G.R. No. L-222; April 26, 1950
Salvacion F. Vda. de Eduque, etc., plaintiff-appellee, vs. Jose M. Ocampo, defendant-appellant.

FACTS

Dr. Jose Eduque obtained two loans, one for P40,000 and another for P15,000, secured by a mortgage on real property. The mortgage contract stipulated that any of the mortgage creditors could receive payment and execute the cancellation of the mortgage debts. On December 6, 1943, during the Japanese occupation, the administratrix of Dr. Eduque’s estate tendered payment of the total loan amount (P55,000) to defendant-appellant Jose M. Ocampo, one of the creditors, using a cashier’s check. Ocampo refused to accept payment. The administratrix subsequently filed an action and deposited a cashier’s check for P55,000 with the court. The lower court rendered judgment compelling Ocampo to accept the amount deposited, issue deeds of cancellation, and pay the expenses of consignation and costs. Ocampo accepted the judgment for the P15,000 loan but appealed regarding the P40,000 loan, arguing that tender of payment by means of a cashier’s check representing Japanese war notes was invalid.

ISSUE

Was the tender of payment by means of a cashier’s check, representing Japanese military notes, valid and binding upon the creditor?

RULING

Yes. The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s judgment. It held that Japanese military notes were legal tender during the Japanese occupation. Furthermore, the appellant never raised the specific objection against the use of a cashier’s check in the lower court. On the contrary, he impliedly accepted the consignation by asking the court to deliver to him the P15,000 from the consigned amount. The Court cited the rule that a cashier’s check may constitute a sufficient tender where no objection is made on that ground. Therefore, the consignation was valid and binding.

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