When property is alienated to the creditor in satisfaction of a debt in money it shall be considered as dation in payment and shall be governed by the law of sales
Payment means the delivery of money, or the performance of an obligation (see Article 1232, Civil Code of the Philippines).
A debt shall be considered paid when the thing or service consisting of the obligation has been completely delivered or rendered (see Article 1233, Civil Code of the Philippines).
“When used in pleading, in respect to cash, it means immediate satisfaction, but when applied to the delivery of the bill or note, or other collateral thing, it does not necessarily mean payment in immediate satisfaction and discharge of the debt, but may be taken in its popular sense, as delivery only, to be a discharge when converted into money” (A treatise on the Law of Evidence, Wigmore, Greenleaf, and Harriman).
“[T]he settled rule is that one who pleads payment has the burden of proving it. Even where the creditor alleges non-payment, the general rule is that the onus rests on the debtor to prove payment, rather than on the creditor to prove non-payment” (A treatise on the Law of Evidence, Wigmore, Greenleaf, and Harriman).
“The debtor has the burden of showing with legal certainty that the obligation has been discharged by payment. Where the debtor introduces some evidence of payment, the burden of going forward with the evidence – as distinct from the general burden of proof – shifts to the creditor, who… [has to] produc[e] some evidence to show non-payment” (A treatise on the Law of Evidence, Wigmore, Greenleaf, and Harriman).
In the case of Royal Cargo Corporation v. DFS Sports Unlimited, Inc., the question raised was whether the original invoices were sufficient to prove payment “or, at the least, [if] the same raise a disputable presumption that respondent had indeed discharged its obligations to petitioner” (G.R. No. 158621, December 10, 2008).
The Supreme Court ruled in the negative. “An invoice or bill is a commercial document issued by a seller to the buyer indicating the products, quantities and agreed prices for product or services the seller has provided the buyer.
“An invoice indicates the buyer must pay the seller according to the payment terms” (G.R. No. 158621, December 10, 2008).
“From the point of view of a seller, an invoice is a sales invoice [while] [f]rom the point of view of a buyer, an invoice is a purchase invoice. The document indicates the buyer and seller, but the term “invoice” indicates money is owed or owing” (A treatise on the Law of Evidence, Wigmore, Greenleaf, and Harriman).
“In Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Manila Mining Corporation, ‘sales or commercial invoice’ is defined as a written account of goods sold or services rendered indicating the prices charged therefor or a list by whatever name it is known which is used in the ordinary course of business evidencing sale and transfer or agreement to sell or transfer goods and services” (G.R. 158621, December 10, 2008).
“From the foregoing definitions, an invoice, in and by itself, and as opposed to a receipt, may not be considered evidence of payment. In addition, it does not mean that possession by a debtor of an invoice raises the presumption that it has already paid its obligation” (G.R. No. 158621, December 10, 2008).
“Furthermore, respondent’s defense of payment is made more untenable by its failure to present any supporting evidence, such as official receipts or the testimony of its employee who actually paid or the one who had direct knowledge of the payment allegedly made in petitioner’s favor, to prove that it had indeed paid its obligations to the latter” (G.R. 158621, December 10, 2008).
“If a receipt was given for the money, it is proper and expedient to produce it, but it is not necessary, parol (extraneous) evidence of the payment being admissible, notwithstanding the written receipt, and without accounting for its absence.
“And if produced, it is not conclusive against the plaintiff, but may be disproved and contradicted by parol (extraneous) evidence” (A treatise on the Law of Evidence, Wigmore, Greenleaf, and Harriman).
“Payment shall be made to the person in whose favor the obligation has been constituted, or his successor in interest, or any person authorized to receive it” (Article 1240, Civil Code of the Philippines).
“Payment to a person who is incapacitated to administer his property shall be valid if he has kept the thing delivered, or insofar as the payment has been beneficial to him” (Article 1241, Civil Code of the Philippines).
“Payment made to a third person shall also be valid [if it] redounded to the benefit of the creditor. Such benefit to the creditor need not be proved in the following cases: (1) if after the payment, the third person acquires the creditor’s rights; (2) if the creditor ratifies the payment to the third person; (3) if by the creditor’s conduct, the debtor has been led to believe that the third person had authority to receive the payment” (Article 1241, Civil Code of the Philippines).
Ordinarily the debtor must pay the creditor the debt or obligation.
If a third party pays for the debtor, the former “may demand from the debtor what he has paid, except that if he paid without the knowledge or against the will of the debtor, he can recover only insofar as the payment has been beneficial to the debtor” (Article 1236, Civil Code of the Philippines).
“Payment made by a third person who does not intend to be reimbursed by the debtor is deemed to be a donation, which requires the debtor’s consent. But the payment is in any case valid as to the creditor who has accepted it” (Article 1238, Civil Code of the Philippines).
“The payment of debts in money shall be made in the currency stipulated, and if it is not possible to deliver such currency, then in the currency which is legal tender in the Philippines.
“The delivery of promissory notes payable to order, or bills of exchange or other mercantile documents shall produce the effect of payment only when they have been cashed, or when through the fault of the creditor they have been impaired” (Article 1249, Civil Code of the Philippines).
Payments through GCash, Pay Maya, bank transfers, or other electronic means are now recognized modes of payment of debts.
Their proof of payment are their respective electronic receipts, but when presented in court the witness must submit an affidavit and testify on how these receipts were generated electronically pursuant to the Rules on Electronic Evidence (Rule 9, Section 1).
“The foreclosure of a mortgage, given to secure a debt, may also be shown as a payment made at the time of complete foreclosure; but if the property mortgaged is not, at that time, equal in value to the amount due, it is only payment pro tanto” (A treatise on the Law of Evidence, Wigmore, Greenleaf, and Harriman).
The manner of recovering the deficiency will vary depending on whether it is a judicial or extra-judicial foreclosure.
“The debtor of a thing cannot compel the creditor to receive a different one, although the latter may be of the same value as, or more valuable than that which is due” (Article 1244, Civil Code of the Philippines).
When property is alienated to the creditor in satisfaction of a debt in money it shall be considered as dation in payment and shall be governed by the law of sales (Article 1245, Civil Code of the Philippines).
“Payment is… presumed from the lapse of time. The lapse of twenty years, without explanatory circumstances, affords a presumption of law that the debt is paid, even though it be due by specialty… “It may also be inferred from the usual course of trade in general, or from the habit and course of dealing between the parties” (A treatise on the Law of Evidence, Wigmore, Greenleaf, and Harriman).
However, in the case of El Oro Engraver Corporation v. Court of Appeals, “petitioner remained silent for four years from the time it received the Statements of Account until the filing of the case against it.” “Petitioner failed to rebut that it received the Statements of Accounts… [thus] respondent proved… that it delivered the goods, and that it had not received payment for [it]… (G.R.125267, February 18, 2008).
