Damages
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTORY
CONCEPTS
“Damages” vs. “Damage” vs. “Injury”
° DAMAGES is the sum of money which
the law awards or imposes as
pecuniary compensation,
recompense or satisfaction for an
injury done.
° INJURY is the illegal invasion of a legal
right.
° DAMAGE is the loss, hurt or harm
which results from the injury.
Damnum Absque Injuria
° Literally ‘damage without injury’;
damage which results from a
person’s exercising of his legal rights
° There can be damage without injury
in those instances in which the loss or
harm was not the result of a violation
of a legal duty.
° In such cases, the consequences
must be borne by the injured
person alone.
° The law affords no remedy for
damages resulting from an act
which does not amount to a legal
injury or wrong.
Award of Tort Damages
° The underlying basis for the award of
tort damages is the premise that an
individual was injured in
contemplation of law – just
compensation.
(1) breach of some duty;
(2) imposition of liability for that
breach; and
(3) such breach of duty should be the
proximate cause of the injury
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General and Special Damages
° General Damages
° such as naturally and necessarily
result from the wrong;
° such as might accrue to any
person similarly situated.
° Special Damages
° such as do in fact accrue to the
particular individual by reason of
the particular circumstances of
the case;
° such as have proximately
resulted but do not always
immediately result from the
breach and will not therefore be
implied by law.
° The difference becomes significant in
the area of pleading.
° General damages need not be
specially pleaded and may be
embraced in the general pleas
“such other relief as may be
deemed just and equitable under
the premises.”
° Special damage must be specially
prayed for. If any special damage
has also been suffered, it should
be set out on the pleading.
CHAPTER 2: ACTUAL DAMAGES
Actual damages
° Actual and compensatory damages
are those recoverable because of
pecuniary loss – in business, trade,
property, profession, job or
occupation.
° Such compensation or damages
for an injury that will put the
injured party in the position in
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which he had been before he was
injured.
Requirements for the Grant of Actual
Damages
° Actual amount of loss
° proven with reasonable degree
of certainty
° premised on competent proof
° premised on best evidence
obtainable
° Pecuniary loss
° capable of proof
° actually proved with reasonable
degree of certainty
° The court cannot rely on
“speculation, conjecture or guess
works as to the amount. Without
actual proof of loss, the award of
actual damages becomes erroneous.
° Courts must point out specific
facts which show a basis for the
amount of compensatory or
actual damages.
° Actual damages is not proved by
mere testimony of witness.
° The court cannot rely on
uncorroborated testimony
whose truth is suspect.
Burden of Proof
° It is the duty of the petitioner to
present evidence to support his claim
for actual damages.
° He must establish his case by a
preponderance of evidence.
° But where defense admitted as
to the claim for actual damages,
the award of actual damages in
the amount claimed may be
upheld.
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Expenses
° Expenses should be supported by
receipts.
° Cannot be based on the
allegation of a witness without
any tangible document to
support such claim.
° A list of expenses cannot replace
receipts when the latter should have
been issued as matter of course in
business transactions.
° Court CANNOT take account of:
- receipts showing expenses
incurred before the death or
slaying of the victim
- those incurred after a
considerable lapse of time from
the burial and which do not have
any relation to the date, wake or
burial of the victim
- those incurred for purely
aesthetic or social purposes
- those which appear to have been
modified to show an increase in
the amount of expenditure
- those which, nonetheless, would
have been incurred despite the
death, wake and burial of the
victim, the death, wake and
burial being merely incidental
- those which were not in fact
shouldered by the immediate
heirs of the victim
Components of Actual Damages
° Loss of what a person already
possesses
° value of the loss suffered
° Failure to receive as a benefit that
which would have pertained to him
° unrealized profit
° “ganacias frustradas” or “lucrum
cessans”
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Damages
° not to be granted on the basis of
mere speculation, conjecture or
surmise
° granted by referring to some
reasonably definite standard:
market value, established
experience or direct inference
from known circumstances.
