CASE # 01 GR No. 156262 TITLE: Maria Tuazon, Alejandro Tuazon, Melencio Tuazon, Spouses Anastacio and Mary Buenaventura, Ramos, defendant NATURE OF ACTION: Petition for Review PONENTE: Panganiban, J.
petitioner s vs. Heirs of Bartolome
FACTS: •
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This case arose from failure of the petitioners to pay the respondents predecessor-in-interest ( deceased Bartolome Ramos. The chec! in issue was indorsed by the petitioner (Tua"on in favor of the said predecessor. The petitioners #eonilo and $aria (Tua"on purchased %,&' cavans of rice from Bartolome Ramos. )nly *,*&+ cavans were paid leaving unpaid &,%% cavans with value of P ,',.. ,',.. /n payment, the spouses issued several chec!s. The chec!s bounced due to insufficiency of funds.
Side of the Petitione: 0enied the purchase of rice from Bartolome and alleged that it was $agdalena Ramos (his wife owned and traded the merchandise. They also alleged that $aria Tua"on was merely $agdalena1s agent. They argued that 2vangeline 3antos (the one who issued the chec!s was the buyer of the rice, and the chec!s were merely turned over by $aria to Bartolome, without !nowing that these were not funded. They argued that they were mere agents and should not be held answerable. They alleged that 3antos should be primarily liable to Ramos because she was the one who had purchased the merchandise from Bartolome as evidenced by the chec!s that had been drawn in her name. The petitioners also alleged that their personal properties were sold because they were meeting financial difficulties and they were valued in good faith. Side of the !efend"nt: The Tua"ons already !new that they had no available funds to support the chec!s, and anticipated that they will be sued. Thus, they e4ecuted fictitious sales of their properties (residential house and lot and a Toyota Toyota RTC R$in%: •
/n favor of the plaintiffs (Bartolome and against the defendants (Tua"on, ordering ordering the defendants to pay the plaintiffs as follows5 ,+6,6. 7 interest8 6,. attorney1s fees8 ',. ',. moral damages8 and pay the cost of suit. o
CA R$in%: 9ppeal is 0/3$/3320 0/3$/3320 and the the decision is 9::/R$20. 9::/R$20. ISSUES: 1. ;)< $aria Tua"on was considered as an agent of Bartolome Ramos '. ;on 2vangeline 3antos was an indispensable party &EL!: No. The declarations of agents alone are generally insufficient to establish the fact or e4tent of their authority. The law ma!es no presumption of agency8 agency8 proving its nature and e4tent e4tent is incumbent incumbent upon the person person alleging it. The petitioners petitioners raise the fact of agency as an affirmative affirmative defense, yet fail to prove its e4istence. Their filing a suit against her in their own names negates their claim that they acted as mere agents in selling the rice obtained from Bartolome Ramos. •
No. There is no privity of contract between the respondents and 3antos. $aria Tua"on indorsed the =uestioned chec!s in favor of the respondent, as indorser, in case the chec!s were dishonored, she would pay the corresponding amount. 9fter 9fter an instrument is dishonored by nonpayment, indorsers cease to be merely secondarily liable8 they become principal debtors whose liability becomes identical to that of the original obligor.
!OCTRINE: /n a 'ont"'t of "%en'(, "%en'(, one binds oneself to render some service or to do something in representation or on behalf of another , with the latters consent or authority. The following are the elements of agency5 o ( the parties consent, e4press or implied, to establish the relationship8 o (' the ob>ect, which is the e4ecution of a >uridical act in relation to a third person8 o (& the representation, by which the one who acts as an agent does so, not for oneself, but as a representative8 o (* the limitation that the agent acts within the scope of his or her authority. 9s the basis of agency is representation, there must be, on the part of the principal, an actual intention to appoint, an intention naturally inferable inferable from the principals principals words or actions. actions. /n the same manner, manner, there there must be an intention intention on the part of the agent to accept the appointment and act upon it. 9bsent such mutual intent, there is generally no agency.
