I — THE ISSUE OF WAREHOUSE
RECEIPTS
Section 1. Persons who may issue receipts. —
Warehouse receipts may be issued by any warehouseman.
Sec. 2. Form of receipts; essential terms. —
Warehouse receipts need not be in any particular form but every such
receipt must embody within its written or printed terms:
(a) The
location of the warehouse where the goods are
stored,
(b) The date of the issue of the receipt,
(c) The consecutive number of the receipt,
(d) A statement whether the goods received will be
delivered to the bearer, to a specified person or to a specified person
or his order,
(e) The rate of storage charges,
(f) A description of the goods or of the packages
containing them,
(g) The signature of the warehouseman which may be
made by his authorized agent,
(h) If the receipt is issued for goods of which the
warehouseman is owner, either solely or jointly or in common with
others, the fact of such ownership, and
(i) A statement of the amount of advances made and of
liabilities incurred for which the warehouseman claims a lien. If
the precise amount of such advances made or of such liabilities
incurred is, at the time of the issue of, unknown to the warehouseman
or to his agent who issues it, a statement of the fact that advances
have been made or liabilities incurred and the purpose thereof is
sufficient.
A warehouseman shall be liable to any person injured thereby for all
damages caused by the omission from a negotiable receipt of any of the
terms herein required.
Sec. 3. Form of receipts. — What terms may be
inserted. — A warehouseman may insert in a receipt issued by him any
other terms and conditions provided that such terms and conditions
shall not:
(a) Be contrary
to the provisions of this Act.
(b) In any wise impair his obligation to exercise
that degree of care in the safe-keeping of the goods entrusted to him
which is reasonably careful man would exercise in regard to similar
goods of his own.
Sec. 4. Definition of non-negotiable receipt. — A
receipt in which it is stated that the goods received will be delivered
to the depositor or to any other specified person, is a non-negotiable
receipt.
Sec. 5. Definition of negotiable receipt. — A
receipt in which it is stated that the goods received will be delivered
to the bearer or to the order of any person named in such receipt is a
negotiable receipt.
No provision shall be inserted in a negotiable receipt that it is
non-negotiable. Such provision, if inserted shall be void.
Sec. 6. Duplicate receipts must be so marked. —
When more than one negotiable receipt is issued for the same goods, the
word "duplicate" shall be plainly placed upon the face of every such
receipt, except the first one issued. A warehouseman shall be
liable for all damages caused by his failure so to do to any one who
purchased the subsequent receipt for value supposing it to be an
original, even though the purchase be after the delivery of the goods
by the warehouseman to the holder of the original receipt.
Sec. 7. Failure to mark "non-negotiable." — A
non-negotiable receipt shall have plainly placed upon its face by the
warehouseman issuing it "non-negotiable," or "not negotiable." In
case of the warehouseman's failure so to do, a holder of the receipt
who purchased it for value supposing it to be negotiable, may, at his
option, treat such receipt as imposing upon the warehouseman the same
liabilities he would have incurred had the receipt been negotiable.
This section shall not apply, however, to letters, memoranda, or
written acknowledgment of an informal character.
II — OBLIGATIONS AND RIGHTS OF
WAREHOUSEMEN UPON THEIR RECEIPTS
Sec. 8. Obligation of warehousemen to deliver. — A
warehouseman, in the absence of some lawful excuse provided by this
Act, is bound to deliver the goods upon a demand made either by the
holder of a receipt for the goods or by the depositor; if such demand
is accompanied with:
(a) An offer to
satisfy the warehouseman's lien;
(b) An offer to surrender the receipt, if negotiable,
with such indorsements as would be necessary for the negotiation of the
receipt; and
(c) A readiness and willingness to sign, when the
goods are delivered, an acknowledgment that they have been delivered,
if such signature is requested by the warehouseman.
In case the warehouseman refuses or fails to deliver the goods in
compliance with a demand by the holder or depositor so accompanied, the
burden shall be upon the warehouseman to establish the existence of a
lawful excuse for such refusal.
