LAW ON PROPERTY | HIDALGO ENTERPRISES, INC. VS BALANDAN G.R. NO. L-3422, JUNE 13, 1952
HIDALGO ENTERPRISES, INC. VS BALANDAN
G.R. NO. L-3422, JUNE 13, 1952
TOPIC/DOCTRINE
The attractive nuisance
doctrine generally is not applicable to bodies of water, artificial as well as
natural, in the absence of some unusual condition or artificial feature other
than the mere water and its location.
FACTS
Hidalgo Enterprises, Inc. "was the owner
of an ice-plant factory in the City of San Pablo, Laguna, in whose premises
were installed two tanks full of water, nine feet deep, for cooling purposes of
its engine. The factory was fenced; however, anyone could easily enter the
factory because there was no guard assigned on the gate. The tanks were also
not provided with any fence or covers.
Guillermo Bandalan and Anselma Anila’s son,
Mario, barely eight years old, entered the factory’s premises through the gate
to take a bath in one of the tanks and while thus bathing, Mario sank to the
bottom of the tank, only to be fished out later, already a cadaver, having died
of "asphyxia secondary to drowning."
The Court of Appeals and the Court of First
Instance decided in favor of the parents, Guillermo Balandan and Anselam Anila
saying that Hidalgo Enterprises Inc maintained an attractive nuisance (the
tanks) and is liable for damages because it neglected to adopt the necessary
precautions to avoid accident to person entering its premises.
ISSUE
Whether
the tanks are attractive nuisance.
RULING
No.
The court ruled that the doctrine of
attractive nuisance states that one who maintains on his premises dangerous
instrumentalities or appliances of a character likely to attract children in
play, and who fails to exercise ordinary care to prevent children from playing
therewith or resorting thereto, is liable to a child of tender years who is
injured thereby, even if the child is technically a trespasser in the premises.
The attractive nuisance doctrine generally is not applicable to bodies of
water, artificial as well as natural, in the absence of some unusual condition
or artificial feature other than the mere water and its location.