G.R. No.

73905 September 30, 1991

MICHAEL T. DAVA, petitioner,
vs.
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES and the INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURT, respondents.
KV. Faylona & Associates for petitioner.
FERNAN, C.J .:p
On October 19, 1975, while driving a car along Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong, Rizal, petitioner Michael
T. Dava, then holder of non-professional driver's license No. 1474427
1
with official receipt No.
7023037,
2
bumped pedestrians Bernadette Roxas Clamor and Dolores E. Roxas, causing death to
former and physical injuries to the latter.
As a consequence of said incident, Dava was brought to Mandaluyong Police headquarters where his
driver's license was confiscated by Cpl. Daniel Severino who later submitted Dava's driver's license to the
fiscal's office in Pasig, Rizal. license was thereafter presented as prosecution evidence in criminal case
for homicide and serious physical injuries reckless imprudence filed against Dava in the then Court First
Instance of Rizal in Pasig.
3

On April 12, 1978, Antonio Roxas, the brother of Bernadette and the father of Dolores, saw Dava driving
a maroon Volkswagen (beetle-type) car with plate No. AD-902 B. Knowing that Dava's driver's license
was used as an exhibit in court and that no traffic violation receipt had been issued to Dava, Roxas
sought the help of then Minister of Defense Juan Ponce Enrile in apprehending Dava for driving without a
license.
4
The Ministry of Defense later indorsed Roxas' request for assistance to the Constabulary
Highway Patrol Group (CHPG).
At around 7:30 in the evening of July 21, 1978, M/Sgt. Domingo Lising and S/Sgt. Arturo Viduya of the
CHPG saw the maroon Volkswagen car described by Roxas parked in front of the Uniwide Department
Store near the then Nation theater in Cubao, Quezon City. When the driver and his companion arrived,
Lising and Viduya confronted them and asked the driver for his license. They were shown non-
professional driver's license No. 2706887
5
with official receipt No. 0605870
6
issued by Agency 2L
Pampanga in the name of Michael T. Dava. When asked about the source of his license, Dava informed
them that his officemate had secured it for him.
Lising and Viduya invited Dava to the CHPG office in Camp Crame, Quezon City for questioning. Dava
refused to give a statement upon the advice of his lawyer. Lising then submitted a spot report to Col.
Maristela stating therein that "subject had violated Section 31 of RA 4136 for false representation in the
application of a driver's license intended to be used as a legal license."
7
In his affidavit of apprehension
dated November 16, 1978, Lising stated that he was 'about to book him for violation of Section 31 of Rep.
Act 4136, when subsequent investigation revealed that the Driver's License above-mentioned is a Fake
and a Falsity' and therefore a case for falsification and use of falsified documents under Section 172 of
the Revised Penal Code should be filed against Dava.
8
Lising concluded that Dava's driver's license was
fake because when he compared it with the xerox copy of Dava's license which was attached to the
record of the criminal case in Pasig, the signatures and the dates of birth indicated in the two licenses did
"not tally."
9

Accordingly, an information for falsification of a public document was filed against Dava in the then Court
of First Instance of Rizal, Branch V at Quezon City.
10
One of the prosecution witnesses was Caroline
Vinluan of the Angeles City branch of the Bureau of Land Transportation (BLT). He testified that hen was
then the registrar of the said office when Dava's driver' license was brought to him by lawyer Jose
Francisco who was interested in knowing whether it was genuine or fake and if was issued by the
Angeles City agency of the BLT. He examine it and found out that it was "fake or illegally issued" because
form No. 2706887 was one of the fifty (50) forms which had been reported missing from their office
sometime in November, 1976 and that it was never issued to any applicant for a license.
11
He added that
any license that was not included their office index card was considered as "coming from illegal source'
and "not legally issued by any agency."
12

Vinluan stated that although the form used for the license was genuine,
13
the signature of the issuing
official was fake.
14
He "believed" certain persons had been apprehended for "plasticization" of licenses
outside their office
15
and that sometime November, 1976, agents of the National Bureau of Investigation
raided the house of a certain person who had in his possession some of the forms which had been
missing from office.
16
He concluded that the license was fake because the form was issued by the central
office to the Angeles agency, the license appeared on its face to have been issued the San Fernando,
Pampanga agency.
17