Sec. 9. Justification of warehouseman in
delivering. — A warehouseman is justified in delivering the goods,
subject to the provisions of the three following sections, to one who
is:
(a) The person lawfully entitled to the possession of
the goods, or his agent;
(b) A person who is either himself entitled to
delivery by the terms of a non-negotiable receipt issued for the goods,
or who has written authority from the person so entitled either
indorsed upon the receipt or written upon another paper; or
(c) A person in possession of a negotiable receipt by
the terms of which the goods are deliverable to him or order, or to
bearer, or which has been indorsed to him or in blank by the person to
whom delivery was promised by the terms of the receipt or by his
mediate or immediate indorser.
Sec. 10. Warehouseman's liability for misdelivery.
— Where a warehouseman delivers the goods to one who is not in fact
lawfully entitled to the possession of them, the warehouseman shall be
liable as for conversion to all having a right of property or
possession in the goods if he delivered the goods otherwise than
as authorized by subdivisions (b) and (c) of the preceding section, and
though he delivered the goods as authorized by said subdivisions, he
shall be so liable, if prior to such delivery he had either:
(a) Been
requested, by or on behalf of the person
lawfully entitled to a right of property or possession in the goods,
not to make such deliver; or
(b) Had information that the delivery about to be
made was to one not lawfully entitled to the possession of the goods.
Sec. 11. Negotiable receipt must be cancelled when
goods delivered. — Except as provided in section thirty-six, where a
warehouseman delivers goods for which he had issued a negotiable
receipt, the negotiation of which would transfer the right to the
possession of the goods, and fails to take up and cancel the receipt,
he shall be liable to any one who purchases for value in good faith
such receipt, for failure to deliver the goods to him, whether such
purchaser acquired title to the receipt before or after the delivery of
the goods by the warehouseman.
Sec. 12. Negotiable receipts must be cancelled or
marked when part of goods delivered. — Except as provided in section
thirty-six, where a warehouseman delivers part of the goods for which
he had issued a negotiable receipt and fails either to take up and
cancel such receipt or to place plainly upon it a statement of what
goods or packages have been delivered, he shall be liable to any one
who purchases for value in good faith such receipt, for failure to
deliver all the goods specified in the receipt, whether such purchaser
acquired title to the receipt before or after the delivery of any
portion of the goods by the warehouseman.
Sec. 13. Altered receipts. — The alteration of a
receipt shall not excuse the warehouseman who issued it from any
liability if such alteration was:
(a) Immaterial,
(b) Authorized, or
(c) Made without fraudulent intent.
If the alteration was authorized, the warehouseman shall be liable
according to the terms of the receipt as altered. If the
alteration was unauthorized but made without fraudulent intent, the
warehouseman shall be liable according to the terms of the receipt as
they were before alteration.
Material and fraudulent alteration of a receipt shall not excuse the
warehouseman who issued it from liability to deliver according to the
terms of the receipt as originally issued, the goods for which it was
issued but shall excuse him from any other liability to the person who
made the alteration and to any person who took with notice of the
alteration. Any purchaser of the receipt for value without notice
of the alteration shall acquire the same rights against the
warehouseman which such purchaser would have acquired if the receipt
had not been altered at the time of purchase.
Sec. 14. Lost or destroyed receipts. — Where a
negotiable receipt has been lost or destroyed, a court of competent
jurisdiction may order the delivery of the goods upon satisfactory
proof of such loss or destruction and upon the giving of a bond with
sufficient sureties to be approved by the court to protect the
warehouseman from any liability or expense, which he or any person
injured by such delivery may incur by reason of the original receipt
remaining outstanding. The court may also in its discretion order
the payment of the warehouseman's reasonable costs and counsel fees.
The delivery of the goods under an order of the court as provided in
this section, shall not relieve the warehouseman from liability to a
person to whom the negotiable receipt has been or shall be negotiated
for value without notice of the proceedings or of the delivery of the
goods.
Sec. 15. Effect of duplicate receipts. — A receipt
upon the face of which the word "duplicate" is plainly placed is a
representation and warranty by the warehouseman that such receipt is an
accurate copy of an original receipt properly issued and uncanceled at
the date of the issue of the duplicate, but shall impose upon him no
other liability.
