680 Phil. 321
SERENO, J.:
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 034167
That on or about the 25th day of March 2003, in the City of Makati, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, a private individual, did then and there, wilfully, unlawfully and feloniously falsify a document denomindated as "Deed of Absolute Sale", duly notarized by Atty. Lope M. Velasco, a Notary Public for and in the City of Makati, denominated as Doc. No. 297, Page No. 61, Book No. 69, Series of 2003 in his Notarial Register, hence, a public document, by causing it to appear that the registered owners of the property covered by TCT No. 216445 have sold their land to complainant Market Pursuits, Inc. when in truth and in fact the said Deed of Absolute Sale was not executed by the owners thereof and after the document was falsified, accused, with intent to defraud complainant Market Pursuits, Inc. presented the falsified Deed of Sale to complainant, herein represented by Carlo V. Lopez, and complainant believing in the genuineness of the Deed of Absolute Sale paid accused the amount of P1,600,000.00 as partial payment for the property, to the damage and prejudice of complainant in the aforementioned amount of P1,600,000.00
CONTRARY TO LAW.CRIMINAL CASE NO. 034168
That on or about the 3rd day of April 2003, in the City of Makati, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, a private individual, did then and there wilfully, unlawfully and feloniously falsify a document denominated as Transfer Certificate of Title No. 218777 purportedly issued by the Register of Deeds of Makati City, hence, a public document, by causing it to appear that the lot covered by TCT No. 218777 was already registered in the name of complainant Market Pursuits, Inc., herein represented by Carlo V. Lopez, when in truth and in fact, as said accused well knew that the Register of Deeds of Makati did not issue TCT No. 218777 in the name of Market Pursuits Inc., and after the document was falsified, accused with intent to defraud complainant and complainant believing in the genuineness of Transfer Certificate of Title No. 218777 paid accused the amount of P400,000.00, to the damage and prejudice of complainant in the aforementioned amount of P4000,000.00 (sic).
CONTRARY TO LAW.[8]
WHEREFORE, judgment is rendered finding the accused Cresencio Milla guilty beyond reasonable doubt of two (2) counts of estafa through falsification of public documents. Applying the indeterminate sentence law and considering that the amount involved is more than P22,000,00 this Court should apply the provision that an additional one (1) year should be imposed for every ten thousand (P10,000.00) pesos in excess of P22,000.00, thus, this Court is constrained to impose the Indeterminate (sic) penalty of four (4) years, two (2) months one (1) day of prision correccional as minimum to twenty (20) years of reclusion temporal as maximum for each count.
Accused is adjudged to be civilly liable to the private complainant and is ordered pay (sic) complainant the total amount of TWO MILLION (P2,000,000.00) PESOS with legal rate of interest from the filing of the Information until the same is fully paid and to pay the costs. He is further ordered to pay attorney's fees equivalent to ten (10%) of the total amount due as and for attorney's fees. A lien on the monetary award is constituted in favor of the government, the private complainant not having paid the required docket fee prior to the filing of the Information.
SO ORDERED.[13]
- Whether the case should be reopened on the ground of negligence of counsel;
- Whether the principle of novation is applicable;
- Whether the principle of simple loan is applicable;
- Whether the Secretary's Certificate presented by the prosecution is admissible in evidence;
- Whether the supposed inconsistent statements of prosecution witnesses cast a doubt on the guilt of petitioner.[16]
- Whether the negligence of counsel deprived Milla of due process of law
- Whether the principle of novation can exculpate Milla from criminal liability
- Whether the factual findings of the trial court, as affirmed by the appellate court, should be reviewed on appeal
It may be observed in this regard that novation is not one of the means recognized by the Penal Code whereby criminal liability can be extinguished; hence, the role of novation may only be to either prevent the rise of criminal liability or to cast doubt on the true nature of the original petition, whether or not it was such that its breach would not give rise to penal responsibility, as when money loaned is made to appear as a deposit, or other similar disguise is resorted to (cf. Abeto vs. People, 90 Phil. 581; Villareal, 27 Phil. 481).
Even in Civil Law the acceptance of partial payments, without further change in the original relation between the complainant and the accused, can not produce novation. For the latter to exist, there must be proof of intent to extinguish the original relationship, and such intent can not be inferred from the mere acceptance of payments on account of what is totally due. Much less can it be said that the acceptance of partial satisfaction can effect the nullification of a criminal liability that is fully matured, and already in the process of enforcement. Thus, this Court has ruled that the offended party's acceptance of a promissory note for all or part of the amount misapplied does not obliterate the criminal offense (Camus vs. Court of Appeals, 48 Off. Gaz. 3898).[24] (Emphasis supplied.)
