SECTION 4.

- Common Carriers (n)

SUBSECTION 1. - General Provisions
Art. 1732. Common carriers are persons, corporations, firms or associations engaged in
the business of carrying or transporting passengers or goods or both, by land, water, or
air, for compensation, offering their services to the public.
Art. 1733. Common carriers, from the nature of their business and for reasons of public
policy, are bound to observe extraordinary diligence in the vigilance over the goods and
for the safety of the passengers transported by them, according to all the circumstances
of each case.
Such extraordinary diligence in the vigilance over the goods is further expressed in
Articles 1734, 1735, and 1745, Nos. 5, 6, and 7, while the extraordinary diligence for the
safety of the passengers is further set forth in Articles 1755 and 1756.
SUBSECTION 2. - Vigilance Over Goods
Art. 1734. Common carriers are responsible for the loss, destruction, or deterioration of
the goods, unless the same is due to any of the following causes only:
(1) Flood, storm, earthquake, lightning, or other natural disaster or calamity;
Art. 1739. In order that the common carrier may be exempted
from responsibility, the natural disaster must have been the
proximate and only cause of the loss. However, the common
carrier must exercise due diligence to prevent or minimize loss
before, during and after the occurrence of flood, storm or other
natural disaster in order that the common carrier may be
exempted from liability for the loss, destruction, or deterioration
of the goods. The same duty is incumbent upon the common
carrier in case of an act of the public enemy referred to in Article
1734, No. 2.
Art. 1740. If the common carrier negligently incurs in delay in
transporting the goods, a natural disaster shall not free such
carrier from responsibility.

(2) Act of the public enemy in war, whether international or civil;

(3) Act of omission of the shipper or owner of the goods;
Art. 1741. If the shipper or owner merely contributed to the loss,
destruction or deterioration of the goods, the proximate cause
thereof being the negligence of the common carrier, the latter

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shall be liable in damages, which however, shall be equitably

reduced.

(4) The character of the goods or defects in the packing or in the containers;
Art. 1742. Even if the loss, destruction, or deterioration of the
goods should be caused by the character of the goods, or the
faulty nature of the packing or of the containers, the common
carrier must exercise due diligence to forestall or lessen the loss.

(5) Order or act of competent public authority.

Art. 1743. If through the order of public authority the goods are
seized or destroyed, the common carrier is not responsible,
provided said public authority had power to issue the order.

Art. 1735. In all cases other than those mentioned in Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the
preceding article, if the goods are lost, destroyed or deteriorated, common carriers are
presumed to have been at fault or to have acted negligently, unless they prove that they
observed extraordinary diligence as required in Article 1733.
Art. 1736. The extraordinary responsibility of the common carrier lasts from the time
the goods are unconditionally placed in the possession of, and received by the carrier for
transportation until the same are delivered, actually or constructively, by the carrier to
the consignee, or to the person who has a right to receive them, without prejudice to the
provisions of Article 1738.
Art. 1737. The common carrier's duty to observe extraordinary diligence over the goods
remains in full force and effect even when they are temporarily unloaded or stored in
transit, unless the shipper or owner has made use of the right of stoppage in transitu.
Art. 1738. The extraordinary liability of the common carrier continues to be operative
even during the time the goods are stored in a warehouse of the carrier at the place of
destination, until the consignee has been advised of the arrival of the goods and has had
reasonable opportunity thereafter to remove them or otherwise dispose of them.
Art. 1744. A stipulation between the common carrier and the shipper or owner limiting
the liability of the former for the loss, destruction, or deterioration of the goods to a
degree less than extraordinary diligence shall be valid, provided it be:
(1) In writing, signed by the shipper or owner;
(2) Supported by a valuable consideration other than the service rendered by the
common carrier; and
(3) Reasonable, just and not contrary to public policy.
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Art. 1745. Any of the following or similar stipulations shall be considered unreasonable,
unjust and contrary to public policy:
(1) That the goods are transported at the risk of the owner or shipper;
(2) That the common carrier will not be liable for any loss, destruction, or
deterioration of the goods;
(3) That the common carrier need not observe any diligence in the custody of the
goods;
(4) That the common carrier shall exercise a degree of diligence less than that of
a good father of a family, or of a man of ordinary prudence in the vigilance over
the movables transported;
(5) That the common carrier shall not be responsible for the acts or omission of
his or its employees;
(6) That the common carrier's liability for acts committed by thieves, or of
robbers who do not act with grave or irresistible threat, violence or force, is
dispensed with or diminished;
(7) That the common carrier is not responsible for the loss, destruction, or
deterioration of goods on account of the defective condition of the car, vehicle,
ship, airplane or other equipment used in the contract of carriage.
Art. 1746. An agreement limiting the common carrier's liability may be annulled by the
shipper or owner if the common carrier refused to carry the goods unless the former
agreed to such stipulation.
Art. 1747. If the common carrier, without just cause, delays the transportation of the
goods or changes the stipulated or usual route, the contract limiting the common
carrier's liability cannot be availed of in case of the loss, destruction, or deterioration of
the goods.
Art. 1748. An agreement limiting the common carrier's liability for delay on account of
strikes or riots is valid.
Art. 1749. A stipulation that the common carrier's liability is limited to the value of the
goods appearing in the bill of lading, unless the shipper or owner declares a greater
value, is binding.
Art. 1750. A contract fixing the sum that may be recovered by the owner or shipper for
the loss, destruction, or deterioration of the goods is valid, if it is reasonable and just
under the circumstances, and has been fairly and freely agreed upon.
Art. 1751. The fact that the common carrier has no competitor along the line or route,
or a part thereof, to which the contract refers shall be taken into consideration on the
question of whether or not a stipulation limiting the common carrier's liability is
reasonable, just and in consonance with public policy.
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Art. 1752. Even when there is an agreement limiting the liability of the common carrier
in the vigilance over the goods, the common carrier is disputably presumed to have been
negligent in case of their loss, destruction or deterioration.
Art. 1753. The law of the country to which the goods are to be transported shall govern
the liability of the common carrier for their loss, destruction or deterioration.
Art. 1754. The provisions of Articles 1733 to 1753 shall apply to the passenger's baggage
which is not in his personal custody or in that of his employee. As to other baggage, the
rules in Articles 1998 and 2000 to 2003 concerning the responsibility of hotel-keepers
shall be applicable.

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