Petitioner now claims that the bus was not out of line when the vehicular accident happened

because the
PUB (public utility bus) franchise that the petitioner holds is for provincial operation from Manila-Ilocos
Norte/Cagayan-Manila, thus, the bus is allowed to traverse any point between Manila-Ilocos
Norte/Cagayan-Manila. Such assertion is correct. "Veering away from the usual route" is different from
being "out of line." A public utility vehicle can and may veer away from its usual route as long as it does
not go beyond its allowed route in its franchise, in this case, Manila-Ilocos Norte/Cagayan-Manila.
Therefore, the bus cannot be considered to have violated the contents of its franchise.
G.R. No. 199282, March 14, 2016
TRAVEL & TOURS ADVISERS, INCORPORATED, Petitioner, v. ALBERTO CRUZ, SR., EDGAR
HERNANDEZ AND VIRGINIA MUOZ, Respondents.

The Civil Code defines "common carriers" in the following terms:

Article 1732. Common carriers are persons, corporations, firms or associations
engaged in the business of carrying or transporting passengers or goods or both,
by land, water, or air for compensation, offering their services to the public.
The above article makes no distinction between one whose principal business activity is the
carrying of persons or goods or both, and one who does such carrying only as
an ancillary activity (in local Idiom as "a sideline"). Article 1732 also carefully avoids making any
distinction between a person or enterprise offering transportation service on a regular or
scheduled basis and one offering such service on an occasional, episodic or unscheduled basis.
Neither does Article 1732 distinguish between a carrier offering its services to the "general
public," i.e., the general community or population, and one who offers services or solicits
business only from a narrow segment of the general population. We think that Article 1733
deliberaom making such distinctions.
So understood, the concept of "common carrier" under Article 1732 may be seen to coincide
neatly with the notion of "public service," under the Public Service Act (Commonwealth Act No.
1416, as amended) which at least partially supplements the law on common carriers set forth in
the Civil Code. Under Section 13, paragraph (b) of the Public Service Act, "public service"
includes:
... every person that now or hereafter may own, operate, manage, or control in
the Philippines, for hire or compensation, with general or limited clientele,
whether permanent, occasional or accidental, and done for general business
purposes, any common carrier, railroad, street railway, traction railway, subway
motor vehicle, either for freight or passenger, or both, with or without fixed route
and whatever may be its classification, freight or carrier service of any class,
express service, steamboat, or steamship line, pontines, ferries and water craft,
engaged in the transportation of passengers or freight or both, shipyard, marine
repair shop, wharf or dock, ice plant,
ice-refrigeration plant, canal, irrigation system, gas, electric light, heat and power,
water supply and power petroleum, sewerage system, wire or wireless
communications systems, wire or wireless broadcasting stations and other similar
public services. ... (Emphasis supplied)
It appears to the Court that private respondent is properly characterized as a common carrier
even though he merely "back-hauled" goods for other merchants from Manila to Pangasinan,
although such back-hauling was done on a periodic or occasional rather than regular or

scheduled manner, and even though private respondent's principal occupation was not the
carriage of goods for others. There is no dispute that private respondent charged his customers a
fee for hauling their goods; that fee frequently fell below commercial freight rates is not relevant
here.
The Court of Appeals referred to the fact that private respondent held no certificate of public
convenience, and concluded he was not a common carrier. This is palpable error. A certificate of
public convenience is not a requisite for the incurring of liability under the Civil Code provisions
governing common carriers. That liability arises the moment a person or firm acts as a common
carrier, without regard to whether or not such carrier has also complied with the requirements of
the applicable regulatory statute and implementing regulations and has been granted a certificate
of public convenience or other franchise. To exempt private respondent from the liabilities of a
common carrier because he has not secured the necessary certificate of public convenience,
would be offensive to sound public policy; that would be to reward private respondent precisely
for failing to comply with applicable statutory requirements. The business of a common carrier
impinges directly and intimately upon the safety and well being and property of those members
of the general community who happen to deal with such carrier. The law imposes duties and
liabilities upon common carriers for the safety and protection of those who utilize their services
and the law cannot allow a common carrier to render such duties and liabilities merely facultative
by simply failing to obtain the necessary permits and authorizations.
G.R. No. L-47822 December 22, 1988
PEDRO DE GUZMAN, petitioner,
vs.
COURT OF APPEALS and ERNESTO CENDANA, respondents.

