BILLS IN SET

In dealing with bills in set, we should have no problem anymore with negotiability and
validity insofar as Section 1 is concerned and several portions of Obligations and Contracts.
In dealing with classes of documents, generally we have:
- Duplicates
- Duplicate originals
- Originals
- Original copies
If you are going to look at these four, some may have similarities with the others and some
may look entirely different with the others. Kunwari, duplicate originals may be original copies BUT
original copies are not always duplicate originals. [in your Law on Evidence, you have the issues of
primary and secondary evidence in such a way that whenever you deal with primary evidence, you
are talking about original documents used as evidence and as far as the law on Evidence is concerned,
your best evidence is always the original. Hindi totoo yung sinasabi nila na there’s a copy which as
good as the original. Same is true that there is no negotiable instrument being as good as money].
In dealing with Duplicates, Duplicate originals, Originals, and Original copies, you have
several BoEs which are issued in a set. It could be a set of 2, set of 3, set of 4, and so on depending on
how many parts of set that will make it convenient. What’s going to happen here is that as far as
negotiability and validity is concerned, wala na tayong problema dyan. Issuing a BoE in a set has
complications. How so? When you issue a BoE in a set of 4, there will be questions later on like “Did
I just issue 4 BoEs?” or “Did I just issue one BoE in a set of 4?” Kunwari, yung mga resibo, if you have
issued receipt before or you actually witnessed a person filling out a receipt and tearing it off and
giving you the white copy and retaining a yellow copy, question: yung yellow copy ba na yon original
yun o duplicate? How do you create a duplicate of an instrument? To photocopy (exact reproduction
of the original) but it would not be as good as the original. In drawing duplicate originals, when we
use the phrase ‘duplicate originals, you already have an original document, you are going to be taking
duplicates of that original document which would be the representation of the original. Usually we
have this during the manufacturing process like prototypes when they come up with shoes, may
prototype yan, may modelo yan which is the original. All shoes that would be based on the original
are duplicate originals, susi ganun din.
What about original copies? When you prepare Deed of Sale, how many copies do you, as the
Notary Public, prepare? In 2004 Rules on Notary practice, you need at least 4. One copy for each of
the parties (that’s 2), one copy for you as NP, and one copy which you will file with the Office of the
Clerk of Court of the RTC. The court keeps a copy of all the documents that you notarize in the future.
All of those are original copies. Kung handwritten, ang hirap i-duplicate nyan. The easiest way to
create duplicates is to encode it. How to create original copies? Once you have encoded it, print in out
in multiple copies, all of those will be considered original printed, pirmahan mo lahat, all of those will
be considered original signed. If you are able to do that, all pieces of that set, everything is to be
considered as original copies, each one is as good as the other kahit yung pirma mo iba, kahit na may
konting fading kasi nauubusan na ng ink, all of them is as good as the other. The same is true as a bill
being drawn in a set. All parts of the bill is as good as the others. They must be of the same form as
the others. But just because the drawer creates 4 BoEs and purports to be a bill in set does not always
mean that it is a bill in set. We have certain requirements to be observed:
1. Issue of negotiability
2. Issue of validity
 3. Numbering and referencing

 The numbering is intended to state the order or the chronology of the documents as
issued: first, second, third, and so on. (Example: 4 sets – ¾; 3 is the numbering)
 The referencing tells you how many pieces are there in a set. (Example: 4 sets – ¾; 4 is
the referencing)

NOTE: Although the law mentions BoEs, there is nothing in the law that prohibits or disallows a PN
drawn in a set. So logically, pwede.
So here: Example of 1 BoE in a set of 4

P50k P50k
1/4 3/4

P50k P50k
2/4 4/4

Assuming that ¾ (3 of 4) is in your hands, what does that tell you? This is the 3 rd document in a set
of 4. Now, pag hawak mo yan anong unang-una mong iisipin? Nasaan yung iba? I have the 3rd, where
is the 1st, the 2nd, and the 4th? Why did you not gove them to me? Bakit isa lang yung binigay mo sa
akin? Nakanino yung iba? Dod you negotiate it to others persons? Are you keeping them for yourself?
Why won’t you give them to me? (daming questions ni sir).
Without the numbering and the referencing, you will not have a bill in set. Sabihin natin, you
are the drawer, you issued 4 BoEs in that manner, you omitted the numbering and referencing, or
you could have numbered them (1st, 2nd, 3rd) but you forgot the referencing, the issue now is how
many BoEs did you issue? With numbering and referencing, you are only liable to P50k. Without the
numbering and refencing, you issued 4 BoEs so you will be liable to P200k.
If you are the bearer of the instrument, do you present all parts to the drawee or do you only
present one part?
After one part has been presented to the drawee, how many parts will the drawee accept?
Will you accept only one part or all parts? In your acceptance, where do you indicate your acceptance?

 
P50k P50k
1/4 3/4
  
P50k P50k
2/4 4/4

If you are the drawee, isa lang tatatakan mo. Kung lahat tinatakan mo, what is the
consequence?
Aside from that, what if instead of encashing the instrument, you decided to negotiate it,
assuming the instrument is payable to bearer, how many parts will you deliver to your transferee?
Will it be one part or all parts? Assuming the instrument is an order instrument, isa lang ba i-indorse
mo o lahat?
It could also happen that each part of the set is found in the hands of different persons, can
each of them present the instrument for acceptance or payment as the case may be? Can each of them
negotiate their respective parts to different people?
In presenting a bill in set for encashment or deposit as the case may be, the rule is that the
bearer/holder of the bill in set should present ALL PARTS of the BoE for the security of the drawee.
In accepting the instrument, you only indicate your acceptance in ONE part (which you can select
among the parts) because you are making yourself liable for only one bill. If you indicated your
acceptance in all parts, you make yourself liable for P200k (refer to the illustration above) because
in accepting all parts, it was as if you accepted all parts of the bill as if they were separate bills. So,
acceptance should be indicated in ONLY ONE PART. What happens to the rest or the other 3? What
happens to the instrument after it has been paid? Discharged. Having been discharged, the
instrument is of no value anymore. It does not serve any practical purpose anymore. So what happens
to the other parts? The discharge of one part discharges the entire set. Ang problema is what we will
do with the other 3? Discharge na yung tatlo diba, anong gagawin mo? Will you leave them with the
holder or collect them from the holder? Kasi anong danger dito? If you leave them with the holder, is
there anything stopping the holder negotiate it to other people? What if isa lang tinatakan mo, yun
ang kinuha mo, yung tatlo iniwan mo sa kanya, ang ginawa niya is he negotiated the 3 parts to 3
different people. Pag yung tatlong yun lumapit sayo, kelangan mong bayaran? YES. What happens if
you refused? Dishonoured. Kaninong kasalanan yun? Sayo. So what do you do as a drawee? You
require the delivery of all the parts of the set. That’s in the law.
Tapos na tayo sa drawee. What if you are the drawer? You draw a bill in a set of 4. If you
deliver all parts of the bill to one person. There is NO problem. But if you deliver each part of the set
to different people considering that it is only ONE BoE drawn in a set of 4, how many BoEs do we
have? Do we still have 1 or 4? And if we only have 1, which 1 is the true BoE? We still have ONE BoE
but the effect of delivering each part of the set to different people is that it was as if you issued 4
different BoEs. You are making yourself liable to pay 4 BoEs. That is the same issue with the
negotiation of instruments. You have a bill in set, you will negotiate the instrument by delivery,
question: how many parts do you deliver to your transferee? Do you deliver only one part or
everything?