Municipality of San Juan vs. Court of Appeals

A municipality is liable for injuries caused by defective roads or streets under its control or supervision, regardless of whether the road is national or municipal in character. Under Article 2189 of the Civil Code, ownership of the road is not a controlling factor; it is sufficient that the province, city, or municipality has control or supervision over the road. Furthermore, a municipality's power to regulate drilling and excavation of the ground for laying pipes under Section 149(1)(bb) of the Local Government Code of 1983 attaches regardless of whether the excavation is made on a national or municipal road, as long as it is within the municipality's territorial jurisdiction.

The Municipality of San Juan is a local government unit within Metro Manila. The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) is a government agency tasked with providing water service connections, and it entered into a "Contract For Water Service Connections" with Kwok Cheung, sole proprietor of K.C. Waterworks System Construction (KC), to install water service connections. Santolan Road, where the accident occurred, is a national road within the territorial jurisdiction of the Municipality of San Juan. The applicable legal framework includes Article 2189 of the Civil Code on municipal liability for defective roads, Section 149 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 337 (Local Government Code of 1983) defining municipal powers and duties, and Section 8 of Ordinance 82-01 of the Metropolitan Manila Commission allocating liability to permittees/excavators.

The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) entered into a "Contract For Water Service Connections" with Kwok Cheung, sole proprietor of K.C. Waterworks System Construction (KC), engaging KC to install water service connections. Article 11 (Scope of Work), paragraph 2.01 of the agreement provided that the contractor agrees to install water service connections, transfer location of tapping to the nearest main, undertake separation of service connection, and change rusted connections within the service area of MWSS, from the water main up to the installation of the verticals, with tapping of the service pipe connection and mounting of water meter to be undertaken exclusively or solely by MWSS.

On 20 May 1988, KC was given a Job Order by the South Sector Office of MWSS to conduct and effect excavations at the corner of M. Paterno and Santolan Road, San Juan, Metro Manila, a national road, for the laying of water pipes and tapping of water to the respective houses of water concessionaires. That same day, KC dispatched five workers under Project Engineer Ernesto Battad, Jr. to conduct the digging operations. The workers installed four barricades made of two-inch thick GI pipes welded together, 1.3 meters wide and 1.2 meters high, at the area where the digging was to take place. The digging operations started at 9 o'clock in the morning and ended at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The workers dug a hole one meter wide and 1.5 meters deep, after which they refilled the excavated portion of the road with the same gravel and stone excavated from the area. At that time, only ¾ of the job was finished because the workers were still required to re-excavate that particular portion for the tapping of pipes for the water connections to the concessionaires.

Between 10 o'clock and 11 o'clock in the evening of 31 May 1988, Priscilla Chan was driving her Toyota Crown car with Plate No. PDK 991 at a speed of thirty kilometers per hour on the right side of Santolan Road towards the direction of Pinaglabanan, San Juan, Metro Manila. Seated on the right front seat was Assistant City Prosecutor Laura Biglang-awa. The road was flooded as it was raining hard. Suddenly, the left front wheel of the car fell on a manhole where the workers of KC had earlier made excavations. As a result, the humerus on the right arm of Biglang-awa was fractured. Priscilla Chan contacted Biglang-awa's husband, who immediately arrived at the scene and brought his wife to the Cardinal Santos Hospital.

Pfc. Felix Ramos of the Traffic Division of the San Juan Police Station was dispatched to the scene to conduct an investigation. Upon arriving, he saw Priscilla Chan's car already extracted from the manhole and placed beside the excavated portion of the road. According to this police officer, he did not see any barricades at the scene when he arrived less than an hour later. A Traffic Accident Investigation Report was thereafter prepared and signed by Pfc. Ramos. At the hospital, the attending physician performed a close reduction and application of abduction splint on Biglang-awa and placed a plastic cast on her right arm. Barring complications, the injury was expected to heal in four to six weeks, although she had to revisit her doctor for check-up and rehabilitation. After some time, the plastic cast was removed. Biglang-awa sustained no deformity and no tenderness of the area of the injury, but she could not sleep on her right side because she still felt pain in that portion of her body. A Medical Certificate on her injuries was issued by Dr. Antonio Rivera.

Consequent to the incident, Biglang-awa filed before the Regional Trial Court at Pasig, Metro Manila a complaint for damages against MWSS, the Municipality of San Juan, and a number of San Juan municipal officials. She later amended her complaint twice, and in her second amended complaint, she included KC as one of the defendants. The trial court rendered judgment in favor of Biglang-awa, adjudging MWSS and the Municipality of San Juan jointly and severally liable. Both Biglang-awa and the Municipality of San Juan appealed to the Court of Appeals, which affirmed with modification the trial court's decision, ordering KC, MWSS, and San Juan to pay jointly and severally the amounts of ₱50,000.00 moral damages, ₱50,000.00 exemplary damages, and ₱5,000.00 attorney's fees, without prejudice to MWSS's right of reimbursement from KC under the Contract. Only the Municipality of San Juan appealed to the Supreme Court.

