EN BANC

[G.R. No. L-49188. January 30, 1990.]

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES, INC. , petitioner, vs. HON. COURT OF APPEALS,

HON. JUDGE RICARDO D. GALANO, Court of First Instance of Manila,
Branch XIII, JAIME K. DEL ROSARIO, Deputy Sheriff, Court of First
Instance, Manila, and AMELIA TAN , respondents.

DECISION

GUTIERREZ, JR. , J : p

Behind the simple issue of validity of an alias writ of execution in this case is a
more fundamental question. Should the Court allow a too literal interpretation of the
Rules with an open invitation to knavery to prevail over a more discerning and just
approach? Should we not apply the ancient rule of statutory construction that laws are
to be interpreted by the spirit which vivifies and not by the letter which killeth?
This is a petition to review on certiorari the decision of the Court of Appeals in
CA-G.R. No. 07695 entitled "Philippine Airlines, Inc. v. Hon. Judge Ricardo D. Galano, et
al.", dismissing the petition for certiorari against the order of the Court of First Instance
of Manila which issued an alias writ of execution against the petitioner.
The petition involving the alias writ of execution had its beginnings on November
8, 1967, when respondent Amelia Tan, under the name and style of Able Printing Press
commenced a complaint for damages before the Court of First Instance of Manila. The
case was docketed as Civil Case No. 71307, entitled "Amelia Tan, et al. v. Philippine
Airlines, Inc."
After trial, the Court of First Instance of Manila, Branch 13, then presided over by
the late Judge Jesus P. Morfe rendered judgment on June 29, 1972, in favor of private
respondent Amelia Tan and against petitioner Philippine Airlines, Inc. (PAL) as follows:
"WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered, ordering the defendant Philippine Air
Lines:

"1. On the rst cause of action, to pay to the plaintiff the amount of
P75,000.00 as actual damages, with legal interest thereon from plaintiffs extra-
judicial demand made by the letter of July 20, 1967;
"2. On the third cause of action, to pay to the plaintiff the amount of
P18,200.00, representing the unrealized pro t of 10% included in the contract
price of P200,000.00 plus legal interest thereon from July 20, 1967;

"3. On the fourth cause of action, to pay to the plaintiff the amount of
P20,000.00 as and for moral damages, with legal interest thereon from July 20,
1967;

"4. On the sixth cause of action, to pay to the plaintiff the amount of
P5,000.00 damages as and for attorney's fee.
"Plaintiff's second and fth causes of action, and defendant's counterclaim, are
CD Technologies Asia, Inc. © 2016 cdasiaonline.com
 dismissed.

With costs against the defendant." (CA Rollo, p. 18)

On July 28, 1972, the petitioner led its appeal with the Court of Appeals. The
case was docketed as CA-G.R. No. 51079-R.
On February 3, 1977, the appellate court rendered its decision, the dispositive
portion of which reads:
"IN VIEW WHEREOF, with the modi cation that PAL is condemned to pay plaintiff
the sum of P25,000.00 as damages and P5,000.00 as attorney's fee, judgment is
affirmed, with costs." (CA Rollo, p. 29)

Notice of judgment was sent by the Court of Appeals to the trial court and on
dates subsequent thereto, a motion for reconsideration was led by respondent Amelia
Tan, duly opposed by petitioner PAL.
On May 23, 1977, the Court of Appeals rendered its resolution denying the
respondent's motion for reconsideration for lack of merit.
No further appeal having been taken by the parties, the judgment became nal
and executory and on May 31, 1977, judgment was correspondingly entered in the case.
The case was remanded to the trial court for execution and on September 2,
1977, respondent Amelia Tan led a motion praying for the issuance of a writ of
execution of the judgment rendered by the Court of Appeals. On October 11, 1977, the
trial court, presided over by Judge Galano, issued its order of execution with the
corresponding writ in favor of the respondent. The writ was duly referred to Deputy
Sheriff Emilio Z. Reyes of Branch 13 of the Court of First Instance of Manila for
enforcement.
Four months later, on February 11, 1978, respondent Amelia Tan moved for the
issuance of an alias writ of execution stating that the judgment rendered by the lower
court, and affirmed with modification by the Court of Appeals, remained unsatisfied.
On March 1, 1978, the petitioner led an opposition to the motion for the
issuance of an alias writ of execution stating that it had already fully paid its obligation
to plaintiff through the deputy sheriff of the respondent court, Emilio Z. Reyes, as
evidenced by cash vouchers properly signed and receipted by said Emilio Z. Reyes.
On March 3, 1978, the Court of Appeals denied the issuance of the alias writ for
being premature, ordering the executing sheriff Emilio Z. Reyes to appear with his return
and explain the reason for his failure to surrender the amounts paid to him by petitioner
PAL. However, the order could not be served upon Deputy Sheriff Reyes who had
absconded or disappeared.
On March 28, 1978, motion for the issuance of a partial alias writ of execution
was filed by respondent Amelia Tan.
On April 19, 1978, respondent Amelia Tan led a motion to withdraw "Motion for
Partial Alias Writ of Execution" with Substitute Motion for Alias Writ of Execution. On
May 1, 1978, the respondent Judge issued an order which reads:
"As prayed for by counsel for the plaintiff, the Motion to Withdraw 'Motion for
Partial Alias Writ of Execution' with Substitute Motion for Alias Writ of Execution
is hereby granted, and the motion for partial alias writ of execution is considered
withdrawn.
CD Technologies Asia, Inc. © 2016 cdasiaonline.com
 "Let an Alias Writ of Execution issue against the defendant for the full
satisfaction of the judgment rendered. Deputy Sheriff Jaime K. del Rosario is
hereby appointed Special Sheriff for the enforcement thereof." (CA Rollo, p. 34).

