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PNB v. Rocamora
PNB v. Rocamora
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 600 11/03/2018, 1)43 PM
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* SECOND DIVISION.
396
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 600 11/03/2018, 1)43 PM
deficiency claim was computed using only the original 12% per
annum interest rate. We find this unlikely. Our examination of
PNBÊs own ledgers, included in the records of the case, clearly
indicates that PNB imposed interest rates higher than the agreed
12% per annum rate. This confirmatory finding, albeit based solely
on ledgers found in the records, reinforces the application in this
case of the rule that findings of the RTC, when affirmed by the CA,
are binding upon this Court.
397
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 600 11/03/2018, 1)43 PM
398
BRION, J.:
We resolve in this petition for review on certiorari1 the
legal propriety of the deficiency judgment that the
petitioner Philippine National Bank (PNB) seeks against
the respondents·the spouses Agustin and Pilar Rocamora
(spouses Rocamora).
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399
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 600 11/03/2018, 1)43 PM
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4 Id., p. 64.
400
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 600 11/03/2018, 1)43 PM
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P 32,383.6
TOTAL
401
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 600 11/03/2018, 1)43 PM
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402
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 600 11/03/2018, 1)43 PM
The Petition
„It is now clear that from March 17, 1980 [the effectivity date of
Presidential Decree No. 1684 allowing the increase in the stipulated
rate of interest], escalation clauses, to be valid, should
specifically provide: (1) that there can be an increase in in-
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403
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 600 11/03/2018, 1)43 PM
supplied.]
404
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 600 11/03/2018, 1)43 PM
405
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 600 11/03/2018, 1)43 PM
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13 We also stated that when the law intends to foreclose the right of a
creditor to sue for any deficiency resulting from a foreclosure of security
given to guarantee an obligation, it so expressly provides such as with
respect to the sale of the thing pledged (see Article 2115 of the Civil
Code) and foreclosure of chattel mortgage on personal property sold on
installment basis (see Article 1484, par. 3 of the Civil Code); Superlines
Transportation Company v. ICC Leasing and Financing Corporation,
G.R. No. 150673, February 28, 2003, 398 SCRA 508.
14 See PNB v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 121739, June 14, 1999, 308
SCRA 229; and Development Bank of the Philippines v. Vda. De Moll,
G.R. No. L-25807, January 31, 1972, 43 SCRA 82.
15 Statement of Account dated October 23, 1996; Records, p. 269.
406
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 600 11/03/2018, 1)43 PM
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407
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 600 11/03/2018, 1)43 PM
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19 Ibid.
20 PNB v. Court of Appeals and Spouses Basco, G.R. No. 109563, July
9, 1996, 258 SCRA 549, citing Banco Filipino, supra note 12.
21 Floirendo v. Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company, G.R. No.
148325, September 3, 2007, 532 SCRA 43.
22 The contract must bind both contracting parties; its validity or
compliance cannot be left to the will of one of them.
23 G.R. No. 88880, April 30, 1991, 196 SCRA 536.
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 600 11/03/2018, 1)43 PM
408
„In order that obligations arising from contracts may have the
force of law between the parties, there must be mutuality between
the parties based on their essential equality. A contract containing a
condition which makes its fulfillment dependent exclusively upon
the uncontrolled will of one of the contracting parties, is void.
Hence, even assuming that the P1.8 million loan agreement
between the PNB and private respondent gave the PNB a
license (although in fact there was none) to increase the
interest rate at will during the term of the loan, that license
would have been null and void for being violative of the
principle of mutuality essential in contracts. It would have
invested the loan agreement with the character of a contract of
adhesion, where the parties do not bargain on equal footing, the
weaker partyÊs (the debtor) participation being reduced to the
alternative „to take it or leave it.‰ Such a contract is a veritable trap
for the weaker party whom the courts of justice must protect
against abuse and imposition.‰
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 600 11/03/2018, 1)43 PM
annum until paid, which interest rate the Bank may at any time
without notice, raise within the limits allowed by law, and I/we
also agree to pay jointly and severally ____% per annum penalty
charge, by way of liquidated damages should this note be unpaid
or is not renewed on due dated.
409
rates were increased from the agreed 12% per annum rate
to 42%. We held:
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27 Ibid.
410
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411
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 600 11/03/2018, 1)43 PM
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412
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