Contracts and Quasi-contracts
° In contracts and quasi-contracts, the
damages which may be awarded are
dependent on whether the obligor
acted with good faith or otherwise.
° Good faith
° the damages recoverable are
those which are the natural and
probable consequences of the
breach of the obligation and
which the parties have foreseen
or could have reasonably
foreseen.
° Fraud, bad faith, malice or
wanton attitude
- responsible for all damage
reasonably attributed to the
non-performance of the
obligation.
Quasi-delicts or Torts
° Actual damages include all the
natural and probable consequences
of the act or omission complained.
Crimes
° Defendants shall be liable for all
damages which are the natural and
probable consequences of the act or
omission complained of.
- whether or not such damages
have been foreseen or could
have reasonably been
foreseen by the defendant.
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° Amount of damages for death caused
by a crime or quasi-delict
- shall be at least Php 300,000
even though there may have
been mitigating
circumstances
- if the deceased was obliged
to give support according to
the provisions of Article 291,
the recipient who is not an
heir called to the decedent’s
inheritance by the law of
testate or intestate
succession, may demand
support from the person
causing death for period not
exceeding 5 years, the exact
duration to be fixed by court
Civil Indemnity Ex Delicto
° The indemnity authorized by our
criminal law as civil indemnity ex
delicto for the offended party, in the
amount authorized by the prevailing
judicial policy and aside from other
actual damages, is itself equivalent to
actual or compensatory damages in
civil law.
° It is distinct from and should not be
denominated as moral damages
which are based on different jural
foundations and assessed by the
court in the exercise of sound judicial
discretion.
Lost Earnings
° The indemnification for loss of
earning capacity partakes the nature
of actual damages which must be
duly proved.
° Only net earnings, not gross
earnings, are to be considered.
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Damages
° Determining the compensable
amount of lost earnings:
- number of years for which
the victim would have
otherwise lived
- rate of loss sustained by the
heirs of the deceased
- mathematical computation of
annual income times life
expectancy
- nature of the work of the
victim, his lifestyle, age and
state of health prior to his
death
° Formula: Net Earning Capacity = [2/3
x (80 – age at time of death) x (gross
annual income – reasonable and
necessary living expenses]
- in the absences of proof of
living expenses of the
deceased, net earnings are
computed at 50% of the gross
earnings
° For lost income to be recovered,
there must be an unbiased proof of
the deceased’s average, not just
gross income.
- a handwritten certification in
a yellow pad indicating
therein that the victim was
paid a certain amount hardly
suffices as proof to justify an
award as it is, at best, self-
serving.
° When Testimonial Evidence
Sufficient
- victim was self-employed,
earning less than the
minimum wage under current
labor laws, and judicial notice
may be taken of the fact that
in victim’s line of work, no
documentary evidence is
available
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- victim was employed as a
daily-wage worker earning
less than the minimum wage
under current labor laws.
° Temperate damages may be
awarded in lieu of actual damages for
loss of earning capacity where the
income of the victim was not
sufficiently proven.
Civil Indemnity
° Civil indemnity in the amount of Php
50,000 is automatically granted to
the heirs of the victim without any
need of any evidence other than the
fact of the commission of the crime.
° Death must be a result of the crime
the accused is charged with and
convicted of – the killing must not
have merely aggravated such crime.
- The civil liability arising from
death may be the subject of a
separate civil action or
impliedly instituted with the
criminal action for murder or
homicide.
° Civil indemnity is to be awarded to
ALL compulsory heirs.
Interest
° Payment of sum of money, i.e., loan
or forbearance money
- interest due should be that
which may have been
stipulated IN WRITING
- in the absence of stipulation,
the rate of interest shall be
12% per annum
° Obligation not constituting a loan or
forbearance of money
- interest on the amount of
damages awarded may be
imposed at the discretion of
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Damages
the court at the rate of 6% per
annum (12% once the court
judgment becomes final and
executory)
- GR: no interest shall be
adjudged on unliquidated
claims or damages
- EXC: when or until the
demand can be established
with reasonable uncertainty
° When the judgment of the court
awarding a sum of money becomes
final and executory, the rate of legal
interest shall be 12% per annum from
such finality until its satisfaction.
