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Philippine Supreme Court Jurisprudence > Year 1949 > November 1949 Decisions > G.R. No. L2075 November
29, 1949 MARGARITA AFIALDA v. BASILIO HISOLE, ET AL
085 Phil 67:
EN BANC
[G.R. No. L2075. November 29, 1949.]
MARGARITA AFIALDA, PlaintiffAppellant, v. BASILIO HISOLE and FRANCISCO HISOLE,
DefendantsAppellees.
Nicolas P. Nonato for Appellant.
Gellada, Mirasol & Ravena for Appellees.
SYLLABUS
1. DAMAGES; LIABILITY OF OWNER OF ANIMAL FOR DAMAGE CAUSED TO ITS CARETAKER. — Under
article 1905 of the Civil Code, the owner of an animal is not liable for injury caused by it to its caretaker.
D E C I S I O N
REYES, J.:
This is an action for damages arising from injury caused by an animal. The complaint alleges that the
DebtKollect Company, Inc. now deceased, Loreto Afialda, was employed by the defendant spouses as caretaker of their carabaos at
a fixed compensation; that while tending the animals he was, on March 21, 1947, gored by one of them
and later died as a consequence of his injuries; that the mishap was due neither to his own fault nor to
force majeure; and that plaintiff is his elder sister and heir depending upon him for support.
Before filing their answer, defendants moved for the dismissal of the complaint for lack of a cause of
action, and the motion having been granted by the lower court, plaintiff has taken this appeal.
Plaintiff seeks to hold defendants liable under article 1905 of the Civil Code, which reads: jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"The possessor of an animal, or the one who uses the same, is liable for any damages it may cause, even
if such animal should escape from him or stray away.
"This liability shall cease only in case the damage should arise from force majeure or from the fault of the
person who may have suffered it." cralaw virtua1aw library
The question presented is whether the owner of the animal is liable when the damage is caused to its
caretaker.
The lower court took the view that under the abovequoted provision of the Civil Code, the owner of an
animal is answerable only for damages caused to a stranger, and that for damage caused to the
caretaker of the animal the owner would be liable only if he had been negligent or at fault under article
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ChanRobles Intellectual Property 1902 of the same code. Claiming that the lower court was in error, counsel for plaintiff contends that
article 1905 does not distinguish between damage caused to a stranger and damage caused to the
Division caretaker and makes the owner liable whether or not he has been negligent or at fault. For authority
counsel cites the following opinion which Manresa quotes from a decision of the Spanish Supreme
Court:
jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"El articulo 1905 del Codigo Civil no consiente otra interpretacion que la que, clara y evidentemente, se
deriva de sus terminos literales, bastando, segun el mismo, que un animal cause perjuicio para que
nazca la responsibilidad del dueño, aun no imputandose a este ninguna clase de culpa o negligencia,
habida, sin duda, cuenta por el legislador de que tal concepto de dueño es suficiente para que arrastre
las consecuencias favorables o adversas de esta clase de propiedad, salvo la excepcion en el mismo
contenida." (12 Manresa, Commentaries on the Spanish Civil Code, 573.)
This opinion, however, appears to have been rendered in a case where an animal caused injury to a
stranger or third person. It is therefore no authority for a case like the present where the person injured
was the caretaker of the animal. The distinction is important. For the statute names the possessor or
user of the animal as the person liable for "any damages it may cause," and this for the obvious reason
that the possessor or user has the custody and control of the animal and is therefore the one in a
position to prevent it from causing damage.
In the present case, the animal was in the custody and under the control of the caretaker, who was paid
for his work as such. Obviously, it was the caretaker’s business to try to prevent the animal from causing
injury or damage to anyone, including himself. And being injured by the animal under those
circumstances, was one of the risks of the occupation which he had voluntarily assumed and for which he
must take the consequences.
In a decision of the Spanish Supreme Court, cited by Manresa in his Commentaries (Vol. 12, p. 578), the
death of an employee who was bitten by a feline which his master had asked him to take to his
establishment was by said tribunal declared to be "a veritable accident of labor" which should come
under the labor laws rather than under article 1905 of the Civil Code. The present action, however, is not
brought under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, there being no allegation that, among other things,
defendants’ business, whatever that might be, had a gross income of P20,000. As already stated,
defendants’ liability is made to rest on article 1905 of the Civil Code. But action under that article is not
tenable for the reasons already stated. On the other hand, if action is to be based on article 1902 of the
Civil Code, it is essential that there be fault or negligence on the part of the defendants as owners of the
animal that caused the damage. But the complaint contains no allegation on those points.
There being no reversible error in the order appealed from, the same is hereby affirmed, but without
costs in view of the financial situation of the Appellant.
November-1949 Jurisprudence Moran, C.J., Ozaeta, Paras, Bengzon, Padilla, Tuason, Montemayor and Torres, JJ., concur.
G.R. No. L1628 November 9, 1949 ADRIANO
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084 Phil 873
G.R. No. L2367 November 11, 1949 FELICIANO
AUREUS v. SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE & QUICK SEARCH
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ICE & COLD STORAGE INDUSTRIES OF THE PHIL., 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916
INC. v. JOSE M. VALERO, ET AL.
1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924
085 Phil 7 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932
G.R. No. L2606 November 19, 1949 LORENZO
1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940
SALVADOR v. JOSE B. L. REYES, ET AL. 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948
085 Phil 12
1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956
1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964
G.R. No. L3393 November 23, 1949 GERVASIO
ERAÑA v. ERMELO VERGEL DE DIOS 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980
085 Phil 17
1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988
G.R. No. L1822 November 28, 1949 MARVEL 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
BUILDING CORP. v. PHIL. WAR DAMAGE COM.
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
085 Phil 27 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
G.R. No. L1862 November 28, 1949 ENGRACIO 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
DE ASIS v. COURT OF APPEALS, ET AL
085 Phil 33
G.R. No. L1897 November 28, 1949 JOSE DE
BORJA v. DEOGRACIAS V. VILLADOLID
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085 Phil 36
G.R. No. L2512 November 28, 1949 BRAULIO, ET
AL v. QUERUBE MAKALINTAL, ET AL
085 Phil 40
G.R. No. L1372 November 29, 1949 ALIPIO
VILLONES, ET AL v. MARIANO NABLE, ET AL
085 Phil 43
G.R. No. L1496 November 29, 1949
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHIL. v. CAYETANO DE
BORJA
085 Phil 51
G.R. No. L1538 November 29, 1949 ENGRACIO
DE ASIS v. COURT OF APPEALS, ET AL.
085 Phil 59
G.R. No. L1580 November 29, 1949 RAMON
MARTINEZ v. JACINTO NOTOR
085 Phil 62
G.R. No. L2075 November 29, 1949 MARGARITA
AFIALDA v. BASILIO HISOLE, ET AL
085 Phil 67
G.R. No. L2813 November 29, 1949 FELIZA
ARAGON v. RAFAEL AMPARO, ET AL
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