Dava was convicted of the crime charged. He appealed to then Court of Appeals
18
which affirmed the
lower court's decision on January 29, 1982. Dava filed a motion for reconsideration of the said decision
contending that the lower court had no jurisdiction to try the case. On April 27, 1982, the Court of Appeals
reversed and set aside its decision and issued a resolution the dispositive portion of which reads:
WHEREFORE, as prayed for, our decision is hereby reconsidered and set aside, and
another judgment shall be entered annulling the proceedings in the court a quo without
prejudice to the refiling of the charges with the proper court. (Rollo, pp. 35-36.)
Consequently, the case was refiled with the Regional Trial Court of Pampanga, Branch 47 at San
Fernando as Criminal Case No. 2422. The information for falsification of a public document reads as
follows:
That on or about the 12th day of April, 1978, and for sometime prior thereto, in the
municipality of San Fernando, province of Pampanga, Philippines, and within the
jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused MICHAEL T. DAVA, a
private individual, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously falsify or cause to
be falsified, a Non-Professional Driver's license with Serial No. 2706887 covered by
Official Receipt No. 0605870, dated January 24, 1978, a public document, by making it
appear that the signatories therein who are officials of the Pampanga LTC Agency
participated in the preparation thereof, when in truth and in fact they did not so participate
and the accused made use of the same knowing it to be falsified.
ALL CONTRARY TO LAW.
At the trial, the prosecution presented Antonio Roxas who testified on how he saw Dava driving a car and
that, knowing that Dava's license had been confiscated as a result of the filing of the homicide and
serious physical injuries through reckless imprudence case, he thereafter sought the assistance of then
Minister Enrile in apprehending Dava for driving without a license.
19
For his part, Domingo Lising, who
apprehended Dava, narrated in court how he first saw Daya driving a car along Banahaw and N.
Domingo Sts. in Quezon City until he finally confronted Dava at the vicinity of the Araneta Coliseum and
confiscated his driver's license. As earlier stated, he conclude that the driver's license shown to him by
Dava was fake because he noticed that, when compared with the license attached to record of the
criminal case filed against Dava, the license confiscated bore a different signature and date of birth.
20

Daniel Severino, a sergeant of the Mandaluyong police, testified that he investigated the traffic incident
along Shaw Boulevard on October 19, 1975 which involved Dava and the two relatives of Antonio Roxas.
He himself confiscated Dava's no professional driver's license No. 1474427 which he later turn over to the
fiscal's office.
21

In the course of Severino's testimony, the defense counsel informed the court that, upon a resolution of
the Court of Appeals, Dava was allowed by the lower court having jurisdiction over Criminal Case No.
16474 to withdraw his driver's license 1474427 from the records of said case.
22
When confronted by the
court, Dava volunteered that he withdrew said license in December, 1982 and surrendered it to the BLT
Western District Office so that he could renew his license.
23
Hence, the evidence presented before the
Court was a mere xerox copy of said license
24
which also bears a notation that Dava received original
driver's license and its receipt on December 15, 1982.
25

Victor Martin, who had been the head of the San Fernando Pampanga branch of the BLT and whose
name appears registrar thereof in official receipt No. 0605870 which was supposed to be attached to
Dava's driver's license No. 270688 admitted that the form of the said license was genuine although he
could not tell whether its contents were likewise genuine because it was "opened" and "spliced."
26
He
asserted, however, that since the said form "did not emanate" from his office and "a facsimile was not
printed" over his name, said license was "not OK".
27

Martin said that he was informed by the property section of the BLT regional office that the number in the
license was one of "the numbers requisitioned by (the) Angeles City agency."
28
He affirmed that drivers
license No. 2706887 "was not issued by (their) agency"
29
although when recalled to the stand, he
admitted that the "2L" filled in the space for "Agency Code No." on the face of license No. 2706887
referred to the San Fernando agency.
30
Martin also confirmed the genuineness of official receipt No.
0605870 although it was his assistant who signed it for him
31
and affirmed that the amount of P10.00
indicated therein had been collected and received by his office.
32