Sec. 16. Warehouseman cannot set up title in
himself . — No title or right to the possession of the goods, on the
part of the warehouseman, unless such title or right is derived
directly or indirectly from a transfer made by the depositor at the
time of or subsequent to the deposit for storage, or from the
warehouseman's lien, shall excuse the warehouseman from liability for
refusing to deliver the goods according to the terms of the receipt.
Sec. 17. Interpleader of adverse claimants. — If
more than one person claims the title or possession of the goods, the
warehouseman may, either as a defense to an action brought against him
for non-delivery of the goods or as an original suit, whichever is
appropriate, require all known claimants to interplead.
Sec. 18. Warehouseman has reasonable time to
determine validity of claims. — If someone other than the depositor or
person claiming under him has a claim to the title or possession of
goods, and the warehouseman has information of such claim, the
warehouseman shall be excused from liability for refusing to deliver
the goods, either to the depositor or person claiming under him or to
the adverse claimant until the warehouseman has had a reasonable time
to ascertain the validity of the adverse claim or to bring legal
proceedings to compel claimants to interplead.
Sec. 19. Adverse title is no defense except as
above provided. — Except as provided in the two preceding sections and
in sections nine and thirty-six, no right or title of a third person
shall be a defense to an action brought by the depositor or person
claiming under him against the warehouseman for failure to deliver the
goods according to the terms of the receipt.
Sec. 20. Liability for non-existence or
misdescription of goods. — A warehouseman shall be liable to the holder
of a receipt for damages caused by the non-existence of the goods or by
the failure of the goods to correspond with the description thereof in
the receipt at the time of its issue. If, however, the goods are
described in a receipt merely by a statement of marks or labels
upon them or upon packages containing them or by a statement that the
goods are said to be goods of a certain kind or that the packages
containing the goods are said to contain goods of a certain kind or by
words of like purport, such statements, if true, shall not make liable
the warehouseman issuing the receipt, although the goods are not of the
kind which the marks or labels upon them indicate or of the kind they
were said to be by the depositor.
Sec. 21. Liability for care of goods. — A
warehouseman shall be liable for any loss or injury to the goods caused
by his failure to exercise such care in regard to them as reasonably
careful owner of similar goods would exercise, but he shall not be
liable, in the absence of an agreement to the contrary, for any loss or
injury to the goods which could not have been avoided by the exercise
of such care.
Sec. 22. Goods must be kept separate. — Except as
provided in the following section, a warehouseman shall keep the goods
so far separate from goods of other depositors and from other goods of
the same depositor for which a separate receipt has been issued, as to
permit at all times the identification and redelivery of the goods
deposited.
Sec. 23. Fungible goods may be commingled if
warehouseman authorized. — If authorized by agreement or by custom, a
warehouseman may mingle fungible goods with other goods of the same
kind and grade. In such case, the various depositors of the
mingled goods shall own the entire mass in common and each depositor
shall be entitled to such portion thereof as the amount deposited by
him bears to the whole.
Sec. 24. Liability of warehouseman to depositors
of commingled goods. — The warehouseman shall be severally liable to
each depositor for the care and redelivery of his share of such mass to
the same extent and under the same circumstances as if the goods had
been kept separate.
Sec. 25. Attachment or levy upon goods for which a
negotiable receipt has been issued. — If goods are delivered to a
warehouseman by the owner or by a person whose act in conveying the
title to them to a purchaser in good faith for value would bind the
owner, and a negotiable receipt is issued for them, they can not
thereafter, while in the possession of the warehouseman, be attached by
garnishment or otherwise, or be levied upon under an execution unless
the receipt be first surrendered to the warehouseman or its negotiation
enjoined. The warehouseman shall in no case be compelled to
deliver up the actual possession of the goods until the receipt is
surrendered to him or impounded by the court.
Sec. 26. Creditor's remedies to reach negotiable
receipts. — A creditor whose debtor is the owner of a negotiable
receipt shall be entitled to such aid from courts of appropriate
jurisdiction, by injunction and otherwise, in attaching such receipt or
in satisfying the claim by means thereof as is allowed at law or in
equity in these islands in regard to property which can not readily be
attached or levied upon by ordinary legal process.
