de La Peña Vs Hidalgo, G.R. No. L-5486

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FIRST DIVISION

[G.R. No. 5486. August 17, 1910.]

JOSE DE LA PEÑA Y DE RAMON , plaintiff-appellant, vs . FEDERICO


HIDALGO , defendant-appellant.

O'Brien & DeWitt, for plaintiff and appellant.


E. Gutierrez Repide, for defendant and appellant.

SYLLABUS

1. AGENCY; ADMINISTRATION OF PROPERTY; IMPLIED AGENCY. — When the


agent and administrator of property informs his principal by letter that for reasons of
health and medical treatment he is about to depart from the place where he is
executing his trust and wherein the said property is situated, and abandons the
property, turns it over to a third party, renders accounts of its revenues up to the date
on which he ceases to hold his position and transmits to his principal a general
statement which summarizes and embraces all the balances of his accounts since he
began the administration to the date of the termination of his trust, and, without stating
when he may return to take charge of the administration of the said property, asks his
principal to execute a power of attorney in due form in favor of and transmit the same
to another person who took charge of the administration of the said property, it is but
reasonable and just to conclude that the said agent had expressly and de nitely
renounced his agency and that such agency was duly terminated, in accordance with
the provisions of article 1732 of the Civil Code, and, although the agent in his
aforementioned letter did not use the word "renouncing the agency," yet such words
were undoubty so understood and accepted by the principal, because of the lapse of
nearly nine years up to the time of the latter's death, without his having interrogated
either the renouncing agent, disapproving what he had done, or the person who
substituted the latter.
2. ID.; ID.; ID. — The person who took charge of the administration of property
without express authorization and without a power of attorney executed by the owner
thereof, and performed the duties of his o ce without opposition or absolute
prohibition on the owner's part, expressly communicated to the said person, is
concluded to have administered the said property by virtue of an implied agency, in
accordance with the provision of article 1710 of the Civil Code, since the said owner of
the property, knowing perfectly well that the said person took charge of the
administration of the same, through designation by such owner's former agent who had
to absent himself from the place for well-founded reasons, remained silent for nearly
nine years. Although he did not sent a new power of attorney to the said person who
took charge of his property, the fact remains that, during the period stated, he neither
opposed nor prohibited the new agent with respect to the administration, nor did he
appoint another person in his con dence; wherefore it must be concluded that this new
agent acted by virtue of an implied agency, equivalent to a legitimate agency, tacitly
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conferred by the owner of the property administered.
3. ID.; ID.; ID. — It is improper to compare the case where the owner of the
property is unaware of the o cious management of a third party in the former's
interest, with the case where, having perfect knowledge that his interests and property
were so being managed and administered, he did not object, but in fact consented to
such management and administration for many years; for the reason that an
administration by virtue of a implied agency derives its origin from a contract, and the
management of another's business without the knowledge of the owner thereof, is
based solely on a quasi-contract —a distinction sanctioned by the jurisprudence
established by the supreme court of Spain in its decision of July 7, 1881.
4. ID.; ID.; ID. — The agent and administrator who was obliged to leave his charge
for a legitimate cause and who duly informed his principal, is thenceforward released
and freed from the results and consequences of the management of the person who
substituted him with the consent, even tacit though it be, of his principal. For this
reason, the latter has no right to claim damages against his former agent whose
conduct was in accordance with the provisions of article 1736 of the Civil Code, for the
care of the property and interests of another can not require that the agent make the
sacri ce of his health, of his life, and of his own interests, it having been shown that it
was impossible for the latter to continue in the discharge of his duties.
5. ID.; ID.; ID.; LIABILITY OF ADMINISTRATOR. — The administrator is only
responsible for the result and consequences of his administration during the period
when he had charged of his principal's property. His responsibility can not held to
extend beyond the period of his administration, especially as the representative of the
estate succession of the deceased owner of the property administered, after an
examination of the accounts already rendered, issued in his favor an instrument
whereby he acknowledges that the said administration was satisfactorily terminated.
6. ID.; ID.; ID.; ACCOUNTING; PAYMENT. — It is not su cient that the agent shall
have rendered a satisfactory accounting; in addition thereto it is indispensable that he
pay to his principal, or to the owner of the property administered, any balance shown by
such accounts.
7. DEBTS AND DEBTORS; INTEREST. — According to the provision of article 1755
of the Civil Code, interest shall be owed only when it has been expressly stipulated, and
article 1108 of the same code provides that should the debtor, who is obliged to pay a
certain sum of money, be in default and fail to ful ll the agreement made with his
creditor, he must pay, as indemnity for losses and damages, should there be no
stipulation to the contrary, the interest agreed upon, and should there be no express
stipulation, the legal interest; but, in order that the debtor may be considered to be in
default and obliged to pay such indemnity it is necessary, as a general rule, and his
creditor demand of him ful llment of his obligation, judicially or extrajudicially, except in
such cases as are limitedly specified in article 1100 of the aforesaid code.

DECISION

TORRES , J : p

On May 23, 1906, Jose de la Peña y de Ramon, and Vicenta de Ramon, in her own
behalf and as the legal guardina of her son Roberto de la Peña, led in the Court of First
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Instance of Manila a written complaint against Federico Hidalgo, Antonio Hidalgo, and
Francisco Hidalgo, and, after the said complaint, already amended, had been answered
by the defendants Antonio and Francisco Hidalgo, and the other defendant, Federico
Hidalgo, had moved for the dismissal of this complaint, the plaintiff, Jose de la Peña y
de Ramon, as the judicial administrator of the estate of the deceased Jose de la Peña
Gomiz, with the consent of the court filed a second amended complaint prosecuting his
action solely against Fedirico Hidalgo, who answered the same in writing on the 21st of
May and at the same time led a counterclaim, which was also answered by the
defendant.
On October 22, 1907, the case was brought up for hearing and oral testimony
was adduced by both parties, the exhibits introduced being attached to the record. In
view of such testimony and of documentary evidence, the court, on March 24, 1908,
rendered judgment in favor of the plaintiff-administrator for the sum of P13,606.19 and
legal interest from the date of the ling of the complaint on May 24, 1906, and the
costs of the trial.
Both the plaintiff and the defendant led notice of appeal from this judgment and
also asked for the annulment of the same and for a new trial, on the ground that the
evidence did not justify the said judgment and that the latter was contrary to law. The
defendant, on April 1, 1908, presented a written motion for a new hearing, alleging the
discovery of new evidence favorable to him and which would necessarily in uence the
decision of this litigation, and that he was unable to discover such evidence or to
introduce it at the trial of the case, notwithstanding the fact that he had used all due
diligence. His petition was accompanied by a davits from Attorney Eduardo Gutierrez
Repide and Federico Hidalgo, and was granted by order of the court of the 4th of April.
At this stage of the proceedings and on August 10, 1908, the plaintiff Peña y De
Ramon led a third amended complaint, with the permission of the court, alleging,
among other things, as a rst cause of action, that during the period of time from
November 12, 1887, to January 7, 1904, when Federico Hidalgo has possession of and
administered the following properties; to wit; one house and lot at No. 48 Calle, San
Luis; another house and lot at No. 6 Calle Cortoda; another house and lot at No. 56 Calle
San Luis, and a fenced lot on the same street, all of the district of Ermita, and another
house and lot at No. 81 Calle Looban de Paco, belonging to his principal, Jose de la
Peña y Gomiz, according to the power of attorney executed in his favor and exhibited
with the complaint under letter A, the defendant, as such agent, amounting to P50,244,
which sum, collected in partial amounts and on different dates, he should have
deposited, in accordance with the verbal agreement between the deceased and himself,
the defendant, in the general treasure of the Spanish Government at an interest of 5 per
cent per annum, which interest on accrual was likewise to be deposited in order that it
also might bear interest; that the defendant did not remit or pay to Jose de la Peña y
Gomiz, during the latter's lifetime, nor to any representative of the said De la Peña
Gomiz, the sum aforestated nor any part thereof, with the sole exception of P1,289.03,
nor has he deposited the unpaid balance of the said sum in the treasury, according to
agreement, wherefore he has become liable to his principal and to the defendant-
administrator for the said sum, together with its interest, which amounts to P72,548.24
and that, whereas the defendant has not paid over all nor any part for the last-
mentioned sum, he is liable for the same, as well as for the interest thereon at 6 per
cent per annum from the time of the ling of the complaint, and for the costs of the
suit.