- this interim period being
deemed to be by then an
equivalent to a forbearance
of credit
° Interest due shall earn legal interest
from the time it is judicially
demanded, although the obligation
may be silent upon this point.
Attorney’s Fees
° GR: Attorney’s fees cannot be
recovered as part of damages.
- no premium should be placed
on the right to litigate
° EXC: Art. 2208 of the NCC
- coupled with factual, legal
and equitable justification
- sufficient showing of bad
faith in the parties’
persistence of a case other
than an erroneous conviction
of the righteousness of his
cause
° Where recoverable, attorney’s fees
are also in the nature of actual
damages.
- they must be reasonable, that
is to say, they must have a
bearing on the importance of
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the subject matter in
controversy;
- the extent of the services
rendered;
- the professional standing of
the lawyers; and
- addressed in a full-blown
trial, and not on the bare
word of the parties
° Attorney’s fees as an item of
damages is an award in favor of the
litigant, not of his counsel.
- litigant is the judgment
creditor who may enforce the
judgment for attorney’s fees
by execution
° The reason for the award of
attorney’s fees must be stated in:
- the text of the court’s
decision; AND
- the dispositive portion of the
decision
- otherwise, the same shall be
disallowed
° Unlawful withholding of wages
- attorney’s fees should be
equivalent to 10% of the
amount of wages recovered
Subrogatory Right of Insurer
° Insurance company shall be
subrogated to the rights of the
insured against the wrongdoer if:
- plaintiff’s property has been
insured; and
- plaintiff has received
indemnity from the insurance
company
° If the amount paid by the insurance
company does not fully cover the
injury or loss, the aggrieved party
shall be entitled to recover the
deficiency from the person causing
the loss or injury.
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Damages
CHAPTER 3: MORAL DAMAGES
Nature and Concept
° Though incapable of pecuniary
computation, moral damages may be
recovered if they are the proximate
result of the defendant’s wrongful
act or omission.
- physical suffering, mental
anguish, fright, serious
anxiety, besmirched
reputation, wounded
feelings, moral shock, social
humiliation
- must somehow be
proportional to and in
approximation of the
suffering inflicted
- trial courts are given
discretion in determining the
amount, with the limitation
that it should not be palpably
and scandalously excessive
° Moral damages are not punitive in
nature, but are designed to
compensate and alleviate.
- aimed at restoration, as much
as possible, of the spiritual
status quo ante
Requirements for the grant of moral
damages
° There must be:
- a wrongful act or omission or
fraud or bad faith; AND
- pleading and proof of moral
suffering, mental anguish,
etc.
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° EXC:
- moral damages may be
awarded to the RAPE victim,
in such amount as the Court
deems just, without the need
for pleading or proof of the
basis thereof
- the UNLAWFUL KILLING of a
person entitles the heirs of
the deceased to moral
damages without need of
independent proof other
than the fact of the DEATH of
the victim
Instances where moral damages may be
recovered
° Criminal offense resulting in physical
injuries
° Quasi-delicts causing physical
injuries
- there can be no recovery of
moral damages unless the
quasi-delict resulted in
physical injury
° Seduction, abduction, rape or other
lascivious acts
- where a woman, who was an
insurance agent and former
high school teacher, around
36 years of age and
approximately 10 years older
than the man, “overwhelmed
by her love” for a man
approximately 10 years
younger than her, had
intimate relations with him,
because she “wanted to bind”
him “by having a fruit of their
engagement even before
they had the benefit of
clergy,” it CANNOT be said
that he is morally guilty of
seduction
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- RAPE: fixed amount of Php
75,000 plus civil indemnity in
the same amount
° Adultery or concubinage
° Illegal or arbitrary detention or arrest
° Illegal search
° Libel, slander or any other form of
defamation
- it is the publication of
anything which is injurious to
the good name or reputation
of another or tends to bring
him into disrepute
- words which are merely
insulting are not actionable as
libel or slander per se, and
mere words of general abuse
however opprobrious, ill-
natured, or vexatious, do not
constitute defamation in the
absence of an allegation for
special damages
- ‘truth’ is not a defense, unless
it is shown that the matter
charged as libelous was made
with good motives and for
justifiable ends
- “absolutely privileged
matters” are NOT actionable
regardless of the existence of
malice in fact (speeches or
debates made by members of
the Congress, etc.)
