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[No. L-8257. April 13, 1956]

JOSE R. CRUZ, plaintiff and appellant, vs. REYNALDO

PAHATI, ET AL., defendants and appellees.

1. POSSESION; MOVABLES; OWNER ILLEGALLY

DEPRIVED THEREOF MAY RECOVER THE SAME;
LAW APPLICABLE.—Under Article 559 of the new Civil
Code, a person illegally deprived of any movable may
recover it from the person in possession of the same and
the only defense the latter may have is if he has acquired
it in good faith at a public sale, in which case, the owner
cannot obtain its return without reimbursing the price
paid therefor. In the present case, plaintiff has been
illegally deprived of his car through the ingenious scheme
of defendant B to enable the latter to dispose of it as if he
were the owner thereof. Plaintiff therefore can still recover
possession of the car even if it is in the possession of a
third party who had acquired it in good faith from
defendant B. The maxim that “No man can transfer to
another a better title than he has himself” obtains in the
civil as well as in the common law.” (U. S. vs. Sotelo, 28
Phil., 147.)

2. ID. ; ID. ; ID. ; PARTY TO BEAR LOSS UNDER

COMMON LAW PRINCIPLE; STATUTORY PRINCIPLE
PREVAILS OVER COMMON LAW PRINCIPLE.—The
common law principle that “Where one of two innocent
parties must suffer by a fraud perpetrated by another,

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Cruz vs. Pahati, et al.

the law imposes the loss upon the party who, by his
misplaced confidence, has enabled the fraud to be
committed” cannot be applied in a case which is covered
by an express provision of the new Civil Code. Between a

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common law principle and a statutory principle, the latter

must prevail in this jurisdiction.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Court of First Instance of

Manila. Concepcion, J.
The facts are stated in the opinion of the Court.
Panganiban Law Offices and Arsenio Roldan for
appellant.
Carlos, Laurea, Fernando & Padilla for appellees.

BAUTISTA ANGELO, J.:

This is an action of replevin instituted by plaintiff in the

Court of First Instance of Manila to recover the possession
of an automobile and certain amount as damages and
attorney’s fees resulting from his illegal deprivation
thereof.
The original defendants were Reynaldo Pahati and
Felixberto Bulahan but, upon amendment of the complaint,
Jesusito Belizo was included as party defendant who was
summoned by publication because his whereabouts were
not known. Belizo failed to appear or answer the complaint
and so he was declared default.
Pahati admitted having bought the automobile from
Bulahan, for the sum of P4,900 which he paid in check.
When the Manila Police Department impounded the
automobile, he cancelled the sale and stopped the payment
of the check and as a result he returned the automobile to
Bulahan who in turn surrendered the check for
cancellation. He set up a counterclaim for the sum of
P2,000 as attorney’s fees.
Bulahan on his part claims that he acquired the
automobile from Jesusito Belizo for value and without
having any knowledge of any defect in the title of the
latter; that plaintiff had previously acquired title to said
automobile by purchase from Belizo as evidenced by a deed
of sale executed to that effect; that later plaintiff delivered
the pos-
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Cruz vs. Pahati, et al.

session of the automobile to Belizo for resale and to f

acilitate it he gave the latter a letter of authority to secure
a new certificate of registration in his name (plaintiff’s) and
that by having clothed Belizo with an apparent ownership

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or authority to sell the automobile, plaintiff is now

estopped to deny such ownership or authority. Bulahan
claims that between two innocent parties, he who gave
occasion, through his conduct, to the falsification
committed by Belizo, should be the one to suffer the loss
and this one is the plaintiff. Bulahan also set up a
counterclaim for P17,000 as damages and attorney’s fees.
After the presentation of the evidence, the court
rendered judgment declaring defendant Bulahan entitled
to the automobile in question and consequently ordered the
plaintiff to return it to said defendant and, upon his failure
to do so, to pay him the sum of P4,900, with legal interest
from the date of the decision. The claim for damages and
attorney’s fees of Bulahan was denied. Defendant Belizo
was however ordered to indemnify the plaintiff in the
amount of P4,900 and pay the sum of P5,000 as moral
damages. The counterclaim of defendant Pahati was denied
for lack of evidence. The case was taken directly to this
Court by the plaintiff.
The lower court found that the automobile in question
was originally owned by the Northern Motors, Inc. which
later sold it to Chinaman Lu Dag. This Chinaman sold it
afterwards to Jesusito Belizo and the latter in turn sold it
to plaintiff. Belizo was then a dealer in second hand cars.
One year thereafter, Belizo offered the plaintiff to sell the
automobile for him claiming to have a buyer for it. Plaintiff
agreed. At that time, plaintiff’s certificate of registration
was missing and, upon the suggestion of Belizo, plaintiff
wrote a letter addressed to the Motor Section of the Bureau
of Public Works for the issuance of a new registration
certificate alleging as reason the loss of the one previously
issued to him and stating that he was intending to sell his
car. This letter was delivered to Belizo

