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[No. 12191. October 14, 1918.]

JOSE CANGCO, plaintiff and appellant, vs. MANILA RAILROAD

Co., defendant and appellee.

1. MASTER AND SERVANT; CONTRACT; NEGLIGENCE..—

Failure to perform a contract cannot be excused upon the ground
that the breach was due to the negligence of a servant of the
obligor, and that the latter exercised due diligence in the selection
and control of the servant.

2. CONTRACTS; NEGLIGENCE; CULPA AQUILIANA; CULPA

CONTRACTUAL.—The distinction between negligence as the
source of an obligation (culpa aquiliana) and negligence in the
performance of a contract (culpa contractual) pointed out.

3. CARRIERS; PASSENGERS; NEGLIGENCE; ALIGHTING

FROM MOVING TRAIN.—It is not negligence per se for a
traveler to alight from a slowly moving train.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Court of First Instance of Manila.

Del Rosario, J.
The facts are stated in the opinion of the Court.
Ramon Sotelo for appellant.
Kincaid & Hartigan for appellee.

FiSHER, J.:

At the time of the occurrence which gave rise to this litigation the
plaintiff, Jose Cangco, was in the employment of the Manila
Railroad Company in the capacity of clerk,
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Cangco vs. Manila Railroad Co.

with a monthly wage of P25. He lived in the pueblo of San Mateo, in

the province of Rizal, which is located upon the line of the
defendant railroad company; and in coming daily by train to the
company's office in the city of Manila where he worked, he used a
pass, supplied by the company, which entitled him to ride upon the
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company's trains free of charge. Upon the occasion in question,

January 20, 1915, the plaintiff was returning home by rail from his
daily labors; and as the train drew up to the station in San Mateo the
plaintiff arose from his seat in the second class-car where he was
riding and, making his exit through the door, took his position upon
the steps of the coach, seizing the upright guardrail with his right
hand for support.
On the side of the train where passengers alight at the San Mateo
station there is a cement platform which begins to rise with a
moderate gradient some distance away from the company's office
and extends along in front of said office for a distance sufficient to
cover the length of several coaches. As the train slowed down
another passenger, named Emilio Zufiiga, also an employee of the
railroad company, got off the same car, alighting safely at the point
where the platform begins to rise from the level of the ground. When
the train had proceeded a little farther the plaintiff Jose Cangco
stepped off also, but one or both of his feet came in contact with a
sack of watermelons with the result that his feet slipped from under
him. and he fell violently on the platform. His body at once rolled
from the platform and was drawn under the moving car, where his
right arm was badly crushed and lacerated. It appears that after the
plaintiff alighted from the train the car moved forward possibly six
meters before it came to a full stop.
The accident occurred between 7 and 8 o'clock on a dark night,
and as the railroad station was lighted dimly by a single light located
some distance away, objects on the

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platform where the accident occurred were difficult to discern,

especially to a person emerging from a lighted car.
The explanation of the presence of a sack of melons on the
platform where the plaintiff alighted is found in the fact that it was
the customary season for harvesting these melons and a large lot had
been brought to the station for shipment to the market. They were
contained in numerous tow sacks which had been piled on the
platform in a row one upon another. The testimony shows that this
row of sacks was so placed that there was a space of only about two
feet between the sacks of melons and the edge of the platform; and it
is clear that the fall of the plaintiff was due to the fact that his foot
alighted upon one of these melons at the moment he stepped upon
the platform. His statement that he failed to see these objects in the
darkness is readily to be credited.
The plaintiff was drawn from under the car in an unconscious
condition, and it appeared that the injuries which he had received
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were very serious. He was therefore brought at once to a certain

hospital in the city of Manila where an examination was made and
his arm was amputated. The result of this operation was
unsatisfactory, and the plaintiff was then carried to another hospital
where a second operation was performed and the member was again
amputated higher up near the shoulder. It appears in evidence that
the plaintiff expended the sum of P790.25 in the form of medical
and surgical fees and for other expenses in connection with the
process of his curation.
Upon August 31, 1915, he instituted this proceeding in the Court
of First Instanee of the city of Manila to recover damages of the
defendant company, founding his action upon the negligence of the
servants and employees of the defendant in placing the sacks of
melons upon the platform and in leaving them so placed as to be a
menace to the security of passenger alighting from the company's
trains. At the hearing in the Court of First Instance, his Honor, the
trial judge, found the facts substantially as above