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In the said amended complaint, the plaintiff alleged as a second cause of action:
that on December 9, 1887, Gonzalo Tuason deposited in the general treasury of the
Spanish Government, to the credit of Peña y Gomiz, the sum of 6,360 pesos, at 5 per
cent interest per annum, and on December 20, 1888, the defendant, as the agent of
Peña y Gomiz, withdrew the said amount with its interest, that is, 6,751.60 pesos, and
disposed of the same for his own use and bene t, without having paid all or any part of
the said sum to Peña y Gomiz, or to the plaintiff after the latter's death, notwithstanding
the demands made upon him: wherefore the defendant now owes the said sum of
6,751.60 pesos, with interest at the rate of 5 per cent per annum, compounded annually,
from the 20th of December, 1888, to the time of the ling of this complaint, and from
the latter date at 6 per cent, in accordance with law.
The complaint recites as a third cause of action; that, on or about November 25,
1887, defendant's principal, Peña y Gomiz, on his voyage to Spain, remitted from
Singapore, one of the ports of call, to Father Ramon Caviedas, a Franciscan friar
residing in this city, the sum of 6,000 pesos with the request to deliver the same, which
he did, to defendant, who, on receiving this money, appropriated it to himself and
converted it to his own use and bene t, since he only remitted to Peña y Gomiz in Spain,
by draft, 737.24 pesos, on December 20, 1888; and, later, on December 21, 1889, he
likewise remitted by another draft 860 pesos, without having returned or paid the
balance of the said sum, notwithstanding the demands made upon him so to do:
wherefore the defendant owes to the plaintiff, for the third cause of action, the sum of
P4,402.76, with interest at the rate of 5 per cent per annum, compounded yearly, to the
time of the ling of the complaint and with interest at 6 per cent from that date, as
provided by law.
As a fourth cause of action the plaintiff alleges that, on or about January 23,
1904, on his arrival from Spain and without having any knowledge or information of the
true condition of affairs relative to the property of the deceased Peña y Gomiz and its
administration, he delivered and paid to the defendant at his request the sum of P2,000,
derived from the property of the deceased, which sum the defendant has not returned
notwithstanding the demands made upon him so to do.
Wherefore the plaintiff petitions the court to render judgment sentencing the
defendant to pay, as the rst cause of action, the sum of P72,548.24, with interest
thereon at the rate of 6 per cent per annum from May 24, 1906, the date of the ling of
the complaint, and the costs; as as second cause of action, the sum of P15,774.19,
with interest at the rate of 6 per cent per annum from the said date of the ling of the
complaint, and cost; as a third cause of action, P9,811.13, with interest from the
aforesaid date, and costs; and, nally, as a forth cause of action, he prays that the
defendant be sentenced to refund to sum of P2,000, with interest thereon at the rate of
6 per cent annum from the 23d of January, 1904, and to pay the costs of trial.
The defendant, Federico Hidalgo, in his answer to the third amended complaint,
sets forth: That he admits the second, third, and fourth allegations contained in the rst,
second, third, and fourth causes of actions, and denies generally and speci cally each
one and all of the allegations contained in the complaint, with the exception of those
expressly admitted in his answer; that, as a special defense against the rst cause of
action, he, the defendant, alleges that on November 18, 1887, by virtue of the power
conferred upon him by Peña y Gomiz, he took charge of the administration of the
latter's property and administered the same until December 31, 1893, when for reasons
of health he ceased to discharge the duties of said position; that during the years 1889,
1890, 1892, and 1892, the defendant continually by letter requested Peña y Gomiz, his
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principal, to appoint a person to substitute him in the administration of the latter's
property, inasmuch as the defendant, for reasons of health, was unable to continue in
his trust; that, on March 22, 1894, the defendant Federico Hidalgo, because of serious
illness, was absolutely obliged to leave these Islands and embarked on the steamer Isla
de Luzon for Spain, on which date the defendant noti ed his principal that, for the
reason aforestated, he had renounced his powers and turned over the administration of
his property to Antonio Hidalgo, to whom he should transmit a power of attorney for
the ful llment, in due form, of the trust that the defendant had been discharging since
January 1, 1894, or else execute a power of attorney in favor of such other person as he
might deem proper;
That prior to the said date of March 22, the defendant came, rendered accounts
to his principals, and on the date when he embarked for Spain rendered the accounts
pertaining to the years 1892 and 1893, which were those that yet remained to be
forwarded, and transmitted to him a general statement of accounts embracing the
period from November 18, 1887, to December 31, 1893, with a balance of 6,774.50
pesos in favor of Peña y Gomiz, which remained in the control of the acting
administrator, Antonio Hidalgo; that from the 22d of March, 1894, when the defendant
