Republic of the Philippines SUPREME COURT Manila SECOND DIVISION G.R. No.

73867 February 29, 1988 TELEFAST COMMUNICATIONS !"ILI!!INE #IRELESS, INC., petitioner, vs. IGNACIO CASTRO, SR., SOFIA C. CROUC", IGNACIO CASTRO $R., AURORA CASTRO, SAL%A&OR CASTRO, MARIO CASTRO, CONRA&O CASTRO, ESMERAL&A C. FLORO, AGERICO CASTRO, ROLAN&O CASTRO, %IRGILIO CASTRO AN& GLORIA CASTRO, a'( "ONORA)LE INTERME&IATE A!!ELLATE COURT, respondents.

!A&ILLA, J.: Petition for review on certiorari of the decision * of the Intermediate Appellate Court, dated 11 February 198 , in AC!".#. $o. C%!&'()*, entitled +I,nacio Castro, -r., et al., Plaintiffs!Appellees, versus .elefast Communication/Philippine 0ireless, Inc., 1efendant!Appellant.+ .he facts of the case are as follows2 3n ( $ovember 19* , Consolacion 4ravo!Castro wife of plaintiff I,nacio Castro, -r. and mother of the other plaintiffs, passed away in 5in,ayen, Pan,asinan. 3n the same day, her dau,hter -ofia C. Crouch, who was then vacationin, in the Philippines, addressed a tele,ram to plaintiff I,nacio Castro, -r. at 8* 0anda, -cottsbur,, Indiana, 6.-.A., )&1&' announcin, Consolacion7s death. .he tele,ram was accepted by the defendant in its 1a,upan office, for transmission, after payment of the re8uired fees or char,es. .he tele,ram never reached its addressee. Consolacion was interred with only her dau,hter -ofia in attendance. $either the husband nor any of the other children of the deceased, then all residin, in the 6nited -tates, returned for the burial. 0hen -ofia returned to the 6nited -tates, she discovered that the wire she had caused the defendant to send, had not been received. -he and the other plaintiffs thereupon brou,ht action for dama,es arisin, from defendant7s breach of contract. .he case was filed in the Court of First Instance of Pan,asinan and doc9eted therein as Civil Case $o. 1*:* . .he only defense of the defendant was that it was unable to transmit the tele,ram because of +technical and atmospheric factors beyond its control.+ 1 $o evidence appears on record that defendant ever made any attempt to advise the plaintiff -ofia C. Crouch as to why it could not transmit the tele,ram.

.he Court of First Instance of Pan,asinan, after trial, ordered the defendant ;now petitioner< to pay the plaintiffs ;now private respondents< dama,es, as follows, with interest at = per annum2
1. -ofia C. Crouch, P:1.9( and P1 ,'''.'' as compensatory dama,es and P(','''.'' as moral dama,es. (. I,nacio Castro -r., P(','''.'' as moral dama,es. :. I,nacio Castro >r., P(','''.'' as moral dama,es. ). Aurora Castro, P1','''.'' moral dama,es. *. -alvador Castro, P1','''.'' moral dama,es. . ?ario Castro, P1','''.'' moral dama,es. &. Conrado Castro, P1',''' moral dama,es. 8. @smeralda C. Floro, P(','''.'' moral dama,es. 9. A,erico Castro, P1','''.'' moral dama,es. 1'. #olando Castro, P1','''.'' moral dama,es. 11. %ir,ilio Castro, P1','''.'' moral dama,es. 1(. "loria Castro, P1','''.'' moral dama,es.

1efendant is also ordered to pay P*,'''.'' attorney7s fees, eAemplary dama,es in the amount of P1,'''.'' to each of the plaintiffs and costs. 2 3n appeal by petitioner, the Intermediate Appellate Court affirmed the trial court7s decision but eliminated the award of P1 ,'''.'' as compensatory dama,es to -ofia C. Crouch and the award of P1,'''.'' to each of the private respondents as eAemplary dama,es. .he award of P(','''.'' as moral dama,es to each of -ofia C. Crouch, I,nacio Castro, >r. and @smeralda C. Floro was also reduced to P1(','''. '' for each.
3

Petitioner appeals from the Bud,ment of the appellate court, contendin, that the award of moral dama,es should be eliminated as defendant7s ne,li,ent act was not motivated by +fraud, malice or rec9lessness.+ In other words, under petitioner7s theory, it can only be held liable for P :1.9(, the fee or char,es paid by -ofia C. Crouch for the tele,ram that was never sent to the addressee thereof. Petitioner7s contention is without merit.