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stated, and drew therefrom his conclusion to the effect that, although
negligence was attributable to the defendant by reason of the fact
that the sacks of melons were so placed as to obstruct passengers
passing to and from the cars, nevertheless, the plaintiff himself had
failed to use due caution in alighting from the coach and was
therefore precluded from recovering. Judgment was accordingly
entered in favor of the defendant company, and the plaintiff
appealed.
It can not be doubted that the employees of the railroad company
were guilty of negligence in piling these sacks on the platform in the
manner above stated; that their presence caused the plaintiff to fall
as he alighted from the train; and that they therefore constituted an
effective legal cause of the injuries sustained by the plaintiff. It
necessarily follows that the defendant company is liable for the
damage thereby occasioned unless recovery is barred by the
plaintiff's own contributory negligence. In resolving this problem it
is necessary that each of these conceptions of liability, to-wit, the
primary responsibility of the defendant company and the
contributory negligence of the plaintiff should be separately
examined.
It is important to note that the foundation of the legal liability of
the defendant is the contract of carriage, and that the obligation to
respond for the damage which plaintiff has suffered arises, if at all,
from the breach of that contract by reason of the failure of defendant
to exercise due care in its performance. That is to say, its liability is
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direct and immediate, differing essentially, in the legal viewpoint

from that presumptive responsibility for the negligence of its
servants, imposed by article 1903 of the Civil Code, which can be
rebutted by proof of the exercise of due care in their selection and
supervision. Article 1903 of the Civil Code is not applicable to
obligations arising ex contractu, but only to extra-contractual
obligations—or to use the technical form of expression, that article
relates only to culpa aquiliana and not to culpa contractual.

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Manresa (vol. 8, p. 67) in his commentaries upon articles 1103 and

1104 of the Civil Code, clearly points out this distinction, which was
also recognized by this Court in its decision in the case of Rakes vs.
Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Co. (7 Phil. Rep., 359). In commenting
upon article 1093 (vol. 8, p. 30) Manresa clearly points out the
difference between "culpa, substantive and independent, which of
itself constitutes the source of an obligation between persons not
formerly connected by any legal tie" and culpa considered as an
"accident in the performance of an obligation already existing * *
*."
In the Rakes case (supra) the decision of this court was made to
rest squarely upon the proposition that article 1903 of the Civil Code
is not applicable to acts of negligence which constitute the breach of
a contract.
Upon this point the Court said:
"The acts to which these articles [1902 and 1903 of the Civil
Code] are applicable are understood to be those not growing out of
pre-existing duties of the parties to one another But where relations
already formed give rise to duties, whether springing from contract
or quasi-contract, then breaches of those duties are subject to articles
1101, 1103 and 1104 of the same code." (Rakes vs. Atlantic, Gulf
and Pacific Co., 7 Phil. Rep., 359 at p. 365.)
This distinction is of the utmost importance. The liabilitv which,
under the Spanish law, is, in certain cases imposed upon employers
with respect to damages occasioned by the negligence of their
employees to persons to whom they are not bound by contract, is not
based, as in the Endish Common Law, upon the principle of
respondent St-Tit were, the master would be liable in every case and
unconditionally-but upon the principle announced inLwl 1902 of the
Civil Code, which imposes upon all Bersons who by their fault or
negligence, do injury to ano he , The obUgation of making good the
damage caused.