Sec. 27. What claims are included in the
warehouseman's lien. — Subject to the provisions of section thirty, a
warehouseman shall have a lien on goods deposited or on the proceeds
thereof in his hands, for all lawful charges for storage and
preservation of the goods; also for all lawful claims for money
advanced, interest, insurance, transportation, labor, weighing,
coopering and other charges and expenses in relation to such goods,
also for all reasonable charges and expenses for notice, and
advertisements of sale, and for sale of the goods where default had
been made in satisfying the warehouseman's lien.
Sec. 28. Against what property the lien may be
enforced. — Subject to the provisions of section thirty, a
warehouseman's lien may be enforced:
(a) Against all
goods, whenever deposited, belonging
to the person who is liable as debtor for the claims in regard to which
the lien is asserted, and
(b) Against all goods belonging to others which have
been deposited at any time by the person who is liable as debtor for
the claims in regard to which the lien is asserted if such person had
been so entrusted with the possession of goods that a pledge of the
same by him at the time of the deposit to one who took the goods in
good faith for value would have been valid.
Sec. 29. How the lien may be lost. — A
warehouseman loses his lien upon goods:
(a) By
surrendering possession thereof, or
(b) By refusing to deliver the goods when a demand is
made with which he is bound to comply under the provisions of this Act.
Sec. 30. Negotiable receipt must state charges for
which the lien is claimed. — If a negotiable receipt is issued for
goods, the warehouseman shall have no lien thereon except for charges
for storage of goods subsequent to the date of the receipt unless the
receipt expressly enumerated other charges for which a lien is
claimed. In such case, there shall be a lien for the charges
enumerated so far as they are within the terms of section twenty-seven
although the amount of the charges so enumerated is not stated in the
receipt.
Sec. 31. Warehouseman need not deliver until lien
is satisfied. — A warehouseman having a lien valid against the person
demanding the goods may refuse to deliver the goods to him until the
lien is satisfied.
Sec. 32. Warehouseman's lien does not preclude
other remedies. — Whether a warehouseman has or has not a lien upon the
goods, he is entitled to all remedies allowed by law to a creditor
against a debtor for the collection from the depositor of all charges
and advances which the depositor has expressly or impliedly contracted
with the warehouseman to pay.
Sec. 33. Satisfaction of lien by sale. — A
warehouseman's lien for a claim which has become due may be satisfied
as follows:
(a) An itemized
statement of the warehouseman's
claim, showing the sum due at the time of the notice and the date or
dates when it becomes due,
(b) A brief description of the goods against which
the lien exists,
(c) A demand that the amount of the claim as stated
in the notice of such further claim as shall accrue, shall be paid on
or before a day mentioned, not less than ten days from the delivery of
the notice if it is personally delivered, or from the time when the
notice shall reach its destination, according to the due course of
post, if the notice is sent by mail,
(d) A statement that unless the claim is paid within
the time specified, the goods will be advertised for sale and sold by
auction at a specified time and place.
In accordance with the terms of a notice so given, a sale of the goods
by auction may be had to satisfy any valid claim of the warehouseman
for which he has a lien on the goods. The sale shall be had in
the place where the lien was acquired, or, if such place is manifestly
unsuitable for the purpose of the claim specified in the notice to the
depositor has elapsed, and advertisement of the sale, describing the
goods to be sold, and stating the name of the owner or person on whose
account the goods are held, and the time and place of the sale, shall
be published once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper
published in the place where such sale is to be held. The sale
shall not be held less than fifteen days from the time of the first
publication. If there is no newspaper published in such place,
the advertisement shall be posted at least ten days before such sale in
not less than six conspicuous places therein.
From the proceeds of such sale, the warehouseman shall satisfy his lien
including the reasonable charges of notice, advertisement and
sale. The balance, if any, of such proceeds shall be held by the
warehouseman and delivered on demand to the person to whom he would
have been bound to deliver or justified in delivering goods.
