Title
Co vs. Court of Appeals
Case
G.R. No. 100776
Decision Date
Oct 28, 1993
Albino Co issued a postdated check as a guarantee in 1983, later dishonored. Convicted under B.P. Blg. 22, he argued reliance on a 1981 DOJ circular exempting guarantee checks. Supreme Court ruled in his favor, dismissing the case, emphasizing prospectivity and fair notice in criminal liability.
criminal charges
bouncing check
guarantee
A

Case Summary (G.R. No. 100776)

Factual Background

Petitioner delivered on September 1, 1983 a postdated check for P361,528.00 drawn on Associated Citizens’ Bank in connection with a salvage and refloating agreement; the check represented petitioner's share of salvage expenses. The salvaging firm deposited the check on January 3, 1984, and the bank returned it dishonored on January 5, 1984 with the terse notation “CLOSED ACCOUNT.” Thereafter the salvage company filed a criminal complaint for violation of Batas Pambansa Blg. 22 against petitioner.

Trial Court Proceedings and Conviction

The Regional Trial Court of Pasay City convicted petitioner of violation of Batas Pambansa Blg. 22, sentenced him to sixty days imprisonment, and ordered indemnity to the salvage company in the amount of P361,528.00. The trial court relied in part on the subsequent judicial construction in Que v. People that a check issued as a guarantee falls within the scope of B.P. Blg. 22.

Court of Appeals Decision

Petitioner appealed to the Court of Appeals, which affirmed the conviction. The Court of Appeals treated the Que v. People doctrine as an interpretation of a pre-existing statute rather than the announcement of a new criminal rule, invoking the principle that judicial construction simply clarifies legislative intent in an existing law and therefore may be applied to acts committed before the pronouncement.

Petition and Procedural History in the Supreme Court

Petitioner moved for relief to the Supreme Court by certiorari under Rule 45. By resolution dated September 9, 1991 the appeal was initially dismissed; petitioner filed a motion for reconsideration dated October 2, 1991. The Office of the Solicitor General filed a comment dated December 13, 1991; petitioner replied on February 14, 1992. The Court reinstated the appeal in the interests of justice and proceeded to adjudicate the case on the merits.

Legal Issue Presented

The central legal issue concerned whether the judicial construction announced in Que v. People — that a check issued merely to guarantee the performance of an obligation is covered by Batas Pambansa Blg. 22 — should be applied retroactively to conduct occurring before that construction, where petitioner had relied upon an earlier official administrative interpretation to the contrary.

Parties’ Contentions

Petitioner contended that at the time he issued the check in 1983 an official pronouncement by the Ministry of Justice in Circular No. 4 (December 15, 1981) declared that issuance of a check as a guarantee did not constitute a violation of B.P. Blg. 22 and that reliance on that administrative construction insulated him from criminal liability. The Solicitor General and respondents argued that the Court’s construction in Que v. People merely interpreted an existing criminal statute and thus did not constitute the creation of new law; reliance on the doctrine of mala prohibita and precedents such as U.S. v. Go Chico were invoked to deny retroactive relief.

Supreme Court’s Analysis and Reasoning

The Court reviewed the governing principles that judicial decisions form part of the legal system under Article 8 of the Civil Code and that laws operate prospectively under Article 4, noting exceptions but emphasizing the settled rule that new judicial doctrines that reverse prior construction ordinarily have prospective effect in order to avoid prejudicing parties who relied on the earlier rule. The Court surveyed controlling precedents including People v. Jabinal, Tanada v. Tuvera, and other decisions applying the Chicot County Drainage Dist. v. Baxter States Bank rationale that the past cannot always be erased by a later judicial declaration because the actual existence of a statute or administrative construction is an operative fact. The Court distinguished authorities relied upon by respondents, notably observing that in U.S. v. Go Chico and Senarillos v. Hermosisima there was no antecedent official administrative interpretation equivalent to Ministry Circular No. 4. The Court gave weight to the fact that petitioner had reason

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