DIGEST
G.R. No. L-33722 July 29, 1988
FEDERICO YLARDE and ADELAIDA
DORONIO petitioners,
vs.
EDGARDO AQUINO, MAURO SORIANO and COURT OF
APPEALS, respondents.
FACTS:
Private respondent Mariano Soriano was the principal of
the Gabaldon Primary School in Pangasinan. Defendant
Edgardo Aquino was a teacher therein. During that time,
the school had several concrete blocks which were
remnants of the old school shop destroyed in World War
II. Defendant decided to help clear the area so he
gathered 18 of his male students and ordered them to
dig beside a one-ton concrete block in making a hole
where the stone can be buried. It was left unfinished so
the following day he called 4 of the 18 students including
the Novelito Ylarde to complete the
excavation. Defendant left the children to level the loose
soil while he went to see Banez for the key to the school
workroom where he can get some rope. It was alleged
that before leaving, he told the children “not to touch the
stone”. After he left, the children playfully jumped into
the pit when suddenly the concrete block slide
down. Unfortunately, Novelito Ylarde was pinned to the
wall causing serious physical injuries which as a
consequence led to his death, 3 days thereafter. The
parents of the victim, herein petitioners, filed a suit for
damages against both Aquino and Soriano.
ISSUE: WON both Soriano and Aquino can be held
liable for damages.
HELD:
As held in Amadora vs CA, “it is only the teacher and not
the head of an academic school who should be
answerable for torts committed by their
students”. Where the school is academic rather than
technical or vocational in nature, responsibility for the
tort committed by the student will attach to the teacher
in charge of such student, this is the general
rule. However, in casea of establishments of arts and
trades, it is the head thereof, and only he, who shall be
held liable as an exception to the general rule. In other
words, teachers in general shall be liable for the acts of
their students except where the school is technical in
nature, in which case it is the head thereof who shall be
answerable. Hence, Soriano as principal cannot be held
liable for the reason that the school he heads is an
academic school and he did not give any instruction
regarding the digging.
A teacher who stands in loco parentis to his Students
should make sure that the children are protected from all
harm. The excavation instructed clearly exposed the
students to risk and should not be placed under the
category of Work Education such as school gardening,
planting trees etc. Aquino acted with fault and gross
negligence where instead of availing himself of adult
manual laborers he instead utilized his
students. Furthermore, the warning given is not
sufficient to cast away all serious danger that the
concrete block adjacent to the excavation would present
to the children. He is therefore ordered to pay damages
to the petitioners.