G.

R.No.120334.Januar
y20,1998
NORTHWESTAI RLINES,INC.v
s.COURTOFAPPEALSandROLANDOI
.TORRES
DAVI
DE,JR.,J
.:

Fac
ts:

Torr
es,al
legedl
yonas pec
ialmi
ssi
ontopurchas
efir
earmsf
ort
hePhi
li
ppi
neSenat
e,pur
chas
edar
oundt
rip
t
icketf
rom Nort
hwes tf
orhi
str
avelt
oChic
agoandbac
kt oMani
la.

Afterpurc
hasi
ngf i
rearmsandont hewaybac ktoMani la,plai
ntiffchecked-inandpresentedbef or
edefendants
represent
ati
v ehistwo i
denticalbaggage,oneofwhi chc ontained fir
ear ms.Def endantsrepresentat
iverequi
red the
baggaget obeopenedandt hes upporti
ngevidencetobepr esented.Plainti
ffshowedt hem hi
saut hor
izat
ionfrom the
Phil
ippinegov er
nmentandthepur chaserecei
pts.Plai
nti
ffthereaftersealedt hebaggageanddef endantsrepr
esentat
ive
plac
edar edt agonthebaggagewi thfi
rearmswiththemar ki
ng" CONTAI NSFI REARMS" .

Uponarr
ivalinMani l
aonJ une22,1988pl ai
nti
ffwasnotabl et
oc l
aim oneofhisbaggages
.Plai
nti
ffwas
i
nfor
medbydef
endant srepr
esentat
ivethathisbaggagecont
aini
ngfir
earmswasrecal
ledbac
ktoChicagobydefendant
f
orUSCust
omsveri
ficati
on.Atelext
ot hi
seffectwasshowntoplai
nti
ff.

OnJune28,1988,af
terbei
ngadv i
sedoft hearri
valofhisotherbaggage,pl
aint
iffcl
aimedandopenedthe
baggagei
nthepres
enceofdef
endant
’sr
epresent
ati
veandf oundoutthatthef
irear
msweremi ss
ing.APers
onalPr
oper
ty
Missi
ngDamageRepor
twasiss
uedbydefendanttopl
aint
iff
.

Pl
aint
ifff
iledac omplaintagai
ns ttheair
li
ne.Thet ri
alcour
tor der
edNORTHWESTt opayTORRES.Bot hTORRES
andNORTHWESTappeal edfrom thedec isi
on.Torresas s
ail
edt hefai
lureofthetri
alcourttoawar dt heactual,moral
,and
exemplarydamagespr ayedforbyhi m.Nor t
hwest,ont heot herhand,all
egedthati
npr ematurelyres
ol v
ingt hecas
eont he
merit
st hecourtpreventeditfrom presenti
ngev i
denc e,therebydenyingitdueprocess;andt hatevenas sumingthatthe
tr
ialcourtcoul
dr esolvetheent ir
ec as
eont hemer i
ts,iter r
edinawar dingdamages ,att
orneysf ees,andex pensesof
l
iti
gati
on.

TheCour tofAppealss ust

ainedthet ri
alcour
tsjudgmentthatTORRESwasent i
tledt oactualdamages .The
appell
atec our
tthenc oncl
udedthatNORTHWESTsgues si
ngofwhi c
hluggagecont
ainedthef i
rearmsamount edtowi ll
ful
misconduc tunderSecti
on25(1)oftheWar sawConv ent
ionwhichentit
ledTORREStoc l
aim actualdamagesi nexcessof
theli
mi t
ationprovidedforunderSection22(2)ofsaidConvent
ion.TheCourtofAppealsheldt hatwhilethetri
alc ourt
properl
yr uledont her i
ghtofTORRESt oac t
ualdamages,iterr
edi ndeter
mini
ngbywayofs ummar yjudgmentt he
amountofdamages .

TheCourtofAppeal
saffi
rmedthet
rialc
our
tsfi
ndi
ngastotheri
ghtofTORREStoact
ualdamagesbuts
etasi
de
theres
toft heappeal
eddecisi
on.Itt
henremandedthecasetothecourtaquoforfurt
herproceedi
ngs
.Hence,t
he
pres
entpeti
ti
ons.

I
ssue:

Whet
herornotNor
thwes
t’sl
iabi
li
tywasl
imi
tedbyt
heWar
sawConv
ent
ionandt
hec
ont
rac
toft
rans
por
tat
ion.

Rul
ing:

NORTHWESTsl
iabi
li
tyf
orac
tualdamagesmaynotbel
imi
tedt
othatpr
esc
ribedi
nSec
tion22(
2)oft
heWar
saw
Conv
ent
ion.

TheWar s
awConv enti
ondoesnotoper at
easanex cl
usiv
eenumer ati
onoft heinstancesofanai rli
nesliabil
it
y,or
asanabs ol
uteli
mitoft heex t
entoft hatli
abil
it
y.Suchapr oposit
ionisnotbor neoutbyt hel anguageoft heConv enti
on,
asthisCourthasnow,andatanear li
ertime,point
edout.Mor eover,sl
ightrefl
ectionreadi
lyleadstothec oncl
usionthati t
shouldbedeemedal i
mi tofli
abil
ityonlyinthosecaseswher ethec auseoft hedeathorinj ur
yt operson,ordes t
ructi
on,
l
ossordamaget opropertyordelayinitstranspor
tisnotat t
ributabl
et oorat t
endedbyanywi ll
fulmisconduc t
,badf aith,
reckl
essness
,orotherwis ei
mpr operconduc tonthepartofanyof fi
cialorempl oyeeforwhi c
ht hecarrierisrespons i
ble,
andt her
eisotherwisenos pec i
alorex t
raordi
naryform ofresult
inginjury.TheConv enti
onspr ovis
ions,i nshort,donot
r
egul
ateorexcl
udeli
abi
li
tyf
orotherbreac
hesofcont
rac
tbyt
hec
arr
ierormi
sconduc
tofi
tsof
fic
ersandempl
oyees
,or
f
orsomepart
icul
arorex
cept
ional
typeofdamage.