On May 18, 1978, the petitioner received a copy of the rst alias writ of execution
issued on the same day directing Special Sheriff Jaime K. del Rosario to levy on
execution in the sum of P25,000.00 with legal interest thereon from July 20, 1967 when
respondent Amelia Tan made an extrajudicial demand through a letter. Levy was also
ordered for the further sum of P5,000.00 awarded as attorney's fees.
On May 23, 1978, the petitioner led an urgent motion to quash the alias writ of
execution stating that no return of the writ had as yet been made by Deputy Sheriff
Emilio Z. Reyes and that the judgment debt had already been fully satis ed by the
petitioner as evidenced by the cash vouchers signed and receipted by the server of the
writ of execution, Deputy Sheriff Emilio Z. Reyes.
On May 26, 1978, the respondent Jaime K. del Rosario served a notice of
garnishment on the depository bank of petitioner, Far East Bank and Trust Company,
Rosario Branch, Binondo, Manila, through its manager and garnished the petitioner's
deposit in the said bank in the total amount of P64,408.00 as of May 16, 1978. Hence,
this petition for certiorari filed by the Philippine Airlines, Inc., on the grounds that:
I
AN ALIAS WRIT OF EXECUTION CANNOT BE ISSUED WITHOUT PRIOR RETURN
OF THE ORIGINAL WRIT BY THE IMPLEMENTING OFFICER.

II

PAYMENT OF JUDGMENT TO THE IMPLEMENTING OFFICER AS DIRECTED IN

THE WRIT OF EXECUTION CONSTITUTES SATISFACTION OF JUDGMENT.

III

INTEREST IS NOT PAYABLE WHEN THE DECISION IS SILENT AS TO THE

PAYMENT THEREOF.
IV

SECTION 5, RULE 39, PARTICULARLY REFERS TO LEVY OF PROPERTY OF

JUDGMENT DEBTOR AND DISPOSAL OR SALE THEREOF TO SATISFY
JUDGMENT.

Can an alias writ of execution be issued without a prior return of the original writ
by the implementing officer?
We rule in the af rmative and we quote the respondent court's decision with
approval:
"The issuance of the questioned alias writ of execution under the circumstances
here obtaining is justi ed because even with the absence of a Sheriff's return on
the original writ, the unalterable fact remains that such a return is incapable of
being obtained (sic) because the of cer who is to make the said return has
absconded and cannot be brought to the Court despite the earlier order of the
court for him to appear for this purpose. (Order of Feb. 21, 1978, Annex C,
Petition). Obviously, taking cognizance of this circumstance, the order of May 11,
1978 directing the issuance of an alias writ was therefore issued. (Annex D.
Petition). The need for such a return as a condition precedent for the issuance of
CD Technologies Asia, Inc. © 2016 cdasiaonline.com
 an alias writ was justi ably dispensed with by the court below and its action in
this regard meets with our concurrence. A contrary view will produce an abhorrent
situation whereby the mischief of an erring of cer of the court could be utilized to
impede inde nitely the undisputed and awarded rights which a prevailing party
rightfully deserves to obtain and with dispatch. The nal judgment in this case
should not indeed be permitted to become illusory or incapable of execution for
an inde nite and over extended period, as had already transpired." (Rollo, pp. 35-
36)

Judicium non debet esse illusorium; suum effectum habere debet (A judgment ought
not to be illusory; it ought to have its proper effect). LLjur

Indeed, technicality cannot be countenanced to defeat the execution of a

judgment for execution is the fruit and end of the suit and is very aptly called the life of
the law (Ipekdjian Merchandising Co. v. Court of Tax Appeals, 8 SCRA 59 [1963];
Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Visayan Electric Co. ,19 SCRA 697, 698 [1967]). A
judgment cannot be rendered nugatory by the unreasonable application of a strict rule
of procedure. Vested rights were never intended to rest on the requirement of a return,
the of ce of which is merely to inform the court and the parties, of any and all actions
taken under the writ of execution. Where such information can be established in some
other manner, the absence of an executing of cer's return will not preclude a judgment
from being treated as discharged or being executed through an alias writ of execution
as the case may be. More so, as in the case at bar. Where the return cannot be expected
to be forthcoming, to require the same would be to compel the enforcement of rights
under a judgment to rest on an impossibility, thereby allowing the total avoidance of
judgment debts. So long as a judgment is not satis ed, a plaintiff is entitled to other
writs of execution (Government of the Philippines v. Echaus and Gonzales, 71 Phil.
318). It is a well known legal maxim that he who cannot prosecute his judgment with
effect, sues his case vainly.

More important in the determination of the propriety of the trial court's issuance
of an alias writ of execution is the issue of satisfaction of judgment.
Under the peculiar circumstances surrounding this case, did the payment made
to the absconding sheriff by check in his name operate to satisfy the judgment debt?
The Court rules that the plaintiff who has won her case should not be adjudged as
having sued in vain. To decide otherwise would not only give her an empty but a pyrrhic
victory.
It should be emphasized that under the initial judgment, Amelia Tan was found to
have been wronged by PAL.
She filed her complaint in 1967.
After ten (10) years of protracted litigation in the Court of First Instance and the
Court of Appeals, Ms. Tan won her case.
It is now 1990.
Almost twenty-two (22) years later, Ms. Tan has not seen a centavo of what the
courts have solemnly declared as rightfully hers. Through absolutely no fault of her own,
Ms. Tan has been deprived of what, technically, she should have been paid from the
start, before 1967 , without need of her going to court to enforce her rights. And all
because PAL did not issue the checks intended for her, in her name.

