opportunity to escape liability by disproving his
ownership. 1 9
In the case of Villanueva v. Domingo, 2 0 we said that the policy behind vehicle
registration is the easy identi cation of the owner who can be held responsible in case
of accident, damage or injury caused by the vehicle. This is so as not to inconvenience
or prejudice a third party injured by one whose identity cannot be secured. 2 1
Therefore, since the Ford Fiera was still registered in the petitioner's name at the
time when the misfortune took place, the petitioner cannot escape liability for the
permanent injury it caused the respondent, who had since stopped schooling and is
now forced to face life with nary but two remaining limbs.
WHEREFORE, the petition is DENIED for lack of merit. The assailed Decision
dated September 16, 2002 and Resolution dated December 18, 2003 of the Court of
Appeals in CA-G.R. CV No. 64103 are hereby AFFIRMED. Costs against the petitioner.
ADCTac
SO ORDERED.
Carpio-Morales, Tinga, Velasco, Jr. and Brion, JJ., concur.
Footnotes
1. Rollo, pp. 23-29. Penned by Associate Justice Elvi John S. Asuncion, with Associate
Justices Portia Aliño-Hormachuelos and Juan Q. Enriquez, Jr. concurring.
2. Id. at 30.
3. Id. at 74-86. Penned by Judge Augusto V. Breva. Dated May 5, 1999.
4. TSN, April 10, 1996, pp. 7-10.
5. Records, pp. 363-364.
6. Id. at 5-10.
7. Id. at 73-76.
8. Id. at 110-114. acSECT
9. Id. at 121-123.
10. Rollo, pp. 85-86.
11. Id. at 29.
12. Id. at 15.
13. Id. at 17.
14. Id. at 18-19.
15. Id. at 112-113.
16. Id. at 113-114.
17. Lambert v. Heirs of Ray Castillon, G.R. No. 160709, February 23, 2005, 452 SCRA 285,
293.
18. G.R. No. 162267, July 4, 2008, pp. 4-5.
19. Id. at 5, citing Erezo, et al. v. Jepte, 102 Phil. 103 (1957).
20. G.R. No. 144274, September 20, 2004, 438 SCRA 485.
21. Id. at 494. aETADI

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SECOND DIVISION

[G.R. No. 161946. November 14, 2008.]

MEDARDO AG. CADIENTE , petitioner, vs . BITHUEL MACAS , respondent.

QUISUMBING , Acting C.J : p

The facts are undisputed.

CD Technologies Asia, Inc. © 2017 cdasiaonline.com

ARE BOTH DEFENDANT CADIENTE AND THIRD-PARTY DEFENDANT

THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEAL[S] COMMIT[T]ED GRAVE LEGAL

Cimafranca, on the other hand, had no rightful business driving as recklessly as

CD Technologies Asia, Inc. © 2017 cdasiaonline.com

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