[ G.R. No. L-4633. May 31, 1954 ] 95 Phil. 160
[ G.R. No. L-4633. May 31, 1954 ]
GREGORIO ARANETA, INC., PLAINTIFF AND APPELLANT, VS. PHILIPPINE NATIONAL BANK, DEFENDANT AND APPELLEE. D E C I S I O N
PARAS, C.J.:
This is an appeal by the plaintiff from a judgment of the Court of First Instance of Manila dismissing the plaintiff’s complaint with costs.
As admitted by the appellant, the following facts contained in the appealed judgment are uncontroverted: “That on October 28, 1948, the plaintiff filed with the defendant an application for a commercial letter of credit in favor of the Allied National Corporation, Ltd., Anco House, Buckingham Gate, London for the sum of £7,440; that the defendant granted said application and the credit was opened on November 2, 1948 to expire on August 31, 1949 under the terms stated in said application; that on August 30, 1949, a draft in the amount of £4,031.13 was negotiated by the defendant’s correspondent bank, Barclays Bank, Ltd., London against the plaintiff’s credit; that the defendant paid Barclays Bank Ltd. the amount of the draft at the official parity rate then existing of $4.0325 for every English pound; that on the face of the draft, it matured on December 25, 1949; that on September 23, 1949, the British pound was devaluated from the rate of $4.0325 to $2.80124; that on the date of the maturity of the draft on December 25, 1949, the rate of exchange of the British pound was $2.80 2/16 and the same rate prevailed on December 27, 1949, the first business day after December 25, 1949; that on December 27, 1949 after the maturity of the draft, the defendant sent the plaintiff a bill of P33,727.92 and on the same date the plaintiff forwarded to said defendant a check in the amount of P23,194.37 in full payment of its indebtedness (Exhibit E), but it was returned by the defendant without any acknowledgment; that on January 14, 1950, the plaintiff retransmitted said check in the amount of P23,194.37 to the defendant for which the latter issued a receipt that it was in ‘partial payment’ of the account of the plaintiff and there was still a balance of f 10,533.55; and that on January 26, 1950, the defendant demanded of the plaintiff the remittance of P10,533.55.”
The defendant, obviously to collect from the plaintiff the amount due as a result of the transaction, debited the latter’s overdraft account in the amount of P10,659.80, and this step led the plaintiff to institute the present action in which it was prayed that judgment be rendered ordering the defendant to pay to the plaintiff the sum of P10,659.80, with legal interest from the date of the filing of the complaint, or ordering the defendant to credit plaintiff’s overdraft account in said amounts.
The contract between the parties is embodied in the following application for commercial letter of credit filed with the defendant by the plaintiff-appellant:
“PHILIPPINE NATIONAL BANK” “MANILA, PHILIPPINES
“Official Depository of the Republic of the Philippines