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VOL. 38, OCTOBER 14, 1918. 773

Cangco vs. Manila Railroad Co.

gence which makes him liable for all the consequences of his
imprudence. The obligation to make good the damage arises at the
very instant that the unskillful servant, while acting within the scope
of his employment, causes the injury. The liability of the master is
personal and direct. But, if the master has not been guilty of any
negligence whatever in the selection and. direction of the servant, he
is not liable for the acts of the latter, whether done within the scope
of his employment or not, if the damage done by the servant does
not amount to a breach of the contract between the master and the
person injured.
It is not accurate to say that proof of diligence and care in the
selection and control of the servant relieves the master from liability
for the latter's acts—on the contrary, that proof shows that the
responsibility has never existed. As Manresa says (vol. 8, p. 68) the
liability arising from extra-contractual culpa is always based upon a
voluntary act or omission which, without willful intent, but by mere
negligence or inattention, has caused damage to another. A master
who exercises all possible care in the selection of his servant, taking
into consideration the qualifications they should possess for the
discharge of the duties which it is his purpose to confide to them,
and directs them with equal diligence, thereby performs his duty to
third persons to whom he is bound by no contractual ties, and he
incurs no liability whatever if, by reason of the negligence of his
servants, even within the scope of their employment, such third
persons suffer damage. True it is that under article 1903 of the Civil
Code the law creates a presumption that he has been negligent in the
selection or direction of his servant, but the presumption is
rebuttable and yields to proof of due care and diligence in this
respect.
The supreme court of Porto Rico, in interpreting identical
provisions, as found in the Porto Rican Civil Code, has held that
these articles are applicable to cases of extra-contractual culpa
exclusively. (Carmona vs. Cuesta, 20 Porto Rico Reports, 215.)

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This distinction was again made patent by this Court in its decision
in the case of Bahia vs. Litonjua and Leynes, (30 Phil. Rep., 624),
which was an action brought upon the theory of the extra-contractual
liability of the defendant to respond for the damage caused by the
carelessness of his employee while acting within the scope of his

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employment. The Court, after citing the last paragraph of article

1903 of the Civil Code, said:
"From this article two things are apparent: (1) That when an
injury is caused by the negligence of a servant or employee there
instantly arises a presumption of law that there was negligence on
the part of the master or employer either in the selection of the
servant or employee, or in supervision over him, after the selection,
or both; and (2) that that presumption is juris tantum and not juris et
de jure, and consequently, may be rebutted. It follows necessarily
that if the employer shows to the satisfaction of the court that in
selection and supervision he has exercised the care and diligence of
a good f ather of a f amily, the presumption is overcome and he is
relieved from liability.
"This theory bases the responsibility of the master ultimately on
his own negligence and not on that of his servant. This is the notable
peculiarity of the Spanish law of negligence. It is, of course, in
striking contrast to the American doctrine that, in relations with
strangers, the negligence of the serVant is conclusively the
negligence of the master."
The opinion there expressed by this Court, to the effect that in
case of extra-contractual culpa based upon negligence, it is
necessary that there shall have been some fault attributable to the
defendant personally, and that the last paragraph of article 1903
merely establishes a rebuttable presumption, is in complete accord
with the authoritative opinion of Manresa, who says (vol. 12, p. 611)
that the liability created by article 1903 is imposed by reason of the
breach of the duties inherent in the special relations of authority or
superiority existing between the person called

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Cangco vs. Manila Railroad Co.

upon to repair the damage and the one who, by his act or omission,
was the cause of it.
On the other hand, the liability of masters and employers for the
negligent acts or omissions of their servants or agents, when such
acts or omissions cause damages which amount to the breach of a
contract, is not based upon a mere presumption of the master's
negligence in their selection or control, and proof of exercise of the
utmost diligence and care in this regard does not relieve the master
of his liability for the breach of his contract.
Every legal obligation must of necessity be extra-contractual or
contractual. Extra-contractual obligation has its source in the breach
or omission of those mutual duties which civilized society imposes
upon its members, or which arise from these relations, other than
contractual, of certain members of society to others, generally
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embraced in the concept of status. The legal rights of each member

of society constitute the measure of the corresponding legal duties,
mainly negative in character, which the existence of those rights
imposes upon all other members of society. The breach of these
general duties whether due to willful intent or to mere inattention, if
productive of injury, gives rise to an obligation to indemnify the
injured party. The fundamental distinction between obligations of
this character and those which arise from contract, rests upon the
fact that in cases of non-contractual obligation it is the wrongful or
negligent act or omission itself which creates the vinculum juris,
whereas in contractual relations the vinculum exists independently of
the breach of the voluntary duty assumed by the parties when
entering into the contractual relation.
With respect to extra-contractual obligation arising from
negligence, whether of act or omission, it is competent for the
legislature to elect—and our Legislature has so elected—to limit
such liability to cases in which the person upon whom such an
obligation is imposed is morally culpable or, on the contrary, for
reasons of public policy, to extend

