Everyday Law

"ATTY., TOTOO BA NA KUNG WALANG KASULATAN SA TUBO NG UTANG AY WALANG KARAPATAN NA

SUMINGIL NG TUBO ANG NAGPAUTANG?"

ANG LEGAL RATE OF INTEREST SA MGA LOANS, FORBEARANCES OF GOODS, MONEY OR CREDITS AY
NAFIX SA SIX (6) PERCENT PER YEAR AYON SA KASO NG SUPREME COURT NA PINAGTIBAY ANG VALIDITY
NG BANKO SENTRAL BSP-MB CIRCULAR NO. 796 DATED MAY 16, 2013. ITO AY APPLICABLE KAHIT
WALANG KASULATAN ANG MGA PARTIDOS.

ANG INTEREST RATE O "TUBO" NG ISANG UTANG NA MAHIGIT SA LEGAL RATE OF INTEREST NA 6% AY
PWEDE LAMANG SINGILIN KUNG ITO AY NAKASULAT AT NAPAGKASUNDUAN AT NAPIRMAHAN NG
UMUTANG AT NAGPAUTANG AYON SA ARTICLE 1956 NG NEW CIVIL CODE. ANG VERBAL NA KASUNDUAN
SA INTEREST RATE O TUBO AY WALANG BISA AT HINDI PWEDENG IPATUPAD SA KORTE.

May nagtanong sa E-Lawyers Online kung walang nakasulat na kasunduan sa tubo o interest rate, pwede
pa rin ba sumingil ng tubo ang nagpautang? Ganito ang question ng isang reader ng E-Lawyers Online:

"Atty., may umutang po sa akin ng P150,000 pero wala po kami kasulatan. Mga 5 years niya po ginamit
ang pera ko kahit sa simula pa lamang ay lagi ko siya sinusulatan na magbayad na. Ngayon po ay gusto
niya magbayad pero wala daw tubo siya babayaran dahil wala naman kasulatan. Tama po ba yon? May
right ba ako humingi ng tubo kahit konti?"

Ang Article 1956 of the New Civil Code ay nasasaad na "hindi pwedeng sumingil ng tubo o interest sa
perang pinautang kung ito ay hindi napagkasunduan sa isang kasulatan" (No interest shall be due unless
it has been expressly stipulated in writing). Kung kaya ang mga nagpautang ay hindi kayo pwede pilitin na
singilin ang mataas na tubo kung wala kayong kasulatan dito.

Paano naman ang walang kasulatan tungkol sa tubo?

May karapatan pa rin na sumingil ng tubo pero ito ay limitado lamang sa tinatawag na "legal rate of
interest" na ngayon ay nafix sa halagang 6% per annum/year para sa loans, forbearances of goods,
money or credits. Sa desisyon ng Supreme Court sa kasong Nacar vs. Gallery Frames, kinatigan ng
Supreme Court ang validity ng BSP Circular na nagfix sa legal rate of interest na 6% per year at ito ang
rule na binigay nila:

"To recapitulate and for future guidance, the guidelines laid down in the case of Eastern Shipping Lines
are accordingly modified to embody BSP-MB Circular No. 799, as follows:

I. When an obligation, regardless of its source, i.e., law, contracts, quasi-contracts, delicts or quasi-delicts
is breached, the contravenor can be held liable for damages. The provisions under Title XVIII on
"Damages" of the Civil Code govern in determining the measure of recoverable damages.

II. With regard particularly to an award of interest in the concept of actual and compensatory damages,
the rate of interest, as well as the accrual thereof, is imposed, as follows:

When the obligation is breached, and it consists in the payment of a sum of money, i.e., a loan or
forbearance of money, the interest due should be that which may have been stipulated in writing.
Furthermore, the interest due shall itself earn legal interest from the time it is judicially demanded. In
the absence of stipulation, the rate of interest shall be 6% per annum to be computed from default, i.e.,
from judicial or extrajudicial demand under and subject to the provisions of Article 1169 of the Civil
Code.

When an obligation, not constituting a loan or forbearance of money, is breached, an interest on the
amount of damages awarded may be imposed at the discretion of the court at the rate of 6% per annum.
No interest, however, shall be adjudged on unliquidated claims or damages, except when or until the
demand can be established with reasonable certainty. Accordingly, where the demand is established
with reasonable certainty, the interest shall begin to run from the time the claim is made judicially or
extrajudicially (Art. 1169, Civil Code), but when such certainty cannot be so reasonably established at the
time the demand is made, the interest shall begin to run only from the date the judgment of the court is
made (at which time the quantification of damages may be deemed to have been reasonably
ascertained). The actual base for the computation of legal interest shall, in any case, be on the amount
finally adjudged.
When the judgment of the court awarding a sum of money becomes final and executory, the rate of legal
interest, whether the case falls under paragraph 1 or paragraph 2, above, shall be 6% per annum from
such finality until its satisfaction, this interim period being deemed to be by then an equivalent to a
forbearance of credit."

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