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CODE OF COMMERCE OF THE PHILIPPINESCOMMERCIAL CONTRACTS FOR TRANSPORTATION

ARTICLE 349. A contract of transportation by land or waterways of any kind shall be considered commercial:

1. When it has for its object merchandise or any article ofcommerce.

2. When, whatever its object may be, the carrier is a merchantor is habitually engaged in transportation for the public.

ARTICLE 350. The shipper as well as the carrier of merchandiseor goods may mutually demand that a bill of lading be made,stating:

1. The name, surname and residence of the shipper.2. The name, surname and residence of the carrier.3. The name, surname and residence of the person to whom orto whose order the goods are to be sent or whether they are tobe delivered to the bearer of said bill.4. The description of the goods, with a statement of their kind,

of their weight, and of the external marks or signs of thepackages in which they are contained.

5. The cost of transportation.6. The date on which shipmentis made.7. The place of delivery to the carrier.

8. The place and the time at which delivery to the consigneeshall be made.9. The indemnity to be paid by the carrier in case of delay, if

there should be any agreement on this matter.

ARTICLE 351. In transportation made by railroads or otherenterprises subject to regulation rate and time schedules, it shallbe sufficient for the bills of lading or the declaration of shipmentfurnished by the shipper to refer, with respect to the cost, time

and special conditions of the carriage, to the schedules andregulations the application of which he requests; and if the

shipper does not determine the schedule, the carrier must applythe rate of those which appear to be the lowest, with theconditions inherent thereto, always including a statement orreference to in the bill of lading which he delivers to the shipper.

ARTICLE 352. The bills of lading, or tickets in cases oftransportation of passengers, may be diverse, some for personsand others for baggage; but all of them shall bear the name ofthe carrier, the date of shipment, the points of departure andarrival, the cost, and, with respect to the baggage, the numberand weight of the packages, with such other manifestations whichmay be considered necessary for their easy identification.

ARTICLE 353. The legal evidence of the contract between the

shipper and the carrier shall be the bills of lading, by the contentsof which the disputes which may arise regarding their executionand performance shall be decided, no exceptions being admissibleother than those of falsity and material error in the drafting.After

the contract has been complied with, the bill of lading which thecarrier has issued shall be returned to him, and by virtue of the

exchange of this title with the thing transported, the respectiveobligations and actions shall be considered cancelled, unless inthe same act the claim which the parties may wish to reserve bereduced to writing, with the exception of that provided for in

Article 366.In case the consignee, upon receiving the goods,cannot return the bill of lading subscribed by the carrier, because

of its loss or of any other cause, he must give the latter a receiptfor the goods delivered, this receipt producing the same effects asthe return of the bill of lading.

ARTICLE 354. In the absence of a bill of lading, disputes shallbe determined by the legal proofs which the parties may present

in support of their respective claims, according to the generalprovisions established in this Code for commercial contracts.

ARTICLE 355. The responsibility of the carrier shall commencefrom the moment he receives the merchandise, personally orthrough a person charged for the purpose, at the place indicatedfor receiving them.

ARTICLE 356. Carriers may refuse packages which appear unfit

for transportation; and if the carriage is to be made by railway,and the shipment is insisted upon, the company shall transportthem, being exempt from all responsibility if its objections, ismade to appear in the bill of lading.

ARTICLE 357. If by reason of well-founded suspicion of falsity in

the declaration as to the contents of a package the carrier shoulddecide to examine it, he shall proceed with his investigation in the

presence of witnesses, with the shipper or consignee inattendance.If the shipper or consignee who has to be cited doesnot attend, the examination shall be made before a notary, whoshall prepare a memorandum of the result of the investigation, for

such purposes as may be proper.If the declaration of the shippershould be true, the expense occasioned by the examination andthat of carefully repacking the packages shall be for the accountof the carrier and in a contrary case for the account of theshipper.

ARTICLE 358. If there is no period fixed for the delivery of thegoods the carrier shall be bound to forward them in the first

shipment of the same or similar goods which he may make pointwhere he must deliver them; and should he not do so, thedamages caused by the delay should be for his account.

ARTICLE 359. If there is an agreement between the shipper andthe carrier as to the road over which the conveyance is to be

made, the carrier may not change the route, unless it be byreason of force majeure; and should he do so without this cause,he shall be liable for all the losses which the goods he transportsmay suffer from any other cause, beside paying the sum whichmay have been stipulated for such case.When on account of saidcause of force majeure, the carrier had to take another route

which produced an increase in transportation charges, he shall bereimbursed for such increase upon formal proof thereof.