• Scope of Municipal Duty Under Section 149(1)(z): Petitioner maintained that under Section 149(1)(z) of the Local Government Code of 1983 (Batas Pambansa Blg. 337), it is obliged to provide for the construction, improvement, repair, and maintenance of only municipal streets, avenues, alleys, sidewalks, bridges, parks, and other public places. Since Santolan Road is concededly a national and not a municipal road, petitioner cannot be held liable for the injuries suffered by Biglang-awa on account of the accident that occurred on said road.

• Ordinance 82-01 Allocation of Liability: Petitioner contended that under Section 8, Ordinance No. 82-01 of the Metropolitan Manila Commission, which provides that in the event of death, injury, and/or damages caused by the non-completion of works and/or failure of one undertaking the work to adopt the required precautionary measures, the permittee/excavator shall assume fully all liabilities, only the Project Engineer of KC and MWSS can be held liable for the same accident.

N/A — The decision does not separately recount the arguments of the respondents beyond the procedural posture of the case.

• Municipal Liability for National Road: Whether the Municipality of San Juan can be held liable under Article 2189 of the Civil Code for injuries sustained on Santolan Road, a national road, notwithstanding that its statutory duty under Section 149(1)(z) of the Local Government Code covers only municipal streets.

• Effect of Ordinance 82-01: Whether Section 8 of Ordinance 82-01 of the Metropolitan Manila Commission, which makes the permittee/excavator liable for death, injury, or damages, exempts the Municipality of San Juan from liability for its own negligent acts.

• Municipal Liability for National Road: Yes. The municipality can be held liable. Under Article 2189 of the Civil Code, ownership of the road is not a controlling factor; it is sufficient that the province, city, or municipality has control or supervision over the road. Moreover, under Section 149(1)(bb) of the Local Government Code, the municipality's power to regulate drilling and excavation of the ground for laying pipes attaches regardless of whether the excavation is made on a national or municipal road, as long as it is within its territorial jurisdiction.

• Effect of Ordinance 82-01: No. Section 8 of Ordinance 82-01 does not exempt the municipality from liability. Nowhere in said Ordinance is there any provision exempting municipalities in Metro Manila from liabilities caused by their own negligent acts, and nothing prevents the application of other relevant laws concerning the municipality's liability.

• Municipal Liability for National Road: The Court relied on established jurisprudence, particularly City of Manila vs. Teotico, which held that under Article 2189 of the Civil Code, it is not necessary for liability to attach that the defective roads or streets belong to the province, city, or municipality from which responsibility is exacted; what the article requires is that the province, city, or municipality have either control or supervision over said street or road. The Court rejected petitioner's argument that under Section 149(1)(z), it has control or supervision only over municipal and not national roads. The Court pointed to Section 149(1)(bb) of the same Code, which empowers the sangguniang bayan to regulate the drilling and excavation of the ground for the laying of gas, water, sewer, and other pipes, and to adopt measures to ensure public safety against open canals, manholes, live wires, and other similar hazards to life and property. The Court emphasized that these phrases are not modified by the term "municipal road," and neither can it be fairly inferred that the municipality's power of regulation applies only to activities performed in municipal roads. The municipality's liability for injuries caused by its failure to regulate the drilling and excavation of the ground for the laying of pipes attaches regardless of whether the drilling or excavation is made on a national or municipal road, as long as it is within its territorial jurisdiction. The Court also adopted the appellate court's pronouncements that the municipality cannot shirk its obligation to maintain and insure the safe condition of the road merely because the permit for the excavation may have been issued by another government entity, and that the obligation to maintain the safe condition of the road within its territory is a continuing one which is not suspended while a street is being repaired. Knowledge of the condition of the road and defects may be actual or constructive; it is enough that the authorities should have known of the circumstances in the exercise of ordinary care. Santolan Road and the Greenhills area is a busy thoroughfare, and the gaping hole in the middle of the road could not have been missed by the authorities concerned.

• Effect of Ordinance 82-01: The Court held that while Section 8 of Ordinance 82-01 makes the permittee/excavator liable for death, injury, and/or damages caused by the non-completion of works and/or failure to adopt the required precautionary measures, nowhere in said Ordinance is there any provision exempting municipalities in Metro Manila from liabilities caused by their own negligent acts. The Court stated that nothing prevents the application of other relevant laws concerning the municipality's liability for the injuries sustained by Biglang-awa.

