When the law does not qualify, We should not qualify.
Should a written
SESSION 3
CORPUZ VS PEOPLE
FACTS.
 Danilo Tangcoy, private complainant, and Lito Corpuz, petitioner, met at
the Admiral Royale Casino in Olongapo City sometime in 1990.
 Tangcoy was then engaged in the business of lending money to casino
players and, upon hearing that Tangcoy had some pieces of jewelry for
sale, Corpuz approached him on May 2, 1991 at the same casino and
offered to sell the said pieces of jewelry on commission basis.
 Tangcoy agreed, and as a consequence, he turned over to petitioner the
following items: an 18k diamond ring for men; a woman's bracelet; one
(1) men's necklace and another men's bracelet, with an aggregate value
of P98,000.00, as evidenced by a receipt of even date.
 They both agreed that petitioner shall remit the proceeds of the sale,
and/or, if unsold, to return the same items, within a period of 60 days.
The period expired without petitioner remitting the proceeds of the sale
or returning the pieces of jewelry. When Tongcoy was able to meet
petitioner, the latter promised the former that he will pay the value of
the said items entrusted to him, but to no avail.
 A criminal complaint for estafa was filed against Corpuz.
 On the prosecution, it was established that Tongcoy and Corpuz were
collecting agents of Antonio Balajadia, who is engaged in the financing
business of extending loans to Base employees. For every collection
made, they earn a commission. Petitioner denied having transacted any
business with Tongcoy.
 However, he admitted obtaining a loan from Balajadia sometime in 1989
for which he was made to sign a blank receipt. He claimed that the same
receipt was then dated May 2, 1991 and used as evidence against him
for the supposed agreement to sell the subject pieces of jewelry, which
he did not even see.
 RTC and CA – accused is guilty of estafa.
ISSUE & RATIO.
1. WON the demand to return the subject the subject jewelry,
if unsold, or remit the proceeds, if sold, is a valid demand under
one of the elements of Estafa under Art. 315 (1) (b) of the RPC?
– YES.
Demand need not even be formal; it may be verbal. The specific
word "demand" need not even be used to show that it has indeed been
made upon the person charged, since even a mere query as to the
whereabouts of the money [in this case, property], would be tantamount
to a demand. As expounded in Asejo v. People:
With regard to the necessity of demand, we agree with the CA that
demand under this kind of estafa need not be formal or written. The
appellate court observed that the law is silent with regard to the form of
demand in estafa under Art. 315 1(b), thus:
demand be necessary, the law would have stated so. Otherwise, the
word "demand" should be interpreted in its general meaning as to
include both written and oral demand. Thus, the failure of the
prosecution to present a written demand as evidence is not fatal.
In Tubb v. People, where the complainant merely verbally inquired about
the money entrusted to the accused, we held that the query was
tantamount to a demand, thus:
x x x [T]he law does not require a demand as a condition precedent to
the existence of the crime of embezzlement. It so happens only that
failure to account, upon demand for funds or property held in trust, is
circumstantial evidence of misappropriation. The same way, however, be
established by other proof, such as that introduced in the case at bar.
In view of the foregoing and based on the records, the prosecution was
able to prove the existence of all the elements of the crime. Private
complainant gave petitioner the pieces of jewelry in trust, or on
commission basis, as shown in the receipt dated May 2, 1991 with an
obligation to sell or return the same within sixty (60) days, if unsold.
There was misappropriation when petitioner failed to remit the proceeds
of those pieces of jewelry sold, or if no sale took place, failed to return
the same pieces of jewelry within or after the agreed period despite
demand from the private complainant, to the prejudice of the latter.
Caveat: There’s a discussion about the penalty for estafa, like need na
daw sya i-amend. But the SC didn’t impose the same kasi duty daw yun
ng Congress. Basta, it’s long kasi kaya I didn’t include it here. Check nyo
nalang powz.
DECISION.
Petition denied.
SESSION 5
GARCIA VS SSC
Facts: Petitioner Immaculada L. Garcia, et.al. were directors of Impact
Corporation. Impact Corporation started encountering financial problems.
Impact Corporation filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) a Petition for Suspension of Payments. The company is directed to
pay all the entitled workers unpaid wages, unpaid 13 th month pay and to
remit to the Social Security System loan amortizations and SSS premiums
previously deducted from the wages of the workers. The Social Security
System (SSS), through its Legal and Collection Division (LCD), filed a case
before the SSC for the collection of unremitted SSS premium contributions
withheld by Impact Corporation from its employees. Petitioner avers that
under the aforesaid provision, the liability does not include liability for the
unremitted SSS premium contributions.
Issue: WON petitioner can be made solely liable for the corporate
obligations of Impact Corporation pertaining to unremitted SSS premium
contributions and penalties therefore.

Held: Clearly, a simplistic interpretation of the law is untenable. It is a rule

in statutory construction that every part of the statute must be interpreted
with reference to the context, i.e., that every part of the statute must be
considered together with the other parts, and kept subservient to the
general intent of the whole enactment.[23] The liability imposed as
contemplated under the foregoing Section 28(f) of the Social Security Law
does not preclude the liability for the unremitted amount. Relevant to
Section 28(f) is Section 22 of the same law
Petitioner Immaculada L. Garcia, as sole surviving director of Impact
Corporation is hereby ORDERED to pay for the collected and unremitted
SSS contributions of Impact Corporation. The case is REMANDED to the SSS
for computation of the exact amount and collection thereof. Caltex vs.
Palomar