Magsaysay V Agan

EN BANC
[G.R. No. L-6393. January 31, 1955.]

A. MAGSAYSAY, INC. , plainti-appellee, vs. ANASTACIO AGAN,
defendant-appellant.
Custodio A. Villalva for appellant.

Quijano, Alidio & Azores for appellee.
SYLLABUS
1.
ADMIRALTY LAW; VESSELS; ACCIDENTAL STRANDING; AVERAGES.
The law on averages is contained in the Code of Commerce. Under that law,
averages are classied into simple or particular and general or gross. Generally
speaking, simple or particular averages include all expenses and damages caused
to the vessel or cargo which have not inured to the common benet (Art. 809)
and are, therefore, to be borne only by the owner of the property which gave rise
to the same (Art. 810); while general or gross averages include "all the damages
and expenses which are deliberately caused in order to save the vessel, its cargo,
or both at the same time, from a real and known risk" (Art. 811). Being for the
common benet, gross averages are to be borne by the owners of the articles
saved (Art. 812).
2.
ID.; ID.; ID.; CLASSIFICATION OF AVERAGES. In classifying
averages into simple or particular and general or gross and dening each class,
the Code (Arts. 809 and 811) at the same time enumerates certain specic cases
as coming specially under one or the other denomination. While the expenses
incurred in putting a vessel aoat may well come under number 2 of article 809
which refers to expenses suered by the vessel "by reason of an accident of
the sea or force majeure" and should therefore be classied as particular
average, the said expenses do not t into any of the specic cases of general
average enumerated in article 811. No. 6 of this article does mention "expenses
caused in order to oat a vessel," but it specically refers to "a vessel
intentionally stranded for the purpose of saving it" and would have no application
where the stranding was not intentional.
3.
ID.; ID.; GENERAL AVERAGE; ITS REQUISITES. The following are
the requisites for general average: (1) there must be a common danger; (2) for
the common safety part of the vessel or of the cargo or both is sacriced
deliberately; (3) from the expenses or damages caused follows the successful
saving of the vessel and cargo; and (4) the expenses or damages should have
been incurred or inflicted after taking proper legal steps and authority.
4.
ID.; ID.; ID.; ID. It is the deliverance from an immediate peril, by a
common sacrice, that constitutes the essence of general average (Columbian
Insurance Co. of Alejandria vs. Ashby & Stribling, 13 Peters 331, 10 L. ed. 186).
Where there is no proof that the stranded vessel had to be put aoat to save it
from an imminent danger, and what does appear is that the vessel had to be
salvaged in order to enable it "to proceed to its port or destination," the expenses
incurred in oating the vessel do not constitute general average. It is the safety
of the property, and not of the voyage, which constitutes the true foundation of
general average.
5.
ID.; ID.; ID.; ID. Even if the salvage operation was a success, yet if
the sacrice was for the benet of the vessel - to enable it to proceed to its
destination and not for the purpose of saving the cargo, the cargo owners are
not in law bound to contribute to the expense.
DECISION
REYES, A., J :
p
The S S "San Antonio", a vessel owned and operated by plainti, left Manila
on October 6, 1949, bound for Basco, Batanes, via Aparri, Cagayan, with general
cargo belonging to dierent shippers, among them the defendant. The vessel
reached Aparri on the 10th of that month, and after a day's stopover in that port,
weighed anchor to proceed to Basco. But while still in port, it ran aground at the
mouth of the Cagayan river, and, attempts to reoat it under its own power
having failed, plainti had it reoated by the Luzon Stevedoring Co. at an agreed
compensation. Once aoat, the vessel returned to Manila to refuel and then
proceeded to Basco, the port of destination. There the cargoes were delivered to
their respective owners or consignees, who, with the exception of defendant,
made a deposit or signed a bond to answer for their contribution to the average.
On the theory that the expenses incurred in oating the vessel constitute
general average to which both ship and cargo should contribute, plainti brought
the present action in the Court of First Instance of Manila to make defendant pay
his contribution, which, as determined by the average adjuster, amounts to
P841.40. Defendant, in his answer, denies liability for this amount, alleging,
among other things, that the stranding of the vessel was due to the fault,
negligence and lack of skill of its master, that the expenses incurred in putting it
aoat did not constitute general average, and that the liquidation of the average
was not made in accordance with law. After trial, the lower court found for
plainti and rendered judgment against the defendant for the amount of the
claim, with legal interests. From this judgment defendant has appealed directly
to this Court.
Although appellant assigns various errors, under our view of the case only
the following need be considered:
"The trial court erred in allowing the general average for oating a
vessel unintentionally stranded inside a port and at the mouth of a river
during a fine weather."
For the purposes of this assignment of error we may well accept the nding
below that the stranding of plainti's vessel was due to the sudden shifting of
the sandbars at the mouth of the river which the port pilot did not anticipate. The
standing may, therefore, be regarded as accidental, and the question is whether
the expenses incurred in oating a vessel so stranded should be considered
general average and shared by the cargo owners.
The law on averages is contained in the Code of Commerce. Under that
law, averages are classied into simple or particular and general or gross.
Generally speaking, simple or particular averages include all expenses and
damages caused to the vessel or cargo which have not inured to the common
benet (Art. 809, and are, therefore, to be borne only by the owner of the
property which gave rise to the same (Art. 810); while general or gross averages
include "all the damages and expenses which are deliberately caused in order to
save the vessel, its cargo, or both at the same time, from a real and known risk"
(Art. 811). Being for the common benet, gross averages are to be borne by the
owners of the articles saved (Art. 812).
In classifying averages into simple or particular and general or gross and
dening each class, the Code (Art. 809 and 811) at the same time enumerates
certain specic cases as coming specially under one or the other denomination.
Going over the specic cases enumerated we nd that, while the expenses
incurred in putting plainti's vessel aoat may well come under number 2 of
article 809 which refers to expenses suered by the vessel "by reason of an
accident of the sea or force majeure" and should therefore be classied as
particular average, the said expenses do not t into any of the specic cases of
general average enumerated in article 811. No. 6 of this article does mention
"expenses caused in order to oat a vessel," but it specically refers to "a vessel
intentionally stranded for the purpose of saving it" and would have no application
where, as in the present case, the stranding was not intentional.
Let us now see whether the expenses here in question could come within
the legal concept of general average. Tolentino, in his commentaries on the Code
of Commerce, gives the following requisites for general average:
"First, there must be a common danger. This means, that both the
ship and the cargo, after it has been loaded, are subject to the same danger,
whether during the voyage, or in the port of loading or unloading; that the
danger arises from accidents of the sea, dispositions of the authority, or
faults of men, provided, that the circumstance producing the peril should be
ascertained and imminent - or may rationally be said to be certain and
imminent. This last requirement excludes measures undertaken against a
distant peril.
"Second, that for the common safety part of the vessel or of the
cargo or both is sacrificed deliberately.
"Third, that from the expenses or damages caused follows the
successful saving of the vessel and cargo.
"Fourth, that the expenses or damages should have been incurred or
inicted after taking proper legal steps and authority." (Vol. I, 7th ed., p.
155.)
With respect to the rst requisite, the evidence does not disclose that the
expenses sought to be recovered from defendant were incurred to save vessel