Lawyer Jose Francisco testified that he went to the Angeles City office of the BLT to see its chief and
inquire about the number of driver's license issued to Dava and whether said office had indeed issued
them. According to him, the head of the office, Caroline Vinluan, advised him to verify from the index card
in the possession of the License Division head whether the Angeles City agency had indeed issued
Dava's license.
33
Thereafter, the officer-in-charge of the License Division of the BLT in East Avenue,
Quezon City, Leonardo R. Medina, issued a certification dated December 24, 1979 to the effect that non-
professional drivers license No. 2706887 in the name of Dava was "not registered in (their) Index
Card."
34

Francisco also informed the court that Carolino Vinluan, the former head of the Angeles City BLT agency,
had died on May 12, 1980.
35
He offered in evidence Vinluan's death certificate as Exh. J.
Another evidence presented by the prosecution was the transcript of stenographic notes of the testimony
of Carolino Vinluan which was taken on January 8, 1980 at the trial of Criminal Case No. Q-10759 before
the then Court of First Instance Rizal, Branch V at Quezon City. It was marked as Exh. K said exhibit was
part of the record of Criminal Case No. 10759 which was transmitted to the Regional Trial Court
Pampanga.
36

The defense presented only one witness: Felizardo Manalili. A friend of Dava and his former co-trainee at
the Sandoz Philippines, a pharmaceutical firm, Manalili testified that Dava quested him to secure a
driver's license for him because he had none. Manalili went to the San Fernando office of the Land
Transportation Commission (LTC) where he used to secure own license. At the LTC branch office, he
was "approached"
37
the fixers who roamed around the compound. When he as them how much it would
cost to secure a driver's license, he told that it would amount to P70 .00.
38
He agreed to pay amount and
gave the fixers the personal data of Dava.
39

After an hour, the fixers gave Manalili the license which was inside a plastic jacket. (Manalili identified the
license as Exh. B.) He examined it and found out that it looked "like a genuine and authentic driver's
license" to him. The license, which opened and unsealed, bore a signature in the portion which showed
the name Romeo Edu and contained all the personal data of Dava. Because it did not bear the signature
of Dava Manalili immediately gave the license to Dava and told him to sign it immediately. Dava did so in
Manalili's presence.
40

On March 22, 1984, the lower court rendered a decision
41
finding that the license in question was "fake
or spurious", that was not duly issued by any proper government licensing age and that the accused
directly participated in the commission of the falsification or caused said falsification. The court took into
account the facts that Dava was "in dire need' of a license because of his work as a detailman; that he
received his genuine license from the court only on December 15, 1982, and that Dava himself personally
requested his friend, Manalili, to secure the license for him. It arrived at the conclusion that since Dava
was the possessor or user of the fake license, he himself was the forger or the one who caused its
forgery or falsification. The dispositive portion of the decision reads:
IN VIEW OF THE FOREGOING, this Court finds the accused Michael T. Dava guilty
beyond reasonable doubt, as principal of the came of Falsification of a Public Document,
as defined and penalized under the provisions of Article 172 of the Revised Penal Code,
and considering the absence of any mitigating or aggravating circumstance, hereby
sentences him under the Indeterminate Sentence Law to suffer an indeterminate
imprisonment of one (1) year and eight (8) months of prision correecional as minimum, to
four (4) years, nine (9) months and ten (10) days ofprision correccional as maximum; and
to pay a fine of Two Thousand Five Hundred (P2,500.00) Pesos, Philippine Currency,
plus the costs of this suit.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dava appealed to the then Intermediate Appellate Court,
42
which on September 30, 1985 affirmed in in
toto the decision of the trial court. On February 27, 1986, the appellate court denied Dava's motion for the
reconsideration of said decision finding that no new grounds had been raised therein. Hence, the instant
petition for review on certiorari.
Petitioner assails herein the reliance of the courts below on the testimony of Carolino Vinluan on the
ground that being a part of the annulled proceedings in Criminal Case No. Q-10759, it may not be
considered as admissible in evidence as it cannot qualify as a "testimony at a former trial" under the
provisions of Section 41, Rule 130 of the Rules of Court.
We find petitioner's contention to be meritorious. The resolution of the then Intermediate Appellate Court
in CA-G.R. No. 24312-CR, expressly annulled the proceedings had in Criminal Case No. Q-10759 for
lack of jurisdiction of the Quezon City court over the case. That ruling is founded on solid jurisprudence.
We had time and again held that in the absence of proof that the party raising the issue of lack of
jurisdiction is barred by estoppel,
43
a decision rendered by a court without jurisdiction is a total
nullity.
44
Being worthless in itself, all the proceedings founded upon it are equally worthless.
45
Hence, the
testimony of Vinluan is not only inadmissible in evidence but may well be considered as totally
nonexistent.
With the testimony of the late Carolino Vinluan out of the way, is there sufficient evidence to warrant the
conviction of petitioner for the crime charged?
The information specifically charges the petitioner with having made it appear in his driver's license No.
2706887 that "officials of the Pampanga LTC agency participated" in in-preparation and with having used
the said driver's license knowing that it was falsified. The charges therefore are found on the provisions of
Article 172 (1) of the Revised Penal Code which punishes any private individual who shall commit any the
falsification enumerated in Article 171 specifically paragraph 2 thereof which penalizes the act of causing
it to appear that persons (public officials) have participated in any act proceeding when they did not in fact
so participate. The information also charges Dava with having knowingly used a false document under
the last paragraph of Article 172.
The evidence at hand proves that petitioner, misrepresenting that he had no driver's license, asked his
friend, Manalili, to secure one for him. Sometime in November, 1976, Manalili, who used to get his own
driver's license in San Fernando, Pampanga, was able to secure petitioner's driver's license No. 2706887
through fixers at the Land Transportation Commission (LTC) agency in said locality.
46
On January 24,
1978, petitioner renewed his license at the said office by paying the amount of P10.00 for which he was
issued official receipt No. 0605870.
47