left these Islands, to the date of his answer to the said complaint, he has not again
intervened nor taken any part directly or indirectly in the administration of the property
of Peña y Gomiz, the latter's administrator by express authorization having been
Antonio Hidalgo, from January 1, 1894, to October, 1902, who, on this latter date,
delegated his powers to Francisco Hidalgo, who in turn administered the said property
until January 7, 1904; that the defendant, notwithstanding his having rendered, in 1894,
all his accounts to Jose Peña y Gomiz, again rendered to the plaintiff in 1904 those
pertaining to the period from 1887 to December 31, 1893, which accounts the plaintiff
approved without any protest whatever and received to his entire satisfaction the
balance due and the vouchers and documents relating to the defendant the proper
acquittances therefor.
As a special defense to the second cause of action, the defendant alleged that,
on December 9, 1886, Jose de la Peña y Gomiz himself deposited in the caja general de
depositos (General Deposit Bank) the sum of 6,000 pesos, at 6 per cent interest for the
term of one year, in two deposit receipts of 3,000 pesos each, which two deposit
receipts, with the interest accrued thereon, amounted to 6,360 pesos, and were
collected by Gonzalo Tuason, through indorsement by Peña y Gomiz, on December 9,
1887, and on deposited the said sum of 6,360 pesos in the General Deposits Bank, at
the same rate of interest, for the term of one year and in two deposit receipts of 3,180
pesos each, registered under Nos. 1336 and 1337; that, on December 20, 1888, Father
Ramon Caviedas, a Franciscan friar, delivered to the defendant, Federico Hidalgo, by
order of De la Peña y Gomiz, the said two deposit receipts with the request to collect
the interest due thereon viz., 741.60 pesos and to remit it by draft on London, drawn in
favor of De la Peña y Gomiz, to deposit again the 6,000 pesos in the said General
Deposit Banks, for one year, in a single deposit, and in the latters, name, and to deliver
to him, the said Father Caviedas, the corresponding deposit receipt and the draft on
London for their transmittal to Peña y Gomiz: all of which was performed by the
defendant who acquired the said draft in favor of De la Peña y Gomiz from the
Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, on December 20, 1888, and delivered the
draft, together with the receipt from the General Deposit Bank, to Father Caviedas, and
on the same date, by letter, noti ed Peña y Gomiz of the transactions executed; that on
December 20, 1889, the said Father Ramon Caviedas delivered to the defendant,
Federico Hidalgo, by order of Peña y Gomiz, the aforesaid deposit receipt from the
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General Deposit Bank, with the request to remit, in favor of his constituent, the interest
thereon, amounting to 360 pesos, besides 500 pesos of the capital, that is 860 pesos
in all, and to again deposit the rest, 5,500 pesos, in the General Deposit Bank for
another year in Peña y Gomiz's own name, and to deliver to Father Cavieda the deposit
receipt and the draft on London, for their transmittal to his constituent; all of which the
defendant did; he against deposited the rest of the capital, 5,500 pesos, in the General
Deposit Bank, in the name of Peña y Gomiz, for one year at 5 per cent interest, under
registry number 3,320, and obtained from the house of J. M. Tuason & Co. a draft on
London for 860 pesos in favor of Peña y Gomiz, on December 21, 1889, and thereupon
delivered the said receipt and draft to Father Caviedas, of which acts, when performed,
the defendant advised Peña y Gomiz by letter of December 24, 1889; and that, on
December 20, 1890, the said Father Ramon Caviedas delivered to the defendant, by
order of Peña y Gomiz, the said deposit receipt for 5,500 pesos with the request that he
withdraw from the General Deposit Bank the capital and accrued interest, which
amounted all together to 5,775 pesos, and that he deliver this amount to Father
Caviedas, which he did, in order that it might be remitted to Peña y Gomiz.
The defendant denies each of the allegations contained in the third cause of
action, and avers that they are all false and calumnious.
He likewise makes a general and speci c denial of all the allegations of the
fourth cause of action.
As a counterclaim the defendant alleges that Jose Peña y Gomiz owed and had
not paid the defendant, up to the date of his death, the sum of 4,000 pesos, with
interest at 6 per cent per annum, and 3,600, without interest, the said capital and
interest amounting all together on January 15, 1904, to 11,000 pesos, and on the
plaintiff's being presented with the receipt subscribed by his father, Peña y Gomiz, on
the said date of January 15th, and evidencing his debt, plaintiff freely and voluntarily
offered to exchange for the said receipt another document executed by him, and
transcribed in the complaint. Defendant further alleges that, up to the date of his
counterclaim, the plaintiff has not paid him the said sum, with the exception of 2,000
pesos. Wherefore the defendant prays the court to render judgment absolving him from
the complaint with the costs against the plaintiff, and to adjudge that the latter shall
pay t o the defendant the sum of 9,000 pesos, which he still owes to defendant, with
legal interest thereon from the date of the counterclaim, to wit, May 21, 1907, and to
grant such other and further relief as may be just and equitable.

