Prima facie presumption ng intensyong manloko

ni Atty. Persida Rueda-Acosta @Magtanong Kay Attorney | August 14, 2025

Dear Chief Acosta,

Sabi ng kaibigan ko na may malaking halaga siya na pagkakautang sa isang credit card company dahil sa paggamit niya ng kanyang credit card. Ang kanyang utang daw ay halos lumobo na sa P300,000.00 at ito ay past due na nang mahigit isang daang araw. Dahil hindi na niya ito kayang bayaran, ninanais na niyang lumipat ng tirahan. Masasabi ba na ang kaibigan ko ay maaaring may intensyon na takbuhan o lokohin ang kanyang credit card company? Salamat sa iyong paggabay sa amin. -- Elizabeth 

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Dear Elizabeth,

Ang sagot sa iyong katanungan ay matatagpuan sa Section 5 of Republic Act (R.A.) No. 11449, “An Act Providing for Additional Prohibitions to and Increasing Penalties for Violations of Republic Act No. 8484, otherwise known as the “Access Devices Regulation Act of 1998”, kung saan nakasaad na:

Section 5. The last sentence of Section 14 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

“Sec. 14. x x x “A cardholder who abandons or surreptitiously leaves the place of employment, business or residence stated in his application for credit card, without informing  the credit card company of the place where he could actually be found, if at the time of such abandonment or surreptitious leaving, the outstanding and unpaid balance is past due for at least ninety (90) days and is more than Two hundred thousand pesos (P200,000.00), shall be prima facie presumed to have used his credit card with intent to defraud.”

Magmula sa hindi apektadong probisyon ng batas, ang Seksyon 14 ng Republic Act (R.A.) No. 8484 o mas kilala sa tawag na “Access Devices Regulation Act of 1998,” ang mga sumusunod ang mga akto na makapagsasabi na may presumption at prima facie evidence na may intensyong manloko o to defraud:

“Section 14. Presumption and prima facie evidence of intent to defraud. – The mere possession, control or custody of:

(a) an access device, without permission of the owner or without any lawful authority;

(b) a counterfeit access device;

(c) access device fraudulently applied for;

(d) any device-making or altering equipment by any person whose business or employment does not lawfully deal with the manufacture, issuance, or distribution of access device;

(e) an access device or medium on which an access device is written, not in the ordinary course of the possessor’s trade or business; or

(f) a genuine access device, not in the name of the possessor, or not in the ordinary course of the possessor’s trade or business, shall be prima facie evidence that such device or equipment is intended to be used to defraud.”

At upang masagot ang iyong katanungan, at akma sa naging pag-amyenda sa huling paragraph ng nabanggit na Seksyon 14 ng R. A. No. 8484, nakasaad sa Seksyon 5 ng kasalukuyang R.A. No. 11449, ang magiging aksyon ng inyong kaibigan ay maaaring masabi na siya ay may intensyon na manloko o lokohin ang kanyang credit card company. Ito ay malinaw sa nabanggit na Seksyon 5 ng R. A. No. 11449 na kung ang isang cardholder ay aalis o palihim na umalis sa lugar ng kanyang tinitirahan na nakasaad sa aplikasyon niya para sa credit card nang hindi ipinaalam sa credit card company ang lugar kung saan siya talaga matatagpuan, kung sa oras ng naturang pag-abandona o palihim na pag-alis, ang hindi pa nababayarang balanse ay higit sa P200,000.00 at lampas na sa takdang panahon ng hindi bababa sa 90 na araw, prima facie presumed na ginamit ang kanyang credit card na may layuning manlinlang. Kung kaya, upang hindi magkaroon ng prima facie presumption ng pagkakaroon ng intensyon na manloko, nararapat na ipaalam ng inyong kaibigan sa kanyang credit company ang kanyang layunin na lumipat ng tirahan at banggitin ang saktong lokasyon kung saan siya matatagpuan.

Ang nasabing panuntunan ay base rin sa polisiya ng gobyerno na siguraduhin din na protektahan ang mga karapatan at tukuyin ang mga pananagutan ng mga partido sa isang commercial transactions sa pamamagitan ng pagsasaayos sa pagpapalabas at paggamit ng mga access device. Dahil din dito, kinikilala ng gobyerno na ang mga akto ng panloloko gamit ang teknolohiya ay sumisira sa tiwala ng publiko sa industriya ng pagbabangko o ekonomiya ng bansa. Kung kaya, dahil sa masamang epektong ito sa ekonomiya, ipinapahayag ng gobyerno na ang paggawa ng krimen gamit ang mga kagamitang access devices ay isang anyo ng pang-ekonomiyang sabotahe at isa sa pinakamataas na antas na krimen.

