Causo Fortuito
Causo fortuito sounds like an escape route—and in law, sometimes it is. But don't get too comfortable. To qualify for this defense that exempts you from responsibility, you need to check three boxes:
The Three-Part Test:
Independence — The event must be independent of human will
Impossibility — It must render fulfilling your obligation impossible in a normal manner
Clean Hands — You must be free of participation in, or aggravation of, the injury
The catch? There must be an entire exclusion of human agency from the cause of injury or loss. No shortcuts. No "maybe I could have prevented it." Either you did everything right, or you're liable.
The Carrier's Dilemma
Here's where it gets real: if you're a carrier who fails to safely deliver a passenger to their destination, don't blame your car's defects or your driver's negligence on causo fortuito.
Why? Because neither defects in the automobile nor driver negligence count as an act of God. They count as your responsibility.
You had the obligation. You had the ability to fulfill it. You didn't. That's on you—not on fate.
Reference: Vasquez vs. CA, 138 SCRA 553 (1985)