On the 25th of September, 1908, and subsequent dates, the new trial was held;
oral testimony was adduced by both parties, and the documentary evidence was
attached to the record of the proceedings, which show that the defendant objected and
took exception to the introduction of certain oral and documentary evidence produced
by the plaintiff. On February 26, 1909, the court in deciding the case found that the
defendant, Federico Hidalgo, as administrator of the estate of the deceased Peña y
Gomiz, actually owed the plaintiff, on the date of the ling of the complaint, the sum of
P37,084.93; that the plaintiff was not entitled to recover any sum whatever from the
defendant for the alleged second, third, and fourth causes of action; that the plaintiff
actually owed the defendant, on the ling of the complaint, the sum of P10,155, which
the defendant was entitled to deduct from the sum owing by him to the plaintiff.
Judgment was therefore entered against the defendant, Federico Hidalgo, for the
payment of P26,629.93, with interest thereon at the rate of 6 per cent annum from May
23, 1906, and the costs of the trial.
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Both parties led written exceptions to this judgment and asked, separately, for
its annulment and that a new trial be ordered, on the grounds that the ndings of fact
contained in the judgment were not supported nor justi ed by the evidence produced,
and because the said judgment was contrary to law, the defendant stating in writing
that his exception and motion for a new trial referred exclusively to that part of the
judgment that was condemnatory to him. By order of the 10th of April, 1909, the
motions made by both parties were denied, to which they excepted and announced
their intention to file their respective bills of exceptions.
By a written motion of the 24th of March, 1909, the plaintiff prayed for the
execution of the said judgment, and the defendant being informed thereof solicited a
suspension of the issuance of the corresponding writ of execution until his motion for a
new trial should be decided or his bill of exceptions for the appeal be approved, binding
himself to give such bond as the court might x. The court, therefore, by order of the
25th of the same month, granted the suspension asked for, conditioned upon the
defendants giving a bond, xed at P34,000 by another order of the same date, to
guarantee compliance with the judgment rendered should it be a rmed, or with any
other decision that might be rendered in the case by the Supreme Court. This bond was
furnished by the defendant on the 26th of the same month.
On April 16 and May 4, 1909, the defendant and the plaintiff led their respective
bills of exceptions, which were certi ed to and approved by order of May 8th and
forwarded to the clerk of this court.
Before proceedings to examine the disputed facts and to make such legal
ndings as follow from a consideration of the same and of the questions of law to
which such facts give rise, and for the purpose of avoiding confusion and obtaining the
greased clearness and an easy comprehension of this decision, it is indispensable to
premise: First, that, as before related, the original and rst complaint led by the
plaintiff was drawn against Federico Hidalgo, Antonio Hidalgo, and Francisco Hidalgo,
the three persons who had successively administered the property of Jose de la Peña y
Gomiz, now deceased; but afterwards the action was directed solely against Federico
Hidalgo, to the exclusion of the other defendants, Antonio and Francisco Hidalgo, in the
second and third amended complaints, the latter of the date of August 10, 1908, after
the issuance by the court of the order of April 4th of the same year, granting the new
trial solicited by the defendant on his being noti ed of the ruling of the 24th of the
previous month of March; second, that the administration of the property mentioned,
from the time its owner left these Islands and returned to Spain, lasted from November
18, 1887, to January 7, 1904; and third, that, the administration of the said Federico,
Antonio, and Francisco Hidalgo, having lasted so long, it is necessary to divide it into
three periods in order to x the time during which they respectively administered De la
Peña's property: During the rst period, from November 18, 1887, to December 31,
1893, the property of the absent Jose de la Peña y Gomiz was administered by his
agent, Federico Hidalgo, under power of attorney; during the second period, from
January 1, 1894, to September, 1902, Antonio Hidalgo administered the said property,
and during the third period, from October, 1902, to January 7, 1904, Francisco Hidalgo
was its administrator.
Before Jose de la Peña y Gomiz embarked for Spain, on November 12, 1887, he
executed before a notary a power of attorney in favor of Federico Hidalgo, Antonio L.
Rocha, Francisco Roxas and Isidro Llado, so that, as his agents, they might represent
him and administer, in the order in which they were appointee, various properties he
owned and possessed in Manila. The rst agent, Federico Hidalgo, took charge of the
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administration of the said property on the 18th of November, 1887.
After Federico Hidalgo had occupied the position of agent and administrator of
De la Peña's property for several years, the former wrote to the latter requisition him to
designate a person who might substitute him in his said position in the event of his
being obliged to absent himself from these Islands, as one of those appointed in the
said power of attorney had died and the others did not wish to take charge of the
administration of their principal's property. The defendant, Hidalgo, stated that his
constituent, Peña y Gomiz, did not even answer his letters, to approve or object to the
former's accounts, and did not appoint or designate another person who might
substitute the defendant in his administration of his constituent's property. These
statements were neither denied nor proven to be untrue by the plaintiff, Peña y de
Ramon, nor does the record show any evidence tending to disapprove them, while it
does show, attached to the record and exhibited by the defendant himself, several
letters written by Hidalgo and addresses to Peña y Gomiz, which prove the said
statements, and also a letter from the priest Pedro Gomiz, a relative of the deceased
Jose de la Peña y Gomiz, addressed to Federico Hidalgo, telling the latter that the writer
had seen among the papers of the deceased several letters from the agent, Federico
Hidalgo, in which the latter requested the designation of a substitute, because he had to
leave this country for Spain, and also asked for the approval or disapproval of the
accounts of his administration which had been transmitted to his constituent, Peña y
Gomiz.
For reasons of health and by order of his physician, Federico Hidalgo was
obliged, on March 22, 1894, to embark for Spain, and, on preparing for his departure, he
rendered the accounts of his administration corresponding to the last quarters, up to
December 31, 1893, not a as yet transmitted, and forwarded them to his constituent
with a general statement of all the partial balances, which amounted to the sum total of
6,774.50 pesos, by letter of the date of March 22, 1894, addressed to his principal,
Peña y Gomiz. In this letter the defendant informed the latter of the writer's intended
departure from this country and of the and of this having provisionally turned over the
administration of the said property to his cousin, Antonio Hidalgo, upon whom the
writer had conferred a general power of attorney, but asking, in case that this was not
sufficient, that Peña send to Antonio Hidalgo a new power of attorney.
This noti cation is of the greatest importance in the decision of this case. The
plaintiff avers that he found no such letter among his father's papers after the latter's
death, for which reason he did not have it in his possession, but on introduction of a
copy thereof by the defendant at the trial, it was admitted without objection by the
plaintiff (p. 81 of the record); wherefore, in spite of the denial of the plaintiff and of his
averment of his not having found the said original among his father's papers, justice
demands that it be concluded that this letter of the 22d of March, 1894, was sent to,
and was received by Jose de la Peña y Gomiz, during his lifetime, for its transmittal,
with inclosure of the last partial accounts of Federico Hidalgo's administration and of
the general resume of balances, being a rmed by the defendant, the fact of the
plaintiff's having found among his deceased father's papers the said resume which he
exhibited at the trial, shows conclusively that it was received by the deceased, as well
as the letter of transmittal of the 22d of March, 1894, one of the several letters written
by Hidalgo, which the said priest, Father Gomiz, a rms that he saw among the papers
of the deceased Peña, the dates of which ran from 1890 to 1894; and it is also shown
by the record that the defendant Hidalgo positively asserted that the said letter of
March was the only one that he wrote to Peña during the year 1894: From all of which it
is deduced that the constituent, Peña y Gomiz, was informed of the departure of his
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agent from these Islands for reasons of health and because of the physician's advice,
of the latter's having turned over the administration of the property to Antonio Hidalgo,
and of his agent's, the defendant's petition that he send a new power of attorney to the
substitute.
The existence, among the papers of the deceased, of the aforementioned
statement of all accounts rendered, which comprise the whole period of the
administration of the property of the constituent by the defendant, Federico Hidalgo,
from November 18, 1887, to December 31, 1893 — a statement transmitted with the
last partial accounts which were a continuation of those already previously received —
and the said letter of March 22, 1894, fully prove that Jose de la Pena y Gomiz also
received the said letter, informed himself of its contents, and had full knowledge that
Antoine Hidalgo commence to administer his property from January of that year. They
likewise prove that he did not see t to execute a new power of attorney in the latter's
favor, nor to appoint or designate a new agent to take charge of the administration of
his property that had been abandoned by the defendant, Federico Hidalgo.