In the renewal of drivers' license, the practice then was simply to present an official receipt showing that
at the previous year the licensee had paid for his driver's license to any agency of the LTC, and to pay the
renewal fee. As long as the transaction did not involve the issuance of "another form," a driver did not
have to fill up an application form for the renewal of a license. The said agency would then issue an
official receipt evidencing the renewal of the license but the driver's license itself would not be changed.
48

Thus. on January 24,1978, when driver's license No. 2706887 together with official receipt No.
864321
49
were presented to the San Fernando LTC agency, the personnel therein issued official-receipt
No. 0605870 in the name of petitioner. Although the receipt was not personally signed by office registrar
Victor Martin but by his assistant, the receipt
50
was genuine and the amount indicated therein was
actually paid to and collected by the San Fernando agency.
51
The driver's license itself may not have
been issued by said agency
52
but its form was likewise genuine. However, according to Martin, it was 'not
OK' because it "did not emanate" from his office and "a facsimile was not printed over" his name
therein.
53
Moreover, according to the officer-in-charge of the license Division of the Bureau of Land
Transportation in East Avenue, Quezon City, non-professional driver's license No. 2706887 in the name
of Michael Dava Tolosa "is not registered" in their index card.
54

Hence, while there is no doubt that driver's license No. 2706887 was a spurious one, the evidence do not
pinpoint the petition as the actual falsifier. Unfortunately, however, there are pieces of evidence which
prove beyond reasonable doubt at he caused the falsification and made use of the falsified driver's
license knowing it to be so.
The elements of the crime of using a falsified document in transaction (other than as evidence in a judicial
proceed penalized under the last paragraph of Article 172 are following: (a) the offender knew that a
document was falsified by another person; (b) the false document is embraced in Article 171 or in any of
subdivisions Nos. 1 and 2 of Article 172; (c he used such document (not in judicial proceedings), and (d)
the use of the false document caused damage to another or at last it was used with intent to cause such
damage.
55
Except for last, all of these elements have been proven beyond reason doubt in this case.
It is not disputed that it was petitioner himself who requested Manalili to get him a license. He
misrepresented to Manalili that he has not at any time been issued a driver's license.
56
Through this
misrepresentation and capitalizing on Manalili awareness of the dire necessity of obtaining a driver's
license the shortest time possible to enable petitioner to perform duties as detailman, petitioner was able,
in a very subtle clever manner, to induce Manalili to deal with "fixers" in securing the subject driver's
license. For indeed, there was no way Manalili could obtain a drivers license in so short a without having
to deal with "fixers." Thus, as petitioner calculated, Manalili, who appeared to have been motivated by a
sincere desire to help a friend, did not hesitate to deal with three fixers whom he knew were not
employees of the LTC to whom he paid P70.00 for the license even if the legal fee then was only
P15.00.
57
As it was in truth petitioner who induced and left Manalili with no choice but to seek the aid of
fixers, the fact that it was Manalili and not petitioner who dealt directly with said fixers cannot exculpate
petitioner from the charge of falsification. He is, beyond reasonable doubt, a principal by inducement in
the commission of said crime.
Petitioner cannot feign ignorance of the spurious character of his second driver's license No. 2706887.
Having already obtained a driver's license, he knew that it was not legally possible for him to secure
another one. Otherwise, there would have been no need for him to misrepresent to his friend Manalili that
he was not then a holder of a driver's license. But even with this misrepresentation, petitioner cannot even
begin to believe that Manalili would be able to secure a driver's license through legal means in about an
hour's time.
58
The patent irregularity in obtaining driver's license No. 2706887 was more than sufficient to
arouse the suspicion of an ordinary cautious and prudent man as to its genuineness and authenticity. In
fact, Manalili testified that he himself was surprised when the fixer handed to him the plastic jacket of the
driver's license of Michael Dava on November 4, 1976, a few hours after he had sought the fixer's
assistance.
59
In those days, all plastic jackets emanated from the LTC Central Office, which accounted
for the delay in the release of the license applied for. Under these circumstances, no "reasonable and
fairminded man" would say that petitioner did not know that his license was a fake.
60