- “qualifiedly or conditionally
privileged communications”
render the writer or author
susceptible to a suit or finding
of libel; provided, the
prosecution established the
presences of bad faith or
malice in fact (private
communications; fair and
true report without any
comments or remarks)
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- “DOCTRINE OF FAIR
COMMENT” means that while
in general every discreditable
imputation publicly made is
deemed false, because every
man is presumed innocent
until his guilt is judicially
proved, and every false
imputation is deemed
malicious, nevertheless,
when the discreditable
imputation is directed against
a public person in his public
capacity, it is not necessarily
actionable.
- The DOFC presupposes that
the publication is based on
established facts.
- If the statement is sent
straight to a person of whom
it is written, there is no
publication of it; therefore, it
is not libelous.
- GROUP LIBEL: Defamation of
a large group does not give
rise to a cause of action on
the part of an individual
unless it can be shown that he
is the target of a defamatory
matter.
- Allegations and averments in
a lawyer’s pleadings are
absolutely privileged as long
as they are relevant or
pertinent to the issues.
° Malicious prosecution
- There must be proof that the
prosecution was prompted by
a sinister design to vex or
humiliate a person, and that it
was initiated deliberately by
the defendant knowing that
his charges were false and
groundless.
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Damages
- Malice is essential to the
maintenance of an action for
malicious prosecution and
not merely to the recovery of
exemplary damages.
Culpa Contractual Cases
° GR: Moral damages are not
recoverable.
° EXC: When the presence of bad faith
was proven.
° In breach of contract of carriage,
moral damages may be recovered
when it results in the death of a
passenger or in situations where the
negligence of the carrier is so gross
and reckless as to virtually amount to
bad faith.
- Bad faith, in this context
includes gross, but not simple
negligence.
Moral Damages in Favor of Corporation
° GR: A corporation cannot be
awarded moral damages because
“being an artificial person and having
existence only in legal
contemplation, it has no feelings, no
emotions, no senses.
- a juridical person is generally
not entitled to moral
damages because, unlike a
natural person, it cannot
experience physical suffering,
mental anguish, etc.
° EXC: A juridical person can validly
complain for libel or any other form
of defamation and claim for moral
damages.
Some Illustrative Cases
° Articles 19, 20 and 21 of the CC
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° The act of hitting a person on the face
is contrary to morals and good
customs
° Bigamy
° Willful injury to property may be a
legal ground for awarding moral
damages if the court should find that,
under the circumstances, such
damages are justly due
° Breach of promise to marry where
such promise was only a subtle
scheme to deceptive device to entice
or inveigle the victim to accept the
accused and to obtain consent to the
sexual act
° When it comes to contracts of
common carriage, inattention and
lack of care on the part of the carrier
resulting in the failure of the
passenger to be accommodated in
the class contracted for
° Where the suspension is brought
about by the non-payment of one’s
outstanding account, the dishonor is
held to be without malice and is not
in abuse of right
° Failure to record on videotape the
wedding celebration constitutes
malicious breach of contract as well
as gross negligence
° The writ of attachment based on a
false affidavit was improperly or
irregularly issued
- identical with or analogous to
the ordinary action for
malicious prosecution
° Illegal termination cases, such as
where “complainants’ dismissal was
carried out swiftly and surreptitiously
to the detriment and prejudice of
complainants’ tenurial rights
° Crime of kidnapping and failure to
return a minor is clearly analogous to
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Damages
illegal and arbitrary detention or
arrest
° One who suffered a permanent scar
at her forehead and the loss of her
right eye which undoubtedly gave
her mental anguish, wounded
feelings and shock
° Moral damages are NOT to be
awarded in actions for nullity of
marriage on ground of psychological
incapacity
- since psychological incapacity
means that one is truly
incognitive of the basic
marital covenants that one
must assume and discharge
as a consequence of
marriage, it removes the
basis for the contention that
the one purposely deceived
the other
CHAPTER 4: NOMINAL
DAMAGES
Nature and Concept
° Nominal damages are damages in
name only and not in fact.
