Brillo vs. Court of
Appeals, 260 SCRA 383, G.R. No. 109090, August 07, 1996
Subject: Transportation Law
FACTS
Daily Overland
Express, Inc. was a forwarding business that charged freight for goods from
Legaspi City to Manila. Brillo Handicrafts, Inc. was one of its regular
customers, with an outstanding balance of P153,204.10. Daily filed a complaint
in December 1990 for the balance, claiming it was exorbitant and overstated.
The matter was referred to a certified public accountant, who calculated the
liability as P109,741.66 and the defendant's insisted rate of P2.20 per ton per
kilometer. The trial court had to determine which computation was applicable in
the case. The Regional Manager of the Land Transportation Franchising and
Regulatory Board informed the trial court that the fixed rate was issued by the
Philippine Federation of Petroleum Haulers Association, not Daily.
ISSUE
Whether or not
appellant is liable for the balance of freight.
RULING
Yes, the applicable
rate for freight charges should be the one agreed upon by the parties, and it
should have the force of law between them, if a party has already partially
paid the amount and did not object to the rate being charged, they cannot
belatedly challenge the amount being collected. Estoppel may set in if a party
has engaged in a business relationship for a ling time without objecting to the
billing.
In this case,
appellant has engaged the trucking services of plaintiff years before this
litigation. Plaintiff has been charging freight rates to which defendant never
objected. it would have been easily for appellant to manifest its objection to
plaintiff's billing from the start of their business relations, but it did not.
Appellant was silent for so long a time until this suit was filed against it.
It was too late, estoppel had already set in.
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