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that liability, without regard to the lack of moral culpability, so as to

include responsibility for the negligence of those persons whose acts
or omissions are imputable, by a legal fiction, to others who are in a
position to exercise an absolute or limited control over them. The
legislature which adopted our Civil Code has elected to limit
extracontractual liability—with certain well-defined exceptions—to
cases in which moral culpability can be directly imputed to the
persons to be charged. This moral responsibility may consist in
having failed to exercise due care in one's own acts, or in having
failed to exercise due care in the selection and control of one's
agents or servants, or in the control of persons who, by reason of
their status, occupy a position of dependency with respect to the
person made liable for their conduct.
The position of a natural or juridical person who has undertaken
by contract to render service to another, is wholly different from -
that to which article 1903 relates. When the source of the obligation
upon which plaintiff's cause of action depends is a negligent act or
omission, the burden of proof rests upon plaintiff to prove the
negligence if he does not his action 'fails. But when the facts averred
show a contractual undertaking by defendant for the benefit of
plaintiff, and it is alleged that plaintiff has failed or refused to
perform the contract, it is not necessary for plaintiff to specify in his
pleadings whether the breach of the contract is due to wilful fault or
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to negligence on the part of the defendant, or of his ,servants or

agents. Proof of the contract and of its nonperf ormance is sufficient
prima facie to warrant a recovery.
"As a general rule * * * it is logical that in case of extra-
contractual culpa, a suing creditor should assume the burden of
proof of its existence, as the only fact upon which his action is
based; while on the contrary, in a case of negligence which
presupposes the existence of a contractual obligation, if the creditor
shows that it exists and that it has been broken, it is not necessary
for him to prove the negligence." (Manresa, vol. 8, p. 71 [1907 ed.,
p. 76].)

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As it is not necessary for the plaintiff in an action for the breach of a

contract to show that the breach was due to the negligent conduct of
defendant or of his servants, even though such be in f act the actual
cause of the breach, it is obvious that proof on the part of defendant
that the negligence or omission of his servants or agents caused the
breach of the contract would not constitute a defense to the action. If
the negligence of servants or agents could be invoked as a means of
discharging the liability arising from contract, the anomalous result
would be that persons acting through the medium of agents or
servants in the performance of their contracts, would be in a better
position than those .acting in person. If one delivers a valuable
watch to a watchmaker who contracts to repair it, and the bailee, by
a personal negligent act causes its destruction, he is unquestionably
liable. Would it be logical to free him from his liability for the
breach of his contract, which involves the duty to exercise due care
in the preservation of the watch, if he shows that it was his servant
whose negligence caused the injury? If such a theory could be
accepted, juridical persons would enjoy practically complete
immunity from damages arising from the breach of their contracts if
caused by negligent acts of omission or commission on the part of
their servants, as such juridical persons can of necessity only act
through agents or servants, and it would no doubt be true in most
instances that reasonable care had been taken in the selection and
direction of such servants. If one delivers securities to a banking
corporation as collateral, and they are lost by reason of the
negligence of .some clerk employed by the bank, would it be just
and reasonable to permit the bank to relieve itself of Hability for the
breach of its contract to return the collateral upon the payment of the
debt by proving that due care had been exercised in the selection and
direction of the clerk?
This distinction between culpa aquiliana, as the source
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of an obligation, and culpa contractual as a mere incident to the

