Title
Lim Tay vs. Court of Appeals
Case
G.R. No. 126891
Decision Date
Aug 5, 1998
A borrower seeks ownership of pledged shares of stock in a company after failing to repay a loan, but the court rules in favor of the lenders, stating that ownership was not clearly established and jurisdiction lies with the regular courts.
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Case Digest (G.R. No. 126891)

Facts:

  • Lim Tay extended loans of PHP 40,000 each to respondents Sy Guiok and Alfonso Sy Lim on January 8, 1980.
  • To secure these loans, the respondents pledged 300 shares of stock in Go Fay & Co., Inc.
  • The pledge contracts allowed Lim Tay to foreclose the pledge and sell the shares if the loans were not repaid within six months.
  • The respondents did not repay the loans.
  • In October 1990, Lim Tay filed a petition for mandamus with the SEC to compel the corporate secretary of Go Fay & Co., Inc. to register the stock transfers and issue new certificates in his name.
  • The SEC dismissed the petition, stating that ownership of the shares was not established and that jurisdiction lay with the regular courts.
  • The SEC en banc and the Court of Appeals upheld the SEC's decision.
  • Lim Tay then brought the case to the Supreme Court.

Issue:

  • (Unlock)

Ruling:

  1. The SEC does not have jurisdiction over the complaint.
  2. The petitioner is not enti...(Unlock)

Ratio:

  • The Supreme Court ruled that the SEC lacked jurisdiction because ownership of the shares was not clearly established.
  • The contracts of pledge did not transfer ownership automatically upon the respondents' failure to repay; they only authorized foreclosure and sale.
  • No evidence of foreclosure and sale was presented, so the petitioner remained a pledgee, not an owner.
  • Mandamus cannot be issued to establish a right but only to enforce one a...continue reading

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