The Bangko Sentral Issued Circular No. 799 Series of 2013 dated July 1, 1.
1. Loans or forbearance of money, goods, or credits, as well
2013. It provides:
The Monetary Board in its Resolution No. 796 dated May 16, 2013
approved the following revisions governing the rate of interest in the
absence of stipulation in loan contracts, thereby amending Section 2of
Circular No. 905, Series of 1982:
Section 1. The Rate of interest for the loan or forebearance of any
money, goods or credit and the rate allowed in judgments, in the absence
of an express contract as to such rate of interest, shall be six percent
(6%) per annum
Section 2. In view of the above, Subsection X305.1 of the Manual of
Regulations for Banks and Sections 4305Q.1, 4305S.3, and 4303P.1 of
the Manual of Regulations for Non-Bank Financial Institutions are hereby
amended accordingly.
This Circular shall take effect on July 1, 2013
In Maria Soledad Tomimbang vs. Atty. Jose Tomimbang, G.R. No.
165116, August 4, 2009, the Supreme Court reminds us when the
rate of 6% per annum applies and when the rate of 12% per annum
applies.
In Tomimbang, the respondent gave a loan to the petitioner (his sibling).
However, the petitioner stopped making monthly repayments on the loan.
The regional trial court and the Court of Appeals ruled that the petitioner
must pay interest on the indebtedness at the rate of 12% per annum. The
Supreme Court agreed.
The Supreme Court reiterated its ruling in the 1994 case of Eastern
Shipping, Inc. vs. Court of Appeals, 234 SCRA 78, 95-96 (1994). The
holding can be summarized as follows:
as to judgments involving such loan or forbearance of money,
goods, or credit
(a) Parties agreed on interest payable
If the parties agreed on the interest payable, the interest due is what has
been stipulated upon by the parties. Pursuant to Article 1856 of the Civil
Code, the agreed interest must have been expressly stipulated in writing.
Under Article 2212 of the Civil Code, the interest due shall itself earn
legal interest from the time it is judicially demanded, although the
obligation may be silent upon this point.
(b) Parties did not agree on interest payable
In the absence of stipulation between the parties on the rate of interest
payable, the rate of interest will be 12% per annum to be computed from
default, i.e., from the judicial or extrajudicial demand under and subject to
the provisions of Article 1169 of the Civil Code.
2. Obligations not involving loans or forbearance of money (or
judgments related thereto)
If the obligation breached does not consist in the payment of a sum of
loaned money, the court, in its discretion, may impose interest on the
amount of damages awarded at the rate of 6% per annum (see Civil
Code, art. 2209). However, no interest can 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.
3. Court judgment
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 12% per annum from such
finality until its satisfaction, this interim period being deemed to be by
then an equivalent to a forbearance of credit.
Since the obligation in Tomimbang involves a loan and there is no
stipulation in writing as to interest due, the Supreme Court ruled that the
rate of interest shall be 12% per annum computed from the date of
extrajudicial demand.