performance of a contract has frequently been recognized by the
supreme court of Spain. (Sentencias of June 27, 1894; November 20,
1896; and December 13, 1896.) In the decision of November 20,
1896, it appeared that plaintiff's action arose ex contractu, but that
defendant sought to avail himself of the provisions of article 1902 of
the Civil Code as a defense. The Spanish Supreme Court rejected
defendant's contention, saying:
"These are not cases of injury caused, without any preexisting
obligation, by fault or negligence, such as those to which article
1902 of the Civil Code relates, but of damages caused by the
defendant's failure to carry out the undertakings imposed by the
contracts * * *."
A brief review of the earlier decision of this court involving the
liability of employers for damage done by the negligent acts of their
servants will show that in no case has the court ever decided that the
negligence of the defendant's servants [has] been held to constitute a
defense to an action for damages for breach of contract.
In the case of Johnson vs. David (5 Phil. Rep., 663), the court
held that the owner of a carriage was not liable for the damages
caused by the negligence of his driver. In that case the court
commented on the fact that no evidence had been adduced in the
trial court that the defendant had been negligent in the employment
of' the driver, or that he had any knowledge of his lack of skill or
carefulness.
In the case of Baer Senior & Co.'s Successors vs. Compania
Maritima (6 Phil. Rep., 215), the plaintiff sued the defendant for
damages caused by the loss of a barge belonging to plaintiff which
was allowed to get adrift by the negligence of defendant's servants in
the course of the performance of a contract of towage. The court
held, citing Manresa (vol 8, pp. 29, 69) that if the "obligation of the
defendant grew out of a contract made between it and the plaintiff *
* we do not think that the provisions of articles 1902 and 1903 are
applicable to the case."

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In the case of Chapman vs. Underwood (27 Phil. Rep., 374), plaintiff
sued the defendant to recover damages for personal injuries caused
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by the negligence of defendant's chauffeur while driving defendant's

automobile in which defendant was riding at the time. The court
found that the damages were caused by the negligence of the driver
of the automobile, but held that the master was not liable, although
he was present at the time, saying:
"* * * unless the negligent acts of the driver are continued for
such a length of time as to give the owner a reasonable opportunity
to observe them and to direct the driver to desist therefrom. * * *
The act complained of must be continued in the presence of the
owner for such a length of time that the owner by his acquiescence,
makes the driver's acts his own."
In the case of Yamada vs. Manila Railroad Co. and Bachrach
Garage & Taxicab Co. (33 Phil. Rep., 8), it is true that the court
rested its conclusion as to the liability of the defendant upon article
1903, although the facts disclosed that the injury complained of by
plaintiff constituted a breach of the duty to him arising out of the
contract of transportation. The express ground of the decision in this
case was that article 1903, in dealing with the liability of a master
for the negligent acts of his servants "makes the distinction between
private individuals and public enterprise;" that as to the latter the law
creates a rebuttable presumption of negligence in the selection or
direction of the servants; and that in the particular case the
presumption of negligence had not been overcome.
It is evident, therefore, that in its decision in the Yamada case, the
court treated plaintiff's action as though founded in tort rather than
as based upon the breach of the contract of carriage, and an
examination of the pleadings and of the briefs shows that the
questions of law were in fact discussed upon this theory. Viewed
from the standpoint of the defendant the practical result must have
been the same in any event. The proof disclosed beyond doubt that
the defendant's servant was grossly negligent and that

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his negligence was the proximate cause of plaintiff's injury. It also

affirmatively appeared that defendant had been guilty of negligence
in its failure to exercise proper discretion in the direction of the
servant. Defendant was, therefore, liable for the injury suffered by
plaintiff, whether the breach of the duty were to be regarded as
constituting culpa aquilina or culpa contractual. As Manresa points
out (vol. 8, pp. 29 and 69) whether negligence occurs as an incident
in the course of the performance of a contractual undertaking or is
itself the source of an extra-contractual obligation, its essential
characteristics are identical. There is always an act or omission
productive of damage due to carelessness or inattention on the part
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of the defendant. Consequently, when the court holds that a

