G.R. No. L‑2563
November 23, 1906

FACTS
Ricardo Nolan (plaintiff) sued Antonio Salas (defendant) to recover a credit of ₱690.18 assigned to him by Tan Yngco. The trial court entered judgment in Nolan’s favor for the amount of the three notes actually presented ₱110 6/10 reales and 10 cuartos and discharged Salas for the balance, without expressly awarding costs. Nolan appealed, contending that the balance of ₱690.18 was proven by (1) entries in a bookkeeping ledger kept by the deceased Chinese cashier, Salvador Sia‑Cayco, and (2) testimony of Tan Yngco that the amounts were owed. The entries were in Chinese characters, read by a plaintiff witness. No one testified to having seen Salvador himself make those entries, nor was any handwriting comparison offered.

ISSUE
Whether the ledger entries, authored by a deceased person, may be admitted as prima facie evidence under Section 328 of the Philippine Code of Civil Procedure to establish the existence and amount of the alleged debt.

RULING
The Supreme Court held that Section 328 requires (a) satisfactory proof of the manuscript’s authenticity, (b) identification of the deceased’s handwriting, and (c) indication that the entry was made at or near the time of the transaction. None of these requisites were met: the authenticity of Salvador’s handwriting was unproven, no contemporaneity of the entries was shown, and the only testimony concerning the book was hearsay. Consequently, the ledger entries could not constitute prima facie evidence of the indebtedness. The appellate court affirmed the trial court’s judgment in all respects, ordered costs against the appellant, and remanded the case for execution.