Sana ay nabigyan namin ng linaw ang iyong katanungan. Ang payong aming ibinigay ay base lamang sa mga impormasyon na iyong inilahad at maaaring magbago kung mababawasan o madaragdagan ang mga detalye ng iyong salaysay.

Maraming salamat sa iyong patuloy na pagtitiwala.

Ang incontestability period ng insurance policy

ni Atty. Persida Rueda-Acosta @Magtanong Kay Attorney | August 13, 2025

Dear Chief Acosta,

Ang kapatid ko na pumanaw ay may kinuhang life insurance policy tatlong taon bago siya namatay. Nang makausap namin ang kanyang ahente ay sinabi nito na hindi diumano mababayaran ang kanyang mga benepisyaryo dahil hindi umano nito sinabi na siya ay may matagal nang karamdaman sa puso nang siya ay nag-apply ng life insurance. Ano ba ang sinasabi ng batas ukol dito? -- Yesha

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Dear Yesha,

Ang kasagutan sa iyong tanong ay mababasa sa Seksyon 48 ng Republic Act (R.A) No. 10607 o mas kilala sa tawag na The Insurance Code kung saan nakasaad na: 

“Section 48. Whenever a right to rescind a contract of insurance is given to the insurer by any provision of this chapter, such right must be exercised previous to the commencement of an action on the contract.

After a policy of life insurance made payable on the death of the insured shall have been in force during the lifetime of the insured for a period of two (2) years from the date of its issue or of its last reinstatement, the insurer cannot prove that the policy is void ab initio or is rescindable by reason of the fraudulent concealment or misrepresentation of the insured or his agent.” 

Ang binabanggit sa probisyon na ito ay ang tinatawag na incontestability period sa mga life insurance policy. Ito ay ipinaliwanag din sa kasong Manila Bankers Life Insurance Corporation vs. Cresencia P. Aban (G.R. No. 175666, July 29, 2013, Ponente: Honorable Associate Justice Mariano C. Del Castillo) ng Kataastaasang Hukuman:

“Section 48 serves a noble purpose, as it regulates the actions of both the insurer and the insured. Under the provision, an insurer is given two years – from the effectivity of a life insurance contract and while the insured is alive – to discover or prove that the policy is void ab initio or is rescindible by reason of the fraudulent concealment or misrepresentation of the insured or his agent. After the two-year period lapses, or when the insured dies within the period, the insurer must make good on the policy, even though the policy was obtained by fraud, concealment, or misrepresentation. This is not to say that insurance fraud must be rewarded, but that insurers who recklessly and indiscriminately solicit and obtain business must be penalized, for such recklessness and lack of discrimination ultimately work to the detriment of bona fide takers of insurance and the public in general.”

Sa kalagayan ng iyong kapatid, siya ay pumanaw tatlong taon makalipas na makuha niya ang kanyang life insurance, dahil dito ang tinatawag na incontestability period ay ganap ng epektibo kung saan hindi na maaaring gamitin ng insurer ang kadahilanan na fraudulent concealment o misrepresentation upang umiwas sa pagbabayad sa isang polisiya. Gaya ng sa iyong kapatid na sinasabi na hindi nito inihayag na may matagal na siyang karamdaman sa puso, hindi ito sapat na basehan upang hindi tugunan ng insurer ang kanilang pananagutan na magbayad.

Sana ay nabigyan namin ng linaw ang iyong katanungan. Ang payong aming ibinigay ay base lamang sa mga impormasyon na iyong inilahad at maaaring magbago kung mababawasan o madaragdagan ang mga detalye ng iyong salaysay.

Maraming salamat sa iyong patuloy na pagtitiwala.

Sinuman sa partido sa kaso ng namatay, maaaring palitan ng tagapagmana

ni Atty. Persida Rueda-Acosta @Magtanong Kay Attorney | August 12, 2025

Dear Chief Acosta,

Naghain ng reklamo ang tatay ko laban sa kumpanya na kanyang pinagtatrabahuhan ng halos dalawang dekada dahil sa ilegal na pagtatanggal sa kanya. Subalit, habang nakabinbin ito sa opisina ng Labor Arbiter, namatay ang tatay ko. Ano ang mangyayari sa kanyang kaso? -- Chi

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Dear Chi,

Matutugunan ang iyong katanungan sa ilalim ng probisyon ng 2011 NLRC Rules of Procedure, na sinusugan ng En Banc Resolution No. 14-17, Series of 2017:

“RULE VPROCEEDINGS BEFORE LABOR ARBITERS

Section 20. Death of Parties. – In case any of the parties dies during the pendency of the proceedings, he/she may be substituted by his/her heirs. In the event a favorable judgment is obtained by the complainants, the same shall be enforced in accordance with Section 11, Rule XI of this Rules.” (As amended by En Banc Resolution No. 14-17, Series of 2017)

Malinaw na nakasaad dito na kung sakaling mamatay ang alinman sa mga partido sa panahon ng paglilitis, maaari siyang palitan ng kanyang tagapagmana.