Novation is never presumed,and theanimus novandi, whether totally or partially, must appear by express agreement of the parties, or by their acts that are too clear and unequivocal to be mistaken.
The extinguishment of the old obligation by the new one is a necessary element of novation which may be effected either expressly or impliedly. The term "expressly" means that the contracting parties incontrovertibly disclose that their object in executing the new contract is to extinguish the old one.Upon the other hand, no specific form is required for an implied novation,and all that is prescribed by law would be an incompatibility between the two contracts. While there is really no hard and fast rule to determine what might constitute to be a sufficient change that can bring about novation, the touchstone for contrariety, however, would be an irreconcilable incompatibility between the old and the new obligations.
There are two ways which could indicate, in fine, the presence of novation and thereby produce the effect of extinguishing an obligation by another which substitutes the same. The first is when novation has been explicitly stated and declared in unequivocal terms. The second is when the old and the new obligations are incompatible on every point. The test of incompatibility is whether or not the two obligations can stand together, each one having its independent existence. If they cannot, they are incompatible and the latter obligation novates the first.Corollarily, changes that breed incompatibility must be essential in nature and not merely accidental. The incompatibility must take place in any of the essential elements of the obligation, such as its object, cause or principal conditions thereof; otherwise, the change would be merely modificatory in nature and insufficient to extinguish the original obligation.
The changes alluded to by petitioner consists only in the manner of payment. There was really no substitution of debtors since private complainant merely acquiesced to the payment but did not give her consentto enter into a new contract. The appellate court observed:xxx xxx xxx The acceptance by complainant of partial payment tendered by the buyer, Leonor Camacho, does not evince the intention of the complainant to have their agreement novated. It was simply necessitated by the fact that, at that time, Camacho had substantial accounts payable to complainant, and because of the fact that appellant made herself scarce to complainant. (TSN, April 15, 1981, 31-32) Thus, to obviate the situation where complainant would end up with nothing, she was forced to receive the tender of Camacho. Moreover, it is to be noted that the aforesaid payment was for the purchase, not of the jewelry subject of this case, but of some other jewelry subject of a previous transaction. (Ibid. June 8, 1981, 10-11)xxx xxx xxx
Art. 315 of the Revised Penal Code defines estafa and penalizes any person who shall defraud another by "misappropriating or converting, to the prejudice of another, money, goods, or any other personal property received by the offender in trust or on commission, or for administration, or under any other obligation involving the duty to make delivery of or to return the same, even though such obligation be totally or partially guaranteed by a bond; or by denying having received such money, goods, or other property. It is axiomatic that the gravamen of the offense is the appropriation or conversion of money or property received to the prejudice of the owner. The terms "convert" and "misappropriate" have been held to connote "an act of using or disposing of another's property as if it were one's own or devoting it to a purpose or use different from that agreed upon." The phrase, "to misappropriate to one's own use" has been said to include "not only conversion to one's personal advantage, but also every attempt to dispose of the property of another without right.Verily, the sale of the pieces of jewelry on installments (sic) in contravention of the explicit terms of the authority granted to her in Exhibit "A" (supra) is deemed to be one of conversion. Thus, neither the theory of "delay in the fulfillment of commission" nor that of novation posed by petitioner, can avoid the incipient criminal liability. In People vs. Nery, this Court held:xxx xxx xxx
The criminal liability for estafa already committed is then not affected by the subsequent novation of contract, for it is a public offense which must be prosecuted and punished by the State in its own conation. (Emphasis supplied.)[26]
Art. 172. Falsification by private individual and use of falsified documents. - The penalty of prision correccional in its medium and maximum periods and a fine of not more than 5,000 shall be imposed upon:It was proven during trial that Milla misrepresented himself to have the authority to sell the subject property, and it was precisely this misrepresentation that prompted MPI to purchase it. Because of its reliance on his authority and on the falsified Deed of Absolute Sale and TCT No. 218777, MPI parted with its money in the amount of P2 million, which has not been returned until now despite Milla's allegation of novation. Clearly, he is guilty beyond reasonable doubt of estafa through falsification of public documents.
1. Any private individual who shall commit any of the falsification enumerated in the next preceding article in any public or official document or letter of exchange or any other kind of commercial documentxxx xxx xxx
Art. 315. Swindling (estafa). - Any person who shall defraud another by any of the means mentioned hereinbelow shall be punished by:xxx xxx xxx
2. By means of any of the following false pretenses or fraudulent acts executed prior to or simultaneously with the commission of the fraud:
(a) By using a fictitious name, or falsely pretending to possess power, influence, qualifications, property, credit, agency, business or imaginary transactions; or by means of other similar deceits.xxx xxx xxx