and cargo from a common danger. The vessel ran aground in ne weather inside
the port at the mouth of a river, a place described as "very shallow". It would
thus appear that vessel and cargo were at the time in no imminent danger or a
danger which might "rationally be sought to be certain and imminent." It is, of
course, conceivable that, if left indenitely at the mercy of the elements, they
would run the risk of being destroyed. But as stated in the above quotation, "this
last requirement excludes measures undertaken against a distant peril." It is the
deliverance from an immediate, impending peril, by a common sacrice, that
constitutes the essence of general average. (The Columbian Insurance- Company
of Alexandria vs. Ashby & Stribling et al., 13 Peters 331; 10 L. Ed., 186). In the
present case there is no proof that the vessel had to be put aoat to save it from
an imminent danger. What does appear from the testimony of plainti's
manager is that the vessel had to be salvaged in order to enable it "to proceed to
its port of destination." But as was said in the case just cited, it is the safety of
the property, and not of the voyage, which constitutes the true foundation of
general average.
As to the second requisite, we need only repeat that the expenses in
question were not incurred for the common safety of vessel and cargo, since
they, or at least the cargo, were not in imminent peril. The cargo could, without
need of expensive salvage operation, have been unloaded by the owners if they
had been required to do so.
With respect to the third requisite, the salvage operation, it is true, was a
success. But as the sacrice was for the benet of the vessel to enable it to
proceed to destination and not for the purpose of saving the cargo, the cargo
owners are not in law bound to contribute to the expenses.
The nal requisite has not been proved, for it does not appear that the
expenses here in question were incurred after following the procedure laid down
in articles 813 et seq.
In conclusion, we nd that plainti has not made out a case for general
average, with the result that its claim for contribution against the defendant
cannot be granted.
Wherefore, the decision appealed from is reversed and plainti's complaint
ordered dismissed with costs.
Paras, C. J., Bengzon, Padilla, Montemayor, Jugo, Bautista Angelo, and

Reyes, J. B. L., JJ., concur.

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EN BANC

[G.R. No. L-6393. January 31, 1955.]

Custodio A. Villalva for appellant.

expenses sought to be recovered from defendant were incurred to save vessel

Paras, C. J., Bengzon, Padilla, Montemayor, Jugo, Bautista Angelo, and

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