April 2011 Philippine Supreme Court Decisions on Commercial Law « LEXOTERICA: A PHILIPPINE BLAWG

April 2011 Philippine Supreme Court Decisions on Commercial Law « LEXOTERICA: A PHILIPPINE BLAWG

April 2011 Philippine Supreme Court Decisions on Commercial Law

May 5, 2011
Hector M. de Leon Jr

Here are selected April 2011 rulings of the Supreme Court of the Philippines on commercial law:

Insurance; presentation of policy as a condition for recovery by insurance company. The presentation in evidence of the marine insurance policy is not indispensable before the insurer may recover from the common carrier the insured value of the lost cargo in the exercise of its subrogatory right. The subrogation receipt, by itself, is sufficient to establish the amount paid to settle the insurance claim. The right of subrogation accrues simply upon payment by the insurance company of the insurance claim. In International Container Terminal Services, Inc. v. FGU Insurance Corporation, the Supreme Court explained:

Indeed, jurisprudence has it that the marine insurance policy needs to be presented in evidence before the trial court or even belatedly before the appellate court. In Malayan Insurance Co., Inc. v. Regis Brokerage Corp., the Court stated that the presentation of the marine insurance policy was necessary, as the issues raised therein arose from the very existence of an insurance contract between Malayan Insurance and its consignee, ABB Koppel, even prior to the loss of the shipment. In Wallem Philippines Shipping, Inc. v. Prudential Guarantee and Assurance, Inc., the Court ruled that the insurance contract must be presented in evidence in order to determine the extent of the coverage. This was also the ruling of the Court in Home Insurance Corporation v. Court of Appeals.

However, as in every general rule, there are admitted exceptions. In Delsan Transport Lines, Inc. v. Court of Appeals, the Court stated that the presentation of the insurance policy was not fatal because the loss of the cargo undoubtedly occurred while on board the petitioner’s vessel, unlike in Home Insurance in which the cargo passed through several stages with different parties and it could not be determined when the damage to the cargo occurred, such that the insurer should be liable for it.

As in Delsan, there is no doubt that the loss of the cargo in the present case occurred while in petitioner’s custody. Moreover, there is no issue as regards the provisions of Marine Open Policy No. MOP-12763, such that the presentation of the contract itself is necessary for perusal, not to mention that its existence was already admitted by petitioner in open court. And even though it was not offered in evidence, it still can be considered by the court as long as they have been properly identified by testimony duly recorded and they have themselves been incorporated in the records of the case.

Similarly, in this case, the presentation of the insurance contract or policy was not necessary. Asian Terminals, Inc. v. Malayan Insurance, Co., Inc., G.R. No. 171406, April 4, 2011.