NextGen Day

In a claim filed by a prominent physician for delayed luggage in 1998, the Supreme Court (SC) upheld a Davao court ruling against KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

The top court, in a recent ruling written by Associate Justice Ramon Paul L. Hernando, decided to give Dr. Jose M. Tiongco merely PHP350,000 in damages, plus attorney’s fees and interest. The Davao Regional Trial Court (RTC) had originally awarded PHP3.6 million.

The United Nations-World Health Organization (UN-WHO) invited Tiongco, a distinguished surgeon and one of the founders of the Medical Mission Group Hospital and Health Services in Davao City, to be a keynote speaker at Almaty, Kazakhstan in November 1998.

Due to the lack of a direct flight from Manila to Almaty, Tiongco had to fly to Singapore on Singapore Airlines, then connect to his main carrier, KLM, for flights to Amsterdam and Frankfurt, and then to Almaty.

He missed his fourth journey from Frankfurt to Almaty because the airplane left Amsterdam 45 minutes late. Tiongco was informed of his predicament and was then booked by KLM to fly to Istanbul on Lufthansa and then to Almaty.

Tiongco had no choice but to board the trip to Almaty without his bags as a result of the schedule change.

Tiongco showered and changed into slacks and a sweatshirt when he arrived at the hotel where the UN-WHO convention would be held.

He proceeded to the lower level, where the conference would be held.

Tiongco, on the other hand, was first denied access to the site due to his unsuitable dress.

Tiongco informed the organizers that his suitcase, which included his clothes and critical materials for his address, had been missing during his travel.

He was only allowed inside the venue after that. Tiongco then proceeded to give his lecture without any of his visual aids and while dressed inappropriately.

After he finished speaking, a few of the audience members approached him and requested his resource materials. However, because the materials were also in his missing luggage, he was unable to hand them to them.

Tiongco returned to the Philippines three months later with no word of his luggage’s location, so he addressed the three airlines for compensation in March 1999. Under international air travel standards, airlines’ liability is restricted to USD20 per kilo, according to the carriers.

The Davao RTC ruled that KLM is completely responsible for the damages caused by the missing bag and that it failed to handle it with extreme caution. It stated that as the airline that issued the tickets, KLM is the contract’s primary and is responsible for the acts and omissions of the other airlines with whom it authorized the flight’s other legs.

The airline “displayed indifference to Tiongco’s misery and discomfort” and “made empty assurances that his luggage would be flying with him, even failing to inform Tiongco that his suitcase had been discovered,” according to the court.

“Moreover, even when the suitcase was located, it did not return it to him,” the court stated.

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