CD Technologies Asia, Inc. © 2016 cdasiaonline.com

 Under the peculiar circumstances of this case, the payment to the absconding
sheriff by check in his name did not operate as a satisfaction of the judgment debt.
In general, a payment, in order to be effective to discharge an obligation, must be
made to the proper person. Article 1240 of the Civil Code provides:
"Payment shall be made to the person in whose favor the obligation has been
constituted, or his successor in interest, or any person authorized to receive it."
(Emphasis supplied)

Thus, payment must be made to the obligee himself or to an agent having

authority, express or implied, to receive the particular payment (Ulen v. Knecttle, 50
Wyo. 94, 58 [2d] 446, 111 ALR 65). Payment made to one having apparent authority to
receive the money will, as a rule, be treated as though actual authority had been given
for its receipt. Likewise, if payment is made to one who by law is authorized to act for
the creditor, it will work a discharge (Hendry v. Benlisa, 37 Fla. 609, 20 SO 800, 34 LRA
283). The receipt of money due on a judgment by an of cer authorized by law to accept
it will, therefore, satisfy the debt (See 40 Am Jur 729, 25; Hendry v. Benlisa, supra;
Seattle v. Stirrat, 55 Wash. 104 p. 834, 24 LRA [NS] 1275).
The theory is where payment is made to a person authorized and recognized by
the creditor, the payment to such a person so authorized is deemed payment to the
creditor. Under ordinary circumstances, payment by the judgment debtor in the case at
bar, to the sheriff should be valid payment to extinguish the judgment debt. cdrep

There are circumstances in this case, however, which compel a different

conclusion.
The payment made by the petitioner to the absconding sheriff was not in cash or
legal tender but in checks. The checks were not payable to Amelia Tan or Able Printing
Press but to the absconding sheriff.
Did such payments extinguish the judgment debt?
Article 1249 of the Civil Code provides:
"The payment of debts in money shall be made in the currency stipulated, and if it
is not possible to deliver such currency, then in the currency which is legal tender
in the Philippines.
"The delivery of promissory notes payable to order, or bills of exchange or other
mercantile documents shall produce the effect of payment only when they have
been cashed, or when through the fault of the creditor they have been impaired.

"In the meantime, the action derived from the original obligation shall be held in
abeyance."

In the absence of an agreement, either express or implied, payment means the

discharge of a debt or obligation in money (US v. Robertson, 5 Pet. [US] 641, 8 L. ed.
257) and unless the parties so agree, a debtor has no rights, except at his own peril, to
substitute something in lieu of cash as medium of payment of his debt (Anderson v.
Gill, 79 Md. 312, 29 A 527, 25 LRA 200, 47 Am. St. Rep. 402). Consequently, unless
authorized to do so by law or by consent of the obligee, a public of cer has no authority
to accept anything other than money in payment of an obligation under a judgment
being executed. Strictly speaking, the acceptance by the sheriff of the petitioner's
checks, in the case at bar, does not, per se, operate as a discharge of the judgment
debt.
CD Technologies Asia, Inc. © 2016 cdasiaonline.com
 Since a negotiable instrument is only a substitute for money and not money, the
delivery of such an instrument does not, by itself, operate as payment (Sec. 189, Act
2031 on Negs. Insts.; Art. 1249, Civil Code; Bryan Landon Co. v. American Bank, 7 Phil.
255; Tan Sunco v. Santos, 9 Phil. 44; 21 R.C.L. 60, 61). A check, whether a manager's
check or ordinary check, is not legal tender, and an offer of a check in payment of a
debt is not a valid tender of payment and may be refused receipt by the obligee or
creditor. Mere delivery of checks does not discharge the obligation under a judgment.
The obligation is not extinguished and remains suspended until the payment by
commercial document is actually realized (Art. 1249, Civil Code, par. 3).
If bouncing checks had been issued in the name of Amelia Tan and not the
Sheriffs, there would have been no payment. After dishonor of the checks, Ms. Tan
could have run after other properties of PAL. The theory is that she has received no
value for what had been awarded her. Because the checks were drawn in the name of
Emilio Z. Reyes, neither has she received anything. The same rule should apply.
It is argued that if PAL had paid in cash to Sheriff Reyes, there would have been
payment in full legal contemplation. The reasoning is logical but is it valid and proper?
Logic has its limits in decision making. We should not follow rulings to their logical
extremes if in doing so we arrive at unjust or absurd results. LLpr

