Published — March 13, 2021
The following post does not create a lawyer-client relationship between Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices (or any of its lawyers) and the reader. It is still best for you to engage the services of your own lawyer to address your legal concerns, if any.
Also, the matters contained in the following were written in accordance with the law, rules, and jurisprudence prevailing at the time of writing and posting, and do not include any future developments on the subject matter under discussion.
Read also: When business owners could be held liable for damages
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Damages may be actual or compensatory, moral, nominal, temperate or moderate, liquidated, or exemplary or corrective.
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One is entitled to an adequate compensation only for such pecuniary loss suffered by him as he has duly proved.
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Indemnification for damages shall comprehend not only the value of the loss suffered, but also that of the profits which the obligee failed to obtain.
The word “damages” involve any and all manifestations of life: physical or material, moral or psychological, mental or spiritual, financial, economic, social, political and religious. Under the Civil Code, Damages may be:
- Actual or compensatory;
- Moral;
- Nominal;
- Temperate or moderate;
- Liquidated; or
- Exemplary or corrective.
What are actual or compensatory damages?
The law states that:
Except as provided by law or by stipulation, one is entitled to an adequate compensation only for such pecuniary loss suffered by him as he has duly proved. Such compensation is referred to as actual or compensatory damages.
Indemnification for damages shall comprehend not only the value of the loss suffered, but also that of the profits which the obligee failed to obtain.
In contracts and quasi-contracts, the damages for which the obligor who acted in good faith is liable shall be those that are the natural and probable consequences of the breach of the obligation, and which the parties have foreseen or could have reasonably foreseen at the time the obligation was constituted.
In case of fraud, bad faith, malice or wanton attitude, the obligor shall be responsible for all damages which may be reasonably attributed to the non-performance of the obligation.
In crimes and quasi-delicts, the defendant shall be liable for all damages which are the natural and probable consequences of the act or omission complained of. It is not necessary that such damages have been foreseen or could have reasonably been foreseen by the defendant.
The party suffering loss or injury must exercise the diligence of a good father of a family to minimize the damages resulting from the act or omission in question.
In crimes, the damages to be adjudicated may be respectively increased or lessened according to the aggravating or mitigating circumstances.
Damages may be recovered:
- For loss or impairment of earning capacity in cases of temporary or permanent personal injury;
- For injury to the plaintiff’s business standing or commercial credit.
In Algarra vs Sandejas (G.R. No. L-8385, March 24, 1914), the Court further explained that:
The purpose of the law in awarding actual damages is to repair the wrong that has been done, to compensate for the injury inflicted, and not to impose a penalty. Actual damages are not dependent on nor graded by the intent with which the wrongful act is done.” (Field vs. Munster, 11 Tex. Civ., Appl., 341, 32 S. W., 417.) “The words “actual damages” shall be construed to include all damages that the plaintiff may he has suffered in respect to his property, business, trade, profession, or occupation, and no other damages whatever.” (Gen Stat. Minn. 1894, sec., 5418.) “Actual damages are compensatory only.” (Lord, Owen and Co. vs. Wood, 120 Iowa, 303, 94 N. W., 842.) ” `Compensatory damages’ as indicated by the word employed to characterize them, simply make good or replace the loss caused by the wrong. They proceed from a sense of natural justice, and are designed to repair that of which one has been deprived by the wrong of another.” (Reid vs. Terwilliger, 116 N. Y., 530; 22 N. E., 1091.) “Compensatory damages’ are such as awarded to compensate the injured party for caused by the wrong, and must be only such as make just and fair compensation, and are due when the wrong is established, whether it was committed maliciously — that is, with evil intention — or not. (Wimer vs. Allbaugh, 78 Iowa, 79; 42 N. W., 587; 16 Am. St. Rep., 422.)
Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices specializes in business law and labor law consulting. For inquiries, you may reach us at info@alburolaw.com, or dial us at (02)7745-4391/0917-5772207.
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