[No. 7991. January 29, 1914.

LEON J. LAMBERT, plaintiff and appellant, vs. T. J. Fox, defendant and appellee.

1.CONTRACTS; CONSTRUCTION AND ENFORCEMENT.—Contracts should be enforced as they read. The

2.ID.; ID.—It is to be presumed that persons mean what they say; and interpretation and construction
should not be resorted to when the English used is plain. Plain words should not be discarded or twisted
or given fanciful or unusual signification, even though such strained signification seems to be in the
interests of justice or to be necessary to prevent hardship.

3.ID.; ID.; ENFORCEMENT OF PENALTY.—In this jurisdiction contracts are enforced as they read; and
parties who are competent to contract may make such agreements within the limitations of the law and
public policy as they desire, and the courts will enforce them according to their terms. A penalty
imposed for the breach of a contract not to sell shares of stock for one year will be enforced if the
agreement is broken, no matter whether the person seeking to enforce the penalty has suffered
damages or not.

4.ID.; ID.; ID.—The only case in which the courts are authorized to intervene for the reduction of a
penalty stipulated in a contract is when the principal obligation has been partly or irregularly fulfilled
and the court can see that the party demanding the penalty has received the benefits of such part or
irregular performance. In such case the court is authorized to reduce the penalty to the extent of the
benefits received by the party seeking to enforce the penalty.

5.ID.; ID.; ID.—In enforcing a contract which provides a penalty in case of breach, the party enforcing the
penalty is entitled to recover the sum stipulated without proving damages.

6.ID.; SUSPENSION OF RIGHT TO SELL, CORPORATE STOCK.—Where the suspension of the right to sell
stock in a corporation has a beneficial purpose and results in the protection of the corporation as well as
of the individual parties to the contract and is reasonable as to time, the suspension is legal.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Court of First Instance of Manila. Del Rosario, J.

The facts are stated in the opinion of the court.

O'Brien & DeWitt and C. W. Ney, for appellant.

