G.R. No. L-9907, 30 June 1958, 104 Phil 65

FACTS:

The deceased was an inspector of the Bureau of Forestry stationed in Davao.The defendant is engaged in the business of exporting logs from his lumberconcession in Cotabato. Lara went to said concession upon instructions of his chief toclassify the logs of defendant which were about to be loaded on a ship anchored inthe port of Parang. Lara boarded with several others a pick-up bound for Davao andwere seated at the back on an improvised bench. Lara accidentally fell from the pick-up and as a result he suffered serious injuries which lead to his death.

ISSUE:

Whether or not the respondent failed to exercise the ordinary required?

RULING:

Yes. The owner and driver of a vehicle owes to accommodation passengers orinvited guests merely the duty to exercise reasonable care so that they may betransported safely to their destination. Thus, “The rule is established by weight ofauthority that the owner or operator of an automobile owes the duty to an invitedguest to exercise reasonable care in its operation, and not unreasonably to exposehim to danger and injury by increasing the hazard of travel. The owner of the vehiclein the case at bar is only required to observe ordinary care, and is not in duty boundto exercise extraordinary diligence as required by our law.A passenger must observe the diligence of a father of a family to avoid injury tohimself which means that if the injury to the passenger has been proximately causedby his own negligence, the carrier cannot be held liable.

*Case digest by Karishina Viado, LLB-IV, Andres Bonifacio Law School, SY 2018-2019