In the first place, PAL did not pay in cash. It paid in checks.
And second, payment in cash always carries with it certain cautions. Nobody
hands over big amounts of cash in a careless and inane manner. Mature thought is
given to the possibility of the cash being lost, of the bearer being waylaid or running off
with what he is carrying for another. Payment in checks is precisely intended to avoid
the possibility of the money going to the wrong party. The situation is entirely different
where a Sheriff seizes a car, a tractor, or a piece of land. Logic often has to give way to
experience and to reality. Having paid with checks, PAL should have done so properly.
Payment in money or cash to the implementing of cer may be deemed absolute
payment of the judgment debt but the Court has never, in the least bit, suggested that
judgment debtors should settle their obligations by turning over huge amounts of cash
or legal tender to sheriffs and other executing of cers. Payment in cash would result in
damage or interminable litigations each time a sheriff with huge amounts of cash in his
hands decides to abscond.
As a protective measure, therefore, the courts encourage the practice of
payments by check provided adequate controls are instituted to prevent wrongful
payment and illegal withdrawal or disbursement of funds. If particularly big amounts
are involved, escrow arrangements with a bank and carefully supervised by the court
would be the safer procedure. Actual transfer of funds takes place within the safety of
bank premises. These practices are perfectly legal. The object is always the safe and
incorrupt execution of the judgment.
It is, indeed, out of the ordinary that checks intended for a particular payee are
made out in the name of another. Making the checks payable to the judgment creditor
would have prevented the encashment or the taking of undue advantage by the sheriff,
or any person into whose hands the checks may have fallen, whether wrongfully or in
behalf of the creditor. The issuance of the checks in the name of the sheriff clearly
made possible the misappropriation of the funds that were withdrawn.
As explained and held by the respondent court:.
" . . . [K]nowing as it does that the intended payment was for the private-party
CD Technologies Asia, Inc. © 2016 cdasiaonline.com
 respondent Amelia Tan, the petitioner corporation, utilizing the services of its
personnel who are or should be knowledgeable about the accepted procedures
and resulting consequences of the checks drawn, nevertheless, in this instance,
without prudence, departed from what is generally observed and done, and placed
as payee in the checks the name of the errant Sheriff and not the name of the
rightful payee. Petitioner thereby created a situation which permitted the said
Sheriff to personally encash said checks and misappropriate the proceeds thereof
to his exclusive personal bene t. For the prejudice that resulted, the petitioner
himself must bear the fault. The judicial guideline which we take note of states as
follows:
"'As between two innocent persons, one of whom must suffer the
consequence of a breach of trust, the one who made it possible by his act
of con dence must bear the loss.'" (Blondeau, et al. v. Nano, et al., L-41377,
July 26, 1935, 61 Phil. 625).

Having failed to employ the proper safeguards to protect itself, the judgment debtor
whose act made possible the loss had but itself to blame.
The attention of this Court has been called to the bad practice of a number of
executing of cers, of requiring checks in satisfaction of judgment debts to be made
out in their own names. If a sheriff directs a judgment debtor to issue the checks in the
sheriff's name, claiming he must get his commission or fees, the debtor must report
the sheriff immediately to the court which ordered the execution or to the Supreme
Court for appropriate disciplinary action. Fees, commissions, and salaries are paid
through regular channels. This improper procedure also allows such of cers, who have
sixty (60) days within which to make a return, to treat the moneys as their personal
funds and to deposit the same in their private accounts to earn sixty (60) days interest,
before said funds are turned over to the court or judgment creditor (See Balgos v.
Velasco, 108 SCRA 525 [1981]). Quite as easily, such of cers could put up the defense
that said checks had been issued to them in their private or personal capacity. Without
a receipt evidencing payment of the judgment debt, the misappropriation of nds by
such of cers becomes clean and complete. The practice is ingenious but evil as it
unjustly enriches court personnel at the expense of litigants and the proper
administration of justice. The temptation could be far greater, as proved to be in this
case of the absconding sheriff. The correct and prudent thing for the petitioner was to
have issued the checks in the intended payee's name. LLphil

The pernicious effects of issuing checks in the name of a person other than the
intended payee, without the latter's agreement or consent, are as many as the ways that
an artful mind could concoct to get around the safeguards provided by the law on
negotiable instruments. An angry litigant who loses a case, as a rule, would not want the
winning party to get what he won in the judgment. He would think of ways to delay the
winning party's getting what has been adjudged in his favor. We cannot condone that
practice especially in cases where the courts and their of cers are involved. We rule
against the petitioner.
Anent the applicability of Section 15, Rule 39, as follows:
"Section 15. Execution of money judgments. — The of cer must enforce an
execution of a money judgment by levying on all the property, real and personal
of every name and nature whatsoever, and which may be disposed of for value, of
the judgment debtor not exempt from execution, or on a suf cient amount of
CD Technologies Asia, Inc. © 2016 cdasiaonline.com
 such property, if they be suf cient, and selling the same, and paying to the
judgment creditor, or his attorney, so much of the proceeds as will satisfy the
judgment. . . . ."

the respondent court held:

"We are obliged to rule that the judgment debt cannot be considered satis ed and
therefore the orders of the respondent judge granting the alias writ of execution
may not be pronounced as a nullity.
xxx xxx xxx
"It is clear and manifest that after levy or garnishment, for a judgment to be
executed there is the requisite of payment by the of cer to the judgment creditor,
or his attorney, so much of the proceeds as will satisfy the judgment and none
such payment had been concededly made yet by the absconding Sheriff to the
private respondent Amelia Tan. The ultimate and essential step to complete the
execution of the judgment not having been performed by the City Sheriff, the
judgment debt legally and factually remains unsatisfied."

Strictly speaking execution cannot be equated with satisfaction of a judgment.