J. C. Hixon, for appellee.

MORELAND, J.:
This is an action brought to recover a penalty prescribed on a contract as punishment for the breach
thereof.
Early in 1911 the firm known as John R. Edgar & Co., engaged in the retail book and stationery
business, found itself in such condition financially that its creditors, including the plaintiff and the
defendant, together with many others, agreed to take over the business, incorporate it and accept
stock therein in payment of their respective credits. This was done, the plaintiff and the defendant
becoming the two largest stockholders in the new corporation called John R. Edgar & Co.,
Incorporated. A few days after the incorporation was completed plaintiff and defendant entered into
the following agreement:
Whereas the undersigned are, respectively, owners of large amounts of stock in John R.
Edgar and Co, Inc; and,
Whereas it is recognized that the success of said corporation depends, now and for at least
one year next following, in the larger stockholders retaining their respective interests in the
business of said corporation:
Therefore, the undersigned mutually and reciprocally agree not to sell, transfer, or otherwise
dispose of any part of their present holdings of stock in said John R. Edgar & Co. Inc., till
after one year from the date hereof.
Either party violating this agreement shall pay to the other the sum of one thousand (P1,000)
pesos as liquidated damages, unless previous consent in writing to such sale, transfer, or
other disposition be obtained.
Notwithstanding this contract the defendant Fox on October 19, 1911, sold his stock in the said
corporation to E. C. McCullough of the firm of E. C. McCullough & Co. of Manila, a strong competitor
of the said John R. Edgar & Co., Inc.
This sale was made by the defendant against the protest of the plaintiff and with the warning that he
would be held liable under the contract hereinabove set forth and in accordance with its terms. In
fact, the defendant Foz offered to sell his shares of stock to the plaintiff for the same sum that
McCullough was paying them less P1,000, the penalty specified in the contract.
The learned trial court decided the case in favor of the defendant upon the ground that the intention
of the parties as it appeared from the contract in question was to the effect that the agreement
should be good and continue only until the corporation reached a sound financial basis, and that that
event having occurred some time before the expiration of the year mentioned in the contract, the
purpose for which the contract was made and had been fulfilled and the defendant accordingly
discharged of his obligation thereunder. The complaint was dismissed upon the merits.
It is argued here that the court erred in its construction of the contract. We are of the opinion that the
contention is sound. The intention of parties to a contract must be determined, in the first instance,
from the words of the contract itself. It is to be presumed that persons mean what they say when
they speak plain English. Interpretation and construction should by the instruments last resorted to
by a court in determining what the parties agreed to. Where the language used by the parties is
plain, then construction and interpretation are unnecessary and, if used, result in making a contract
for the parties. (Lizarraga Hermanos vs. Yap Tico, 24 Phil. Rep., 504.)
In the case cited the court said with reference to the construction and interpretation of statutes: "As
for us, we do not construe or interpret this law. It does not need it. We apply it. By applying the law,
we conserve both provisions for the benefit of litigants. The first and fundamental duty of courts, in
our judgment, is to apply the law. Construction and interpretation come only after it has been
demonstrated that application is impossible or inadequate without them. They are the very last
functions which a court should exercise. The majority of the law need no interpretation or
construction. They require only application, and if there were more application and less construction,
there would be more stability in the law, and more people would know what the law is."
What we said in that case is equally applicable to contracts between persons. In the case at bar the
parties expressly stipulated that the contract should last one year. No reason is shown for saying
that it shall last only nine months. Whatever the object was in specifying the year, it was their
agreement that the contract should last a year and it was their judgment and conviction that their
purposes would not be subversed in any less time. What reason can give for refusing to follow the
plain words of the men who made the contract? We see none.
The appellee urges that the plaintiff cannot recover for the reason that he did not prove damages,
and cites numerous American authorities to the effect that because stipulations for liquidated
damages are generally in excess of actual damages and so work a hardship upon the party in
default, courts are strongly inclined to treat all such agreements as imposing a penalty and to allow a
recovery for actual damages only. He also cites authorities holding that a penalty, as such, will not
be enforced and that the party suing, in spite of the penalty assigned, will be put to his proof to
demonstrate the damages actually suffered by reason of defendants wrongful act or omission.
In this jurisdiction penalties provided in contracts of this character are enforced . It is the rule that
parties who are competent to contract may make such agreements within the limitations of the law
and public policy as they desire, and that the courts will enforce them according to their terms. (Civil
Code, articles 1152, 1153, 1154, and 1155; Fornow vs. Hoffmeister, 6 Phil. Rep., 33; Palacios vs.
Municipality of Cavite, 12 Phil. Rep., 140; Gsell vs. Koch, 16 Phil. Rep., 1.) The only case
recognized by the Civil Code in which the court is authorized to intervene for the purpose of reducing
a penalty stipulated in the contract is when the principal obligation has been partly or irregularly
fulfilled and the court can see that the person demanding the penalty has received the benefit of
such or irregular performance. In such case the court is authorized to reduce the penalty to the
extent of the benefits received by the party enforcing the penalty.
In this jurisdiction, there is no difference between a penalty and liquidated damages, so far as legal
results are concerned. Whatever differences exists between them as a matter of language, they are
treated the same legally. In either case the party to whom payment is to be made is entitled to
recover the sum stipulated without the necessity of proving damages. Indeed one of the primary
purposes in fixing a penalty or in liquidating damages, is to avoid such necessity.
It is also urged by the appelle in this case that the stipulation in the contract suspending the power to
sell the stock referred to therein is an illegal stipulation, is in restraint of trade and, therefore, offends
public policy. We do not so regard it. The suspension of the power to sell has a beneficial purpose,
results in the protection of the corporation as well as of the individual parties to the contract, and is
reasonable as to the length of time of the suspension. We do not here undertake to discuss the
limitations to the power to suspend the right of alienation of stock, limiting ourselves to the statement
that the suspension in this particular case is legal and valid.
The judgment is reversed, the case remanded with instructions to enter a judgment in favor of the
plaintiff and against the defendant for P1,000, with interest; without costs in this instance.
Arellano, C.J., Trent and Araullo, JJ., concur.

Separate Opinions
CARSON, J., dissenting:
I concur.
I think it proper to observe, however that the doctrine touching the construction and interpretation of
penalties prescribed in ordinary civil contracts as set forth in the opinion is carried to is extreme limits
and that its statement in this form is not necessary to sustain the decision upon the facts in this case.
Without entering upon an extended discussion of the authorities, it is sufficient for my purposes to
cite the opinion of the supreme court of Spain, dated June 13, 1906, construing the provisions of
article 6 of Book 4, Title 1 of the Civil Code which treats of "contracts with a penal clause." In that
case the court held:
The rules and prescriptions governing penal matters are fundamentally applicable to the
penal sanctions of civil character.
This as well as other cases which might be cited from American as well as Spanish authorities
indicate that special rules of interpretations are and should be made use of by the courts in
construing penal clauses in civil contracts, and that case may well arise wherein the broad doctrine
laid down in the opinion of the court may not be applicable.
Judgement reversed and case remanded with instructions.
_______________ Lambert vs. Fox., 26 Phil., 588, No. 7991 January 29, 1914