Duavit v.

CA Held:

GR no. 82318 ; May 18, 1989 NO.

Facts: An owner of a vehicle cannot be held liable for an

accident involving the said vehicle if the same was
Plaintiffs Virgilio Catuar, Antonio Sarmiento, Jr,
driven without his consent or knowledge and by a person
Ruperto Catuar, Jr were aboard a jeep with plate no. 77-
not employed by him. To hold the owner liable for the
99-F-I owned by plaintiff Ruperto Catuar, was driving the
negligence of Sabiniano who was neither his driver nor
said jeep along Ortigas Aveenue. They were running
employee would be absurd as it would be like holding
moderately at 20-35kph when suddenly, another jeep
the owner of a stolen vehicle liable for an accident
with plate no. 99-97-F-J driven by defendant Oscar
caused by the person who stole such vehicle.
Sabiniano hit and bumped their jeep. As a result, the
jeep was damaged and plaintiff Virgilio was thrown into Defendant cited cases wherein the Court held the
the road, sustained broken wrist and contusions on the owner liable for the accident involving their vehicle but
head. Likewise, Antonio Sarmiento, Sr. was trapped inside the SC said that we cannot blindly apply absolute rules
the fallen jeepney. based on precedents whose facts do not jibe for square
with pending cases. Every case must be determined on
Plaintiffs filed a case against both Oscar Sabiniano
its own peculiar factual circumstances. In this case, the
as driver and Gualberto Duavit as owner.
records of petition fail to indicate the slightest indicia of
Defendant Duavit while admitting ownership of an employer-employee relationship between the owner
jeep denied employer-employee relationship between. and the erring driver or any consent given by the driver.
Sabiniano. In the testimony of Sabiniano, he admitted We cannot hold the owner liable.
that he took the jeep from Duavit’s garage without the
consent and authority of the latter. He testified further
that Duavit even filed charged against him for theft but
did not push through as his parents apologized to Duavit.

Issue:

W/N the owner of a private vehicle figured in an

accident can be held liable when said vehicle was
neither driven by an employee of owner nor taken with
consent.