CHINA BANKING CORP VS ORTEGA GR L-34964 January 31, 2973
CHINA BANKING CORP VS ORTEGA
GR L-34964 January 31, 2973
FACTS:
Vicente Acaban won in a civil case for sum
of money against B & B Forest Development Corporation. To satisfy the
judgment, Acaban sought the garnishment of the bank deposit of the B & B
Forest Development Corporation with the China Banking Corporation (CBC). Accordingly,
a notice of garnishment was issued by the Deputy Sheriff of the trial court and
served on said bank through its cashier, Tan Kim Liong. Liong was ordered to
inform the Court whether or not there is a deposit in the CBC of B & B
Forest Development Corporation, and if there is any deposit, to hold the same
intact and not allow any withdrawal until further order from the Court. CBC and
Liong refuse to comply with a court process garnishing the bank deposit of a
judgment debtor by invoking the provisions of Republic Act No. 1405 ( Secrecy
of Bank Deposits Act) which allegedly prohibits the disclosure of any
information concerning to bank deposits.
ISSUES: Whether or not a banking
institution may validly refuse to comply with a court processes garnishing the
bank deposit of a judgment debtor, by invoking the provisions of Republic Act
No. 1405.
RULING: NO. The lower court did not order
an examination of or inquiry into deposit of B & B Forest Development
Corporation, as contemplated in the law. It merely required Tan Kim Liong to
inform the court whether or not the defendant B & B Forest Development
Corporation had a deposit in the China Banking Corporation only for the
purposes of the garnishment issued by it, so that the bank would hold the same
intact and not allow any withdrawal until further order. It is sufficiently
clear that the prohibition against examination of or inquiry into bank deposit
under RA 1405 does not preclude its being garnished to insure satisfaction of a
judgment. Indeed there is no real inquiry in such a case, and the existence of
the deposit is disclosed the disclosure is purely incidental to the execution
process. It is hard to conceive that it was ever within the intention of
Congress to enable debtors to evade payment of their just debts, even if
ordered by the Court, through the expedient of converting their assets into
cash and depositing the same in a bank.
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