- Where these are allowed,
they are not treated as an
equivalent of a wrong
inflicted, but simply in
recognition of the existence
of a technical injury
° Nominal damages are not intended
for indemnification of loss suffered
but for the vindication or recognition
of a right violated or invaded.
° In the absence of competent proof
on the actual damage suffered, one is
entitled to nominal damages.
TIPAY
° Nominal damages CANNOT co-exist
with compensatory damages.
° Where no right of petitioner was
violated or invaded, nominal
damages cannot be awarded.
- mere noncompliance with
the obligations of a contract is
not sufficient to sustain a
judgment for damages
- it must be shown that
damages actually existed
Instances where nominal damages are
adjudicated
° Dismissal of an employee is based on
a just cause (30k) or an authorized
cause (50k) but the employer failed
to comply with the notice
requirement. In fixing the amount,
consider the following:
- length of service or
employment of the dismissed
employee
- his salary or compensation at
the time of the termination of
employment vis-à-vis the
capability of the employer to
pay
- question of whether the
employer has deliberately
violated the requirements for
termination of employment
or has attempted to comply,
at least substantially
therewith
- reasons for termination of
employment
° Where bank allowed complete
strangers to take possession of the
owner’s duplicate certificate even if
the purpose is merely for
photocopying for a danger of losing
the same is more than imminent.
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CHAPTER 5: TEMPERATE ° It is wrong to award, along with

nominal damages, temperate or
DAMAGES moderate damages.
° Temperate damages may be
awarded if there is no evidence of
Nature and Concept burial and funeral expenses.
° Temperate or moderate damages,
which are more than nominal but less CHAPTER 6: LIQUIDATED
than compensatory damages, may be
recovered when the court finds that
DAMAGES
some pecuniary loss has been
suffered but is amount cannot, from
the nature of the case, be proved Nature and Concept
with certainty. ° Liquidated damages are those that
- Thus, in cases where the the parties agree to be paid in case of
amount of pecuniary losses a breach.
could, by their very nature, be - these damages take the
established with certainty, it nature of penalties
is error to award temperate
° No proof of loss is necessary in order
damages.
that the agreed upon liquidated
° If the factual findings of the court are
damages may be recovered.
that there is failure to establish such
° Attorney’s fees
pecuniary loss or, if proved, cannot
- not agreed upon à actual
from their nature be precisely
damages
quantified, temperate damages may
- agreed upon à liquidated
not be awarded, and the result
damages
comes down to only a possible award
° Liquidated damages shall be
of nominal damages.
equitably reduced if they are
° GR: Damages CANNOT be both actual
iniquitous or unconscionable.
and temperate.
° Liquidated damages are accessory
° EXC: In those situations where the
and subsidiary obligations
resulting injury might be continuing
- the nullity of the principal
and possible future complications
obligation carries with it the
directly arising from the injury, while
nullity of the accessory
certain to occur, are difficult to
obligation of liquidated
predict.
damages
- temperate damages can and
° When the breach of the contract
should be awarded on top of
committed by the defendant is not
actual or compensatory
one contemplated by the parties in
damages in instances where
agreeing upon the liquidated
the injury is chronic and
damages, the law shall determine the
continuing
measure of damages, and not the
stipulation.

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Damages
CHAPTER 7: EXEMPLARY
DAMAGES
Nature and Concept
° “Punitive” or “vindictive” damages
° These damages are intended to serve
as a deterrent to serious
wrongdoings and as a vindication of
undue sufferings and wanton
invasion of the rights of an injured or
a punishment for those guilty of
outrageous conduct.