ASSUMING EX GRATIA ARGUMENTI

The terms public service and public utility, however, do not have the
same legal meaning, at least since the enactment of C.A. No. 454. The
terms are related though.
[2]

The definition of public service in the Public Service Act, as last

amended by Republic Act No. 2677, includes every person who owns,
operates, manages or controls, for hire or compensation, and done for
general business purposes, any common carrier, railroad, street railway,
traction railway, sub-way motor vehicle, either for freight or passenger, or
both with or without fixed route and whatever may be its classification,
freight or carrier service of any class, express service, steamboat, or

steamship line, pontines, ferries, and water craft, engaged in the

transportation of passengers or freight or both, shipyard, marine railway,
marine repair shop, wharf or dock, ice plant, icerefrigeration plant, canal,
irrigation system, gas, electric light, heat and power, water supply and
power, petroleum, sewerage system, wire or wireless communications
systems, broadcasting stations and other similar public services. A public
utility, on the other hand, is a business or service engaged in regularly
supplying the public with some commodity or service of public
consequence such as electricity, gas, water, transportation, telephone or
telegraph service. Simply stated, a public utility provides a service or
facility needed for present day living which cannot be denied to any one
who is willing to pay for it.
[3]

[4]

[5]

Formerly, there was a statutory definition of public utility, but it was

abandoned in C.A. No. 454. The definition was instead solely applied to
public service apparently because it did not exactly fit the concept of public
utility. It is significant in this regard that while the 1935 Constitution which
took effect on February 2, 1935 specifically mentioned public utility, C.A.
No. 454 shifted from public utility to public service as the sole reference
term in the Public Service Act.
[6]

[7]

Another dissimilarity is that a public utility requires a franchise, aside

from a certificate of public necessity and convenience, for its operation,
while a public service which is not a public utility requires only a certificate
of public convenience. The dichotomy in requirements flows from the
enforced indeterminacy of the market for the service provided by a public
utility. Thus, it may be pointed out that all public utilities are public
services but the converse is not true. This is so because the term public
utility connotes public use and service to the public.
[8]

[9]

25. Breach of franchise

conditions under
2011 Revised
Terms and

Conditions of CPC
not otherwise

herein provided.*

Within twenty four (24) hours from the payment of the fine of an admitted case or

from resolving a contested case, the LTO through its Traffic Adjudication Service
(TAS)
or Regional Office, shall transmit to the LTFRB the resolution/result of all
apprehensions
relative to violations in connection with franchise under Rule IV herein.

For proper observance of all holders of Certificates, of Public Convenience to

Operate Public Land Transportation Services, and their drivers to obey, follow and
observe orders, rules and regulations of the Land Transportation Franchising and
Regulatory Board, which by express terms, are incorporated into and form an
integral part of every Certificate of Public Convenience granted to every public
utility engaged in operating land transportation services, and in response to the
public demand for effective enforcement and strict observance of fran'chise
related matters by the Board, the following enumerated comprehensive terms
and conditions shall now form part of every decisionl epe to be issued by this
Board:
16. The PUV operator shall operate the unit/s authorized and registered pursuant
to the authority granted only on the route authorized in the Certificate of Public
Conveyance unless otherwise authorized by the Board.
20. No PUV operator shall accept or carry in his/her/its motor vehicle passengers
in excess of the capacity fixed by the Board.
39. Each public utility vehicle, when not actually offered for public service while
operating on highways, shall display on its front, a signboard of suitable size on
which shall be written in letters legible at a short distance the inscription: "NOT
AVAilABLE".

41. Public utility vehicles' (when applicable) shall carry on its front above the
windshield a signboard/panel route of suitable size, legible at a distance, on
which shall be written the route of the particular trip being undertaken in
accordance with the corresponding Certificate of Public Convenience. Said
signboard/panel route must be lighted when the motor vehicle is operated after
dark.
42. Public utility vehicles shall be provided with sign "FULL" which should be
displayed when the vehicle is carrying its maximum capacity. In vehicles of the
closed type, said sign shall be placed in a conspicuous part of the entrance and
on the left side of the windshield.