It must be stressed “that possession and ownership are distinct legal concepts.  Ownership exists when a thing pertaining to one person is completely subjected to his will in a manner not prohibited by law and consistent with the rights of others.  Ownership confers certain rights to the owner, one of which is the right to dispose of the thing by way of sale. On the other hand, possession is defined as the holding of a thing or the enjoyment of a right.  Literally, to possess means to actually and physically occupy a thing with or without right.

Proximate legal cause is defined as "that acting first and producing the injury, either immediately or by setting other events in motion, all constituting a natural and continuous chain of events, each having a close causal connection with its immediate predecessor, the final event in the chain immediately effecting the injury as a natural and probable result of the cause which first acted, under such circumstances that the person responsible for the first event should, as an ordinarily prudent and intelligent person, have reasonable ground to expect at the moment of his act or default that an injury to some person might probably result therefrom.

There is "grave abuse of discretion" where there is a capricious and whimsical exercise of judgment amounting to lack of jurisdiction or where the power is exercised in an arbitrary and despotic manner by reasons of passion or personal hostility, and it is so patent and gross as to amount to an invasion of positive duty or to a virtual refusal to perform the duty enjoined or to act at all in contemplation of law.

It bears stressing that a worker’s employment is property in the constitutional sense.  He cannot be deprived of his work without due process.  In order for the dismissal to be valid, not only must it be based on just cause supported by clear and convincing evidence, the employee must also be given an opportunity to be heard and defend himself. It is the employer who has the burden of proving that the dismissal was with just or authorized cause. The failure of the employer to discharge this burden means that the dismissal is not justified and that the employee is entitled to reinstatement and backwages.

Common carriers are persons, corporations, firms or associations engaged in the business of carrying or transporting passengers or goods or both, by land, water, or air, for hire or compensation, offering their services to the public, whether to the public in general or to a limited clientele in particular, but never on an exclusive basis. The true test of a common carrier is the carriage of passengers or goods, providing space for those who opt to avail themselves of its transportation service for a fee.