JARCO MARKETING vs.

CA and AGUILAR
Dec. 21, 1999
FACTS:
Petitioner Jarco Marketing Corporation is the owner of Syvels Department Store in
Makati City.
Petitioners Leonardo Kong, Jose Tipe and Elisa Panelo are the stores branch manager,
operations manager and supervisor.
Private respondents Aguilar are spouses and parents of the deceased Zhieneth
Aguilar.
May 9, 1983, Criselda and 6-year-old daughter Zhieneth Aguilar are at the 2 nd floor of
Syvels Department Store. As Criselda was signing her credit card slip at the payment
and verification counter, she felt a sudden gust of wind and heard a loud thud.
She saw Zhieneth on the floor pinned underneath the gift-wrapping counter.
Zhieneth lost her speech then subsequently died because of her injuries 14 days
after.
After Zhieneths burial, her parents demanded from petitioners reimbursement of
hospitalization, medical bills and funeral expenses.
Petitioners refused to pay and denied liability. In their answer with counterclaim, they
claimed that Criselda was negligent in exercising care and diligence over her
daughter by allowing her to freely roam around in a store. Zhieneth was allegedly
guilty of contributory negligence since she climbed over the counter, triggering its
eventual collapse on her. According to petitioners, Zhieneths act of clinging to the
counter was the proximate cause of the injury.
ISSUE:
WON the death of Zhieneth was accidental or attributable to negligence?
Attributable to negligence.
WON negligence was attributable to Jarco for maintaining a defective counter or to
Criselda for allowing her child to roam freely? Attributable to Jarco Marketing.
HELD:
Accident and negligence are intrinsically contradictory; one cannot exist without the
other.
Based on witness testimony, the store supervisors were informed about the L-shaped
gift-wrapping counter and that it was top-heavy and shaky and needed to be nailed
to the floor because it was accident-prone. However, no concrete action to remedy
the situation was done to ensure the safety of the stores employees and patrons as a
reasonable and prudent man would have done. Thus, petitioners failed to discharge
the diligence required of a good father of a family.
Zhieneth, before she died, told the doctor that she did not come near the counter and
that it just fell on her. The lower court accepted such statement as part of the res
gestae declaration under the Rules of Court Rule 130 Section 42.
As for Zhieneth, the conclusive presumption is that a child below 9 years of age is
incapable of contributory negligence. Even if Zhieneth could have been guilty of
contributory negligence by climbing the counter, no injury could have occurred if the
counter was stable and sturdy.
Criselda should also be absolved of any contributory negligence. It was reasonable
and usual for her to momentarily let go of her child as she was signing the credit card
slip.
Hence, Jarco Marketing is liable to Aguilar spouses for the injuries and death of
Zhieneth.