ARTICLE 360. The shipper, without changing the place wherethe delivery is to be made, may change the consignment of thegoods which he delivered to the carrier, provided that at the time

of ordering the change of consignee the bill of lading signed by

the carrier, if one has been issued, be returned to him, inexchange for another wherein the novation of the contractappears.The expenses which this change of consignmentoccasions shall be for the account of the shipper.

ARTICLE 361. [The merchandise shall be transported at the riskand venture of the shipper, if the contrary has not been expressly

stipulated.As a consequence, all the losses and deteriorationswhich the goods may suffer during the transportation by reason of

fortuitous event, force majeure, or the inherent nature and defectof the goods, shall be for the account and risk of the shipper. cdtaProof of these accidents is incumbent upon the carrier.]

ARTICLE 362. Nevertheless, the carrier shall be liable for thelosses and damages resulting from the causes mentioned in the

preceding article if it is proved, as against him, that they arosethrough his negligence or by reason of his having failed to takethe precautions which usage has established among carefulpersons, unless the shipper has committed fraud in the bill oflading, representing the goods to be of a kind or quality differentfrom what they really were.If, notwithstanding the precautions

referred to in this article, the goods transported run the risk ofbeing lost, on account of their nature or by reason of unavoidableaccident, there being no time for their owners to dispose of them,the carrier may proceed to sell them, placing them for thispurpose at the disposal of the judicial authority or of the officialsdesignated by special provisions.

ARTICLE 363. Outside of the cases mentioned in the second

paragraph of Article 361, the carrier shall be obliged to deliver thegoods shipped in the same condition in which, according to thebill of lading, they were found at the time they were received,without any damage or impairment, and failing to do so, to paythe value which those not delivered may have at the point and at

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the time at which their delivery should have been made.If those

not delivered form part of the goods transported, the consigneemay refuse to receive the latter, when he proves that he cannotmake use of them independently of the others.

ARTICLE 364. If the effect of the damage referred to in Article361 is merely a diminution in the value of the goods, the

obligation of the carrier shall be reduced to the payment of theamount which, in the judgment of experts, constitutes such

difference in value.

ARTICLE 365. If, in consequence of the damage, the goods arerendered useless for sale and consumption for the purposes for

which they are properly destined, the consignee shall not bebound to receive them, and he may have them in the hands ofthe carrier, demanding of the latter their value at the current priceon that day.If among the damaged goods there should be somepieces in good condition and without any defect, the foregoingprovision shall be applicable with respect to those damaged and

the consignee shall receive those which are sound, thissegregation to be made by distinct and separate pieces and

without dividing a single object, unless the consignee proves theimpossibility of conveniently making use of them in this form.Thesame rule shall be applied to merchandise in bales or packages,

separating those parcels which appear sound.

ARTICLE 366. Within the twenty-four hours following the receipt

of the merchandise, the claim against the carrier for damage oraverage be found therein upon opening the packages, may bemade, provided that the indications of the damage or averagewhich gives rise to the claim cannot be ascertained from theoutside part of such packages, in which case the claim shall beadmitted only at the time of receipt.After the periods mentioned

have elapsed, or the transportation charges have been paid, noclaim shall be admitted against the carrier with regard to the

condition in which the goods transported were delivered.

ARTICLE 367. If doubts and disputes should arise between theconsignee and the carrier with respect to the condition of the

goods transported at the time their delivery to the former is

made, the goods shall be examined by experts appointed by theparties, and, in case of disagreement, by a third one appointed bythe judicial authority, the results to be reduced to writing; and ifthe interested parties should not agree with the expert opinionand they do not settle their differences, the merchandise shall bedeposited in a safe warehouse by order of the judicial authority,and they shall exercise their rights in the manner that may be

proper.

ARTICLE 368. The carrier must deliver to the consignee,without any delay or obstruction, the goods which he may havereceived, by the mere fact of being named in the bill of lading toreceive them; and if he does not do so, he shall be liable for the

damages which may be caused thereby.

