TOPIC: Damages

Alfredo S. Ramos, Conchita S. Ramos, Benjamin B. Ramos, Nelson T. Ramos

and Ro inson T. Ramos !s China So"thern Airlines Co. #td.

$.R. No. %&'(&) Se*tem er %&, %+&

-ACTS: On 7 August 2003, petitioners purchased fve China Southern Airlines rom
Active Travel Agenc or a roundtrip plane tic!ets rom "anila to #iamen, China$ On
their %a &ac! to the "anila, ho%ever, petitioners %ere prevented rom ta!ing their
designated 'ight despite the act that earlier that da an agent rom Active Tours
in ormed them that their &oo!ings or China Southern Airlines 'ight are confrmed$
The re usal came a ter petitioners alread chec!ed in all their &aggages and %ere
given the corresponding claim stu&s and a ter the had paid the terminal ees$
According to the airlines( agent %ith %hom the spo!e at the airport, petitioners
%ere merel chance passengers &ut the ma &e allo%ed to )oin the 'ight i the
are %illing to pa an additional *00 +enmin&i +"-. per person$ /hen petitioners
re used to de ra the additional cost, their &aggages %ere o oaded rom the plane
and China Southern Airlines 'ight then le t #iamen 1nternational Airport %ithout
them$

etitioners %ere a&le to ' &ac! to "anila and upon arrival, the %ent to China
Southern Airlines to demand or the reim&ursement o their air are and travel
e penses in the amount o 47,37*$00$ /hen the airline re used to accede to their
demand, petitioners initiated an action or damages &e ore the +TC o "anila and
sought or the pa ment o actual, moral and e emplar damages$

1n their Ans%er, China Southern Airlines denied lia&ilit & alleging that petitioners
%ere not confrmed passengers o the airlines &ut %ere merel chance passengers$

+TC ruled in avor o the petitioners and granted the a%ard o actual, moral and
e emplar damages$

CA modifed the decision$ 5eleting the a%ard o moral and e emplar damages$

ISS /: /hether or not the a%ard o moral and e emplar damages should &e
granted$

R #IN$: 6es$ A contract o carriage, in this case, air transport, is intended to serve the
traveling pu&lic and thus, im&ued %ith pu&lic interest$ The la% governing common
carriers conse uentl imposes an e acting standard o conduct as provided in
Article 87** o the Civil Code$

/ith respect to moral damages, the ollo%ing provision o the 9e% Civil Code is
instructive: Article 2220$ /ill ul in)ur to propert ma &e a legal ground or a%arding
moral damages i the court should fnd that, under the circumstances, such
damag$es are )ustl due$ The same rule applies to &reaches o contract %here the
de endant acted raudulentl or in &ad aith$
-ad aith does not simpl connote &ad )udgment or negligence$ 1t imports dishonest
purpose or some moral o&li uit and conscious doing o a %rong$ 1t means &reach
o a !no%n dut through some motive, interest or ill %ill that parta!es the nature
o
raud$ -ad aith is in essence a uestion o intention$

/e fnd that the airline compan acted in &ad aith in insolentl &umping petitioners o
the 'ight a ter the have completed all the pre;departure routine$ -ad aith is evident
%hen the ground personnel o the airline compan un)ustl and
unreasona&l re used to &oard petitioners to the plane %hich compelled them to
rent a car and ta!e the train to the nearest airport %here the &ought ne% sets
o plane tic!ets rom another airline that could ' them home$ etitioners have ever
reason to e pect that the %ould &e transported to their intended destination a ter
the had chec!ed in their luggage and had gone through all the securit chec!s$
1nstead, China Southern Airlines o ered to allo% them to )oin the 'ight i the are
%illing to pa additional cost< this amount is on top o the purchase price o the
plane tic!ets$ The re uirement to pa an additional are %as insult upon in)ur $ 1t is
an aggravation o the &reach o contract$ =ndou&tedl , petitioners are entitled to
the a%ard o moral damages$

China Southern Airlines is also lia&le or e emplar damages as it acted in a

%antonl oppressive manner as succinctl discussed a&ove against the petitioners$
> emplar damages %hich are a%arded & %a o e ample or correction or the
pu&lic good, ma &e recovered in contractual o&ligations, as in this case,
i de endant acted in %anton, raudulent, rec!less, oppressive or malevolent manner$