Under unusual circumstances as those obtaining in this petition, the distinction comes
out clearly.
Execution is the process which carries into effect a decree or judgment (Painter
v. Berglund, 31 Cal. App. 2d. 63, 87 P 2d 360, 363; Miller v. London, 294 Mass 300, 1 NE
2d 198, 200; Black's Law Dictionary), whereas the satisfaction of a judgment is the
payment of the amount of the writ, or a lawful tender thereof, or the conversion by sale
of the debtor's property into an amount equal to that due, and, it may be done otherwise
than upon an execution (Section 47, Rule 39). Levy and delivery by an execution of cer
are not prerequisites to the satisfaction of a judgment when the same has already been
realized in fact (Section 47, Rule 39). Execution is for the sheriff to accomplish while
satisfaction of the judgment is for the creditor to achieve. Section 15, Rule 39 merely
provides the sheriff with his duties as executing of cer including delivery of the
proceeds of his levy on the debtor's property to satisfy the judgment debt. It is but to
stress that the implementing of cer's duty should not stop at his receipt of payments
but must continue until payment is delivered to the obligor or creditor.
Finally, we nd no error in the respondent court's pronouncement on the inclusion
of interests to be recovered under the alias writ of execution. This logically follows
from our ruling that PAL is liable for both the lost checks and interest. The respondent
court's decision in CA-G.R. No. 51079-R does not totally supersede the trial court's
judgment in Civil Case No. 71307. It merely modi ed the same as to the principal
amount awarded as actual damages.
WHEREFORE, IN VIEW OF THE FOREGOING, the petition is hereby DISMISSED.
The judgment of the respondent Court of Appeals is AFFIRMED and the trial court's
issuance of the alias writ of execution against the petitioner is upheld without prejudice
to any action it should take against the errant sheriff Emilio Z. Reyes. The Court
Administrator is ordered to follow up the actions taken against Emilio Z. Reyes.
SO ORDERED.
Fernan, C.J., Cruz, Paras, Bidin, Griño-Aquino, Medialdea and Regalado, JJ., concur.

CD Technologies Asia, Inc. © 2016 cdasiaonline.com

 Separate Opinions
NARVASA , J., dissenting:

The execution of nal judgments and orders is a function of the sheriff, an of cer
of the court whose authority is by and large statutorily determined to meet the
particular exigencies arising from or connected with the performance of the
multifarious duties of the of ce. It is the acknowledgment of the many dimensions of
this authority, de ned by statute and chiselled by practice, which compels me to
disagree with the decision reached by the majority. llcd

A consideration of the wide latitude of discretion allowed the sheriff as the

of cer of the court most directly involved with the implementation and execution of
nal judgments and orders persuades me that PAL's payment to the sheriff of its
judgment debt to Amelia Tan, though made by check issued in said of cer's name,
lawfully satis ed said obligation and foreclosed further recourse therefor against PAL,
notwithstanding the sheriff's failure to deliver to Tan the proceeds of the check.
"It is a matter of history that the judiciary . . is an inheritor of the Anglo-American
tradition. While the common law as such . . 'is not in force' in this jurisdiction, 'to
breathe the breath of life into many of the institutions, introduced [here] under
American sovereignty, recourse must be had to the rules, principles and doctrines
of the common law under whose protecting aegis the prototypes of these
institutions had their birth.' A sheriff is 'an of cer of great antiquity,' and was also
called the shire reeve. A shire in English law is a Saxon word signifying a division
later called a county. A reeve is an ancient English officer of justice inferior in rank
to an alderman . . appointed to process, keep the King's peace, and put the laws in
execution. From a very remote period in English constitutional history . . the shire
had another of cer, namely the shire reeve or as we say, the sheriff. . . The Sheriff
was the special representative of the regal or central authority, and as such
usually nominated by the King. . . Since the earliest times, both in England and the
United States, a sheriff has continued his status as an adjunct of the court . . . As
it was there, so it has been in the Philippines from the time of the organization of
the judiciary . . ." (J. Fernando's concurring opinion in Bagatsing v. Herrera, 65
SCRA 434).

One of a sheriff's principal functions is to execute nal judgments and orders.

The Rules of Court require the writs of execution to issue to him, directing him to
enforce such judgments and orders in the manner therein provided (Rule 39). The mode
of enforcement varies according to the nature of the judgment to be carried out:
whether it be against property of the judgment debtor in his hands or in the hands of a
third person (i.e. money judgment), or for the sale of property, real or personal (i.e.
foreclosure of mortgage) or the delivery thereof, etc. (sec. 8, Rule 39).
Under sec. 15 of the same Rule, the sheriff is empowered to levy on so much of
the judgment debtor's property as may be suf cient to enforce the money judgment
and sell these properties at public auction after due notice to satisfy the adjudged
amount. It is the sheriff who, after the auction sale, conveys to the purchaser the
property thus sold (secs. 25, 26, 27, Rule 39), and pays the judgment creditor so much
of the proceeds as will satisfy the judgment. When the property sold by him on
execution is an immovable which consequently gives rise to a right of redemption on
the part of the judgment debtor and others (secs. 29, 30, Rule 39), it is to him (or to the
purchaser or redemptioner) that the payments may be made by those declared by law
CD Technologies Asia, Inc. © 2016 cdasiaonline.com
 as entitled to redeem (sec. 31, Rule 39); and in this situation, it becomes his duty to
accept payment and execute the certi cate of redemption (Enage v. Vda. y Hijos de
Escano, 38 Phil. 657, cited in Moran, Comments on the Rules of Court, 1979 ed., vol. 2,
pp. 326-327). It is also to the sheriff that "written notice of any redemption must be
given and a duplicate led with the registrar of deeds of the province, and if any
assessments or taxes are paid by the redemptioner or if he has or acquires any lien
other than that upon which the redemption was made, notice thereof must in like
manner be given to the of cer and led with the registrar of deeds," the effect of failure
to le such notice being that redemption may be made without paying such
assessments, taxes, or liens (sec. 30, Rule 39).
The sheriff may likewise be appointed a receiver of the property of the judgment
debtor where the appointment of the receiver is deemed necessary for the execution of
the judgment (sec. 32, Rule 39).
At any time before the sale of property on execution, the judgment debtor may
prevent the sale by paying the sheriff the amount required by the execution and the
costs that have been incurred therein (sec. 20, Rule 39).
The sheriff is also authorized to receive payments on account of the judgment
debt tendered by "a person indebted to the judgment debtor," and his "receipt shall be a
suf cient discharge for the amount so paid or directed to be credited by the judgment
creditor on the execution" (sec. 41, Rule 39).
Now, obviously, the sheriff's sale extinguishes the liability of the judgment debtor
either in full, if the price paid by the highest bidder is equal to, or more than the amount
of the judgment or pro tanto, if the price fetched at the sale be less. Such extinction is
not in any way dependent upon the judgment creditor's receiving the amount realized,
so that the conversion or embezzlement of the proceeds of the sale by the sheriff does
not revive the judgment debt or render the judgment creditor liable anew therefor. LLpr

