7/21/2019 Gacal+v+PAL

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Gacal v PALFacts: Gacal et al. boarded the plane of PAL from Davao, headingtowards Manila. Unnown to them, si! M"LF members were also insidethe plane. #$min after tae o%, the& anno'nced a hi(ac, and forcedthe pilot to tae them to )abah. D'e to lac of f'el, the& had to land at

the *amboanga Airport, where militar& personnel were waiting forthem. After a few da&s, negotiation failed, and battle ens'ed, where #$passengers were illed +b'ti na lang hindi foreigners &'ng hostage.Gacal et al. -led the case, b't was dismissed b& the /0.

1ss'e: 2hether hi(acing or air pirac& d'ring martial law is a caso

fortuito which wo'ld e!empt and aircraft from pa&ment of damages toits passengers whose lives were p't in (eopard& and whose personalbelongings were lost d'ring the incident +3ernas st&le of iss'e

'ling: 4es it is a case of force ma(e're. /here are fo'r elements of a

force ma(e're: #. /he ca'se of the breach of the obligation m'st beindependent of the h'man will5. /he event m'st be either 'nforeseeable or 'navoidable6. /he event m'st be s'ch as to render it impossible for the debtor tof'l-ll his obligation in a normal manner7. /he debtor m'st be free from an& participation in, or aggravation ofthe in('r& to the creditor

 /he -rst element, the fail're to transport was d'e to the hi(acing doneb& the M"LF. /he second element, altho'gh foreseeable, it was d'e tothe militar& tae over of the airport d'ring martial law that made it

impossible for PAL to perform its obligations +of frising and checingthe baggage of the passengers. /he third element, the hi(acingrendered the obligation impossible +do&8. /he fo'rth element wass'pposedl& satis-ed, according to the case. /h's, PAL is e!emptedfrom the pa&ment of damages to its passengers.