G.R. No.

L-4440

August 29, 1952

BUNGE CORPORATION and UNIVERSAL COMMERCIAL AGENCIES, plaintiffs-appellees,

vs.
ELENA CAMENFORTE and COMPANY, doing business or trading under the name and
style of Visayan Products Company, ET AL., defendants-appellants.
Plaintiffs brought action against the defendants to recover certain damages they have allegedly
sustained in view of the failure of the latter to deliver to the former the amount of Philippine
copra which they had agreed to deliver within the time and under the conditions specified in the
contract celebrated between them on October 22, 1947.
After trial, which both parties presented their respective evidence, the court rendered decision
ordering defendant Elena Camenforte & Company to pay to the plaintiffs. Defendants
interposed the present appeal. Consequently, appellants now contend that the lower court erred
in condemning them for damages despite the fact that their failure to fulfill the contract is due
to force majeure.
ISSUE:
WON VISAYAN PRODUCT IS LIABLE FOR FAILURE TO DELIVER COPRA EVEN IF LOST BY
FORCE MAJEURE?
RULING:
It appearing that the obligation of appellant is to deliver copra in a generic sense, the obligation
cannot be deemed extinguised by the destruction or disappearance of the copra stored in San
Ramon, Samar. Their obligation subsists as long as that commodity is available. A generic
obligation is not extinguished by the loss of a thing belonging to a particular genus. Genus
nunquan perit.
Wherefore, the decision appealed from is affirmed, with costs against appellants.
Separate Opinions
BENGZON, J., concurring:
I concur. However I wish to add a few remarks.
The copra was to be delivered at the Pacific Coast of the U.S. "during November/December
1947." The sellers' duty to deliver matured at the end of December 1947. In the absence of
special circumstances, failure of the sellers to comply with their obligation gave to buyer the
right to damages based upon the price of Philippine copra at the end of December 1947 in the
U.S. Pacific Coast. Such price, according to the decision not challenged by appellants was
$260 per short ton. On that basis, the judgment for damages in the amount of P79,744 may be
affirmed.