From the procedure followed by the agent, Federico Hidalgo, it is logically


inferred that he had de nitely renounced his agency and that the agency was duly
terminated, according to the provisions of article 1732 of the Civil Code, because,
although in the said letter of March 22, 1894, the word "renounce" was not employed in
connection with the agency or power of attorney executed in h is favor, yet when the
agent informs his principal that for reasons of health and by medical advice he is about
to depart from the place where he is exercising his trust and where the property subject
to his administration is situated, abandons the property, turns it over to a third party,
without stating when he may return to take charge of the administration, renders
accounts of its revenues up to a certain date, December 31, 1893, and transmits to his
principal a general statement which summarizes and embraces all the balances of his
accounts since he began to exercise his agency to the date when he ceased to hold his
trust, and asks that a power of attorney who substituted him and took charge of the
administration of the principal's property, it is then reasonable and just to conclude that
the said agent expressly and de nitedly renounced his agency, and it may not be
alleged that the designation of Antonio Hidalgo to take charge of the said
administration was that of a mere provisional substitution during said agent's absence,
which indeed lasted for more than fteen years, for such a allegation would be in
conflict with the nature of the agency.
This renouncement was con rmed by the subsequent procedure, as well of the
agent as of the principal, until the latter died, on August 2, 1902, since the principal
Peña did not disapprove the designation of Antonio Hidalgo, nor did he appoint another,
nor send a new power of attorney to the same, as he was requested to do by the
previous administrator who abandoned his charge; and the trial record certainly
contains no proof that the defendant, since he left these Islands in March, 1894, until
January, 1904, when he returned to this city, took any part whatever, directly or even
indirectly, in the said administration of the principal's property, while Antonio Hidalgo
was the only person who was in charge of the aforementioned administration of De la
Peña y Gomiz's property and the one who was to represent the latter in his business
affairs, with his tacit consent. From all of which it is perfectly concluded, (unless there
be proof to the contrary, and none appears in the record), that Antonio Hidalgo acted in
the matter of the administration of the property of Jose de la Peña y Gomiz by virtue of
an implied agency derived from the latter, in accordance with the provisions of article
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1710 of the Civil Code.
The proof of the tacit consent of the principal, Jose de la Peña y Gomiz, the
owner of the property administrated —a consent embracing the essential element of a
legitimate agency, article 1710 before cited —consists in that Peña, knowing that on
account of the departure of Federico Hidalgo from the Philippines for reasons, of
health, Antonio Hidalgo took charge of the administration of his property, for which
Federico, his agent, who was giving up his trust, requested him to send a new power of
attorney in favor of the said Antonio Hidalgo, nevertheless he, Jose de la Peña y Gomiz,
saw t not to execute nor transmit any power of attorney whatever to the new
administrator of his property and remained silent for nearly nine years; and, in that the
said principal, being able to prohibit the party designated, Antonio Hidalgo, from
continuing in the exercise of his position as administrator, and being able to appoint
another agent, did neither the one nor the other. Wherefore, in this city during such a
number of years, it is inferred, from the procedure and silence of the owner thereof, that
he consented to have Antonio Hidalgo administer his property, and in fact created in his
favor an implied agency, as the true and legitimate administrator.
Antonio Hidalgo administered the aforementioned property of De la Peña y
Gomiz, not in the character of business manager, but as agent by virtue of an implied
agency vested in him by its owner who was not unaware of the fact, who knew perfectly
well that the said Antonio Hidalgo took charge of the administration of that property on
account of the obligatory absence of his previous agent for whom it was an
impossibility to continue in the discharge of his duties.
It is improper to compare the case where the owner of the property is ignorant of
the o cious management of the third party, with the case where he had perfect
knowledge of the management and administration of the same, which administration
and management, far from being opposed by him was indeed consented to by him for
nearly nine years, as was done by Peña y Gomiz. The administration and management,
by virtue of an implied agency, is essentially distinguished from the management of
another's business, in this respect, that while the former originates from a contract, the
latter is derived only from a quasi-contract.
The implied agency is founded on the lack of contradiction or opposition, which
constitutes simultaneous agreement on the part of the presumed principal to the
execution of the contract, while in the management of another's business there is no
simultaneous consent, either express or implied, but a ction or presumption of
consent because of the benefit received.
The distinction between an agency and a business management has been
established by the jurisprudence of the supreme court (of Spain) in its noteworthy
decision of the 7th of July, 1881, setting up the following doctrine:
"That laws 28 and 32, title 12, Partida 3, refer to the expenses incurred in
things not one's own and without power of attorney from these to whom they
belong, and therefore the said laws are not applicable to this suit where the
petition of the plaintiff in founded on the verbal request made to him by the
defendant or the latter's employees to do some hauling, and where, consequently,
questions that arise from a contract that produces reciprocal rights and duties
can not be governed by the said laws."
It being absolutely necessary for Federico Hidalgo to leave this city and abandon
the administration of the property of his principal, Peña y Gomiz, for reasons of health,
he made delivery of the property and of his administration to Antonio Hidalgo and gave
notice of what he had done to his constituent, Peña, in order that the latter might send a
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new power of attorney to Antonio Hidalgo, the person charged with the administration
of the property. Peña y Gomiz did not send the power of attorney requested, did not
oppose or prohibit Antonio Hidalgo's continuing to administer his property, and
consented to his doing so for nearly nine years. Consequently the second administrator
must be considered as a legitimate agent of the said principal, as a result of the tacit
agreement on the latter's part, and the previous agent, who necessarily abandoned and
ceased to hold his position, as completely free and clear from the consequences and
results of the second administration, continued by a third party and accepted by his
principal; for it is a fact, undenied nor even doubted, that the said first administrator had
to abandon the country and the administration of Peña's property for reasons of health,
which made it impossible for him to continue in the discharge of his duties without
serious detriment to himself, his conduct being in accordance with the provisions of
article 1736 of the Civil Code.
In the power of attorney executed by Peña y Gomiz in this city on November 12,
1887, favor of, among others, Federico Hidalgo, no authority was conferred upon the
latter by his principal to substitute the power or agency in favor of another person;
wherefore the agent could not, by virtue of the said power of attorney, appoint any
person to substitute or relieve him in the administration of the principal's property, for
the lack of a clause of substitution in the said instrument authorizing him so to do.
The designation of Antonio Hidalgo was not made was a result of a substitution
of the power of attorney executed by Peña in favor of the defendant, but in order that
the principal's property should not be abandoned, inasmuch as, for the purpose of the
discharge of the duties of administrator of the same, the agent, who was about to
absent himself from this city, requested his principal to sent to the party, provisionally
designated by the former, a new power of attorney, for the reason that the general
power of attorney which Federico Hidalgo had left, executed in favor of his cousin
Antonio Hidalgo, was so executed in his own name and for his own affairs, and not in
the name of Peña y Gomiz, as the latter had not authorized him to take such action.
If the owner of the property provisionally administered at the time by Antonio
Hidalgo, saw t to keep silent, even after having received the aforesaid letter of March
22, 1894, and during the lapse of nearly ten years, without countermanding or
disapproving the designation of his property, knowing perfectly well that his previous
agent was obliged, by sickness and medical advice to leave this city where such
property was situated, he is not entitled afterwards to hold amenable the agent who
had to abandon this country for good and valid reasons, inasmuch as the latter
immediately reported to his principal the action taken by himself and informed him of
his property, which otherwise would have been left abandoned. From the time of that
noti cation the agent who, for legitimate cause, ceased to exercise his trust, was free
and clear from the results and consequences of the management of the person who
substituted him with the consent, even only a tacit one, of the principal, inasmuch as the
said owner of the property could have objected to, could have prohibited the
continuance in the administration thereof, of the party designated by his agent, and
could have opportunely appointed another agent or mandatory of his own con dence
to look after his property and if he did not do so, he is obliged to abide by the
consequences of his negligence and abandonment and has no right to claim damages
against his previous agent, who complied with his duty and did all that he could and
ought to have done, in accordance with the law.