defendant is liable in damages for having failed to exercise due care,
either directly, or in failing to exercise proper care in the selection
and direction of his servants, the practical result is identical in either
case. Therefore, it follows that it is not to be inferred, because the
court held in the Yamada case that the defendant was liable for the
damages negligently caused by its servant to a person to whom it
was bound by contract, and made reference to the fact that the
defendant was negligent in the selection and control of its servants,
that in such a case the court would have held that it would have been
a good defense to the action, if presented squarely upon the theory
of the breach of the contract, for defendant to have proved that it did
in fact exercise care in the selection and control of the servant.
The true explanation of such cases is to be found by directing the
attention to the relative spheres of contractual and extra-contractual
obligations. The field of noncontractual obligation is much more
broader than that of contractual obligation, comprising, as it does,
the whole extent of juridical human relations. These two fields,
figuratively speaking, concentric; that is to say, the mere

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fact that a person is bound to another by contract does not relieve

him from extra-contractual liability to such person. When such a
contractual relation exists the obligor may break the contract under
such conditions that the same act which constitutes a breach of the
contract would have constituted the source of an extra-contractual
obligation had no contract existed between the parties.
The contract of defendant to transport plaintiff carried with it, by
implication, the duty to carry him in safety and to provide safe
means of entering and leaving its trains (Civil Code, article 1258).
That duty, being contractual, was direct and immediate, and its non-
performance could not be excused by proof that the fault was
morally imputable to defendant's servants.
The railroad company's defense involves the assumption that
even granting that the negligent conduct of its servants in placing an
obstruction upon the platform was a -breach of its contractual
obligation to maintain safe means of approaching and leaving its
trains, the direct and proximate cause of the injury suffered by
plaintiff was his own contributory negligence in failing to wait until
the train had come to a complete stop before alighting. Under the
doctrine of comparative negligence announced in the Rakes case
(supra), if the accident was caused by plaintiff's own negligence, no
liability is imposed upon defendant, whereas if the accident was
caused by defendant's negligence and plaintiff's negligence merely
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contributed to his injury, the damages should be apportioned. It is,

therefore, important to ascertain if defendant was in fact guilty of
negligence.
It may be admitted that had plaintiff waited until the train had
come to a full stop before alighting, the particular injury suffered by
him could not have occurred. Defendant contends, and cites many
authorities in support of the contention, that it is negligence per se
for a passenger to alight from a moving train. We are not disposed to

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subscribe to this doctrine in its absolute form. We are of the opinion

that this proposition is too broadly stated and is at variance with the
experience of everyday life. In this particular instance, that the train
was barely moving when plaintiff alighted is shown conclusively by
the fact that it came to stop within six meters from the place where
he stepped from it. Thousands of persons alight from trains under
these conditions every day of the year, and sustain no injury where
the company has kept its platform free from dangerous obstructions.
There is no reason to believe that plaintiff would have suffered any
injury whatever in alighting as he did had it not been for defendant's
negligent failure to perform its duty to provide a safe alighting place.
We are of the opinion that the correct doctrine relating to this
subject is that expressed in Thompson's work on Negligence (vol. 3,
sec. 3010) as follows:
"The test by which to determine whether the passenger has been
guilty of negligence in attempting to alight from a moving railway
train, is that of ordinary or reasonable care. It is to be considered
whether an ordinarily prudent person, of the age, sex and condition
of the passenger, would have acted as the passenger acted under the
circumstances disclosed by the evidence. This care has been defined
to be, not the care which may or should be used by the prudent man
generally, but the care which a man of ordinary prudence would use
under similar circumstances, to avoid injury." (Thompson,
Commentaries on Negligence, vol. 3, sec. 3010.)
Or, if we prefer to adopt the mode of exposition used by this'
court in Picart vs. Smith (37 Phil. Rep., 809), we may say that the
test is this; Was there anything in the circumstances surrounding the
plaintiff at the time he alighted from the train which would have
admonished a person of average prudence that to get off the train
under the conditions then existing was dangerous? If so, the

783

VOL. 38, OCTOBER 14, 1918. 783

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Cangco vs. Manila Railroad Co.