A driver's license is a public document within the purview of Articles 171 and 172. The blank form of the
drivers license becomes a public document the moment it is accomplished.
61
Thus, when driver's license
No. 2706887 was filled up with petitioner's personal data and the signature of the region of the San
Fernando LTC agency was affixed therein, even if the same was simulated, the driver's license became a
public document.
The third element of use of the falsified document is proven by the fact that when petitioner was
apprehended by Lising on April 12, 1978 it was in his possession and it was what he presented Lising to
show that he had a license. Because he was a detailman who did his job with the use of a car, it is
probable that from November 4, 1976 (its date of issuance) until April 12, 1978, petitioner used driver's
license No. 2706887.
The driver's license being a public document, proof of the fourth element of damage caused to another
person or at least an intent to cause such damage has become immaterial. In falsification of public or
official documents, the principal thing being punished is the violation of the public faith and the destruction
of the truth proclaimed therein.
62

In his attempt at exculpation, petitioner asserts that the following ruling in People vs.
Sendaydiego,
63
should be applied in his favor:
The rule is that if a person had in his possession a falsified document and he made use
of it (uttered it), taking advantage of it and profiting thereby, the presumption is that he is
the material author of the falsification. This is especially true if the use or uttering of the
forged documents was so closely connected in time with the forgery that the user or
possessor may be proven to have the capacity of committing the forgery, or to have close
connection with the forgers, and therefore, had complicity in the forgery (U.S. vs. Castillo,
6 Phil. 453; People vs. De Lara, 45 PMI. 754; People vs. Domingo, 49 Phil. 28: People
vs. Astudillo, 60 Phil. 338; People vs. Manansala, 105 Phil. 1253). In the absence of a
satisfactory explanation, one who is found in possession of a forged document and who
used or uttered it is presumed to be the forger (Alarcon vs. Court of Appeals, L-21846,
March 31, 1967, 19 SCRA 688; People vs. Caragao,
L-28258, December 27, 1969, 30 SCRA 993). (Emphasis supplied.)
We agree with the petitioner that the presumption enunciated in the Sendaydiego case is not absolute as
it is subject to the exception that the accused should have a satisfactory explanation why he is in
possession of a false document.
64
His explanation, however, is unsatisfactory as it consists mainly in
passing the buck to his friend, Manalili. As stated above, Manalili himself could not have acted on his own
accord without the prodding of petitioner.
We cannot help but comment on petitioner's allegations on the role of fixers in government agencies. To
him, a fixer is a "necessary evil" who could do things fast for the right amount. He is "not necessarily
involved in the commission of forgery or falsification of official documents" and he shares his fees with
"insiders."
65