° Requisites for the award
- 1st: they may be imposed by
way of example or correction
only in addition to
compensatory damages;
cannot be recovered as a
matter of right, their
determination depending
upon the amount of
compensatory damages
- 2nd: claimant must first
establish his right to moral,
temperate, liquidated or
compensatory damages
- 3rd: the wrongful act must be
accompanied by bad faith;
the award would be allowed
only if the guilty party acted
in a wanton, fraudulent,
reckless, oppressive or
malevolent manner
° The absence of actual damages,
nominal, temperate or
compensatory blocks the grant of
exemplary damages.
- while exemplary damages
cannot be recovered as a
matter of right, they need not
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be proved, although the
plaintiff must show that he is
entitled to moral, temperate
or compensatory damages
before the court may
consider the question of
whether or not exemplary
damages should be awarded
° A stipulation whereby exemplary
damages are renounced in advance
shall be NULL and VOID.
Instances where exemplary damages are
adjudicated
° Criminal offenses
- exemplary damages are
imposed when the crime is
committed with one or more
aggravating circumstances
- aggravating circumstances,
even if not so alleged, when
proven to have attended the
commission of the crime,
entitle the complainant to
exemplary damages
° Quasi-delicts
- such damages are granted if
the defendant is shown to
have been so guilty of gross
negligence as to approximate
malice
° Contracts and quasi-contracts
- the court may award such
damages if the defendant is
found to have acted in
wanton, fraudulent,
oppressive, reckless or
malevolent manner
- gross carelessness or
negligence constitutes
wanton misconduct
° The fare of the passenger includes
payment of politeness. Award of
exemplary damages is warranted.
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Damages
° Exemplary damages are also
awarded in maritime disasters.
° Illegal termination
- awarded if the dismissal was
effected in a wanton,
oppressive or malevolent
manner
° The SC affirmed the award of
exemplary damages in order to serve
warning to the city or cities
concerned to be more conscious of
their duty and responsibility to their
constituents, especially when they
are engaged in construction work or
when there are manholes on their
sidewalks or streets which are
uncovered, to immediately cover the
same, in order to minimize or
prevent accidents.
° Sexual violence inflicted upon the 8-
year old child
° Raping a married woman after
forcibly abducting her, in the
presence of her husband
° Raping a pregnant woman
° Raping a woman while already
lifeless
° Cannibalism
° Homemade firearms used to
perpetrate the killing
° Carelessness of a bank
CHAPTER 8: ASSESSMENT OF
DAMAGES
Guiding Principle
° Judicial discretion granted to the
courts in the assessment of damages
must always be exercised with
balanced restraint and measured
objectivity.
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- amount of moral damages
should be commensurate
with the actual loss or injury
suffered.
° Crimes
- damages to be adjudicated
bay be respectively increased
or lessened according to the
aggravating or mitigating
circumstances
° Quasi-delicts
- contributory negligence of
the plaintiff shall reduce the
damages that he may recover
° Mitigating damages in quasi-delicts
and quasi-contracts
- that the plaintiff himself has
contravened the terms of the
contract
- that the plaintiff has derived
some benefit as a result of the
contract
- that the defendant acted
upon the advice of counsel
- that the loss would have
resulted in any event
- that since the filing of the
action, the defendant has
done his best to lessen the
plaintiff’s loss or injury
° Doctrine of Avoidable Consequences
- a party cannot recover
damages flowing from the
consequences which that
party could reasonably have
avoided
- the party suffering loss or
injury must exercise the
diligence of a good father of a
family to minimize the
damages
- arises AFTER the wrongful act
of the defendant as opposed
to the doctrine of
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contributory negligence
which occurs either before or
during
° A person whose constitutional rights
have been violated or impaired is
entitled to actual and moral damages
from the public officer or employee
responsible.
- good faith is not a defense
- that the privilege of writ of
habeas corpus has been
suspended is no defense;
what is suspended is merely
the right of the individual to
seek release from detention
through the writ of habeas
corpus as a speedy means of
obtaining his liberty

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