Philippine Supreme Court Decisions Digests

NEGROS NAVIGATION CO. vs COURT OF APPEALS G.R. No. 110398, November 7, 1997  Facts In April of 1980, private respondent Ramon Miranda purchased from the Negros Navigation Co., Inc. four special cabin tickets (#74411, 74412, 74413 and 74414) for his wife, daughter, son and niece who were going to Bacolod City to attend a family reunion. The tickets were for Voyage No. 457-A of the M/V Don Juan, leaving Manila at 1:00 p.m. on April 22, 1980. The ship sailed from the port of Manila on schedule.  At about 10:30 in the evening of April 22, 1980, the Don Juan collided off the Tablas Strait in Mindoro, with the M/T Tacloban City, an oil tanker owned by the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) and the PNOC Shipping and Transport Corporation (PNOC/STC).  As a result, the M/V Don Juan sank. Several of her passengers perished in the sea tragedy.  The bodies of some of the victims were found and brought to shore, but the four members of private respondents‘ fami...

TING vs. VELEZ-TING G.R. No. 166562, March 31, 2009  Facts On October 21, 1993, after being married for more than 18 years to petitioner and while their youngest child was only two years old, Carmen filed a verified petition before the RTC of Cebu City for the declaration of nullity of their marriage based on Article 36 of the Family Code. She claimed that Benjamin suffered from psychological incapacity even at the time of the celebration of their marriage, which, however, only became manifest thereafter.  On January 9, 1998, the lower court rendered its decision declaring the marriage between petitioner and respondent null and void. The RTC gave credence to Dr. Onate‘s findings and the admissions made by Benjamin in the course of his deposition, and found him to be psychologically incapacitated to comply with the essential obligations of marriage.  On October 19, 2000, the petitioner appealed to the CA, reversing the trial court‘s decision.  I...