Art. 11&' of the Civil Code provides that +those who in the performance of their obli,ations are ,uilty of fraud, ne,li,ence or delay, and those who in any manner contravene the tenor thereof, are liable for dama,es.+ Art. (1& also provides that +whoever by act or omission causes dama,e to another, there bein, fault or ne,li,ence, is obli,ed to pay for the dama,e done.+ In the case at bar, petitioner and private respondent -ofia C. Crouch entered into a contract whereby, for a fee, petitioner undertoo9 to send said private respondent7s messa,e overseas by tele,ram. .his, petitioner did not do, despite performance by said private respondent of her obli,ation by payin, the re8uired char,es. Petitioner was therefore ,uilty of contravenin, its obli,ation to said private respondent and is thus liable for dama,es. .his liability is not limited to actual or 8uantified dama,es. .o sustain petitioner7s contrary position in this re,ard would result in an ine8uitous situation where petitioner will only be held liable for the actual cost of a tele,ram fiAed thirty ;:'< years a,o. 0e find Art. ((1& of the Civil Code applicable to the case at bar. It states2 +?oral dama,es include physical sufferin,, mental an,uish, fri,ht, serious anAiety, besmirched reputation, wounded feelin,s, moral shoc9, social humiliation, and similar inBury. Though incapable of pecuniary computation, moral damages may be recovered if they are the proximate results of the defendant's wrongful act or omission .+ ;@mphasis supplied<. Cere, petitioner7s act or omission, which amounted to ,ross ne,li,ence, was precisely the cause of the sufferin, private respondents had to under,o. As the appellate court properly observed2
D0hoE can seriously dispute the shoc9, the mental an,uish and the sorrow that the overseas children must have suffered upon learnin, of the death of their mother after she had already been interred, without bein, ,iven the opportunity to even ma9e a choice on whether they wanted to pay her their last respectsF .here is no doubt that these emotional sufferin,s were proAimately caused by appellant7s omission and substantive law provides for the Bustification for the award of moral dama,es. +

0e also sustain the trial court7s award of P1 ,'''.'' as compensatory dama,es to -ofia C. Crouch representin, the eApenses she incurred when she came to the Philippines from the 6nited -tates to testify before the trial court. Cad petitioner not been remiss in performin, its obli,ation, there would have been no need for this suit or for ?rs. Crouch7s testimony. .he award of eAemplary dama,es by the trial court is li9ewise Bustified and, therefore, sustained in the amount of P1,'''.'' for each of the private respondents, as a warnin, to all tele,ram companies to observe due dili,ence in transmittin, the messa,es of their customers.

0C@#@F3#@, the petition is 1@$I@1. .he decision appealed from is modified so that petitioner is held liable to private respondents in the followin, amounts2 ;1< P1','''.'' as moral dama,es, to each of private respondentsG ;(< P1,'''.'' as eAemplary dama,es, to each of private respondentsG ;:< P1 ,'''.'' as compensatory dama,es, to private respondent -ofia C. CrouchG ;)< P*,'''.'' as attorney7s feesG and ;*< Costs of suit. -3 3#1@#@1. Yap (Chairman), Paras and armiento, !!", concur"

Se,ara-e O,.'.o'/
MELENCIO0"ERRERA, J., concurrin,. DIE concur.In addition to compensatory and eAemplary dama,es, moral dama,es are recoverable in actions for breach of contract, as in this case, where the breach has been wanton and rec9less, tantamount to bad faith.

Se,ara-e O,.'.o'/ MELENCIO0"ERRERA, J., concurrin,. DIE concur.In addition to compensatory and eAemplary dama,es, moral dama,es are recoverable in actions for breach of contract, as in this case, where the breach has been wanton and rec9less, tantamount to bad faith. Foo-'o-e/

H Penned by >ustice -erafin @. Camilon, with the concurrence of >ustices Crisolito Pascual, >ose C. Campos, >r. and 1esiderio P. >urado. 1 #ollo at 8. ( #ollo at 9!1'. : #ollo at 1), ) #ollo at 1:.

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