Gan v. Law Union

J. B. L., J.:

Qua Chee Gan, a merchant of Albay, instituted this action in 1940, in the Court of First Instance of said province, seeking to recover the proceeds of certain fire insurance policies totalling P370,000, issued by the Law Union & Rock Insurance Co., Ltd., upon certain bodegas and merchandise of the insured that were burned on June 21, 1940. The records of the original case were destroyed during the liberation of the region, and were reconstituted in 1946. After a trial that lasted several years, the Court of First Instance rendered a decision in favor of the plaintiff, the dispositive part whereof reads as follows: Wherefore, judgment is rendered for the plaintiff and against the defendant condemning the latter to pay the former - (a) Under the first cause of action, the sum of P146,394.48; (b) Under the second cause of action, the sum of P150,000; (c) Under the third cause of action, the sum of P5,000; (d) Under the fourth cause of action, the sum of P15,000; and (e) Under the fifth cause of action, the sum of P40,000; all of which shall bear interest at the rate of 8% per annum in accordance with Section 91 (b) of the Insurance Act from September 26, 1940, until each is paid, with costs against the defendant.

The complaint in intervention of the Philippine National Bank is dismissed without costs. (Record on Appeal, 166-167.) From the decision, the defendant Insurance Company appealed directly to this Court. The record shows that before the last war, plaintiff-appellee owned four warehouses or bodegas (designated as Bodegas Nos. 1 to 4) in the municipality of Tabaco, Albay, used for the storage of stocks of copra and of hemp, baled and loose, in which the appellee dealth extensively.

They had been, with their contents, insured with the defendant Company since 1937, and the lose made payable to the Philippine National Bank as mortgage of the hemp and crops, to the extent of its interest. On June, 1940, the insurance stood as follows: Policy No. Property Insured Amount 2637164 (Exhibit "LL") Bodega No. 1 (Building) P15,000.00 2637165 (Exhibit "JJ") Bodega No. 2 (Building) 10,000.00 Bodega No. 3 (Building) 25,000.00 Bodega No. 4 (Building) 10,000.00 Hemp Press - moved by steam engine 5,000.00 2637345 (Exhibit "X") Merchandise contents (copra and empty sacks of Bodega No. 1) 150,000.00 2637346 (Exhibit "Y") Merchandise contents (hemp) of Bodega No. 3 150,000.00 2637067 (Exhibit "GG") Merchandise contents (loose hemp) of Bodega No. 4 5,000.00 Total