UNIVERSITY OF THE EAST, petitioner, vs. ROMEO A. JADER, respondent.
G.R. No. 132344. February 17, 2000.
FACTS:
Plaintiff was enrolled in the defendants’ College of Law from 1984 up to 1988. In the first semester of his last year (School year 1987-1988), he failed to take the regular final examination in Practice Court I for which he was given an incomplete grade . He enrolled for the second semester as fourth year law student and on February 1, 1988 he filed an application for the removal of the incomplete grade given him by Professor Carlos Ortega which was approved by Dean Celedonio Tiongson after payment of the required fee. He took the examination on March 28, 1988. On May 30, 1988, Professor Carlos Ortega submitted his grade. It was a grade of five (5).
The 35th Investitures & Commencement Ceremonies for the candidates of Bachelor of Laws was scheduled on the 16th of April 1988, and in the invitation for that occasion the name of the plaintiff appeared as one of the candidates. At the foot of the list of the names of the candidates there is an annotation stating that the same is a tentative list.
The plaintiff attended the investiture ceremonies and he was thereafter handed by Dean Celedonio a rolled white sheet of paper symbolical of the Law Diploma. He tendered a blow-out that evening which was attended by neighbors, friends and relatives who wished him good luck in the forthcoming bar examination. He thereafter prepared himself for the bar examination. He took a leave of absence without pay from his job from April 20, 1988 to September 30, 1988 and enrolled at the pre-bar review class in Far Eastern University . Having learned of the deficiency he dropped his review class and was not able to take the bar examination.
Consequently, respondent sued petitioner for damages alleging that he suffered moral shock, mental anguish, serious anxiety, besmirched reputation, wounded feelings and sleepless nights when he was not able to take the 1988 bar examinations arising from the latter’s negligence. He prayed for an award of moral and exemplary damages, unrealized income, attorney’s fees, and costs of suit.
RTC’s Decision:
WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing judgment is hereby rendered in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendant ordering the latter to pay plaintiff the sum of THIRTY FIVE THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED SEVENTY PESOS (P35,470.00) with legal rate of interest from the filing of the complaint until fully paid, the amount of FIVE THOUSAND PESOS (P5,000.00) as attorney’s fees and the cost of suit.
CA’s Decision:
WHEREFORE, in the light of the foregoing, the lower Court’s Decision is hereby AFFIRMED with the MODIFICATION that defendant-appellee, in addition to the sum adjudged by the lower court in favor of plaintiff-appellant, is also ORDERED to pay plaintiff-appellant the amount of FIFTY THOUSAND (P50,000.00) PESOS for moral damages. Costs against defendant-appellee.
ISSUE:
Whether or not UE has liability to Romeo Jader, considering that the proximate and immediate cause of the alleged damages incurred by the latter arose out of his own negligence in not verifying from the professor concerned the result of his removal exam.
RULING:
Petitioner, in belatedly informing respondent of the result of the removal examination, particularly at a time when he had already commenced preparing for the bar exams, cannot be said to have acted in good faith.
Article 19 was intended to expand the concept of torts by granting adequate legal remedy for the untold number of moral wrongs which is impossible for human foresight to provide specifically in statutory law. Schools and professors cannot just take students for granted and be indifferent to them, for without the latter, the former are useless.
Petitioner’s liability arose from its failure to promptly inform respondent of the result of an examination and in misleading the latter into believing that he had satisfied all requirements for the course.
“It is apparent from the testimony of Dean Tiongson that defendant-appellee University had been informed during the deliberation that the professor in Practice Court I gave plaintiff-appellant a failing grade. Yet, defendant-appellee still did not inform plaintiff-appellant of his failure to complete the requirements for the degree nor did they remove his name from the tentative list of candidates for graduation. Worse, defendant-appellee university, despite the knowledge that plaintiff-appellant failed in Practice Court I, again included plaintiff-appellant’s name in the “tentative” list of candidates for graduation which was prepared after the deliberation and which became the basis for the commencement rites program. Dean Tiongson reasons out that plaintiff-appellant’s name was allowed to remain in the tentative list of candidates for graduation in the hope that the latter would still be able to remedy the situation in the remaining few days before graduation day. Dean Tiongson, however, did not explain how plaintiff-appellant Jader could have done something to complete his deficiency if defendant-appellee university did not exert any effort to inform plaintiff-appellant of his failing grade in Practice Court I.
However, while petitioner was guilty of negligence and thus liable to respondent for the latter’s actual damages, we hold that respondent should not have been awarded moral damages. We do not agree with the Court of Appeals’ findings that respondent suffered shock, trauma and pain when he was informed that he could not graduate and will not be allowed to take the bar examinations. At the very least, it behooved on respondent to verify for himself whether he has completed all necessary requirements to be eligible for the bar examinations. As a senior law student, respondent should have been responsible enough to ensure that all his affairs, specifically those pertaining to his academic achievement, are in order. Given these considerations, we fail to see how respondent could have suffered untold embarrassment in attending the graduation rites, enrolling in the bar review classes and not being able to take the bar exams. If respondent was indeed humiliated by his failure to take the bar, he brought this upon himself by not verifying if he has satisfied all the requirements including his school records, before preparing himself for the bar examination. Certainly, taking the bar examinations does not only entail a mental preparation on the subjects thereof; there are also prerequisites of documentation and submission of requirements which the prospective examinee must meet.
WHEREFORE, the assailed decision of the Court of Appeals is AFFIRMED with MODIFICATION. Petitioner is ORDERED to PAY respondent the sum of Thirty-five Thousand Four Hundred Seventy Pesos (P35,470.00), with legal interest of 6% per annum computed from the date of filing of the complaint until fully paid; the amount of Five Thousand Pesos (P5,000.00) as attorney’s fees; and the costs of the suit. The award of moral damages is DELETED.
