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lack
of
care
by
petitioner
airline
for
the
interest
of
its
passengers
who
are
entitled
to
its
utmost
consideration,
particularly
as
to
their
convenience,
amount
to
bad
faith
which
entitles
the
passenger
to
the
award
of
moral
damages.
BACKGROUND
October
23,
1988
Leovigildo
A.
Pantejo,
then
City
Fiscal
of
Surigao
City,
boarded
a
PAL
plane
in
Manila
headed
to
Surigao
City
with
a
stopover
at
Cebu
City.
However,
due
to
typhoon
Osang,
the
connecting
flight
to
Surigao
City
was
cancelled.
PAL
initially
gave
out
a
cash
assistance
of
P100
to
each
passenger
to
accommodate
the
needs
of
its
passengers.
The
next
day,
it
gave
out
P200
since
the
passengers
were
expected
to
stay
(basically
because
theyre
stranded)
in
Cebu
for
2
days.
Pantejo
requested
instead
that
he
be
billeted
in
a
hotel
at
PAL's
expense
because
he
did
not
have
cash
with
him
at
that
time,
but
PAL
refused.
Thus,
respondent
Pantejo
was
forced
to
seek
and
accept
the
generosity
of
a
co-passenger,
an
engineer
named
Andoni
Dumlao,
and
he
shared
a
room
with
the
latter
at
Sky
View
Hotel
with
the
promise
to
pay
his
share
of
the
expenses
upon
reaching
Surigao.
October
25,
1988
the
flight
to
Surigao
was
going
to
resume.
At
this
point,
Pantejo
found
out
that
PAL
reimbursed
the
hotel
expenses
of
Superintendent
Ernesto
Gonzales
and
a
certain
Mrs.
Gloria
Rocha,
an
auditor
of
the
Philippine
National
Bank.
As
such,
Panted
approached
Oscar
Jereza,
PAL's
Manager
for
Departure
Services
at
Mactan
Airport
and
who
was
in
charge
of
cancelled
flights,
that
he
was
going
to
sue
the
airline
for
discriminating
against
him.
It
was
only
then
that
Jereza
offered
to
pay
respondent
Pantejo
P300,
but
Pantejo
declined.
March
18,
1991
The
Regional
Trial
Court
of
Surigao
City
ruled
against
PAL
and
ordered
the
latter
to
pay
Panted
actual,
moral
and
exemplary
damages,
as
well
as
attorneys
fees
and
costs
of
suit,
and
6%
interest
from
the
time
of
the
filing
of
the
complaint
until
the
amounts
were
fully
paid.
RACHELLE
ANNE
D.
GUTIERREZ
b.
c.
d.
e.
MAJOR
POINT
2:
Even
assuming
arguendo
that
the
passengers
have
no
vested
right
to
any
assistance
from
PAL
during
the
time
they
are
stranded
by
reason
of
force
majeure,
what
makes
petitioner
liable
for
damages
in
this
particular
case
and
under
the
facts
obtaining
herein
is
its
blatant
refusal
to
accord
the
so-called
amenities
EQUALLY
to
all
its
stranded
passengers
who
were
bound
for
Surigao
City.
No
justification
was
advanced
for
such
discriminatory
and
prejudicial
conduct.
Respondent
presented
witnesses
(Teresita
Azarcon,
Nerie
Bol,
Ernesto
Gonzales)
who
stated
that
PAL
paid
for
their
hotel
accommodations
in
times
they
were
stranded
by
reason
of
cancellation
of
their
connecting
flights
from
Cebu
to
Surigao.
RACHELLE
ANNE
D.
GUTIERREZ
PAL
claims
that
the
passengers
were
informed
that
they
would
be
reimbursed
of
their
hotel
expenses,
but
it
only
offered
the
explanation
that
the
reason
Pantejo
did
not
know
of
this
fact
is
because
he
wasnt
listening.
o This
is
absurd
because
when
respondent
Pantejo
came
to
know
that
his
flight
had
been
cancelled,
he
immediately
proceeded
to
petitioner's
office
and
requested
for
hotel
accommodations.
He
was
not
only
refused
accommodations,
but
he
was
not
even
informed
that
he
may
later
on
be
reimbursed
for
his
hotel
expenses.
The
inescapable
conclusion
is
that
petitioner
acted
in
bad
faith
in
disregarding
its
duties
as
a
common
carrier
to
its
passengers
and
in
discriminating
against
herein
respondent
Pantejo.
It
was
even
oblivious
to
the
fact
that
this
respondent
was
exposed
to
humiliation
and
embarrassment
especially
because
of
his
government
position
and
social
prominence,
which
altogether
necessarily
subjected
him
to
ridicule,
shame
and
anguish.
o It
remains
uncontroverted
that
at
the
time
of
the
incident,
herein
respondent
was
then
the
City
Prosecutor
of
Surigao
City,
and
that
he
is
a
member
of
the
Philippine
Jaycee
Senate,
past
Lt.
Governor
of
the
Kiwanis
Club
of
Surigao,
a
past
Master
of
the
Mount
Diwata
Lodge
of
Free
Masons
of
the
Philippines,
member
of
the
Philippine
National
Red
Cross,
Surigao
Chapter,
and
past
Chairman
of
the
Boy
Scouts
of
the
Philippines,
Surigao
del
Norte
Chapter.
The
discriminatory
act
of
petitioner
against
respondent
ineludibly
makes
the
former
liable
for
moral
damages
under
Article
21
in
relation
to
Article
2219
(10)
of
the
Civil
Code.
o Alitalia
Airways
vs.
CA,
et
al.
such
inattention
to
and
lack
of
care
by
petitioner
airline
for
the
interest
of
its
passengers
who
are
entitled
to
its
utmost
consideration,
particularly
as
to
their
convenience,
RACHELLE
ANNE
D.
GUTIERREZ