G.R. No. L-19645 April 29, 1966
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellant, vs. MARIA (MARUJA) P. VDA. DE YULO, ET AL., defendants, Luis F. RIVILLA, defendant-appellee.

FACTS

The Republic of the Philippines filed a complaint to recover a sum of money from Maria Vda. de Yulo, Luis F. Rivilla, and Mariano Pacheco. The complaint alleged that on several occasions in 1943, Maria P. Vda. de Yulo, “for herself and through defendants Luis F. Rivilla and Mariano Pacheco,” obtained loans from the Bank of Taiwan, Ltd., evidenced by seventeen promissory notes. As security, Maria P. Vda. de Yulo executed a chattel mortgage on her hacienda. The assets of the Bank of Taiwan, including these loans, were eventually transferred to the Republic of the Philippines. Defendant-appellee Luis F. Rivilla filed a motion to dismiss the complaint against him on the grounds of prescription and insufficiency of the allegations to constitute a valid cause of action. The Court of First Instance of Manila issued an order dismissing the complaint as against Rivilla, prompting the Republic’s appeal.

ISSUE

Whether the complaint alleged a sufficient cause of action against defendant-appellee Luis F. Rivilla.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the order of dismissal. The Court found that a perusal of the promissory notes attached to the complaint showed that appellee Rivilla signed some of them merely as an agent of Maria P. Vda. de Yulo. This was corroborated by the complaint’s own allegation that the loans were obtained by Maria P. Vda. de Yulo “for herself and through” Rivilla and Pacheco, and by the fact that the chattel mortgage was signed solely by Maria P. Vda. de Yulo and constituted on her exclusive property. Therefore, the complaint failed to state a sufficient cause of action against Rivilla.