The defendant Federico Hidalgo, having ceased in his administration of the


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property belonging to Peña y Gomiz, on account of physical impossibility, which
cessation he duly reported to his principal and also informed him of the person who
relieved him was such administrator, and for whom he had requested a new power of
attorney, is only liable for the results and consequences of his administrator during the
period when the said property was in his charge, and therefore his liability can not
extend beyond the period of his management, as his agency terminated by the tacit or
implied approval of his principal, judging from the latter's silence in neither objecting to
nor in anywise prohibiting Antonio Hidalgo's continuing to administer his property,
notwithstanding the lapse of the many years since he learned by letter of the action
taken by his previous agent, Federico Hidalgo.
Moreover, this letter, in announcing the termination of his agency, transmitted the
last partial accounts that he had not rendered, up to December 31, 1893, together with
a general statement of all the resulting balances covering the period of his
administration, and Jose de la Peña y Gomiz remained silent and offered no objection
whatever to the said accounts and did not manifest his disapproval of the same nor of
the general statements, which he must have received in April or May, 1894, up to the
time he died, in August, 1902; and when his son, the plaintiff, came to this city in
company with the defendant, Federico Hidalgo, they traveled together from Spain and
arrived in Manila during one of the early days of January, 1904, the former, for the
purpose of taking charge of the estate left by his father, and after the plaintiff had
examined the accounts kept by Federico Hidalgo, his deceased father's rst agent, he
approved them and therefore issued in favor of the defendant the document, Exhibit 5,
found on page 936 of the second record of trial, dated January 15, 1904, in which Jose
de la Peña y de Ramon acknowledged having received from his deceased father's old
agent the accounts, balances, and vouchers to his entire satisfaction, and gave an
acquittance in full settlement of the administration that had been commended to the
defendant Hidalgo.
This document, written in the handwriting of the plaintiff, Peña y de Ramon,
appears to be executed in a form considered to be su cient by its author, and,
notwithstanding the allegations of the said plaintiff, the record contains no proof of any
kind of Federico Hidalgo's having obtained it by coercion, intimidation, deceit, or fraud;
neither is it shown to have been duly impugned as false, criminally or civilly, for the
statements therein made by the plaintiff are too explicit and de nite to allow, without
proof of some vice or defect leading to nulli cation, of its being considered as void and
without value or legal effect.
With respect to the responsibility contracted by the defendant, as regards the
payment of the balance shown by the accounts rendered by him, it is not enough that
the agent should have satisfactorily rendered the accounts pertaining to his trust, but it
is also indispensable that it be proved that he paid to his principal, or to the owner of
the property administered, the balance resulting from his accounts. This balance, which
was allowed in the judgment appealed from, notwithstanding the allegations of the
plaintiff, which were not deemed as established, amounts to P6,774.50, according to
the proofs adduced at the trial. It was the imperative duty of the administrator, Federico
Hidalgo, to transmit this sum to his principal Jose de la Peña y Gomiz, as the nal
balance of the accounts of his administration, struck on December 31, 1893, and by his
failure so to do and his delivery of the said sum to his successor, Antonio Hidalgo, he
acted improperly, and must pay the same to the plaintiff.
Antonio Hidalgo took charge of the administration of Peña y Gomiz property
from January, 1894, to September, 1902, that is, during the second period of
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administration of the several properties that belonged to the deceased Peña.
Although the plaintiff, in his original complaint, had included the said Antonio
Hidalgo as one of the responsible defendants, yet he afterwards excluded him, as well
from the second as from the third amended complaint, and consequently the liability
that might attach to Antonio Hidalgo was not discussed, nor was it considered in the
judgment of the lower court; neither can it be in this decision, for the reason that the
latter might be adjudged to pay the amounts which constitute the balance owing from
him who might be responsible, Antonio Hidalgo, during the period of this latter's
administration.
Federico Hidalgo, in our opinion, could not and can not be responsible for the
administration of the property that belonged to the deceased Peña y Gomiz, which was
administered by Antonio Hidalgo during eight years and some months, that is, during
the second period, because of the sole fact of his having turned over to the departure
from this city of Spain. Neither law nor reason obliged Federico Hidalgo to remain in
this country at the cost of his health and perhaps of his life, even though he were the
administrator of certain property and interests of another does not require sacri ce on
the part of the agent of his own life and interests. Federico Hidalgo was obliged to
deliver the said property belonging to Peña y Gomiz, to Antonio Hidalgo, for good and
valid reasons, and in proceeding in the manner aforesaid he complied with the duty
required of him by law and justice and acted as diligent agent. If the principal, Jose de
la Peña y Gomiz, the owner of the property mentioned, although informed opportunely
of what had occured was t to keep silent, not to object to the arrangements made, not
to send the power of attorney requested by Federico Hidalgo in favor of Antonio
Hidalgo, and took no action nor made any inquiry whatever to ascertain how his
property was being administered by the second agent, although to the time of his death
more than eight years had elapsed, the previous agent, who ceased in the discharged of
this duties, can in nowise be held liable for the consequences of such abandonment, nor
for the results of the administration of property by Antonio Hidalgo, for the reason that,
since his departure from this country, he has not had the least intervention nor even
indirect participation in the aforementioned administration of the said Antonio Hidalgo
who, under the law, was the agent or administrator by virtue of an implied agency, which
is equivalent in its results to an express agency, executed by the owner of the property.
Consequently, Federico Hidalgo is not required to render accounts of the
administration corresponding to the second period mentioned, nor to pay the balance
that such accounts may show to be owing.
At the rst trial of this cause, Federico, Hidalgo, it appears, testi ed under oath
that his principal, Jose Peña y Gomiz, chosen by the witness, nor to such appointees'
taking charge of the administration of his property. Aside from the fact that the trial
record does not show how nor on what date Peña expressed such disagreement, it is
certain that, in view of the theory of defense maintained by the defendant in this suit
and his own denial of his having given such a negative answer, we fail to understand
how the defendant Hidalgo could have said, by means of a no, that his principal did not
agree to the appointment of the said Antonio Hidalgo, and the intercalation of the word
no in the statement quoted is the more that the said answer be stricken from the
record, as he objected to its appearing therein.
Were it true that the principal, Jose de la Peña y Gomiz, had neither agreed to the
designation of Antonio Hidalgo, nor to the latter's administering his property, he would
immediately have appointed another agent and administrator, since he knew that
Federico Hidalgo had left the place where his property was situated and that it would
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be abandoned, had he not wished that Antonio Hidalgo should continue to administer it.
If the latter continued in the administration of the property for so long a time, nearly
nine years, it was because the said Peña agreed and gave his consent to the acts
performed by his outgoing agent, and for this reason the answer given by Federico
Hidalgo, mistakenly, or not, that his principal, Peña, did not agree to the appointment of
Antonio Hidalgo, is immaterial and does not affect the terms of this decision.
If the defendant is not responsible for the results of the administration of the
said property administered by Antonio Hidalgo during the second period before
referred to, neither is he responsible for that performed during the third person by
Francisco Hidalgo, inasmuch as the latter was not even chosen by the defendant who,
on October 1, 1902, when Francisco Hildalgo took charge of Peña's property that had
been turned over to him by Antonio Hidalgo, was in Spain and had no knowledge of nor
intervention in such delivery: wherefore the defendant can in no manner be obliged to
pay to the plaintiff any sum that may be found owing by Francisco Hidalgo.
The trial judge —taking into consideration that, by the evidence adduced at the
hearing, it was proved that Francisco Hidalgo rendered accounts to the plaintiff of the
administration of the property in question during the said third period, that is, for a one
year, three months, and some days, and that he delivered to the plaintiff the balance of
1,280.03 pesos, for which the latter issued to the said third administrator the document
Exhibit 2, written in his own handwriting under date of January 7, 1904, and the
signature which, a xed by himself, he admitted in his testimony was authentic, on its
being exhibited to him —found that the plaintiff, Peña y de Ramon, was not entitled to
recover any sum whatever for the rents pertaining to the administration of his property
by the said Francisco Hidalgo.

