I'm Giancarlo Enrico S. Pozon, a Wushu instructor, investor and Barrister... That's right, Barrister; I graduated from law school and took the Bar Exams, now I'm waiting for the results. I created this blog to make Philippine Law easy to understand for the average person. It's all about free legal advice. There are many law blogs. But the problem is that many of them are written for lawyers and law students. They use words that can't be understood by ordinary people.
Many lawyers, judges and law students consider themselves as superior to most human beings because of their knowledge of the law. It bothers me since the law is supposed to serve society. Since the law is meant to serve society as a whole, it is important that is must be understood by everybody.
This does not mean that we should all become lawyers. It means that although law is a highly specialized profession, the first duty of everybody in this profession is to make the law understandable to all; that's why all these articles are free legal advice.
Like I said, this blog is about law -but it's for the ordinary people, not the lawyers. It's for the ordinary folk so they will know what is good and bad for them, and that making them aware of the law will help us all improve society as a whole. This is free legal advice for everybody!
A common carrier is a person, whether juridical or natural, who is engaged in the business of transporting passengers and/or goods by land, sea or air; these services are offered to the public for a fee. Basically, we're talking about airline, shipping, bus, train, etc. companies. A common carrier is required to exercise extraordinary diligence in performing its services and is obliged to render such services to those who avail of them. Private carriers, on the other hand, are free to select their customers and are to observe ordinary diligence only.
Take note, however, that the Civil Code's view of a common carrier doesn't distinguish between an entity offering its services on a regular or irregular basis, or if its services are for the general public or just a segment of it (Fabre vs. CA, 259 SCRA 246.) Because of this, a public carrier can become a private one if it is chartered by a certain group to go on a specific trip. The opposite can also happen.
Liability of common carriers is primarily governed by the Civil Code; in case of matters it doesn't cover, other laws (Code of Commerce, Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, etc.) come into the picture. Under the Civil Code (Art. 1784,) a common carrier isn't liable in any of the following instances:
1.) Natural disasters
2.) Acts of the enemy in wartime, whether civil or with a foreign power
3.) Acts/omissions of the shipper/owner of the goods
4.) Character of the goods (such as in packing defects)
5.) Acts of competent public authority
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