Fixers indeed appear as undetachable fixtures in government licensing agencies. Why they proliferate is
a sad commentary not only on our bureaucracy but also on our own people. While not all fixers are
engaged in illegal activities for some simple serve as "facilitators," they nonetheless provide sources for
exploitation of the unknowing common people who transact business with the government and for
corruption of the gullible government employees. Their unwanted presence must be dealt with
accordingly and the soonest this is undertaken by our government agencies the better for all of us.
WHEREFORE, the decision of the respondent appellate court is hereby affirmed. Let a copy of this
decision be served on that Department of Transportation and Communication. Cost against the petitioner.
SO ORDERED.
Gutierrez, Jr., Feliciano, Bidin and Davide, Jr., JJ., concur.







































G.R. No. L-18657 August 23, 1922
THE GREAT EASTERN LIFE INSURANCE CO., plaintiff-appellant,
vs.
HONGKONG & SHANGHAI BANKING CORPORATION and PHILIPPINE NATIONAL
BANK, defendants-appellees.
Camus and Delgado for appellant.
Fisher and DeWitt and A. M. Opisso for Hongkong and Shanghai Bank.
Roman J. Lacson for Philippine National Bank.
STATEMENT
The plaintiff is an insurance corporation, and the defendants are banking corporations, and each is duly
licensed to do its respective business in the Philippines Islands.
May 3, 1920, the plaintiff drew its check for P2,000 on the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation
with whom it had an account, payable to the order of Lazaro Melicor. E. M. Maasim fraudulently obtained
possession of the check, forged Melicor's signature, as an endorser, and then personally endorsed and
presented it to the Philippine National Bank where the amount of the check was placed to his credit. After
having paid the check, and on the next day, the Philippine national Bank endorsed the check to the
Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation which paid it and charged the amount of the check to the
account of the plaintiff. In the ordinary course of business, the Hongkong Shanghai Banking Corporation
rendered a bank statement to the plaintiff showing that the amount of the check was charged to its
account, and no objection was then made to the statement. About four months after the check was
charged to the account of the plaintiff, it developed that Lazaro Melicor, to whom the check was made
payable, had never received it, and that his signature, as an endorser, was forged by Maasim, who
presented and deposited it to his private account in the Philippine National Bank. With this knowledge ,
the plaintiff promptly made a demand upon the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation that it
should be given credit for the amount of the forged check, which the bank refused to do, and the plaintiff
commenced this action to recover the P2,000 which was paid on the forged check. On the petition of the
Shanghai Bank, the Philippine National Bank was made defendant. The Shanghai Bank denies any
liability, but prays that, if a judgment should be rendered against it, in turn, it should have like judgment
against the Philippine National Bank which denies all liability to either party.
Upon the issues being joined, a trial was had and judgment was rendered against the plaintiff and in favor
of the defendants, from which the plaintiff appeals, claiming that the court erred in dismissing the case,
notwithstanding its finding of fact, and in not rendering a judgment in its favor, as prayed for in its
complaint.
JOHNS, J .:
There is no dispute about any of the findings of fact made by the trial court, and the plaintiff relies upon
them for a reversal. Among other things, the trial court says:
Who is responsible for the refund to the drawer of the amount of the check drawn and payable to
order, when its value was collected by a third person by means of forgery of the signature of the
payee? Is it the drawee or the last indorser, who ignored the forgery at the time of making the
payment, or the forger?
To lower court found that Melicor's name was forged to the check. "So that the person to whose order the
check was issued did not receive the money, which was collected by E. M. Maasim," and then says:
Now then, the National Bank should not be held responsible for the payment of made to Maasim
in good faith of the amount of the check, because the indorsement of Maasim is unquestionable
and his signature perfectly genuine, and the bank was not obliged to identify the signature of the
former indorser. Neither could the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation be held
responsible in making payment in good faith to the National Bank, because the latter is a holder
in due course of the check in question. In other words, the two defendant banks can not be held
civilly responsible for the consequences of the falsification or forgery of the signature of Lazaro
Melicor, the National Bank having had no notice of said forgery in making payment to Maasim,
nor the Hongkong bank in making payment to National Bank. Neither bank incurred in any
responsibility arising from that crime, nor was either of the said banks by subsequent acts, guilty
of negligence or fault.
This was fundamental error.
Plaintiff's check was drawn on Shanghai Bank payable to the order of Melicor. In other words, the plaintiff
authorized and directed the Shanghai Bank to pay Melicor, or his order, P2,000. It did not authorize or
direct the bank to pay the check to any other person than Melicor, or his order, and the testimony is
undisputed that Melicor never did part with his title or endorse the check, and never received any of its
proceeds. Neither is the plaintiff estopped or bound by the banks statement, which was made to it by the
Shanghai Bank. This is not a case where the plaintiff's own signature was forged to one of it checks. In
such a case, the plaintiff would have known of the forgery, and it would have been its duty to have
promptly notified the bank of any forged signature, and any failure on its part would have released bank
from any liability. That is not this case. Here, the forgery was that of Melicor, who was the payee of the
check, and the legal presumption is that the bank would not honor the check without the genuine
endorsement of Melicor. In other words, when the plaintiff received it banks statement, it had a right to
assume that Melicor had personally endorsed the check, and that, otherwise, the bank would not have
paid it.
Section 23 of Act No. 2031, known as the Negotiable Instruments Law, says:
When a signature is forged or made without the authority of the person whose signature it
purports to be, it is wholly inoperative, and no right to retain the instrument, or to give a discharge
therefor, or to enforce payment thereof against any party thereto, can be acquired through or
under such signature, unless the party against whom it is sought to enforce such right is
precluded from setting up the forgery or want of authority.
That section is square in point.
The money was on deposit in the Shanghai Bank, and it had no legal right to pay it out to anyone except
the plaintiff or its order. Here, the plaintiff ordered the Shanghai Bank to pay the P2,000 to Melicor, and
the money was actually paid to Maasim and was never paid to Melicor, and he never paid to Melicor, and
he never personally endorsed the check, or authorized any one to endorse it for him, and the alleged
endorsement was a forgery. Hence, upon the undisputed facts, it must follow that the Shanghai Bank has
no defense to this action.
It is admitted that the Philippine National Bank cashed the check upon a forged signature, and placed the
money to the credit of Maasim, who was a forger. That the Philippine National Bank then endorsed the
check and forwarded it to the Shanghai Bank by whom it was paid. The Philippine National Bank had no
license or authority to pay the money to Maasim or anyone else upon a forge signature. It was its legal
duty to know that Melicor's endorsment was genuine before cashing the check. Its remedy is against
Maasim to whom it paid the money.
The judgment of the lower court is reversed, and one will be entered here in favor of the plaintiff and
against the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation for the P2,000, with interest thereon from
November 8, 1920 at the rate of 6 per cent per annum, and the costs of this action, and a corresponding
judgment will be entered in favor of the Hongkong Shanghai Banking Corporation against the Philippine
National Bank for the same amount, together with the amount of its costs in this action. So ordered.
Araullo, C.J., Johnson, Street, Malcolm, Avancea, Villamor, Ostrand and Romualdez, JJ., concur.
THE GREAT EASTERN LIFE INSURANCE CO., plaintiff-appellant,
vs.
HONGKONG & SHANGHAI BANKING CORPORATION and PHILIPPINE NATIONAL BANK, defendants-
appellees.

