MAMERTO DAILISAN, ET AL., PLAINTIFFS AND APPELLANTS VS. SEBASTIAN SO ENG SO, ET AL., DEFENDANTS AND APPELLEES.

On February 13, 1957, upon motion of herein appellants, the Court of
Appeals elevated this case to this Court upon the ground that the
amount in controversy exceeds P50,000.00. Subsequently, however, and
while this case was pending decision in this Court, the Judiciary Act
was amended by increasing the jurisdictional amount for the Court of
Appeals to not more than P200,000.00.

The present case
originated from Criminal Case No. 1235 of the Court of First Instance
of Davao, for homicide through reckless imprudence, against Bernardo
Libawan in which the latter was convicted by final judgment. The
offended parties reserved the right to recover indemnity in a separate
civil action. Pursuant to said reservation the present action for
damages was filed in the lower court on October 23, 1952 by the spouses
Mamerto Dailisan and Felicidad Romero, now appellants, against
Sebastian So Eng So, Yao Lam alias Koga and Bernardo Libawan, for the
recovery of the sum of P60,000.00 as damages, the further sum of
P1,000.00 as reimbursement of funeral expenses and the sum of P6,000.00
as attorney’s fees.

Libawan filed his answer to the
complaint admitting the material allegations thereof. The other two
defendants, after specifically denying the material averments of the
complaint, alleged by way of affirmative defense, that Bernardo Libawan
was not an employee of Sebastian So Eng So at the time of the accident
and that, consequently, they are not subsidiarily liable for civil
indemnity as a consequence of Libawan’s conviction of the crime of
homicide through reckless imprudence.

As correctly found by the trial court, the fact of the case are as follows:

“From
the evidence submitted by both parties, it has been disclosed that the
defendant Sebastian So Eng So, owner of an automobile for his private
use, on December 28, 1950, in the City of Davao, ordered his driver,
Andres Borneo, to conduct the defendant Yao Lam alias Koga to
Calinan, Davao City. But when at that time the driver, Andres Romeo,
was not feeling well because he had headache, and because of this, he
requested his friend, the defendant Bernardo Libawan, who was also a
driver, to drive the car for him and to conduct Yao Lam alias
Koga to Calinan, Davao City, without the approval or sanction of the
owner of the car, the defendant Sebastian So Eng So. It was further
proven during the trial that when the defendant Bernardo Libawan was
driving the car to Calinan, Davao City, at about one o’clock in the
afternoon of December 28, 1950, young students by the names of Levi
Daser, Desidero Narbay and Antonio Dailisan, left the city on bicycles
for the coca-cola plant outside of the City of Davao. When the car
driven by Bernardo Libawan was about 100 meters from the coca-cola
plant, one of these boys, Antonio Dailisan, made a turn of his bicycle
and while he was on the right side of the road on his way to the city,
the automobile driven by Bernardo Libawan ran over him, which resulted
in the instantaneous death of the student, Antonio Dailisan. The
driver, Bernardo Libawan, was running fast and shortly before or at the
time of the accident said driver, Bernardo Libawan, did not take proper
care and diligence as required by the circumstances, thus he was guilty
of reckless imprudence.”

The principal
question raised by appellants is factual, viz., whether or not on the
date of the accident, Bernardo Libawan was the employee of Sebastian So
Eng So. Moreover, it is clear that this action is for the recovery of
the maximum sum of P67,000.00 which is now within the jurisdiction of
the Court of Appeals.

Wherefore, the present case is hereby remanded to the Court of Appeals in accordance with law.

Paras, C.J., Padilla, Bautista Angelo, Labrador, Concepcion, Reyes, J.B.L., Barrera, Gutierrez David, and Paredes, JJ., concur.