So, also, the taking by the sheriff of, say, personal property from the judgment
debtor for delivery to the judgment creditor, in ful llment of the verdict against him,
extinguishes the debtor's liability; and the conversion of said property by the sheriff,
does not make said debtor responsible for replacing the property or paying the value
thereof.

In the instances where the Rules allow or direct payments to be made to the
sheriff, the payments may be made by check, but it goes without saying that if the
sheriff so desires, he may require payment to be made in lawful money. If he accepts
the check, he places himself in a position where he would be liable to the judgment
creditor if any damages are suffered by the latter as a result of the medium in which
payment was made (Javellana v. Mirasol, et al., 40 Phil. 761). The validity of the
payment made by the judgment debtor, however, is in no wise affected and the latter is
discharged from his obligation to the judgment creditor as of the moment the check
issued to the sheriff is encashed and the proceeds are received by said of ce. The
issuance of the check to a person authorized to receive it (Art. 1240, Civil Code; Sec. 46
of the Code of Civil Procedure; Enage v. Vda y Hijos de Escano, 38 Phil. 657, cited in
Javellana v. Mirasol, 40 Phil. 761) operates to release the judgment debtor from any
further obligations on the judgment.
The sheriff is an adjunct of the court; a court functionary whose competence
involves both discretion and personal liability (concurring opinion of J. Fernando, citing
CD Technologies Asia, Inc. © 2016 cdasiaonline.com
 Uy Piaoco v. Osmeña, 9 Phil. 299, in Bagatsing v. Herrera, 65 SCRA 434). Being an
of cer of the court and acting within the scope of his authorized functions, the sheriff's
receipt of the checks in payment of the judgment execution, may be deemed, in legal
contemplation, as received by the court itself (Lara v. Bayona, 10 May 1955, No. L-
10919).
That the sheriff functions as a conduit of the court is further underscored by the
fact that one of the requisites for appointment to the of ce is the execution of a bond,
"conditioned (upon) the faithful performance of his (the appointee's) duties . . for the
delivery or payment to Government, or the person entitled thereto, of all properties or
sums of money that shall of cially come into his hands" (sec. 330, Revised
Administrative Code).
There is no question that the checks came into the sheriff's possession in his
of cial capacity. The court may require of the judgment debtor, in complying with the
judgment, no further burden than his vigilance in ensuring that the person he is paying
money or delivering property to is a person authorized by the court to receive it. Beyond
this, further expectations become unreasonable. To my mind, a proposal that would
make the judgment debtor unquali edly the insurer of the judgment creditor's
entitlement to the judgment amount — which is really what this case is all about — begs
the question.
That the checks were made out in the sheriff's name (a practice, by the way, of
long and common acceptance) is of little consequence if juxtaposed with the extent of
the authority explicitly granted him by law as the of cer entrusted with the power to
execute and implement court judgments. The sheriff's requirement that the checks in
payment of the judgment debt be issued in his name was simply an assertion of that
authority; and PAL's compliance cannot in the premises be faulted merely because of
the sheriff's subsequent malfeasance in absconding with the payment instead of
turning it over to the judgment creditor.
If payment had been in cash, no question about its validity or of the authority and
duty of the sheriff to accept it in settlement of PAL's judgment obligation would even
have arisen. Simply because it was made by checks issued in the sheriff's name does
not warrant reaching any different conclusion.
As payment to the court discharges the judgment debtor from his responsibility
on the judgment, so too must payment to the person designated by such court and
authorized to act in its behalf, operate to produce the same effect.Cdpr

It is unfortunate and deserving of commiseration that Amelia Tan was deprived

of what was adjudged to her when the sheriff misappropriated the payment made to
him by PAL in dereliction of his sworn duties. But I submit that her remedy lies, not here
and in reviving liability under a judgment already lawfully satisfied, but elsewhere.
ACCORDINGLY, I vote to grant the petition.
Melencio-Herrera and Gancayco, JJ., dissent.