At any time before the goods are so sold, any person claiming a right
of property or possession therein may pay the warehouseman the amount
necessary to satisfy his lien and to pay the reasonable expenses and
liabilities incurred in serving notices and advertising and preparing
for the sale up to the time of such payment. The warehouseman
shall deliver the goods to the person making payment if he is a person
entitled, under the provision of this Act, to the possession of the
goods on payment of charges thereon. Otherwise, the warehouseman
shall retain the possession of the goods according to the terms of the
original contract of deposit.
Sec. 34. Perishable and hazardous goods. — If
goods are of a perishable nature, or by keeping will deteriorate
greatly in value, or, by their order, leakage, inflammability, or
explosive nature, will be liable to injure other property , the
warehouseman may give such notice to the owner or to the person in
whose names the goods are stored, as is reasonable and possible under
the circumstances, to satisfy the lien upon such goods and to remove
them from the warehouse and in the event of the failure of such person
to satisfy the lien and to receive the goods within the time so
specified, the warehouseman may sell the goods at public or private
sale without advertising. If the warehouseman, after a reasonable
effort, is unable to sell such goods, he may dispose of them in any
lawful manner and shall incur no liability by reason thereof.
The proceeds of any sale made under the terms of this section shall be
disposed of in the same way as the proceeds of sales made under the
terms of the preceding section.
Sec. 35. Other methods of enforcing lien. — The
remedy for enforcing a lien herein provided does not preclude any other
remedies allowed by law for the enforcement of a lien against personal
property nor bar the right to recover so much of the warehouseman's
claim as shall not be paid by the proceeds of the sale of the property.
Sec. 36. Effect of sale. — After goods have been
lawfully sold to satisfy a warehouseman's lien, or have been lawfully
sold or disposed of because of their perishable or hazardous nature,
the warehouseman shall not thereafter be liable for failure to deliver
the goods to the depositor or owner of the goods or to a holder of the
receipt given for the goods when they were deposited, even if such
receipt be negotiable.
III — NEGOTIATION AND TRANSFER
OF RECEIPTS
Sec. 37. Negotiation of negotiable receipt of
delivery. — A negotiable receipt may be negotiated by delivery:
(a) Where, by
terms of the receipt, the warehouseman
undertakes to deliver the goods to the bearer, or
(b) Where, by the terms of the receipt, the
warehouseman undertakes to deliver the goods to the order of a
specified person, and such person or a subsequent indorsee of the
receipt has indorsed it in blank or to bearer.
Where, by the terms of a negotiable receipt, the goods are deliverable
to bearer or where a negotiable receipt has been indorsed in blank or
to bearer, any holder may indorse the same to himself or to any other
specified person, and, in such case, the receipt shall thereafter be
negotiated only by the indorsement of such indorsee.
Sec. 38. Negotiation of negotiable receipt by
indorsement. — A negotiable receipt may be negotiated by the
indorsement of the person to whose order the goods are, by the terms of
the receipt, deliverable. Such indorsement may be in blank, to
bearer or to a specified person. If indorsed to a specified
person, it may be again negotiated by the indorsement of such person in
blank, to bearer or to another specified person. Subsequent
negotiation may be made in like manner.
Sec. 39. Transfer of receipt. — A receipt which is
not in such form that it can be negotiated by delivery may be
transferred by the holder by delivery to a purchaser or donee.
A non-negotiable receipt can not be negotiated, and the indorsement of
such a receipt gives the transferee no additional right.
Sec. 40. Who may negotiate a receipt. — A
negotiable receipt may be negotiated:
(a) By the
owner thereof, or
(b) By any person to whom the possession or custody
of the receipt has been entrusted by the owner, if, by the terms of the
receipt, the warehouseman undertakes to deliver the goods to the order
of the person to whom the possession or custody of the receipt has been
entrusted, or if, at the time of such entrusting, the receipt is in
such form that it may be negotiated by delivery.
Sec. 41. Rights of person to whom a receipt has
been negotiated. — A person to whom a negotiable receipt has been duly
negotiated acquires thereby:
(a) Such title
to the goods as the person negotiating
the receipt to him had or had ability to convey to a purchaser in good
faith for value, and also such title to the goods as the depositor or
person to whose order the goods were to be delivered by the terms of
the receipt had or had ability to convey to a purchaser in good faith
for value, and
(b) The direct obligation of the warehouseman to hold
possession of the goods for him according to the terms of the receipt
as fully as if the warehouseman and contracted directly with him.
