Facts: 

Mariano Soriano was the principal of the Gabaldon Primary School in Pangasinan while Edgardo Aquino was a teacher therein. The school had several concrete blocks which were remnants of the old school shop destroyed in World War II. Aquino decided to help clear the area. So after the classes, he gathered 18 of his male pupils,  aged 10-11, and ordered them to dig beside a one-ton concrete block in making a hole where the stone can be buried. The following day he called 4 of the 18 students, including Novelito Ylarde to complete the excavation. When the depth was right enough to accommodate the concrete block, Aquino and his four pupils got out of the hole. Aquino left the children to level the loose soil while he went to see another teacher for the key to the school workroom where he can get some rope. Before leaving, he told the children “not to touch the stone”.  After he left, 3 of the children playfully jumped into the pit. Then, without any warning at all, the remaining one jumped on top of the concrete block causing it to slide down towards the opening. Unfortunately, Novelito Ylarde was pinned to the wall which led to his death 3 days after.  The parents of Ylarde filed a suit for damages against both Aquino and Soriano.


Issues: 

Can Aquino and Soriano be held liable for damages?


Held: 

 Under Article 2180 of the Civil Code, it is only the teacher and not the head of an academic school who should be answerable for torts committed by their students while in a school of arts and trades, it is only the head of the school who can be held liable. It was held in Amadora vs. Court of Appeals that:

Where the school is academic rather than technical or vocational in nature, responsibility for the tort committed by the student will attach to the teacher in charge of such student, following the first part of the provision. This is the general rule. In the case of establishments of arts and trades, it is the head thereof, and only he, who shall be held liable as an exception to the general rule. In other words, teachers in general shall be liable for the acts of their students except where the school is technical in nature, in which case it is the head thereof who shall be answerable. Following the canon of reddendo singula sinquilis 'teachers' should apply to the words "pupils and students' and 'heads of establishments of arts and trades to the word "apprentices."

 Hence, applying the said doctrine to this case, we rule that private respondent Soriano, as principal, cannot be held liable for the reason that the school he heads is an academic school and not a school of arts and trades. Besides, as clearly admitted by private respondent Aquino, private respondent Soriano did not give any instruction regarding the digging.

 From the foregoing, it can be easily seen that private respondent Aquino can be held liable under Article 2180 of the Civil Code as the teacher-in-charge of the children for being negligent in his supervision over them and his failure to take the necessary precautions to prevent any injury on their persons. 

 it is very clear that private respondent Aquino acted with fault and gross negligence when he: (1) failed to avail himself of services of adult manual laborers and instead utilized his pupils aged ten to eleven to make an excavation near the one-ton concrete stone which he knew to be a very hazardous task; (2) required the children to remain inside the pit even after they had finished digging, knowing that the huge block was lying nearby and could be easily pushed or kicked aside by any pupil who by chance may go to the perilous area; (3) ordered them to level the soil around the excavation when it was so apparent that the huge stone was at the brink of falling; (4) went to a place where he would not be able to check on the children's safety; and (5) left the children close to the excavation, an obviously attractive nuisance.

 The negligent act of private respondent Aquino in leaving his pupils in such a dangerous site has a direct causal connection to the death of the child Ylarde. Left by themselves, it was but natural for the children to play around. Everything that occurred was the natural and probable effect of the negligent acts of private respondent Aquino. Needless to say, the child Ylarde would not have died were it not for the unsafe situation created by private respondent Aquino which exposed the lives of all the pupils concerned to real danger. (Ancheta vs. Ancheta, G.R. No. 145370, March 4, 2004)