This case has been cited 3 times or more.
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2007-04-27 |
CHICO-NAZARIO, J. |
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| Having laid that the bank of Commerce is not in good faith necessitates us to award moral damages, exemplary damages, attorney's fees and costs of litigation in favor of the spouses San Pablo. Moral damages are not awarded to penalize the defendant but to compensate the plaintiff for the injuries he may have suffered.[33] Willful injury to property may be a legal ground for awarding moral damages if the court should find that, under the circumstances, such damages are justly due.[34] In the instant case, we find that the award of moral damages is proper. The Bank of Commerce, in allowing Santos to secure a loan out of the property belonging to the spouses San Pablo, without taking the necessary precaution demanded by the circumstances owing to the public policy imbued in the banking business, caused injury to the latter which calls for the imposition of moral damages. As for the award of exemplary damages, we deem that the same is proper for the Bank of Commerce was remiss in its obligation to inquire into the veracity of Santos' authority to mortgage the subject property, causing damage to the spouses San Pablo.[35] Finally, we rule that the award of attorney's fees and litigation expenses is valid since the spouses San Pablo were compelled to litigate and thus incur expenses in order to protect its rights over the subject property.[36] | |||||
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2005-10-17 |
CHICO-NAZARIO, J. |
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| The law allows the grant of exemplary damages to set an example for the public good.[23] The banking system has become an indispensable institution in the modern world and plays a vital role in the economic life of every civilized society. Whether as mere passive entities for the safe-keeping and saving of money or as active instruments of business and commerce, banks have attained a ubiquitous presence among the people, who have come to regard them with respect and even gratitude and most of all, confidence.[24] For this reason, banks should guard against injury attributable to negligence or bad faith on its part.[25] The award of exemplary damages is warranted by the failure of respondent bank to prevent the unauthorized withdrawals from petitioners' deposits and its failure to properly apply the latter's deposits to their loan. We, however, find the P300,000.00 awarded by the lower court to be excessive and should accordingly be reduced to P50,000.00. | |||||