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on March 3, 1952. He also turned over to Belizo the

automobile on the latter’s pretext that he was going to
show it to a prospective buyer. On March 7, 1952, the letter
was falsified and converted into an authorized deed of sale
in favor of Belizo by erasing a portion thereof and adding in
its place the words “sold the above car to Mr. Jesusito
Belizo of 25 Valencia, San Francisco del Monte, f or Five
Thousand Pesos (P5,000)." Armed with this deed of sale,
Belizo succeeded in obtaining a certificate of registration in
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his name on the same date, March 7, 1952, and also on the
same date, Belizo sold the car to Felixberto Bulahan who in
turn sold it to Reynaldo Pahati, a second hand car dealer.
These facts show that the letter was falsified by Belizo to
enable him to sell the car to Bulahan for a. valuable
consideration.
This is a case which involves a conflict of rights of two
persons who claim to be the owners of the same property;
plaintiff and defendant Bulahan. Both were found by the
lower court to be innocent and to have acted in good faith.
They were found to be the victims of Belizo who falsified
the letter given him by plaintiff to enable him to sell the
car of Bulahan for profit. Who has, therefore, a better right
of the two over the car?
The law applicable to the case is Article 559 of the new
Civil Code which provides:

“ART. 559. The possession of movable property acquired in good

faith is equivalent to a title. Nevertheless, one who has lost any
movable or has been unlawfully deprived thereof, may recover it
from the person in possession of the same.
“If the possessor of a movable lost or of which the owner has
been unlawfully deprived, has acquired it in good faith at a public
sale, the owner cannot obtain its return without reimbursing the
price paid therefor.”

It appears that “one who has lost any movable or has been
unlawfully deprived thereof, may recover it from the person
in possession of the same” and the only defense the latter
may have is if he “has acquired it in good faith at a public
sale” in which case “the owner cannot obtain its

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return without reimbursing the price paid therefor.” And

supplementing this provision, Article 1505 of the same
Code provides that “where goods are sold by a person who
is not the owner thereof, and who does not sell them under
authority or with the consent of the owner, the buyer
acquires no better title to the goods than the seller had,
unless the owner of the goods is by his conduct precluded
from denying the seller’s authority to sell.”
Applying the above legal provisions to the facts of this
case, one is inevitably led to the conclusion that plaintiff
has a better right to the car in question than def endant

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Bulahan for it cannot be disputed that plaintiff had been

illegally deprived thereof because of the ingenious scheme
utilized by Belizo to enable him to dispose of it as if he were
the owner thereof. Plaintiff therefore can still recover the
possession of the car even if defendant Bulahan had acted
in good faith in purchasing it from Belizo. Nor can it be
pretended that the conduct of plaintiff in giving Belizo a
letter to secure the issuance of a new certificate of
registration constitutes a sufficient def ense that would
preclude recovery because of the undisputed fact that that
letter was falsified and this fact can be clearly seen by a
cursory examination of the document. If Bulahan had been
more diligent he could have seen that the pertinent portion
of the letter had been erased which would have placed him
on guard to make an inquiry as regards the authority of
Belizo to sell the car. This he failed to do.
The right of the plaintiff to the car in question can also
be justified under the doctrine laid down in U.S. vs. Sotelo,
28 Phil., 147. This is a case of estafa wherein one Sotelo
misappropriated a ring belonging to Alejandra Dormir. In
the course of the decision, the Court said that “Whoever
may have been deprived of his property in consequence of a
crime is entitled to the recovery thereof, even if such
property is in the possession of a third party who acquired
it by legal means other than those expressly stated in
Article 464 of the Civil Code” (p. 147), which refers to

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property pledged in the “Monte de Piedad”, an

establishment organized under the authority of the
Government. The Court further said: It is a f undamental
principle of our law of personal property that no man can
be divested of it without his own consent; consequently,
even an honest purchaser, under a defective title, cannot
resist the claim of the true owner. The maxim that ‘No man
can transfer to another a better title than he has himself
“obtain in the civil as well as in the common law.” (p. 158)
Counsel f or appellee places much reliance on the
common law principle that “Where one of two innocent
parties must suffer by a fraud perpetrated by another, the
law imposes the loss upon the party who, by his misplaced
confidence, has enabled the fraud to be committed” (Sager
vs. W.T. Rawleight Co. 153 Va. 514, 150 S.E. 244, 66 A.L.R.
305), and contends that, as between plaintiff and Bulahan,
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the former should bear the loss because of the confidence

he reposed in Belizo which enabled the latter to commit the
falsification. But this principle cannot be applied to this
case which is covered by an express provision of our new
Civil Code. Between a common law principle and a
statutory provision, the latter must undoubtedly prevail in
this jurisdiction. Moreover, we entertain serious doubt if,
under the circumstances obtaining, Bulahan may be
considered more innocent than the plaintiff in dealing with
the car in question. We pref er not to elaborate on this
matter it being unnecessary considering the conclusion we
have reached.
Wherefore, the decision appealed from is reversed. The
Court declares plaintiff to be entitled to recover the car in
question, and orders defendant Jesusito Belizo to pay him
the sum of P5,000 as moral damages, plus P2,000 as
attorney’s fees. The Court absolves defendants Bulahan
and Pahati from the complaint as regards the claim for
damages, reserving to Bulahan whatever action he may
deem proper to take against Jesusito Belizo. No costs.

794

794 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED

Jison, et al. vs. Ct. of Appeals, et al.

Parás, C.J., Bengzon, Padilla, Montemayor; Jugo, La-.

brador, Concepcion, Reyes, J.B. L., and Endencia, JJ.,
concur.
Reyes, A., J., concurs in the result.

Judgment reversed.

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