5/28/2020
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extrajudicially (Art. 1169, Civil Code), but when such
certainty cannot be so reasonably established at the time
the demand is made, the interest shall begin to run only
from the date the judgment of the court is made (at which
time the quantification of damages may be deemed to have
been reasonably ascertained). The actual base for the
computation of legal interest shall, in any case, be on the
amount finally adjudged.
3. When the judgment of the court awarding a sum of money
becomes final and executory, the rate of legal interest,
whether the case falls under paragraph 1 or paragraph 2,
above, shall be 6% per annum from such finality until its
satisfaction, this interim period being deemed to be by then
an equivalent to a forbearance of credit.
And, in addition to the above, judgments that have become final and
executory prior to July 1, 2013, shall not be disturbed and shall continue to
be implemented applying the rate of interest fixed therein.[131]
Circular No. 799 is applicable only in loans and forbearance of money, goods, or credits,
and in judgments when there is no stipulation on the applicable interest rate. Further, it
is only applicable if the judgment did not become final and executory before July 1,
2013.[132]
We add that Circular No. 799 is not applicable when there is a law that states
otherwise. While the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has the power to set or limit interest
rates,[133] these interest rates do not apply when the law provides that a different
interest rate shall be applied. “[A] Central Bank Circular cannot repeal a law. Only a law
can repeal another law.”[134]
For example, Section 10 of Republic Act No. 8042 provides that unlawfully terminated
overseas workers are entitled to the reimbursement of his or her placement fee with an
interest of 12% per annum. Since Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas circulars cannot repeal
Republic Act No. 8042, the issuance of Circular No. 799 does not have the effect of
changing the interest on awards for reimbursement of placement fees from 12% to
6%. This is despite Section 1 of Circular No. 799, which provides that the 6% interest
rate applies even to judgments.
Moreover, laws are deemed incorporated in contracts. “The contracting parties need not
repeat them. They do not even have to be referred to. Every contract, thus, contains
not only what has been explicitly stipulated, but the statutory provisions that have any
bearing on the matter.”[135] There is, therefore, an implied stipulation in contracts
between the placement agency and the overseas worker that in case the overseas
worker is adjudged as entitled to reimbursement of his or her placement fees, the
amount shall be subject to a 12% interest per annum. This implied stipulation has the
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