ARTICLE 369. If the consignee cannot be found at the residenceindicated in the bill of lading, or if he refuses to pay thetransportation charges and expenses, or if he refuses to receivethe goods, the municipal judge, where there is none of the firstinstance, shall provide for their deposit at the disposal of theshipper, this deposit producing all the effects of delivery without

prejudice to third parties with a better right.

ARTICLE 370. If a period has been fixed for the delivery of thegoods, it must be made within such time, and, for failure to do so,the carrier shall pay the indemnity stipulated in the bill of lading,neither the shipper nor the consignee being entitled to anything

else.If no indemnity has been stipulated and the delay exceedsthe time fixed in the bill of lading, the carrier shall be liable for the

damages which the delay may have caused.

ARTICLE 371. In case of delay through the fault of the carrier,referred to in the preceding articles, the consignee may leave thegoods transported in the hands of the former, advising him

thereof in writing before their arrival at the point of destination.

When this abandonment takes place, the carrier shall pay the fullvalue of the goods as if they had been lost or mislaid.If theabandonment is not made, the indemnification for losses anddamages by reason of the delay cannot exceed the current price

which the goods transported would have had on the day and atthe place in which they should have been delivered; this same

rule is to be observed in all other cases in which this indemnitymay be due.

ARTICLE 372. The value of the goods which the carrier mustpay in cases if loss or misplacement shall be determined in

accordance with that declared in the bill of lading, the shipper notbeing allowed to present proof that among the goods declaredtherein there were articles of greater value and money.Horses,vehicles, vessels, equipment and all other principal and accessorymeans of transportation shall be especially bound in favor of theshipper, although with respect to railroads said liability shall be

subordinated to the provisions of the laws of concession withrespect to the property, and to what this Code established as to

the manner and form of effecting seizures and attachmentsagainst said companies.

ARTICLE 373. The carrier who makes the delivery of themerchandise to the consignee by virtue of combined agreementsor services with other carriers shall assume the obligations of

those who preceded him in the conveyance, reserving his right toproceed against the latter if he was not the party directlyresponsible for the fault which gave rise to the claim of theshipper or consignee.The carrier who makes the delivery shalllikewise acquire all the actions and rights of those who precededhim in the conveyance.The shipper and the consignee shall have

an immediate right of action against the carrier who executed thetransportation contract, or against the other carriers who may

have received the goods transported without reservation.However, the reservation made by the latter shall not relievethem from the responsibilities which they may have incurred bytheir own acts.

ARTICLE 374. The consignees to whom the shipment was mademay not defer the payment of the expenses and transportationcharges of the goods they receive after the lapse of twenty-fourhours following their delivery; and in case of delay in thispayment, the carrier may demand the judicial sale of the goodstransported in an amount necessary to cover the cost oftransportation and the expenses incurred.

ARTICLE 375. The goods transported shall be especially bound

to answer for the cost of transportation and for the expenses andfees incurred for them during their conveyance and until themoment of their delivery.This special right shall prescribe eightdays after the delivery has been made, and once prescribed, the

carrier shall have no other action than that corresponding to himas an ordinary creditor.

ARTICLE 376. The preference of the carrier to the payment ofwhat is owed him for the transportation and expenses of thegoods delivered to the consignee shall not be cut off by thebankruptcy of the latter, provided it is claimed within the eightdays mentioned in the preceding article.

ARTICLE 377. The carrier shall be liable for all theconsequences which may arise from his failure to comply with theformalities prescribed by the laws and regulations of the publicadministration, during the whole course of the trip and uponarrival at the point of destination, except when his failure arises

from having been led into error by falsehood on the part of theshipper in the declaration of the merchandise. If the carrier has

acted by virtue of a formal order of the shipper or consignee ofthe merchandise, both shall become responsible.

ARTICLE 378. Agents for transportation shall be obliged to keepa special registry, with the formalities required by Article 36, in

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which all the goods the transportation of which is undertaken shall

be entered in consecutive order of number and dates, with astatement of the circumstances required in Article 350 and othersfollowing for the respective bills of lading.

ARTICLE 379. The provisions contained in Articles 349 andfollowing shall be understood as equally applicable to those who,

although they do not personally effect the transportation of themerchandise, contract to do so through others, either as

contractors for a particular and definite operation, or as agents fortransportations and conveyances.In either case they shall besubrogated in the place of the carriers themselves, with respect tothe obligations and responsibility of the latter, as well as with

regard to their rights.