• Municipal Liability Under Article 2189 of the Civil Code — For liability to arise under Article 2189, ownership of the roads, streets, bridges, public buildings, and other public works is not a controlling factor; it is sufficient that a province, city, or municipality has control or supervision thereof. The Court applied this doctrine to hold the Municipality of San Juan liable for the injury on Santolan Road, a national road, because the municipality exercised control and supervision over excavations within its territory.

• Regulatory Power Over Excavations Under Section 149(1)(bb) of the Local Government Code — The phrases "regulate the drilling and excavation of the ground for the laying of gas, water, sewer, and other pipes" and "adopt measures to ensure public safety against open canals, manholes, live wires and other similar hazards to life and property" are not modified by the term "municipal road." The municipality's liability for injuries caused by its failure to regulate such activities attaches regardless of whether the drilling or excavation is made on a national or municipal road, as long as it is within its territorial jurisdiction.

• Continuing Obligation to Maintain Safe Road Conditions — The obligation of a municipality to maintain the safe condition of the road within its territory is a continuing one which is not suspended while a street is being repaired. Knowledge of the condition of the road and defects and/or obstructions may be actual or constructive; it is enough that the authorities should have known of the circumstances in the exercise of ordinary care.

• "At any rate, under Article 2189 of the Civil Code, it is not necessary for the liability therein established to attach that the defective roads or streets belong to the province, city or municipality from which responsibility is exacted. What said article requires is that the province, city or municipality have either 'control or supervision' over said street or road." — This passage, quoted from City of Manila vs. Teotico, states the controlling doctrine that ownership of the road is not the determining factor for municipal liability under Article 2189; control or supervision suffices.

• "Clear it is from the above that the Municipality of San Juan can 'regulate' the drilling and excavation of the ground for the laying of gas, water, sewer, and other pipes within its territorial jurisdiction. Doubtless, the term 'regulate' found in the aforequoted provision of Section 149 can only mean that petitioner municipality exercises the power of control, or, at the very least, supervision over all excavations for the laying of gas, water, sewer and other pipes within its territory." — This passage establishes the Court's interpretation of Section 149(1)(bb) of the Local Government Code, extending the municipality's regulatory power over all excavations within its territory regardless of road classification.

• "The [petitioner] cannot validly shirk from its obligation to maintain and insure the safe condition of the road merely because the permit for the excavation may have been issued by a government entity or unit other than the Appellant San Juan or that the excavation may have been done by a contractor under contract with a public entity like the Appellee MWSS." — This passage, adopted from the appellate court's decision, rejects the municipality's attempt to avoid liability by pointing to the permit issued by another government entity or the contractor's engagement by MWSS.

• City of Manila vs. Teotico, et al., 130 Phil. 244 [1968] — Controlling precedent establishing that under Article 2189 of the Civil Code, ownership of the defective road is not necessary for municipal liability; what is required is that the province, city, or municipality have control or supervision over the road.

• Jimenez vs. City of Manila, et al., 150 SCRA 510 [1987] — Cited as jurisprudence supporting the principle that municipal liability under Article 2189 attaches based on control or supervision, not ownership.

• Guilatco vs. City of Dagupan, et al., 171 SCRA 382 [1989] — Cited as jurisprudence supporting the same principle of municipal liability under Article 2189.

• Article 2189, Civil Code — Provides that provinces, cities, and municipalities shall be liable for damages for the death of, or injuries suffered by, any person by reason of the defective condition of roads, streets, bridges, public buildings, and other public works under their control or supervision. The Court applied this provision to hold the Municipality of San Juan liable for the injury on Santolan Road.

• Section 149(1)(z), Batas Pambansa Blg. 337 (Local Government Code of 1983) — Provides that the sangguniang bayan shall provide for the construction, improvement, repair, and maintenance of municipal streets, avenues, alleys, sidewalks, bridges, parks, and other public places. The Court distinguished this provision from Section 149(1)(bb), noting that the former is limited to municipal roads while the latter is not.

• Section 149(1)(bb), Batas Pambansa Blg. 337 (Local Government Code of 1983) — Provides that the sangguniang bayan shall regulate the drilling and excavation of the ground for the laying of gas, water, sewer, and other pipes, and adopt measures to ensure public safety against open canals, manholes, live wires, and other similar hazards to life and property. The Court held that this provision is not modified by the term "municipal road" and applies to all excavations within the municipality's territorial jurisdiction.

• Section 8, Ordinance 82-01, Metropolitan Manila Commission — Provides that in the event of death, injury, and/or damages caused by the non-completion of works and/or failure of one undertaking the work to adopt the required precautionary measures, the permittee/excavator shall assume fully all liabilities. The Court held that this ordinance does not exempt municipalities from liabilities caused by their own negligent acts.

• Justice Artemio V. Panganiban (Chairman, Third Division)
• Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez
• Justice Renato C. Corona
• Justice Conchita Carpio Morales

N/A — No dissenting opinions were noted in the provided case text.