G.R. No. 105138 August 5, 1993
BANCO FILIPINO SAVINGS AND MORTGAGE BANK, petitioner, vs. HON. COURT OF APPEALS, HON. JESUS ARLEGUI, PRESIDING JUDGE OF BRANCH VIII, REGIONAL TRIAL COURT, LEGASPI CITY, WILFREDO DELOS SANTOS & GRACE CO DELOS SANTOS, respondents.

FACTS

Defendant Cecilia O. Fernandez mortgaged her properties to petitioner Banco Filipino’s Naga Branch. Due to her failure to comply with the mortgage terms, the bank initiated extrajudicial foreclosure proceedings. Prior to the scheduled auction sale, the bank’s Legaspi Branch Manager, Angie Janer, informed private respondent Grace Co Delos Santos about the foreclosure and her interest in purchasing the property. Delos Santos met with Fernandez’s daughter, who stated the selling price was P350,000.00. Fernandez informed Delos Santos that the bank required a P100,000.00 remittance to forestall the auction. Delos Santos verified this arrangement with the bank’s Naga Branch Manager, Domingo Claro, who confirmed it. Delos Santos then issued a PCIB check for P100,000.00 payable to Banco Filipino for Fernandez’s account and delivered it to Janer, who issued a personal receipt describing it as “earnest money.” Janer and Fernandez delivered the check to the Naga Branch, which issued an official receipt. The bank subsequently withdrew the foreclosure proceedings. Delos Santos later learned the property was sold to another buyer, Rita Samarista, who also paid P100,000.00 to the bank for Fernandez’s account. The bank treated both payments as “floating” and considered Delos Santos’s payment as an account payable to her. The trial court and the Court of Appeals held both Fernandez and Banco Filipino jointly and severally liable for damages to Delos Santos.

ISSUE

Whether petitioner Banco Filipino is liable for damages based on quasi-delict for the acts of its branch managers, Angie Janer and Domingo Claro.

RULING

No. The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals and dismissed the complaint against petitioner Banco Filipino. The Court found that the branch managers’ acts did not constitute a quasi-delict for which the bank could be held liable under Article 2180 of the Civil Code. Angie Janer received the check in her personal capacity, as evidenced by the receipt issued on ordinary paper, not an official bank receipt. The bank was merely the mortgagee, not the owner of the property, and thus could not issue a receipt for earnest money for its sale. The Court also found no credible evidence that Domingo Claro assured Delos Santos that paying P100,000.00 would make her the owner upon assuming the mortgage balance. The registered owner was Fernandez, and the decision to sell to another buyer was hers. There was no evidence the bank managers induced Fernandez to sell to a third party. Private respondents were not clients of the bank, and their claim of betrayed faith and confidence was misplaced. Their failure to secure a written commitment from Fernandez before payment was a risk of their own negotiation.