FELICIANO , J., dissenting:

I concur in the able dissenting opinions of Narvasa and Padilla, JJ. and would
merely wish to add a few footnotes to their lucid opinions.
1. Narvasa, J. has demonstrated in detail that a sheriff is authorized by the
Rules of Court and our case law to receive either legal tender or checks from the
CD Technologies Asia, Inc. © 2016 cdasiaonline.com
 judgment debtor in satisfaction of the judgment debt. In addition, Padilla, J. has
underscored the obligation of the sheriff, imposed upon him by the nature of his of ce
and the law, to turn over such legal tender, checks and proceeds of execution sales to
the judgment creditor. The failure of a sheriff to effect such turnover and his conversion
of the funds (or goods) held by him to his own uses, do not have the effect of
frustrating payment by and consequent discharge of the judgment debtor.
To hold otherwise would be to throw the risk of the sheriff faithfully performing
his duty as a public of cer upon those members of the general public who are
compelled to deal with him. It seems to me that a judgment debtor who turns over
funds or property to the sheriff can not reasonably be made an insurer of the honesty
and integrity of the sheriff and that the risk of the sheriff carrying out his duties
honestly and faithfully is properly lodged in the State itself. The sheriff, like all other
of cers of the court, is appointed and paid and controlled and disciplined by the
Government, more speci cally by this Court. The public surely has a duty to report
possible wrongdoing by a sheriff or similar of cer to the proper authorities and, if
necessary, to testify in the appropriate judicial and administrative disciplinary
proceedings. But to make the individual members of the general community insurers of
the honest performance of duty of a sheriff, or other of cer of the court, over whom
they have no control, is not only deeply unfair to the former. It is also a confession of
comprehensive failure and comes too close to an abdication of duty on the part of the
Court itself. This Court should have no part in that.
2. I also feel compelled to comment on the majority opinion written by
Gutierrez, J. with all his customary and special way with words. My learned and
eloquent brother in the Court apparently accepts the proposition that payment by a
judgment debtor of cash to a sheriff produces the legal effects of payment, the sheriff
being authorized to accept such payment. Thus, in page 10 of his ponencia, Gutierrez, J.
writes:
"The receipt of money due on a judgment by an of cer authorized by law to
accept it will satisfy the debt. (Citations omitted).

The theory is where payment is made to a person authorized and recognized by

the creditor, the payment to such a person so authorized is deemed payment to
the creditor. Under ordinary circumstances, payment by the judgment debtor in the
case at bar, to the sheriff would be valid payment to extinguish the judgment
debt."

Shortly thereafter, however, Gutierrez, J. backs off from the above position and strongly
implies that payment in cash to the sheriff is sheer imprudence on the part of the
judgment debtor and that therefore, should the sheriff abscond with the cash, the
judgment debtor has not validly discharged the judgment debt:
"It is argued that if PAL had paid in cash to Sheriff Reyes, there would have been
payment in full legal contemplation. The reasoning is logical but is it valid and
proper?

In the first place, PAL did not pay in cash. It paid in checks.
And second, payment in cash always carries with it certain cautions. Nobody
hands over big amounts of cash in a careless and inane manner. Mature thought
is given to the possibility of the cash being lost, of the bearer being waylaid or
running off with what he is carrying for another. Payment in checks is precisely
intended to avoid the possibility of the money going to the wrong party. . . . .
CD Technologies Asia, Inc. © 2016 cdasiaonline.com
 Payment in money or cash to the implementing of cer may be deemed absolute
payment of the judgment debt but the court has never, in the least bit, suggested
that judgment debtors should settle their obligations by turning over huge
amounts of cash or legal tender to sheriffs and other executing of cers. . . . "
(Emphasis in the original) (Majority opinion, pp. 12-13)

There is no dispute with the suggestion apparently made that maximum safety is
secured where the judgment debtor delivers to the sheriff not cash but a check made
out, not in the name of the sheriff, but in the judgment creditor's name. The fundamental
point that must be made, however, is that under our law only cash is legal tender and
that the sheriff can be compelled to accept only cash and not checks, even if made out
to the name of the judgment creditor. 1 The sheriff could have quite lawfully required
PAL to deliver to him only cash, i.e., Philippine currency. If the sheriff had done so, and if
PAL had complied with such a requirement, as it would have had to, one would have to
agree that legal payment must be deemed to have been effected. It requires no
particularly acute mind to note that a dishonest sheriff could easily convert the money
and abscond. The fact that the sheriff in the instant case required, not cash to be
delivered to him, but rather a check made out in his name, does not change the legal
situation. PAL did not thereby become negligent; it did not make the loss anymore
possible or probable than if it had instead delivered plain cash to the sheriff. prLL

It seems to me that the majority opinion's real premise is the unspoken one that
the judgment debtor should bear the risk of the fragility of the sheriff's virtue until the
money or property parted with by the judgment debtor actually reaches the hands of
the judgment creditor. This brings me back to my earlier point that that risk is most
appropriately borne not by the judgment debtor, nor indeed by the judgment creditor,
but by the State itself. The Court requires all sheriffs to post good and adequate delity
bonds before entering upon the performance of their duties and, presumably, to
maintain such bonds in force and effect throughout their stay in of ce. 2 The judgment
creditor, in circumstances like those of the instant case, could be allowed to execute
upon the absconding sheriff's bond. 3

I believe the Petition should be granted and I vote accordingly.

Melencio-Herrera, J., dissents.

