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407 Phil. 944
THIRD DIVISION
[ G.R. No. 137932, March 28, 2001 ]
CHIANG YIA MIN, PETITIONER, VS. COURT OF APPEALS, RIZAL
COMMERCIAL BANKING CORPORATION, PAPERCON
(PHILIPPINES), INC. AND TOM PEK, RESPONDENTS.
DECISION
GONZAGA-REYES, J.:
The instant petition concerns the recovery of a sum of money and damages, initiated
by herein petitioner, a Chinese national based in Taiwan, against Rizal Commercial
Banking Corporation (hereafter, "RCBC" or "respondent bank") before Branch 151[1] of
the Regional Trial Court of Pasig City. The case, docketed as Civil Case No. 54694,
sought the collection of US$100,000.00, or its equivalent per Central Bank rates, legal
interest, moral and exemplary damages, and attorney's fees.
Petitioner's version of the case, which was upheld by the trial court, alleges that the
said US$100,000.00 was sent by Hang Lung Bank Ltd. of Hong Kong on February 7,
1979 through the Pacific Banking Corporation to respondent bank's head office.[2] The
remittance was for petitioner's own account and was intended to qualify him as a
foreign investor under Philippine laws. As found by the trial court, it was sent by
petitioner himself prior to his arrival in the Philippines.[3]
When petitioner checked on his money sometime in mid-1985, he found out that that
the dollar deposit was transferred to the Shaw Boulevard branch of respondent bank
and converted to a peso account, which had a balance of only P1,362.10 as of October
29, 1979. A letter of respondent bank dated August 9, 1985 stated that petitioner's
Current Account No. 12-2009 was opened on February 8, 1979, with an initial deposit
of P729,752.20; a total of P728,390.00 was withdrawn by way of five checks
respectively dated February 13, 19 and 23, 1979 and October 5 and 29, 1979,
apparently issued by petitioner in favor of Papercon (Phils.), Inc., (hereafter,
"Papercon") one of the herein private respondents and a business venture of Tom Pek.
[4] Thus, the balance of the account was reduced to P1,362.10 as of October 29, 1979
and no transactions were made on the account since.[5] In the same letter, the bank
stated that it was no longer able to locate the microfilm copies of the issued checks,
specimen signature cards, and other records related to the questioned account, since
the account had been inactive for more than five years.
Petitioner insisted that he did not cause the transfer of his money to the Shaw
Boulevard branch of RCBC, as his instructions in the telegraphic transfer were for the
money to be remitted to the RCBC head office in Makati, nor its conversion to pesos
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