Professional Documents
Culture Documents
December 30, 1915, complainants Bartolome Oliveros and Engracia Lianco entered into a
contract with the defendants concerning a debt of P300. Oliveros and co. were obligated to pay
five percent interest per month within the first ten days of every month.
February 24,1916, Act No. 2655: AN ACT FIXING RATES OF INTEREST UPON LOANS
AND DECLARING THE EFFECT OF RECEIVING OR TAKING USURIOUS RATES AND
FOR OTHER PURPOSES was enacted.
On May 6, 1921, Vicente Diaz Conde and Apolinaria R. De Conde were charged with violating
the Usury Law in the Court of First Instance of the city of Manila. They were found guilty,
sentenced to pay a fine of P120 and in case of insolvency, to suffer subsidiary imprisonment in
accordance with the provisions of law. The court stated that at the time of the execution and
delivery of said contract there was no law in force in the Philippine Islands punishing usury; but,
inasmuch as the defendants had collected a usurious rate of interest after the adoption of the
Usury Law, they were guilty of a violation of that law and should be punished in accordance with
its provisions.
contrary to the law of the land, morals or public order. That law must govern and control
the contract in every aspect in which it is intended to bear upon it, whether it affect its
validity, its construction or discharge. Any law which enlarges, abridges or in any manner
changes the intention of the parties, necessarily impairs the contract itself. It is an
elementary rule of contracts that the laws in force at the time it was made must govern its
interpretation and application.
Ruling:
The acts complained of by the defendants did not constitute a crime at the time they were
committed, and therefore the sentence of the lower court is hereby revoked; and it is hereby ordered and
decreed that the complaint be dismissed, and that the defendants be discharged from the custody of the
law, with costs de oficio. So ordered.