All the reasons hereinbefore given relate to the rst cause of action, whereby
claim is made against Federico Hidalgo for the payment of the sum of P72,548.24 and
interest at the rate of 6 per cent per annum, and they have decided some of the errors
assigned by the appellants in their briefs to the judgment appealed from.
Two amounts are claimed which have one and the same origin, yet are based on
two causes of action, the second and the third alleged by the plaintiff; and although the
latter, afterwards convinced by the truth and of the impropriety of his claim, had to
waive the said third cause of action during the second hearing of his cause (pp. 57 and
42 of the record of the evidence), the trial judge, on the grounds that the said second
and third causes of action refer to the same certi cates of deposit of the treasury of
the Spanish Government, found, in the judgment appealed from, that the plaintiff was
not entitled to recover anything for the aforesaid second and third causes of action —a
nding that is proper and just, although quali ed as erroneous by the plaintiff in his
brief.
It appears, from the evidence take in this cause, that Jose de la Peña y Gomiz,
according to the certi cate issued by the chief of the division of archives (p. 982 of the
record), did not again during his lifetime, after having hi 1882 withdrawn from the
General Deposit Bank of the Spanish Government a deposit of 17,000 pesos and its
interest, deposit any sum therein until December 9, 1886, when he deposited two
amounts of 3,000 pesos each, that is, 6,000 pesos in all, the two deposit receipts for
the same being afterwards endorsed in favor of Gonzalo Tuason. The latter, on
December 9, 1887, withdrew the deposit and took out the said two amounts, together
with the interest due thereon, and on the same date redeposited them in the sum of
6,360 pesos at 5 per cent annum in the name of Jose de la Peña y Gomiz. On the 20th
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of December of the following year, 1888, the defendant Hidalgo received from his
principal, Peña y Gomiz, through Father Ramon Caviedas, the two said letters, of credit,
in order that he might withdraw from the General Deposit Bank the two amounts
deposited, together with the interest due thereon, amounting to 741 pesos, and with
this interest purchase a draft on London in favor of its owner and then redeposit the
original capital of 6,000 pesos. This, the defendant Hidalgo did and then delivered the
draft the the deposit receipt to Father Cavieda, of all the which transactions he
informed his principal by letter of the same date, transcribed on page 947 of the
second trial record.
In the following year, 1889, Father Ramon Cavieda again delivered to the
defendant Hidalgo the aforementioned deposit receipt with the request to withdraw
from the General Deposit Bank the sum deposited and to purchase a draft of 860
pesos on London in favor of their owner, Jose de la Peña y Gomiz, and, after deduction
the cost of the said draft from the capital and interest withdrawn from deposit,
amounting to 8,360 pesos, to redeposit the remainder, 5,500 pesos, in the bank
mentioned, in accordance with the instructions from Peña y Gomiz: All of which was
done by the defendant Hidalgo, who delivered to Father Caivedas the receipt for the
new deposit of 5,500 pesos as accredited by the reply-letter, transcribed on page 1609
of the record, and by the letter addressed by Hidalgo to Peña, of the date of December
20 of that year and shown as an original exhibit by the plaintiff himself on page 29 of
the record of the evidence.
Lastly, in December, 1890, Father Caviedas, aforementioned, delivered to the
defendant Hidalgo the said deposit receipt for 5,500 pesos in order that he might
withdraw this amount from deposit and deliver it with the interest thereon to the former
for the purpose of remitting it by draft to Jose de la Peña; this Hidalgo did, according to
a reply-letter from Father Caviedas, the original of which appears on page 979 of the file
of exhibits and is copied on page 171 of the trial record, and is apparently con rmed by
the latter in his sworn testimony.
So that the two amounts of 3,000 pesos each, expresses in two deposit receipts
received from De la Peña y Gomiz Francisco Hidalgo for the successive operations of
remittance and redeposit in the bank before mentioned, are the same and only ones
that were on deposit in the said bank in the name of their owner, Peña y Gomiz. The
defendant Hidalgo made two remittances by drafts on London, one in 1888 for 741.60
pesos, through a draft purchased from the Chartered Bank, and another in 1889 for 860
pesos, through a draft purchased from the house of Tuason & Co., and both in favor of
Peña y Gomiz, who received through Father Ramon Caviedas the remainder, 5,500
pesos, of the sums deposited. For these reasons, the trial judge was of the opinion that
the certi cates of deposit sent by Peña y Gomiz to Father Ramon Caviedas and those
received from the latter by the defendant Hidalgo were identical, as were likewise the
total amounts remitted expressed by the said receipts or certi cates of deposit, from
the sum of which were deducted the amounts remitted to Peña y Gomiz and the
remainder deposited after each annual operation until, nally, the sum of 5,500 pesos
was remitted to its owner, Peña y Gomiz, according to his instructions, through the said
Father Caviedas. The lower court, in concluding its judgment, found that the plaintiff
was not entitled to recover any sum whatever for the said second and third causes of
action, notwithstanding that, as hereinbefore stated, the said plaintiff withdrew the third
cause of action. This nding of the court, with respect to the collection of the amounts
of the aforementioned deposit receipts, is perfectly legal and in accordance with
justice, inasmuch as it is sustained by abundant and conclusive documentary evidence,
which proves in an incontrovertible manner the unrighteousness of the claim made by
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the plaintiff in twice seeking payment, by means of the said second and third causes of
action, of the same sum which, after various operations of deposit and remittance
during three years, was nally returned with its interest to the possession of its owner,
Peña y Gomiz.
From the trial had in this case, it also appears conclusively proved that Jose de la
Peña y Gomiz owed, during his lifetime, to Federico Hidalgo, 7,600 pesos, 4,000 pesos
of which were to bear interest at the rate of 6 per cent per annum, and the remainder
without any interest, and that, notwithstanding the lapse of the period of three years,
from November, 1887, within which he bound himself to repay the amount borrowed,
and in spite of his creditor's demand of payment, made by registered letter, the original
copy of which is on page 38 of the le of exhibits and a transcription thereof on page
930 of the rst and second record of the evidence, the debt was not paid up to the time
of the debtor's death. For such reasons, the trial court, in the judgment appealed from,
found that there was preponderance of evidence to prove that this loan had been made
and that the plaintiff actually owed the defendant the sum loaned, as well as the interest
thereon, after deducting therefrom the 2,000 pesos which the defendant received from
the plaintiff on account of the credit, and that the former was entitled to recover.
It appears from the pleadings and evidence at the trial that in January, 1904, on
the arrival in this city of Federico Hidalgo and the plaintiff, Jose de la Peña y de Ramon,
and on the occasion of the latter's proceeding to examine the accounts previously
rendered, up to December 31, 1893, by the defendant Hidalgo to the plaintiff's father,
then deceased, Hidalgo made demand upon the plaintiff, Peña y de Ramon, for the
payment of the said debt of his father, although the creditor Hidalgo acceded to the
requests of the plaintiff to grant the latter an extension of time until he should be able
to sell one of the properties of the estate. It was at that time, according to the
defendant, that the plaintiff Peña took up the instrument of indebtedness, executed by
his deceased father during his lifetime, and delivered to the defendant in exchange
therefore the document of the date of January 15, 1904, found on page 924 of the
second record of evidence, whereby the plaintiff, Jose de la Peña, bound himself to pay
his father's debt of 11,000 pesos, owing to the defendant Hidalgo, out of the proceeds
of the sale of some one of the properties speci ed in the said document, which was
written and signed by the plaintiff in his own handwriting.
The plaintiff not only executed the said document acknowledging his father's
debt and binding himself to settle it, but also, several days after the sale of a lot
belonging to the estate, paid to the creditor on account the sum of 2,000 pesos,
according to the receipt issued by the latter and exhibited on page 108 of the rst
record of evidence.
The said document, expressive of the obligation contracted by the plaintiff, Peña
y de Ramon, that he would pay to the defendant the debt of plaintiff's deceased father,
amounting to 11,000 pesos, out of the proceeds from some of the properties of the
estate, has not been denied nor impugment as false; and notwithstanding the averment
made by the plaintiff that when he signed he lacked information and knowledge of the
true condition of the affairs concerning Hidalgo's connection with the property that
belonged to De la Peña's father; it can not be denied that absolutely no proof whatever
is shown in the trial record of the creditor's having obtained the said document through
deceit or fraud — circumstances in a certain manner incompatible with the explicit
statements contained therein. For these reasons, the trial court, weighing the whole of
the evidence furnished by the record, found that the loan of the said 7,600 pesos was
truly and positively made, and that the plaintiff must pay that he was not entitled to
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recover the 2,000 pesos, as an undue payment made by him to the defendant creditor.
For the foregoing reason the other errors assigned by the plaintiff to the judgment
appealed from are dismissed.

