GR No.

46997 January 11, 1940

WISE & COMPANY, INC., plaintiff-appellant,

v.
MAN SUN LUNG, defendant.
THE PROVINCIAL SHERIFF OF CAMARINES SUR, defendant-appellee.

Messrs. Franco and Reinoso on behalf of the appellant.

D. Moises Pardo on behalf of the appellee.

VILLA-REAL, J.:

This is an appeal filed by the claimant entity, Wise & Company, Inc., against the order of the Manila Trial Court denying the motion,
filed by said claimant entity dated February 15, 1937, in which requested that the Provincial Sheriff of Camarines Sur be ordered to
sell the different properties seized by him and that the proceeds of the sale be delivered to said claimant entity.

In support of its appeal, the repeat plaintiff entity, Wise & Company, Inc., points to the following errors of law as committed by the
Tribunal a quo , namely:

1. The lower court erred in failing to distinguish between the natural person, Man Sun Lung from the corporation, Man Sun
Lung & Co., Inc.

2. The lower court erred in gratuitously relinguishing its custody of the goods put under preliminary attachment to the
prejudice of Wise & Company, Inc.

The necessary and pertinent facts for the resolution of the legal issues raised in this appeal and the only ones that we can take into
account are those that appear in the appealed order, namely:

It appears in the Sheriff's report on the back of Exhibit B that he turned over said property to the Man Sun Lung & Co., Inc.
Insolvency Trustee, because he had seized such property at the Man Sun store. Lung & Co., Inc. It also appears in the
Sheriff's response that he made said delivery by virtue of the order of the Court of Camarines Sur and that said assets have
been sold by the trustee by order of the Court in said Insolvency matter and its amount of P656.64 is in the possession of
the notary, by order of the Court of Camarines Sur dated January 20, 1937.

There is no doubt that Man Sun Lung, the defendant in this case, is legally different and distinct from Man Sun Lung & Co., Inc.,
declared insolvent in the corresponding insolvency file: the former is a natural person and the latter is a legal person with a different
and independent personality from that of the former, not knowing that the assets seized by the Sheriff of Camarines Sur, believing
that they were the property of the defendant Man Sun Lung, were really his, the presumption is that they belong to the corporation
Man Sun Lung & Co., Inc., as part of the assets of said commercial entity. Having appointed a trustee to take possession of and guard
the assets of the insolvent, subject to the orders of the Court hearing the insolvency, Only he had jurisdiction to order the disposition
that should be made of said assets. Having seized the Provincial Sheriff of Camarines Sur of the disputed goods as the property of the
defendant Man Un Lung and not stating, evenprima facie , that they were not his, but rather that of the commercial entity, Man Sun
Lung & Co., Inc., in doing so their seizure was illegal, and the Court a quo acted within its jurisdiction by ordering the delivery of said
assets to the trustee of the aforementioned insolvency, who later sold them by order of the Court of the repeated insolvency,
depositing the proceeds of the sale, which amounted to P656.64, by order of the same Court of Camarines Sur dated January 20,
1937, held by of the notary of the same court.

(Arts. 18, 60, 69, Law No. 1956; Dharmdas against Buenaflor, 57 Jur. Fil., 505; Cu Unjeng and Sons against Mitchell, 58 Jur. Fil., 515;
Bastida against Penalosa, 30 Jur. Fil. , 156; De Amuzategui v. Macleod, 33 Jur. Fil., 85).

As for the second alleged error, which is alleged to have been committed by the Tribunal a quo, having been illegal the seizure of the
assets in question here as the property of the defendant Man Sun Lung, not being so, the lower Court did not incur either. in error in
ordering the lifting of the embargo on them and their delivery to the insolvency trustee of Man Sun Lung & Co., Inc.

For the considerations set forth above, we are of the opinion and thus declare (1) that the articles or personal property found in a
corporation's store are presumed to be the property of the corporation and not of any member of the same to unless proven
otherwise; (2) that the seizure made by the Sheriff on such movable property, by virtue of a warrant issued against a member of the
same, and it has not been proven that they belong exclusively to said member, thus illegal; and (3) that has issued the seizure order
does not exceed its jurisdiction by ordering the lifting of the same and the delivery of the seized assets to the trustee of the
insolvency of said corporation.

By virtue of not finding any error in the appealed order, we confirm it in all its parts with the costs to the appellant.

Avanceña, Pres., Imperial, Diaz, Laurel and Concepcion, MM., are satisfied.