G.R. No.L-10195 December 29, 1916. YU CON, plaintiff-appellee, vs.

GLICERIO IPIL, NARCISO

Respondent, Yu Con (Yu Con), chartered the banca 'Maria' – owned by petitioner Narciso Lauron (Lauron) with
Gilcerio Ipil (Ipil) as its master and Juto Solamo (Solamo) as its supercargo – to transport certain merchandise and
money from the port of Cebu to Catmon. Yu Con loaded the merchandise and delivered the money, placed in a
trunk, to Ipil and Solamo. Allegedly because there was no more room for Yu Con’s trunk, Ipil and Solamo transferred
the money to their own trunk in the stateroom. Before the ship could sail, the trunk and the money placed therein
disappeared.

FACTS:

Plaintiff Yu Con, a merchant engaged in the sale of cloth and domestic articles in the town of Catmon, city of Cebu, had several times chartered
from the defendant Narciso Lauron, a bank named Maria belonging to the latter, of which Glicerio Ipil was master and Justo
Solamo, supercargo, for the transportation of certain merchandise and some money to and from the said town and the port of Cebu.

On or about the 17th of October, 1911, the plaintiff chartered the said banca for the transportation of various merchandise from the port of
CebutoCatmon. The following day, he delivered to the other two defendants, Ipil, and Solamo, the sum of P450, which was in a trunk.
belonging to the plaintiff, for the purpose of its delivery to the latter's shop in Catmon for the purchase of corn in this town.

While the money was still in said trunk abroad the vessel, on the night of the said 18th of October, the time scheduled for the departure of the
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which was in a stateroom of the banca, from which both the trunk and the money disappeared during that same
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At the termination of the trial, the court held that there was no room to doubt that the sole cause of the disappearance of the money from the
sadibancwashtenegilenceofhtemasetrandhtesupercagroh,tedefendanstIpalindSoalmo,respecviteyl,andhtahtedefendant
Narciso Lauron was responsible for that negligence, as owner of the bank, pursuant to articles 589, 587, and 618 of the Code of
Commerce, the plaintiff therefore being entitled to recover the amount lost.

ISSUE: Are the petitioners liable for the loss?

HELD: YES.

RATIO:

It is therefore beyond all doubt that the loss of the money occurred through the manifest fault and negligence.
of Ipil and Solamo.
o They failed to take the necessary precautions in order that the stateroom containing the trunk in which they
the money should be properly guarded by members of the crew and they also did not expressly station
some person inside the stateroom for the guarding and safe-keeping of the trunk.
o All of these circumstances, together with the fact that it was impossible to know who took the trunk and the
money, make the conduct of Ipil, Solamo, and the other crew members eminently suspicious and prevent our
holding that the disappearance or loss of the money was due to a fortuitous event, to force majeure.

Ipil and Solamo were depositaries of the sum in question and, having failed to exercise the diligence required by the
nature of the obligation of safe-keeping assumed by them and by the circumstances of the time and the place, it is
evident that they are liable for its loss or misplacement and must restore it.

With respect to Lauron, he is also liable in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Commerce in force.
because, as the proprietor and owner of the vessel who executed a contract of carriage with Yu Con, there
the loss, theft, or robbery of the P450 that belonged to Yu Con occurred through the negligence of Ipil and Solamo and
which theft does not appear to have been committed by a person not belonging to the craft.
The old Code of Commerce absolved the shipowner from liability for the negligence of the captain and its
crew but, in the light of the principles of modern law, this doctrine on the non-liability of the shipowner for the
unlawful acts, crimes or quasi crimes, committed by the captain and the crew can no longer be maintained in
its absolute and categorical terms.
o In maritime commerce, the shippers and passengers in making contracts with the captain do so through the
confidence they have in the shipowner who appointed him; they presume that the owner made a most careful
investigation before appointing him, and, above all, they themselves are unable to make such an
investigation, and even though they should do so, they could not obtain complete security, inasmuch as the
The shipowner can, whenever he sees fit, appoint another captain instead.
o Thus, it is only proper that the shipowner should be made liable.

NOTES: Captains and Masters of Vessels:

For legal purposes, that is, for the determination of the nature and effect of the relations created between the plaintiff, as owner of the
merchandise store for said craft and of the money that was delivered to the master, Ipil, and the defendant Lauron, as owner of the
craft, the latter was a vessel, according to the meaning and construction given to the word vessel in the Mercantile Code in
treating of maritime commerce, under Title 1, Book 3.

The word vessel serves to designate every kind of craft by whatever particular or technical name it may now be known or which nautical
Advancements may give it in the future. According to the foregoing definitions, then, we should hold that the bank called Maria, chartered
by the plaintiff Yu Con from the defendant Narciso Lauron, was a 'vessel', pursuant to the meaning this word has in mercantile law,
that is, in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Commerce in force.

Glicerio Ipil, the master of the said banca Maria, must also be considered as its captain, in the legal acceptation of this word.

The name 'captain or master' is given, according to the kind of vessel, to the person in charge of it.

"Captain" is applied to those who govern "vessels that navigate the high seas" or ships of large dimension and
importance, although they be engaged in the coastwise trade. Maters are those who command smaller ships engaged
exclusively in the coastwise trade.

For the purposes of maritime commerce, the words 'captain' and 'master' have the same meaning; both being the
chiefs or commanders of ships.

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the defendant Narciso Lauron, as the proprietor and owner of the craft of which Glicerio Ipil was the master and in which, through
the fault and negligence of the latter and of the supercargo Justo Solamo, there occurred the loss, theft, or robbery of the P450 that
belonged to the plaintiff and were delivered to said master and supercargo, a theft which, on the other hand, as shown by the evidence, does
not appear to have been committed by a person not belonging to the craft, should, for said loss or theft, be held civilly liable to the
plaintiff, who executed with said defendant Laur on the contract for the transportation of the merchandise and money aforementioned
between the port of Cebu and the town of Catmon, by means of the said craft.