April 2016 - Philippine Supreme Court Decisions/Resolutions
Philippine Supreme Court Jurisprudence
G.R. No. 210621, April 04, 2016 - ALFREDO MANAY, JR., FIDELINO SAN LUIS, ADRIAN SAN LUIS, ANNALEE SAN LUIS, MARK ANDREW JOSE, MELISSA JOSE, CHARLOTTE JOSE, DAN JOHN DE GUZMAN, PAUL MARK BALUYOT, AND CARLOS S. JOSE, Petitioners, v. CEBU AIR,INC, Respondent.
SECOND DIVISION
G.R. No. 210621, April 04, 2016
ALFREDO MANAY, JR., FIDELINO SAN LUIS, ADRIAN SAN LUIS, ANNALEE SAN LUIS, MARK ANDREW JOSE, MELISSA JOSE, CHARLOTTE JOSE, DAN JOHN DE GUZMAN, PAUL MARK BALUYOT, AND CARLOS S. JOSE, Petitioners, v. CEBU AIR,INC, Respondent.
D E C I S I O N
LEONEN, J.:
The Air Passenger Bill of Rights1 mandates that the airline must inform the passenger in writing of all the conditions and restrictions in the contract of carriage.2 Purchase of the contract of carriage binds the passenger and imposes reciprocal obligations on both the airline and the passenger. The airline must exercise extraordinary diligence in the fulfillment of the terms and conditions of the contract of carriage. The passenger, however, has the correlative obligation to exercise ordinary diligence in the conduct of his or her affairs.
This resolves a Petition for Review on Certiorari3 assailing the Court of Appeals Decision4 dated December 13, 2013 in CA-G.R. SP. No. 129817. In the assailed Decision, the Court of Appeals reversed the Metropolitan Trial Court Decision5 dated December 15, 2011 and the Regional Trial Court Decision6 dated November 6, 2012 and dismissed the Complaint for Damages filed by petitioners Alfredo Manay, Jr., Fidelino San Luis, Adrian San Luis, Annalee San Luis, Mark Andrew Jose, Melissa Jose, Charlotte Jose, Dan John De Guzman, Paul Mark Baluyot, and Carlos S. Jose against respondent Cebu Air, Incorporated (Cebu Pacific).7
On June 13, 2008, Carlos S. Jose (Jose) purchased 20 Cebu Pacific round-trip tickets from Manila to Palawan for himself and on behalf of his relatives and friends.8 He made the purchase at Cebu Pacific's branch office in Robinsons Galleria.9
Jose alleged that he specified to "Alou," the Cebu Pacific ticketing agent, that his preferred date and time of departure from Manila to Palawan should be on July 20, 2008 at 0820 (or 8:20 a.m.) and that his preferred date and time for their flight back to Manila should be on July 22, 2008 at 1615 (or 4:15 p.m.).10 He paid a total amount of P42,957.00 using his credit card.11 He alleged that after paying for the tickets, Alou printed the tickets,12 which consisted of three (3) pages, and recapped only the first page to him.13 Since the first page contained the details he specified to Alou, he no longer read the other pages of the flight information.14
On July 20, 2008, Jose and his 19 companions boarded the 0820 Cebu Pacific flight to Palawan and had an enjoyable stay.15
On the afternoon of July 22, 2008, the group proceeded to the airport for their flight back to Manila.16 During the processing of their boarding passes, they were informed by Cebu Pacific personnel that nine (9)17 of them could not be admitted because their tickets were for the 1005 (or 10:05 a.m.)18 flight earlier that day.19 Jose informed the ground personnel that he personally purchased the tickets and specifically instructed the ticketing agent that all 20 of them should be on the 4:15 p.m. flight to Manila.20
Upon checking the tickets, they learned that only the first two (2) pages had the schedule Jose specified.21 They were left with no other option but to rebook their tickets.22 They then learned that their return tickets had been purchased as part of the promo sales of the airline, and the cost to rebook the flight would be P7,000.00 more expensive than the promo tickets.23 The sum of the new tickets amounted to P65,000.00.24
They offered to pay the amount by credit card but were informed by the ground personnel that they only accepted cash.25 They then offered to pay in dollars, since most of them were balikbayans and had the amount on hand, but the airline personnel still refused.26
Eventually, they pooled enough cash to be able to buy tickets for five (5) of their companions.27