With respect to the obligation to pay the interest due on the amounts concerned
in this decision, it must be borne in mind that, as provided by article 1755 of the Civil
Code, interest shall only be owed when it has been expressly stipulated, and that should
the debtor, who is obligated to pay a certain sum of money, be in default and fail to
ful ll the agreement made with his creditor, he must pay, as indemnity for losses and
damages, should there not be a stipulation to the express stipulation, the legal interest
(art. 1108 of the Civil Code); but, in order that the debtor may be considered to be in
default and obliged to pay the indemnity, it is required, as a general rule, that his
creditor shall demand of such debtor the ful llment of his obligation, judicially or
extrajudicially, except in such cases as are limitedly speci ed in article 1100 of the Civil
Code.
It was not expressly stipulated that either the balance of the last account
rendered by the defendant Federico Hidalgo in 1893, or the sum which the plaintiff
bound himself to pay to the defendant, in the instrument of the 15th of January, 1904,
should bear interest; nor is there proof that a judicial or extrajudicial demand was made,
on the part of the respective creditors concerned, until the date of the complaint, on the
part of the defendant. Therefore no legal interest is owing for the time prior to the
respective dates of the complaint and counterclaim.
By virtue, then, of the reasons hereinbefore set forth, it is proper, in our opinion, in
our opinion, to adjudge, as we do hereby adjudge, that the defendant, Federico Hidalgo,
shall pay to the plaintiff, Jose de la Peña y de Ramon, as administrator of the estate of
the deceased Jose de la Peña y Gomiz, the sum of P6,774.50, and the legal interest
thereon at the rate of 6 per cent per annum from the 23d of May, 1906, the date of the
ling of the original complaint in this case; that we should and hereby do declare that
the said defendant, Federico Hidalgo, is not bound to give nor render accounts of the
administrator of the property of the said deceased Jose de la Peña y Gomiz,
administered, respectively, by Antonio Hidalgo, from January, 1894, to September 30,
1902, and by Francisco Hidalgo, from October 1, 1902, to January 7, 1904, and
therefore the defendant, Federico Hidalgo, not being responsible for the results of the
administration of the said property administered by the said Antonio and Francisco
Hidalgo, we do absolve the said defendant from the complaint led by the plaintiff, in
so far as it concerns the accounts pertaining to the aforesaid two periods of
administration and relates to the payment of the balances resulting from such
accounts; and that we should and hereby do absolve the defendant Hidalgo from the
complaint with respect to the demand for the payment of the sums of P15,774.19 and
P2,000, with their respective interest, on account of the second and the fourth cause of
action, respectively, and, because the plaintiff renounced and withdrew his complaint,
with respect to the third cause of action; and that we should and do likewise adjudge,
that the plaintiff, Jose de la Peña y de Ramon, shall pay to Federico Hidalgo, by reason
of the counterclaim, the sum of P9,000 with legal interest thereon at the rate of 6 per
cent per annum from the 21st of May, 1907, the date of the counterclaim.
The judgment appealed from, together with that part thereof relative to the
statement it contains concerning the equivalence between the Philippine peso and the
Mexican peso, is a rmed in so far as it is in agreement with the ndings of this
decision, and the said judgment is reversed in so far as it is not in accordance herewith.
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No special finding is made as to costs assessed in either instance, and to the plaintiff is
reserved any right that he may be entitled to enforce against Antonio Hidalgo.
Arellano, C. J., Johnsons, Moreland and Trent, JJ., concur.

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