PADILLA , J., dissenting:

From the facts that appear to be undisputed, I reach a conclusion different from
that of the majority. Sheriff Emilio Z. Reyes, the trial court's authorized sheriff, armed
with a writ of execution to enforce a nal money judgment against the petitioner
Philippine Airlines (PAL) in favor of private respondent Amelia Tan, proceeded to
petitioner PAL's office to implement the writ. LLjur

There is no question that Sheriff Reyes, in enforcing the writ of execution, was
acting with full authority as an of cer of the law and not in his personal capacity. Stated
differently, PAL had every right to assume that, as an of cer of the law, Sheriff Reyes
would perform his duties as enjoined by law. It would be grossly unfair to now charge
PAL with advanced or constructive notice that Mr. Reyes would abscond and not deliver
to the judgment creditor the proceeds of the writ of execution. If a judgment debtor
cannot rely on and trust an officer of the law, as the Sheriff, whom else can he trust?
Pursued to its logical extreme, if PAL had delivered to Sheriff Reyes the amount
CD Technologies Asia, Inc. © 2016 cdasiaonline.com
 of the judgment in CASH, i.e. Philippine currency, with the corresponding receipt signed
by Sheriff Reyes, this would have been payment by PAL in full legal contemplation,
because under Article 1240 of the Civil Code, "payment shall be made to the person in
whose favor the obligation has been constituted or his successor in interest or any
person authorized to receive it." And said payment if made by PAL in cash, i.e.,
Philippine currency, to Sheriff Reyes would have satis ed PAL's judgment obligation, as
payment is a legally recognized mode for extinguishing one's obligation. (Article 1231,
Civil Code).
Under Sec. 15, Rule 39, Rules of Court which provides that —
"Sec. 15. Execution of money judgments. — The of cer must enforce an
execution of a money judgment by levying on all the property, real and personal
of every name and nature whatsoever, and which may be disposed of for value, of
the judgment debtor not exempt from execution, or on a suf cient amount of
such property, if there be suf cient, and selling the same, and paying to the
judgment creditor, or his attorney, so much of the proceeds as will satisfy the
judgment. . . . ." (emphasis supplied)
it would be the duty of Sheriff Reyes to pay to the judgment creditor the proceeds of
the execution i.e., the cash received from PAL (under the above assumption). But, the
duty of the sheriff to pay the cash to the judgment creditor would be a matter separate
and distinct from the fact that PAL would have satis ed its judgment obligation to
Amelia Tan, the judgment creditor, by delivering the cash amount due under the
judgment to Sheriff Reyes.
Did the situation change by PAL's delivery of its two (2) checks totalling
P30,000.00 drawn against its bank account, payable to Sheriff Reyes, for account of the
judgment rendered against PAL? I do not think so, because when Sheriff Reyes
encashed the checks, the encashment was in fact a payment by PAL to Amelia Tan
through Sheriff Reyes, an of cer of the law authorized to receive payment, and such
payment discharged PAL's obligation under the executed judgment. llcd

If the PAL checks in question had not been encashed by Sheriff Reyes, there
would be no payment by PAL and, consequently, no discharge or satisfaction of its
judgment obligation. But the checks had been encashed by Sheriff Reyes — giving rise
to a situation as if PAL had paid Sheriff Reyes in cash, i.e., Philippine currency. This, we
repeat, is payment, in legal contemplation, on the part of PAL and this payment legally
discharged PAL from its judgment obligation to the judgment creditor. To be sure, the
same encashment by Sheriff Reyes of PAL's checks delivered to him in his of cial
capacity as Sheriff, imposed an obligation on Sheriff Reyes to pay and deliver the
proceeds of the encashment to Amelia Tan who is deemed to have acquired a cause of
action against Sheriff Reyes for his failure to deliver to her the proceeds of the
encashment. As held:
"Payment of a judgment, to operate as a release or satisfaction, even pro tanto,
must be made to the plaintiff or to some person authorized by him, or by law, to
receive it. The payment of money to the sheriff having an execution satis es it,
and, if the plaintiff fails to receive it, his only remedy is against the of cer
(Henderson v. Planters' and Merchants Bank, 59 SO 493,178 Ala. 420).

"Payment of an execution satis es it without regard to whether the of cer pays it

over to the creditor or misapplies it (340, 33 C.J.S. 644, citing Elliot v. Higgins, 83
N.C. 459). lf defendant consents to the Sheriff's misapplication of the money,
however, defendant is estopped to claim that the debt is satis ed (340, 33 C.J.S.
CD Technologies Asia, Inc. © 2016 cdasiaonline.com
 644, citing Heptinstall v. Medlin, 83 N.C. 16)."

The above rulings nd even more cogent application in the case at bar because,
as contended by petitioner PAL (not denied by private respondent), when Sheriff Reyes
served the writ of execution on PAL, he (Reyes) was accompanied by private
respondent's counsel. Prudence dictated that when PAL delivered to Sheriff Reyes the
two (2) questioned checks (payable to Sheriff Reyes), private respondent's counsel
should have insisted on their immediate encashment by the Sheriff with the drawee
bank in order to promptly get hold of the amount belonging to his client, the judgment
creditor.
ACCORDINGLY, I vote to grant the petition and to quash the court a quo's alias
writ of execution.
Melencio-Herrera, Gancayco, Sarmiento and Cortes, JJ., concur.

Footnotes

FELICIANO, J., dissenting:

1. Art. 1249, Civil Code; e.g., Belisario v. Natividad, 60 Phil. 156 (1934); Villanueva v. Santos,
67 Phil 648 (1938).

2. See e.g., Sec. 46, Republic Act No. 296, as amended by Republic Act No. 4814.

3. See e.g., Sec. 9, Act No. 3598.

CD Technologies Asia, Inc. © 2016 cdasiaonline.com