326 Phil. 504
KAPUNAN, J.:
WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered as follows:
1.) On plaintiff’s complaint, defendant Philippine Bank of Communications is ordered to re-credit or reimburse plaintiff Capitol City Development Bank the amount of P97,650.00, plus interest of 12 percent thereto from October 19, 1981 until the amount is fully paid;
2.) On Philippine Bank of Communications third-party complaint, third-party defendant PNB is ordered to reimburse and indemnify Philippine Bank of Communications for whatever amount PBCom pays to plaintiff;
3.) On Philippine National Bank’s fourth-party complaint, F. Abante Marketing is ordered to reimburse and indemnify PNB for whatever amount PNB pays to PBCom;
4.) On attorney’s fees, Philippine Bank of Communications is ordered to pay Capitol City Development Bank attorney’s fees in the amount of Ten Thousand (P 10,000.00) Pesos; but PBCom is entitled to reimbursement/indemnity from PNB; and Philippine National Bank to be, in turn, reimbursed or indemnified by F. Abante Marketing for the same amount;
5.) The Counterclaims of PBCom and PNB are hereby dismissed;
6.) No pronouncement as to costs.
SO ORDERED.[1]
WHEREFORE, the judgment appealed from is modified by exempting PBCom from liability to plaintiff-appellee for attorney’s fees and ordering PNB to honor the check for P97,650.00, with interest as declared by the trial court, and pay plaintiff-appellee attorney’s fees of P10,000.00. After the check shall have been honored by PNB, PBCom shall re-credit plaintiff-appellee’s account with it with the amount. No pronouncement as to costs.
SO ORDERED.[2]
I
WHETHER OR NOT AN ALTERATION OF THE SERIAL NUMBER OF A CHECK IS A MATERIAL ALTERATION UNDER THE NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS LAW.II
WHETHER OR NOT A CERTIFICATION HEREIN ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION CAN BE GIVEN WEIGHT IN EVIDENCE.III
WHETHER OR NOT A DRAWEE BANK WHO FAILED TO RETURN A CHECK WITHIN THE TWENTY FOUR (24) HOUR CLEARING PERIOD MAY RECOVER THE VALUE OF THE CHECK FROM THE COLLECTING BANK.IV
WHETHER OR NOT IN THE ABSENCE OF MALICE OR ILL WILL PETITIONER PNB MAY BE HELD LIABLE FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES.[4]
(a)The date;
(b)The sum payable, either for principal or interest;
(c)The time or place of payment;
(d)The number or the relations of the parties;
(e)The medium or currency in which payment is to be made;
(f)Or which adds a place of payment where no place of payment is specified, or any other change or addition which alters the effect of the instrument in any respect, is a material alteration.
Section 1 of the Negotiable Instruments Law provides:
Section 1. - Form of negotiable instruments. An instrument to be negotiable must conform to the following requirements:
(a) It must be in writing and signed by the maker or drawer;
(b) Must contain an unconditional promise or order to pay a sum certain in money;
(c) Must be payable on demand, or at a fixed or determinable future time;
(d) Must be payable to order or to bearer; and
(e) Where the instrument is addressed to a drawee, he must be named or otherwise indicated therein with reasonable certainty.
A.Material Alterations:
(1) Substituting the words "or bearer" for "order."
(2) Writing "protest waived" above blank indorsements.
(3) A change in the date from which interest is to run.
(4) A check was originally drawn as follows: "Iron County Bank, Crystal Falls, Mich. Aug. 5, 1901. Pay to G.L. or order $9 fifty cents CTR." The insertion of the figure 5 before the figure 9, the instrument being otherwise unchanged.
(5) Adding the words "with interest" with or without a fixed rate.
(6) An alteration in the maturity of a note, whether the time for payment is thereby curtailed or extended.
(7) An instrument was payable "First Nat’l Bank," the plaintiff added the word "Marion."
(8) Plaintiff, without consent of the defendant, struck out the name of the defendant as payee and inserted the name of the maker of the original note.
(9) Striking out the name of the payee and substituting that of the person who actually discounted the note.
(10)Substituting the address of the maker for the name of a co-maker.[10]
B. Immaterial Alterations:
(1) Changing "I promise to pay" to "We promise to pay," where there are two makers.
(2) Adding the word "annual" after the interest clause.
(3) Adding the date of maturity as a marginal notation.
(4) Filling in the date of the actual delivery where the makers of a note gave it with the date in blank, "July . . ."
(5) An alteration of the marginal figures of a note where the sum stated in words in the body remained unchanged.
