Decision
Bank Of The Philippine Islands v. Yabut
G.R. No. 149454 · 2004-05-28 · PANGANIBAN, J. · LawPhil
BANK OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, petitioner, vs. CASA MONTESSORI INTERNATIONALE LEONARDO T. YABUT, respondents. x x G.R. No. 149507 May 28, 2004 CASA MONTESSORI INTERNATIONALE, petitioner, vs. BANK OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, respondent.
PANGANIBAN, J.:
By the nature of its functions, a bank is required to take meticulous care of the deposits of its clients, who have the right to expect high standards of integrity and performance from it. Among its obligations in furtherance thereof is knowing the signatures of its clients. Depositors are not estopped from questioning wrongful withdrawals, even if they have failed to question those errors in the statements sent by the bank to them for verification.
The Case Before us are two Petitions for Review1 under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court, assailing the March 23, 2001 Decision2 and the August 17, 2001 Resolution3 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-GR CV No. 63561. The decretal portion of the assailed Decision reads as follows: "WHEREFORE, upon the premises, the decision appealed from is AFFIRMED with the modification that defendant bank [Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI)] is held liable only for one-half of the value of the forged checks in the amount of ₱547,115.00 after deductions subject to REIMBURSEMENT from third party defendant Yabut who is likewise ORDERED to pay the other half to plaintiff corporation [Casa Montessori Internationale (CASA)]."4 The assailed Resolution denied all the parties' Motions for Reconsideration. The Facts The facts of the case are narrated by the CA as follows: "On November 8, 1982, plaintiff CASA Montessori International5 opened Current Account No. 0291-0081-01 with defendant BPI[,] with CASA's President Ms. Ma.
Carina C. Lebron as one of its authorized signatories. "In 1991, after conducting an investigation, plaintiff discovered that nine (9) of its checks had been encashed by a certain Sonny D. Santos since 1990 in the total amount of ₱782,000.00, on the following dates and amounts: ' Check No. Date Amount 1. 839700 April 24, 1990 ₱ 43,400.00 2.
839459 Nov. 2, 1990 110,500.00 3. 839609 Oct.
17, 1990 47,723.00 4. 839549 April 7, 1990 90,700.00 5. 839569 Sept.
23, 1990 52,277.00 6. 729149 Mar. 22, 1990 148,000.00 7.
729129 Mar. 16, 1990 51,015.00 8. 839684 Dec.
1, 1990 140,000.00 9. 729034 Mar. 2, 1990 98,985.00 Total --