GR 156294; (November, 2006) (Digest)
G.R. No. 156294 ; November 29, 2006
MELVA THERESA ALVIAR GONZALES, Petitioner, vs. RIZAL COMMERCIAL BANKING CORPORATION, Respondent.
FACTS
Petitioner Melva Theresa Alviar Gonzales, an RCBC employee, presented for encashment a foreign check for $7,500 payable to her mother, Eva Alviar, who had endorsed it. Pursuant to an employee accommodation allowing early encashment, Gonzales presented the check to RCBC officer Olivia Gomez. Gomez examined it, had Gonzales endorse it, and then herself signed the check’s back with the annotation “up to ₱17,500.00 only” before authorizing its encashment. After two other RCBC officers also approved it, Gonzales received the peso equivalent. The drawee bank dishonored the check twice, first for “END. IRREG” (irregular endorsement) and later for “account closed.”
RCBC demanded payment from Gonzales. She agreed to repayment via salary deductions, which commenced. After she resigned, RCBC filed a sum of money case against her, her husband, and Alviar. The Regional Trial Court held Alviar liable as principal debtor and Gonzales as a guarantor. The Court of Appeals affirmed but deleted the attorney’s fees award.
ISSUE
Whether petitioner Gonzales is liable to RCBC for the value of the dishonored check.
RULING
No. The Supreme Court reversed the CA and dismissed RCBC’s complaint. The legal logic centers on the cause of the check’s dishonor. The drawee bank initially refused payment due to an irregular endorsement (“END. IRREG”). The Court found that the only irregularity on the instrument was the qualified endorsement made by RCBC’s own employee, Olivia Gomez, who limited her endorsement to “up to ₱17,500.00 only.” This act introduced the defect that caused the dishonor.
Consequently, RCBC, through its employee, was responsible for rendering the check uncollectible. Gonzales, who received the funds in good faith under a special employee accommodation, cannot be held liable as an accommodation party or guarantor for an instrument rendered defective by the respondent bank’s own action. The agreement for salary deduction was not deemed fully voluntary given Gonzales’s vulnerable position as a rank-and-file employee. Thus, RCBC was ordered to reimburse the deducted amount with interest and to pay moral and exemplary damages and attorney’s fees to Gonzales.