GR L 13075; (December, 1960) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-13075, December 29, 1960
CO CHIN LENG, plaintiff-appellee, vs. EUGENIO MINTU, represented by PERPETUA BUHAIN MINTU, administratrix of the ESTATE of EUGENIO MINTU, defendant-appellant.
FACTS
The plaintiff, Co Chin Leng, filed an amended complaint in the Court of First Instance of Manila to recover the sum of P35,000, excluding interests and costs. The defendant, Eugenio Mintu (represented by his estate’s administratrix), raised the defense of payment and filed a counterclaim for P14,000 in damages. The trial court rendered judgment in favor of the plaintiff for P30,000 with 5% annual interest from April 8, 1955, plus costs. The defendant appealed, raising mixed questions of law and fact through several assigned errors. These errors challenged the trial court’s rejection of the defense of payment via tender and consignation of Japanese notes, its classification of the guaranteed obligation as joint, its failure to recognize an alleged amicable settlement of P40,000 in Philippine currency as discharging the debt, and its refusal to apply the Ballantyne scale of values for the Japanese currency obligation.
ISSUE
The resolution does not explicitly state a singular, dispositive legal issue. However, based on the assigned errors, the core issues presented for appeal involve mixed questions of law and fact concerning: (1) the validity of the defense of payment through tender and consignation of Japanese war notes; (2) the nature (joint or solidary) of the guaranty obligation; (3) the effect of an alleged amicable settlement and dismissal of a related case on the mortgage debt; and (4) the applicability of the Ballantyne scale to the obligation.
RULING
The Supreme Court, in a Resolution, did not rule on the merits of the assigned errors. Instead, it certified the defendant’s appeal to the Court of Appeals. This certification was made pursuant to Sections 31, 29, and 17(3)(5) of Republic Act No. 296 (The Judiciary Act of 1948), as amended by Republic Act No. 2613 , as the appeal raised mixed questions of law and fact.