G.R. No.

117857

February 2, 2001

LUIS S. WONG vs. COURT OF APPEALS and PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES Facts: Petitioner Wong was an agent of Limtong Press. Inc. (LPI), a manufacturer of calendars. LPI would print sample calendars, then give them to agents to present to customers. The agents would get the purchase orders of customers and forward them to LPI. After printing the calendars, LPI would ship the calendars directly to the customers. Thereafter, the agents would come around to collect the payments. Petitioner, however, had a history of unremitted collections, which he duly acknowledged in a confirmation receipt he co-signed with his wife. Hence, petitioner s customers were required to issue postdated checks before LPI would accept their purchase orders. In early December 1985, Wong issued six (6) postdated checks totaling P18,025.00, all dated December 30, 1985 and drawn payable to the order of LPI. These checks were initially intended to guarantee the calendar orders of customers who failed to issue post-dated checks. However, following company policy, LPI refused to accept the checks as guarantees. Instead, the parties agreed to apply the checks to the payment of petitioner s unremitted collections for 1984 amounting to P18,077.07.3 LPI waived the P52.07 difference. Before the maturity of the checks, petitioner prevailed upon LPI not to deposit the checks and promised to replace them within 30 days. However, petitioner reneged on his promise. Hence, on June 5, 1986, LPI deposited the checks with Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC). The checks were returned for the reason "account closed." The dishonor of the checks was evidenced by the RCBC return slip. On June 20, 1986, complainant through counsel notified the petitioner of the dishonor. Petitioner failed to make arrangements for payment within five (5) banking days. On November 6, 1987, petitioner was charged with three (3) counts of violation of B.P. Blg. 224 under three separate Informations for the three checks amounting to P5,500.00, P3,375.00, and P6,410.00.5 Manuel T. Limtong, general manager of LPI, testified on behalf of the company, Limtong averred that he refused to accept the personal checks of petitioner since it was against company policy to accept personal checks from agents. Hence, he and petitioner simply agreed to use the checks to pay petitioner s unremitted collections to LPI. According to Limtong, a few days before maturity of the checks, Wong requested him to defer the deposit of said checks for lack of funds. Wong promised to replace them within thirty days, but failed to do so. Hence, upon advice of counsel, he deposited the checks which were subsequently returned on the ground of "account closed." The version of the defense is that petitioner issued the six (6) checks to guarantee the 1985 calendar bookings of his customers. According to petitioner, he issued the checks not as payment for any obligation, but to guarantee the orders of his customers. In fact, the face value of the six (6) postdated checks tallied with the total amount of the calendar orders of the six (6) customers of the accused, namely, Golden Friendship Supermarket, Inc. (P6,410.00), New Society Rice and Corn Mill (P5,500.00), Cuesta Enterprises (P540.00), Pelrico Marketing (P1,100.00), New Asia Restaurant P3,375.00), and New China Restaurant (P1,100.00). Although these customers had already paid their respective orders, petitioner claimed LPI did not return the said checks to him. The RTC rendered a decision convicting Wong of the offenses charged. The CA likewise affirmed the said decision. Hence the present petition. Issue: Whether or not the prosecution sufficiently established all the elements of the offense penalized under BP 22. Held: There are two (2) ways of violating B.P. Blg. 22: (1) by making or drawing and issuing a check to apply on account or for value knowing at the time of issue that the check is not sufficiently funded; and (2) by having sufficient funds in or credit with the drawee bank at the time of issue but failing to keep sufficient funds therein or credit with said bank to cover the full amount of the check when presented to the drawee bank within a period of ninety (90) days. The elements of B.P. Blg. 22 under the first situation, pertinent to the present case, are:

(1) The making, drawing and issuance of any check to apply for account or for value; (2) The knowledge of the maker, drawer, or issuer that at the time of issue he does not have sufficient funds in or credit with the drawee bank for the payment of such check in full upon its presentment; and (3) The subsequent dishonor of the check by the drawee bank for insufficiency of funds or credit or dishonor for the same reason had not the drawer, without any valid cause, ordered the bank to stop payment." Petitioner contends that the first element does not exist because the checks were not issued to apply for account or for value. He attempts to distinguish his situation from the usual "cut-and-dried" B.P. 22 case by claiming that the checks were issued as guarantee and the obligations they were supposed to guarantee were already paid. This flawed argument has no factual basis, the RTC and CA having both ruled that the checks were in payment for unremitted collections, and not as guarantee. Likewise, the argument has no legal basis, for what B.P. Blg. 22 punishes is the issuance of a bouncing check and not the purpose for which it was issued nor the terms and conditions relating to its issuance. As to the second element, B.P. Blg. 22 creates a presumption juris tantum that the second element prima facie exists when the first and third elements of the offense are present. Thus, the maker s knowledge is presumed from the dishonor of the check for insufficiency of funds. Section 2 of B.P. Blg. 22 provides: Evidence of knowledge of insufficient funds. The making, drawing and issuance of a check payment of which is refused by the drawee because of insufficient funds in or credit with such bank, when presented within ninety (90) days from the date of the check, shall be prima facie evidence of knowledge of such insufficiency of funds or credit unless such maker or drawer pays the holder thereof the amount due thereon, or makes arrangements for payment in full by the drawee of such check within five (5) banking days after receiving notice that such check has not been paid by the drawee. An essential element of the offense is "knowledge" on the part of the maker or drawer of the check of the insufficiency of his funds in or credit with the bank to cover the check upon its presentment. Since this involves a state of mind difficult to establish, the statute itself creates a prima facie presumption of such knowledge where payment of the check "is refused by the drawee because of insufficient funds in or credit with such bank when presented within ninety (90) days from the date of the check." To mitigate the harshness of the law in its application, the statute provides that such presumption shall not arise if within five (5) banking days from receipt of the notice of dishonor, the maker or drawer makes arrangements for payment of the check by the bank or pays the holder the amount of the check. Contrary to petitioner s assertions, nowhere in said provision does the law require a maker to maintain funds in his bank account for only 90 days. Rather, the clear import of the law is to establish a prima facie presumption of knowledge of such insufficiency of funds under the following conditions (1) presentment within 90 days from date of the check, and (2) the dishonor of the check and failure of the maker to make arrangements for payment in full within 5 banking days after notice thereof. That the check must be deposited within ninety (90) days is simply one of the conditions for the prima facie presumption of knowledge of lack of funds to arise. It is not an element of the offense. Neither does it discharge petitioner from his duty to maintain sufficient funds in the account within a reasonable time thereof. Under Section 186 of the Negotiable Instruments Law, "a check must be presented for payment within a reasonable time after its issue or the drawer will be discharged from liability thereon to the extent of the loss caused by the delay." By current banking practice, a check becomes stale after more than six (6) months,23 or 180 days. Private respondent herein deposited the checks 157 days after the date of the check. Hence said checks cannot be considered stale. Only the presumption of knowledge of insufficiency of funds was lost, but such knowledge could still be proven by direct or circumstantial evidence. As found by the trial court, private respondent did not deposit the checks because of the reassurance of petitioner that he would issue new checks. Upon his failure to do so, LPI was constrained to deposit the said checks. After the checks were dishonored, petitioner was duly notified of such fact but failed to make arrangements for full payment within five (5) banking days thereof. There is, on record, sufficient evidence that petitioner had knowledge of the insufficiency of his funds in or credit with the drawee bank at the time of issuance of the checks. And despite petitioner s insistent plea of innocence, we find no error in the respondent court s affirmance of his conviction by the trial court for violations of the Bouncing Checks Law.