Ponente: Justice
Facts:
* May 3, 1920: Great Eastern Life Ins. Co. (Eastern) drew its check for P2,000 on the Hongkong and
Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) payable to the order of Lazaro Melicor. * E. M. Maasim
fraudulently obtained possession of the check, forged Melicor's signature, as an endorser, and then
personally endorsed and presented it to the Philippine National Bank (PNB) and it was placed to his
credit. * Next day: PNB endorsed the check to the HSBC who paid it * HSBC sent a bank statement to
the Eastern showing the amount of the check was charged to its account, and no objection was made *
4 months after the check was charged, it developed that Lazaro Melicor, to whom the check was made
payable, had never received it, and that his signature, as an endorser, was forged by Maasim, * Eastern
promptly made a demand upon the HSBC to credit the amount of the forged check * Eastern filed against
HSBC and PNB

* RTC: dismissed the case
Issue: Whether the Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) and Philippine National Bank
(PNB), defendants should be charged for the payment made to E.M Maasim for the P2000 which was
paid on the forged check. Held: The Supreme Court held that judgment of the lower court is reversed. In
favor of the plaintiff and against the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation for the P2,000, with
interest thereon from November 8, 1920 at the rate of 6 per cent per annum, and the costs of this action,
and a corresponding judgment will be entered in favor of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking
Corporation against the Philippine National Bank for the same amount, together with the amount of its
costs in this action.