Concept:
Article 1267. When the service has
become so difficult as
to be manifestly beyond the
contemplation of the parties, the
obligor
may also be released therefrom, in whole or in part.
Facts:
·
Guerrero
is the President and Chairman of the “Guerrero Transport Services” (GTS), a
single proprietorship. IN 1972, the GTS won a bidding to operate a fleet of
taxicabs in Subic. As the highest bidder, Guerrero was required to have four
door, four wheel, radio controlled, meter controlled and sedans taxi services.
·
Guerrero and Magat, General
Manager of the Spectrum Electronic Laboratories, executed a letter-contract for
the purchase of transceivers at $77,620.59 FOB, Yokohoma. Magat was to deliver within
the 60-90 days after receiving from the Guerrero the assigned frequency. Magat then contacted his Japanese supplier
(Koide & Co., Ltd.) and placed an order for the transceivers.
·
On
Sept. 22, 1972, in the event of the Martial Law, the then President Marcos issued
the Letter of Instructions (LOI) no. 1 which stated: “SEIZURE AND CONTROL OF ALL PRIVATELY OWNED NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES,
RADIO AND TELEVISION FACILITIES AND ALL OTHER MEDIA OF COMMUNICATION.”, said LOI was for the prevention of Propaganda actions
against the government.
·
On Sept. 25, 1972. Pursuant to the
LOI, the Radio Control Office issued Administrative Circular no. 4, which
stated: “SUSPENDING THE ACCEPTANCE AND PROCESSING
OF APPLICATIONS FOR RADIO STATION CONSTRUCTION PERMITS AND FOR PERMITS TO OWN AND/OR
POSSESS RADIO TRANSMITTERS OR TRANSCEIVERS”. said circular suspended the
sale and purchase of radio transmitters or transceivers.
·
The permit to import the
transceivers was denied because of the Martial Law
·
Guerrero was not able to obtain
the necessary letter of credit. He then did not continue with the contract.
Issue:
W/ON there is a breach of contract
Held:
No. The law provides that when the service has
become so difficult as
to
be manifestly beyond the contemplation of the parties, the obligor may also be
released therefrom, in whole or in part. Here in the case, the denial of permit
to import resulted the non compliance of the obligation and the inability to
secure the letter of credit.
No comments:
Post a Comment