Damnum absque injuria
Damages resulting from a person's valid exercise of a right, is damnum absque injuria. In Diaz v. Davao Light and Power Co., Inc., the Supreme Court further expounded, to wit:
Petitioner may have suffered damages as a result of the filing of the complaints. However, there is a material distinction between damages and injury. Injury is the illegal invasion of a legal right; damage is the loss, hurt or harm which results from the injury; and damages are the recompense or compensation awarded for the damage suffered. Thus, there can be damage without injury in those instances in which the loss or harm was not the result of a violation of a legal duty. In such cases, the consequences must be borne by the injured person alone; the law affords no remedy for damages resulting from an act which does not amount to a legal injury or wrong. These situations are often called damnum absque injuria. Whatever damages Diaz may have suffered would have to be borne by him alone since it was his acts which led to the filing of the complaints against him.
ADDITIONAL READINGS:
[1]ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation v. CA, 361 Phil. 499, 532 (1999).
[2] 549 Phil. 271 (2007).
[2] 549 Phil. 271 (2007).
