I. SHORT TITLE: ESTRADA, ET AL. v.

CAR and GALVAN

II. FULL CASE TITLE: LIBERATA ANTONIO ESTRADA, CANUTO CENIZAN,
NAZARIO DE LA CRUZ, GENARO ALVARO, ET AL. v. COURT OF AGRARIAN
RELATIONS and FAUSTINO F. GALVAN G.R. Nos. L-17481 and L-17537 to L-
17559 August 15, 1961
III. PONENTE: J. NATIVIDAD
IV. TOPIC:
V. STATEMENT OF FACTS: It was ordered by the SC that the owner or manager of the
Moncada Bonded Warehouse release and give to Liberata Antonio Estrada et al. the
remaining deposits and that Faustino Galvan to surrender the original of the receipts of
the palay deposits to the manager or owner of the Moncada Bonded Warehouse.
Notwithstanding service of notice and in spite of repeated demands, they refused and still
refuse to comply, the former, for the reason that Liberata Antonio Estrada et al. could not
surrender to him the original of the warehouse receipts issued for the palay in question,
and the latter, because he could not locate any more said receipts. Hence, the present
action was filed asking that the manager and Faustino F. Galvan be declared in contempt
of court and be punished accordingly.
VI. STATEMENT OF THE CASE
VII. ISSUE/S: Whether the excuses offered justify their refusal to comply with the
orders.
VIII. RULING: NO. The excuses respectively offered by the manager of the Moncada
Bonded Warehouse and respondent Faustino F. Galvan are not without some merits. The
former unquestionably had the right to protect the interest of the bonded warehouse of
which he was manager, as the warehouse receipts issued for the palay in question might
have been for the value in favor of innocent third parties; and the latter, or Faustino F.
Galvan, might have in fact lost said warehouse receipts in the manner above stated, for
his allegation to the effect in his answer to petitioners' motion for contempt until now has
not been contradicted. Such incidents, however, do not constitute a valid excuse to evade
compliance with the order of this Court that the palay in question be delivered to the
petitioners, and, considering that the petitioners, according to the manifestation filed by
their counsel under date of August 3, 1961, are in dire need of said palay for their
subsistence, our order must be carried out in the meantime that this cases have not been
finally decided in order to ameliorate the precarious situation in which said petitioners
find themselves.
IX. COMPLETE DISPOSITIVE PORTION:
X. PREPARED BY: Estember, Daniel John G.