380 Phil. 395
KAPUNAN, J.:
The petition is without merit.
- The spouses Atinon had knowledge that Dico already conveyed back the ownership of the subject certificate to petitioner;
- Dico executed a deed of transfer, dated 18 November 1992, covering the subject certificate in favor of petitioner and the Club was furnished with a copy thereof; and
- Dico resigned as a proprietary member of the Club and his resignation was accepted by the board of directors at their meeting on 4 May 1993.
"Sec. 63 Certificate of stock and transfer of shares. - The capital stock of corporations shall be divided into shares for which certificates signed by the president or vice- president, countersigned by the secretary or assistant secretary, and sealed with the seal of the corporation shall be issued in accordance with the by-laws. Shares of stock so issued are personal property and may be transferred by delivery of the certificate or certificates indorsed by the owner or his attorney-in-fact or other person legally authorized to make the transfer. No transfer, however, shall be valid, except as between the parties, until the transfer is recorded in the books of the corporation showing the names of the parties to the transaction, the date of the transfer, the number of the certificate or certificates and the number of shares transferred.The sole issue in this case is similar to that raised in Uson vs. Diosomito,[1] i.e., "whether a bona fide transfer of the shares of a corporation, not registered or noted in the books of the corporation, is valid as against a subsequent lawful attachment of said shares, regardless of whether the attaching creditor had actual notice of said transfer or not."[2] In that case, we held that the attachment prevails over the unrecorded transfer stating thus -
No shares of stock against which the corporation holds any unpaid claim shall be transferable in the books of the corporation."
"[w]e think that the true meaning of the language is, and the obvious intention of the legislature in using it was, that all transfers of shares should be entered, as here required, on the books of the corporation. And it is equally clear to us that all transfers of shares not so entered are invalid as to attaching or execution creditors of the assignors, as well as to the corporation and to subsequent purchasers in good faith, and, indeed, as to all persons interested, except the parties to such transfers. All transfers not so entered on the books of the corporation are absolutely void; not because they are without notice or fraudulent in law or fact, but because they are made so void by statute."[3]Applying the foregoing jurisprudence in this case, we hold that the transfer of the subject certificate made by Dico to petitioner was not valid as to the spouses Atinon, the judgment creditors, as the same still stood in the name of Dico, the judgment debtor, at the time of the levy on execution. In addition, as correctly ruled by the CA, the entry in the minutes of the meeting of the Club's board of directors noting the resignation of Dico as proprietary member thereof does not constitute compliance with Section 63 of the Corporation Code. Said provision of law strictly requires the recording of the transfer in the books of the corporation, and not elsewhere, to be valid as against third parties. Accordingly, the CA committed no reversible error in rendering the assailed decision.