Kaugnay nito, tinalakay ng ating Korte Suprema ang katwiran sa patakarang ito sa kasong Florencio B. Nedira, substituted by his wife Emma G. Nedira vs. NJ World Corporation, represented by Michelle Y. Bualat, G.R. No. 240005, 06 Disyembre 2022, sa panulat ni Honorable Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo:

“First, an employment contract is one imbued with public interest.

The Civil Code is firm in its declaration that the relations between capital and labor are not merely contractual. It is, in fact, one impressed with public interest. Art. 1700 of the Civil Code expressly provides:

Article 1700. The relations between capital and labor are not merely contractual. They are so impressed with public interest that labor contracts must yield to the common good. Therefore, such contracts are subject to the special laws on labor unions, collective bargaining, strikes and lockouts, closed shop, wages, working conditions, hours of labor and similar subjects.

Accordingly, the interest involved in an employment contract is not merely private and individual, but also public.

Considering that such contractual relations are imbued with public interest, the enforcement of rights and obligations under such employment contract is also of public interest. Concomitantly, any violation of the employment contract would necessarily be of public interest.

Second, an illegal dismissal is a violation of the Labor Code and its implementing rules and regulations. xxx

The Labor Code expressly upholds the constitutionally guaranteed right to security of tenure by ordaining that a regular employee may not be terminated from service except for just or authorized cause: xxx

Thus, an illegal dismissal – a dismissal without just or authorized cause – is not only a violation of the contractual relations between the employer and the employee but is, in fact, a violation of the Labor Code and its implementing rules and regulations. In short, when an employer illegally dismisses an employee, said employer is essentially violating a statute.

These two important considerations, which affect the very nature of a complaint for illegal dismissal, separate and distinguish it from the realm of mere contractual obligations normally implicated in a civil complaint. These considerations are of such character and weight that a complaint for illegal dismissal should not and cannot be classified in the same manner as ordinary civil actions.

While it is easy to pare down an ordinary civil action into either an action that involves injury to the person or one that involves property or property rights, a complaint for illegal dismissal cannot be treated in the same manner due to the public policy concerns involved. Further, aside from the public interest in the contractual relations of an employer and an employee, the State itself has an interest in ensuring that employers do not illegally dismiss their employees owing to the fact that such illegal dismissal constitutes a violation of labor laws. xxx

This analysis reveals the dual character of a complaint for illegal dismissal. It is an action predicated upon an injury to the rights of the plaintiff, the purportedly illegally dismissed employee. As the Court previously noted, one's employment is a right and its violation is an injury. At the same time, the award arising from the finding of illegal dismissal – the payment of backwages – is not merely for redress of a private right, but a command for the employer to make public reparation for his or her violation of the Labor Code.

Couple this dual character with the public interest imbued in labor contractual relations and it is evident that complaints for illegal dismissal cannot be classified as to cause or foundation in the same manner as ordinary civil actions insofar as the death of any of the parties and its effects are concerned.

Substitution by the heirs of the deceased complainant in a pending complaint for illegal dismissal should be allowed. This approach respects and breathes life to the public interest imbued in contractual relations between the employer and the employee. Further, it allows for public reparation by the employer in case he or she is found to have violated the Labor Code.”

Ipinaliwanag dito na ang kontrata sa pagtatrabaho ay may pampublikong interes, at ang ilegal na pagtatanggal sa empleyado ay paglabag sa batas sa paggawa at mga naaangkop na tuntunin at regulasyon. Kung kaya, ang pagpalit ng tagapagmana ng namatay na nagrereklamo sa isang nakabinbing reklamo para sa ilegal na pagtanggal sa trabaho ay dapat pahintulutan. Iginagalang at binibigyang-buhay ng pamamaraang ito ang interes ng publiko na dulot ng mga kontraktwal na relasyon sa pagitan ng employer at ng empleyado. Dagdag pa, pinapayagan nito ang pampublikong bayad-pinsala ng employer kung sakaling mapatunayang siya ay lumabag sa batas.

Sana ay nabigyan namin ng linaw ang iyong katanungan. Ang payong aming ibinigay ay base lamang sa mga impormasyon na iyong inilahad at maaring magbago kung mababawasan o madaragdagan ang mga detalye ng iyong salaysay. 

Maraming salamat sa iyong patuloy na pagtitiwala.