plaintiff should have desisted from alighting; and his failure so to

desist was contributory negligence.
As the case now before us presents itself, the only fact from
which a conclusion can be drawn to the effect that the plaintiff was
guilty of contributory negligence is that he stepped off the car
without being able to discern clearly the condition of the platform
and while the train was yet slowly moving. In considering the
situation thus presented, it should not be overlooked that the
plaintifF was, as we find, ignorant of the fact that the obstruction
which was caused by the sacks of melons piled on the platform
existed; and as the defendant was bound by reason of its duty as a
public carrier to afford to its passengers facilities for safe egress
from its trains, the plaintiff had a right to assume, in the absence of
some circumstance to warn him to the contrary, that the platform
was clear. The place, as we have already stated, was dark, or dimly
lighted, and-this also is proof of a failure upon the part of the
defendant in the performance of a duty owing by it to the plaintiff; f
or if it were by any possibility conceded that it had a right to pile
these sacks in the path of alighting passengers, the placing of them
in that position gave rise to the duty to light the premises adequately
so that their presence would be revealed.
As pertinent to the question of contributory negligence on the
part of the plaintiff in this case the following circumstances are to be
noted: The company's platform was constructed upon a level higher
than that of the roadbed and the surrounding ground. The distance
from the steps of the car to the spot where the alighting passenger
would place his feet on the platform was thus reduced, thereby
decreasing the risk incident to stepping off. The nature of the
platform, constructed as it was of cement material, also assured to
the passenger a stable and even surface on which to alight.
Furthermore, the plaintiff was possessed of the vigor and agility of
young manhood, and it was by no means so risky for him to get off
while the train was

784

784 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED

Cangco vs. Manila Railroad Co.

yet moving as the same act would have been in an aged or feeble
person. In determining the question of contributory negligence in
performing such act—that is to say, whether the passenger acted
prudently or recklessly—the age, sex, and physical condition of the
passenger are circumstances necessarily affecting the safety of the
passenger, and should be considered. Women, it has been observed,
as a general rule, are less capable than men of alighting with safety
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under such conditions, as the nature of their wearing apparel

obstructs the free movement of the limbs. Again, it may be noted
that the place was perfectly familiar to the plaintiff, as it was his
daily custom to get on and off the train at this station. There could,
therefore, be no uncertainty in his mind with regard either to the
length of the step which he was required to take or the character of
the platform where he was alighting. Our conclusion is that the
conduct of the plaintiff in undertaking to alight while the train was
yet slightly under way was not characterized by imprudence and that
therefore he was not guilty of contributory negligence.
The evidence shows that the plaintiff, at the time of the accident,
was earning P25 a month as a copyist clerk, and that the injuries he
has suffered have permanently disabled him from continuing that
employment. Defendant has not shown that any other gainful
occupation is open to plaintiff. His expectancy of life, according to
the standard mortality tables, is approximately thirty-three years. We
are of the opinion that a fair compensation for the damage suffered
by him for his permanent disability is the sum of P2,500, and that he
is also entitled to recover of defendant the additional sum of P790.25
for medical attention, hospital services, and other incidental
expenditures connected with the treatment of his injuries.
The decision of the lower court is reversed, and judgment is
hereby rendered plaintiff for the sum of P3,290.25, and for the costs
of both instances. So ordered.

Arellano, C. J., Torres, Street, and Avancena, JJ., concur.

785

VOL. 38, OCTOBER 14, 1918. 785

Alpuerto vs. Perez Pastor and Roa.

MALCOLM, J., with whom concurs JOHNSON, J., dissenting:

With one sentence in the majority decision, we are of full accord,

namely, "It may be admitted that had plaintiff waited until the train
had come to a full stop before alighting, the particular injury
suffered by him could not have occurred." With the general rule
relative to a passenger's contributory negligence, we are likewise in
full accord, namely, "An attempt to alight from a moving train is
negligence per se." Adding these two points together, we have the
logical result—the Manila Railroad Co. should be absolved from the
complaint, and judgment affirmed.
Judgment reversed.

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