(6) The insertion of the legal rate of interest where the note had a provision for "interest at . . . per cent."
(7) A printed form of promissory note had on the margin the printed words, "Extended to . . ." The holder on or after maturity wrote in the blank space the words "May 1, 1913," as a reference memorandum of a promise made by him to the principal maker at the time the words were written to extend the time of payment.
(8) Where there was a blank for the place of payment, filling in the blank with the place desired.
(9) Adding to an indorsee’s name the abbreviation "Cash" when it had been agreed that the draft should be discounted by the trust company of which the indorsee was cashier.
(10) The indorsement of a note by a stranger after its delivery to the payee at the time the note was negotiated to the plaintiff.
(11) An extension of time given by the holder of a note to the principal maker, without the consent of the a surety co-maker.[11]
xxx.
It is an accepted concept, besides being a negotiable instrument itself, that a TCAA check by its very nature is the medium of exchange of governments (sic) instrumentalities or agencies. And as (a) safety measure, every government office o(r) agency (is) assigned TCAA checks bearing different number series.
A concrete example is that of the disbursements of the Ministry of Education and Culture. It is issued by the Bureau of Treasury sizeable bundles of checks in booklet form with serial numbers different from other government office or agency. Now, for fictitious payee to succeed in its malicious intentions to defraud the government, all it need do is to get hold of a TCAA Check and have the serial numbers of portion (sic) thereof changed or altered to make it appear that the same was issued by the MEC.
Otherwise, stated, it is through the serial numbers that (a) TCAA Check is determined to have been issued by a particular office or agency of the government.[12]xxx
xxx.
If the purpose of the serial number is merely to identify the issuing government office or agency, its alteration in this case had no material effect whatsoever on the integrity of the check. The identity of the issuing government office or agency was not changed thereby and the amount of the check was not charged against the account of another government office or agency which had no liability under the check. The owner and issuer of the check is boldly and clearly printed on its face, second line from the top: "MiNiSTRY OF EDUCATiON AND CULTURE," and below the name of the payee are the rubber-stamped words: "Ministry of Educ. & Culture." These words are not alleged to have been falsely or fraudulently intercalated into the check. The ownership of the check is established without the necessity of recourse to the serial number. Neither is there any proof that the amount of the check was erroneously charged against the account of a government office or agency other than the Ministry of Education and Culture. Hence, the alteration in the number of the check did not affect or change the liability of the Ministry of Education and Culture under the check and, therefore, is immaterial. The genuineness of the amount and the signatures therein of then Deputy Minister of Education Hermenegildo C. Dumlao and of the resident Auditor, Penomio C. Alvarez are not challenged. Neither is the authenticity of the different codes appearing therein questioned x x x.[13] (Italics ours.)
July 22, 1985
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
This is to certify that according to the records of this Office, TCAA PNB Check No. SN7-3666223-3 dated August 7, 1981 drawn in favor of F. Abante Marketing in the amount of NINETY (S)EVEN THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED FIFTY PESOS ONLY (P97,650.00) was not issued by this Office nor released to the payee concerned. The series number of said check was not included among those requisition by this Office from the Bureau of Treasury.
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) MINRADO C. BATONGHINOG Cashier III.[14]
With respect to Capitol’s claim for damages consisting of alleged loss of opportunity, this Court finds that Capitol failed to adequately substantiate its claim. What Capitol had presented was a self-serving, unsubstantiated and speculative computation of what it allegedly could have earned or realized were it not for the debit made by PBCom which was triggered by the return and debit made by PNB. However, this Court finds that it would be fair and reasonable to impose interest at 12% per annum on the principal amount of the check computed from October 19, 1981 (the date PBCom debited Capitol’s account) until the amount is fully paid and reasonable attorney’s fees.[17] (Italics ours.)
The award of attorney’s fees lies within the discretion of the court and depends upon the circumstances of each case. However, the discretion of the court to award attorney’s fees under Article 2208 of the Civil Code of the Philippines demands factual, legal and equitable justification, without which the award is a conclusion without a premise and improperly left to speculation and conjecture. It becomes a violation of the proscription against the imposition of a penalty on the right to litigate (Universal Shipping Lines Inc. v. Intermediate Appellate Court, 188 SCRA 170 [1990]). The reason for the award must be stated in the text of the court’s decision. If it is stated only in the dispositive portion of the decision, the same shall be disallowed. As to the award of attorney’s fees being an exception rather than the rule, it is necessary for the court to make findings of fact and law that would bring the case within the exception and justify the grant of the award (Refractories Corporation of the Philippines v. Intermediate Appellate Court, 176 SCRA 539).