Cecilio De Villa was charged with violation of Batas Pambansa (B.P.) Bilang 22 or the Bouncing Checks Law at the Makati City Regional Trial Court - Branch 145. De Villa allegedly issued a check to Roberto Z. Lorayez on April 3, 1987 in the municipality of Makati, Metro Manila. The accused well knew that at the time of his issuance of the check amounting to U.S. $2,500.00 equivalent to P50,000.00, there were no sufficient funds in his account. Nevertheless, De Villa argues that there was no offense committed since the check involved was payable in dollars which is not a currency unit of the Philippines.
Issue: Whether or not De Villa should be held liable in violation of B.P. No. 22?
Ruling: Yes. The law does not distinguish the currency of the checks that are covered by the law. Therefore, the court shall also not distinguish whether the check is of foreign currency or not. The petition of De Villa is dismissed.
Olaf Peter Juda v. Dennis Michael Nerney, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Northern District of California Stephen R. Kotz, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Albuquerque, New Mexico John J. Kelly, U.S. Attorney, Albuquerque, New Mexico Michael Yamaguchi, U.S. Attorney, San Francisco, California Robert L. Holler, District Director, U.S. Customs Service, El Paso, Texas Leonard S. Walton, Acting Assistant Commissioner, U.S. Customs Service, Washington, D.C. Bonnie L. Gay, Foia Unit, Attorney-In-Charge, Washington, D.C. John and Jane Does 1-25 United States of America, Olaf Peter Juda v. United States Customs Service, Robert L. Holler, Joy M. Hughan, Daniel Luar, Rita Alfaro, Dolores Payan, Gina E. Fuentes, Internal Revenue Service, George Terpack, Carolyn Leonard, Timothy A. Towns, John Does, Jane Does, 149 F.3d 1190, 10th Cir. (1998)