Facts: Benito Macam, doing business under name Ben-Mac Enterprises, shipped on board vessel Nen-Jiang, owned and operated by respondent China Ocean Shipping Co. through local agent Wallem Philippines Shipping Inc., 3,500 boxes of watermelon covered by Bill of Lading No. HKG 99012, and 1,611 boxes of fresh mangoes covered by Bill of Lading No. HKG 99013. The shipment was bound for Hongkong with PAKISTAN BANK as consignee and Great Prospect Company of Rowloon (GPC) as notify party.
Upon arrival in Hongkong, shipment was delivered by respondent WALLEM directly to GPC, not to PAKISTAN BANK and without the required bill of lading having been surrendered. Subsequently, GPC failed to pay PAKISTAN BANK, such that the latter, still in possession of original bill of lading, refused to pay petitioner thru SOLIDBANK. Since SOLIDBANK already pre-paid the value of shipment, it demanded payment from respondent WALLEM but was refused. MACAM constrained to return the amount paid by SOLIDBANK and demanded payment from WALLEM but to no avail.
WALLEM submitted in evidence a telex dated 5 April 1989 as basis for delivering the cargoes to GPC without the bills of lading and bank guarantee. The telex instructed delivery of various shipments to the respective consignees without need of presenting the bill of lading and bank guarantee per the respective shipper’s request since “for prepaid shipt ofrt charges already fully paid.” MACAM, however, argued that, assuming there was such an instruction, the consignee referred to was PAKISTAN BANK and not GPC.
The RTC ruled for MACAM and ordered value of shipment. CA reversed RTC’s decision.
Issue: Are the respondents liable to the petitioner for releasing the goods to GPC without the bills of lading or bank guarantee?
Held: It is a standard maritime practice when immediate delivery is of the essence, for shipper to request or instruct the carrier to deliver the goods to the buyer upon arrival at the port of destination without requiring presentation of bill of lading as that usually takes time. Thus, taking into account that subject shipment consisted of perishable goods and SOLIDBANK pre-paid the full amount of value thereof, it is not hard to believe the claim of respondent WALLEM that petitioner indeed requested the release of the goods to GPC without presentation of the bills of lading and bank guarantee.
To implement the said telex instruction, the delivery of the shipment must be to GPC, the notify party or real importer/buyer of the goods and not the PAKISTANI BANK since the latter can very well present the original Bills of Lading in its possession. Likewise, if it were the PAKISTANI BANK to whom the cargoes were to be strictly delivered, it will no longer be proper to require a bank guarantee as a substitute for the Bill of Lading. To construe otherwise will render meaningless the telex instruction. After all, the cargoes consist of perishable fresh fruits and immediate delivery thereof the buyer/importer is essentially a factor to reckon with.
We emphasize that the extraordinary responsibility of the common carriers lasts until actual or constructive delivery of the cargoes to the consignee or to the person who has a right to receive them. PAKISTAN BANK was indicated in the bills of lading as consignee whereas GPC was the notify party. However, in the export invoices GPC was clearly named as buyer/importer. Petitioner also referred to GPC as such in his demand letter to respondent WALLEM and in his complaint before the trial court. This premise draws us to conclude that the delivery of the cargoes to GPC as buyer/importer which, conformably with Art. 1736 had, other than the consignee, the right to receive them was proper.
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