ABC company is a money remittance company and its main source of income is the

collection of service charges for Pera Padala. For a fee, their customers, the
‘sender(s)’, will send money to the ‘receiver(s)’ who will be allowed to ‘pick up’ the
money sent to him or her at a designated branch of ABC Company. Is ABC Company
considered to be engaged in the business of transportation? Will your answer be the
same if the money will be delivered directly to the address of receiver? Why or why
not? Explain fully. *

Yes, ABC Company is engaged in the business of transportation. There is a contract of

transportation when a person obligates himself to transport persons or property from one
place to another for a consideration. In this case, ABC Corp as the carrier agrees to deliver or
transport the money for a fee that is to be paid by the shipper. Meanwhile, the consideration of
the sender is the promise of ABC Corp to transport the money. Consent by the parties are also
given and the object would be the prestation which is the transportation of the money. Thus,
there exists a valid contract of transportation.

Yes, they are still engaged in the business of transportation for ABC Corp obligates themselves
to transport the money from one place to the address of the receiver for a fixed price. There
exists a contract of carriage of goods.

A owns a bike rental shop in Burnham Park in Baguio City. It offers for lease its
bicycles, three wheeled bikes and bikes with a side car. Upon rental, the customer can
drive it around the designated area in the park for a specific period of time. However,
in case the customer, perhaps a child, does not know how to ride the bike, A’s bike
rental shop also offers a ‘driver’ that can drive the bike and the customer will be a
passenger. In this case, the customer can choose and direct the direction and
destination of the bike as long as it is still within the designated are for bikes in the
park. Any customer availing the services of a driver is not required to pay A an
additional amount but will pay the designated driver a ‘tip’ of at least Php50 per hour.
Can A or his drivers be considered as common carriers? Why or why not? Explain. *

Yes, A and his drivers are common carriers. In a similar case, Spouses Cruz vs. Sun
Holidays, the Court ruled that Article 1732 of the Civil Code does not distinguish
between a carrier who offers services or solicits business only from a narrow segment
of the general population. It also avoid making any distinction between a person or
enterprise offering transportation service on a regular or scheduled basis and one
offering such service on an occasional, episodic or unscheduled basis.
A and his drivers are considered to be common carriers for its offer of a driver that can
drive the bike and the customer is intertwined with its main business, bike rental, as to
be properly considered ancillary thereto. Further, this kind of offer may be availed by
anyone who will accept it and afford to give a tip of 50 pesos per hour.

Due to the strict health protocols, delivery personnel from various merchants can no
longer go inside AAA Commercial Building which is 25 floors. Thus, the receipt of
deliveries are only allowed at a designated area in the façade of the building’s ground
floor. This has cause extreme inconvenience to the occupants of the building. Thus,
with the consent of the building administrators, the security guards of BBB Security
Agency, the security agency engaged by AAA Commercial Building, made an
arrangement such that the off-duty guards will be the ones to accept the deliveries and
thereafter deliver the items to consignees in their respective units. The consignees
availing of the guards’ services pay a fixed fee of Php20 per delivery. The guard who
made the delivery is entitled to the whole Php20. This arrangement has been in place
since March 2020 and still being conducted at present. Can the guards be considered
common carriers? *

Yes, the guards are considered to be common carriers. Article 1732 makes no distinction
between one whose principal business activity is the carrying of persons or goods or both, and
one who does such carrying only as an ancillary activity. The guards are common carriers even
though the act of delivering the items to consignees is not related to their principal job for they
provide such service during their day off. Further, the guards charged their customers a fixed
fee of 20 pesos for delivering their items. Hence, even if the delivery of items was ancillary to
their job as security guards, they are still considered to be as a common carrier.