A. WHAT IS A COMMON CARRIER? - Persons, corporations, firmsor
associationsengagedinthebusinessofcarrying or transporting
passengers or goods or both, by land, water, or air,for
compensation, offeringtheir services tothepublic.(Art. 1732,
CivilCode).- One that holds itself out as ready to engage in the
transportation of goodsfor hire as a public employment and not as a
casual occupation. (De Guzmanvs. Court of Appeals, No. L-47822,
December 22, !88"B. CHARACTERISTICS OF A COMMON CARRIER Art. 173 of
the !ivil !ode avoids any distinction between one whoseprincipal
business is the carrying of persons or goods or both, and onewho
does such carrying only as an ancillary activity "sideline#. $t
alsoavoidsadistinctionbetweenapersonor
enterpriseofferingtransportation service on a regular or scheduled
basis and one offeringsuch service on an occasional, episodic or
unscheduled basis. Article 173 does not distinguish between a
carrier offering its servicesto the general public, that is the
general community or population, andone who offers services or
solicits business only froma narrowsegment of the general
population. A personorentityisacommoncarrierevenif hedidnot
securea!ertificate of Public !onvenience %he !ivil !ode ma&es
no distinction as to the means of transporting,as long as it is by
land, water or air. %he !ivil !ode does not provide that the
transportation should be bymotor vehicle. A person or entity may be
a common carrier even if he has no fi'edpublicly &nown route,
maintains no terminals, and issues no tic&ets.
(nderta&estocarryforall
peopleindifferentlyandthusisliableforrefusal withoutsufficient
reason(Last#mosovs. Dol#ente, $ %C&A ,'!()"* !annot lawfully
decline to accept a particular class of goods forcarriage to the
pre)udice of the traffic in these goods* +o monopoly is favored
(+atan,as -rans. vs. .rlanes, /2 01#l. 4//"* Provides public
convenience.C. TESTS WHETHER A PARTY IS A COMMON CARRIER OF GOODS:
$t must be engaged in the business of carrying goods for others as
apublicemployment andmust holditself out
asreadytoengageinthetransportationof
goodsgenerallyasabusinessandnot asacasualoccupation* $t must
underta&e to carry goods of the &ind to which its business
isconfined* $t must
underta&etocarrybythemethodbywhichhisbusinessisconducted and
over its established roads* andTRANSPORTATION LAW: Lawrence e!!re"
De#!$n% F#er$&a E''a Man(#$c')*% Mar+ ),e-. M/-a,%Me#an$e
Pa,c/a% G$#0er* R$ca!)r*e% Rena*) Se(/0$en,e r.% 1a*#een Grace
Serran)% Mar" ane T$'0an(1 %he transportation must be for hire.
(2#rst 01#l#pp#ne 3n4ustr#al Corp. v.CA, $55 %C&A ((, '!!8"Test
whether a party is a common carrierFIRST PHILIPPINE IND2STRIAL
CORP. 3S. CO2RT OF APPEALS4565 SCRA 775% 5889:Fac*,: Petitioner is
a grantee of a pipeline concession under ,.A. +o. 3-7, asamended,
acontract,installand operate oilpipelines.
%heoriginalpipelineconcessionwasgrantedin1./7andrenewedbythe0nergy,egulatory1oard
in 1...2ometime in 3anuary 1..4, petitioner applied for a mayor5s
permit withthe Office of the 6ayor of 1atangas !ity. 7owever,
before the mayor5s permitcould be issued, the respondent !ity
%reasurer re8uired petitioner to pay alocal ta' based on its gross
receipts for the fiscal year 1..3 pursuant to the9ocal :overnment
!ode. %he respondent !ity %reasure assessed a businessta' on the
petitioner amounting to P.4/,;7/.;< payable in four
installmentsbased on the gross receipts for products pumped at
:P2-1 for the fiscal year1..3 which amounted to P1-1,/-1,141.;;. in
order not to hamper itsoperations, petitioner paidtheta'under
protest intheamount of P3.,;1..;1 for the first 8uarter of
1..3.On3une14, 1..common carrier? may be defined, broadly, as one
who holds himselfout tothepublicasengagedinthebusinessof
transportingpersonsorproperty from place to place, for
compensation, offering his services to thepublic
generally.TRANSPORTATION LAW: Lawrence e!!re" De#!$n% F#er$&a
E''a Man(#$c')*% Mar+ ),e-. M/-a,%Me#an$e Pa,c/a% G$#0er*
R$ca!)r*e% Rena*) Se(/0$en,e r.% 1a*#een Grace Serran)% Mar" ane
T$'0an(
Article173of the!ivil !odedefinesa>commoncarrier?
as>anyperson, corporation, firm or association engaged in the
business of carryingor transportingpassengers or goods or both,
byland, water, or air, forcompensation, offering their services to
the public.%he test for determining whether a party is a common
carrier of goodsis=1. 7emust beengagedinthecarryingof goodsfor
othersasapublicemployment, and must hold himself out as ready to
engage in thetransportationof goodsor
personsgenerallyasabusinessandnot asacasual occupation.. 7emust
underta&etocarrygoodsof
the&indtowhichhisbusinessisconfined*3. 7emust
underta&etocarrybythemethodbywhichhisbusinessisconducted and
over his established roads* and