La Mallorca and Pampanga Bus Company vs. Valentin de Jesus and Manolo Tolentino and the Court of Appeals
G.R. No. L-21486 May 14, 1966
17 SCRA 23
FACTS:
Respondent filed a case against petitioner Mallorca because of the death of Lolita de Jesus, a passenger of petitioner’s bus which collided head-on with a freight truck traveling in the opposite direction, in a barrio in Marilao Bulacan, in the morning of October 8, 1959. The immediate cause of the collision was the fact that the driver of the bus lost control of the wheel when its left front tire suddenly exploded.
ISSUES:
1. Are the carriers liable for the accident caused by mechanical defect?
2. Are petitioners liable for moral damages?
RULING:
1. Yes. The court found that the cause of the blow-out was that the inner tube of the left front tire was pressed between the inner circle of the left wheel and the rim which had slipped out of the wheel. This was a mechanical defect of the conveyance or a fault in its equipment which was easily discoverable if the bus had been subjected to a more thorough, or rigid check-up before it took to the road that morning. Considering that the bus was running quite fast immediately before the accident and the tire which exploded was not new, the plea of caso fortuito could not be upheld and therefore, petitioners were liable.
2. Yes. moral damages are recoverable by reason of the death of a passenger caused by the breach of contract of a common carrier, as provided in Article 1764, in relation to Article 2206, of the Civil Code.
Myline Cordial 
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