Sec. 42. Rights of person to whom receipt has been
transferred. — A person to whom a receipt has been transferred but not
negotiated acquires thereby, as against the transferor, the title of
the goods subject to the terms of any agreement with the transferor.
If the receipt is non-negotiable, such person also acquires the right
to notify the warehouseman of the transfer to him of such receipt and
thereby to acquire the direct obligation of the warehouseman to hold
possession of the goods for him according to the terms of the receipt.
Prior to the notification of the warehouseman by the transferor or
transferee of a non-negotiable receipt, the title of the transferee to
the goods and the right to acquire the obligation of the warehouseman
may be defeated by the levy of an attachment or execution upon the
goods by a creditor of the transferor or by a notification to the
warehouseman by the transferor or a subsequent purchaser from the
transferor of a subsequent sale of the goods by the transferor.
Sec. 43. Transfer of negotiable receipt without
indorsement. — Where a negotiable receipt is transferred for value by
delivery and the indorsement of the transferor is essential for
negotiation, the transferee acquires a right against the transferor to
compel him to indorse the receipt unless a contrary intention
appears. The negotiation shall take effect as of the time when
the indorsement is actually made.
Sec. 44. Warranties of a sale of receipt. — A
person who, for value, negotiates or transfers a receipt by indorsement
or delivery, including one who assigns for value a claim secured by a
receipt, unless a contrary intention appears, warrants:
(a) That the
receipt is genuine,
(b) That he has a legal right to negotiate or
transfer it,
(c) That he has knowledge of no fact which would
impair the validity or worth of the receipt, and
(d) That he has a right to transfer the title to the
goods and that the goods are merchantable or fit for a particular
purpose whenever such warranties would have been implied, if the
contract of the parties had been to transfer without a receipt of the
goods represented thereby.
Sec. 45. Indorser not a guarantor. — The
indorsement of a receipt shall not make the indorser liable for any
failure on the part of the warehouseman or previous indorsers of the
receipt to fulfill their respective obligations.
Sec. 46. No warranty implied from accepting
payment of a debt. — A mortgagee, pledgee, or holder for security of a
receipt who, in good faith, demands or receives payment of the debt for
which such receipt is security, whether from a party to a draft drawn
for such debt or from any other person, shall not, by so doing, be
deemed to represent or to warrant the genuineness of such receipt or
the quantity or quality of the goods therein described.
Sec. 47. When negotiation not impaired by fraud,
mistake or duress. — The validity of the negotiation of a receipt is
not impaired by the fact that such negotiation was a breach of duty on
the part of the person making the negotiation or by the fact that the
owner of the receipt was induced by fraud, mistake or duress or to
entrust the possession or custody of the receipt to such person, if the
person to whom the receipt was negotiated or a person to whom the
receipt was subsequently negotiated paid value therefor, without notice
of the breach of duty, or fraud, mistake or duress.
Sec. 48. Subsequent negotiation. — Where a person
having sold, mortgaged, or pledged goods which are in warehouse and for
which a negotiable receipt has been issued, or having sold, mortgaged,
or pledged the negotiable receipt representing such goods, continues in
possession of the negotiable receipt, the subsequent negotiation
thereof by the person under any sale or other disposition thereof to
any person receiving the same in good faith, for value and without
notice of the previous sale, mortgage or pledge, shall have the same
effect as if the first purchaser of the goods or receipt had expressly
authorized the subsequent negotiation.
Sec. 49. Negotiation defeats vendor's lien. —
Where a negotiable receipt has been issued for goods, no seller's lien
or right of stoppage in transitu shall defeat the rights of any
purchaser for value in good faith to whom such receipt has been
negotiated, whether such negotiation be prior or subsequent to the
notification to the warehouseman who issued such receipt of the
seller's claim to a lien or right of stoppage in transitu. Nor
shall the warehouseman be obliged to deliver or justified in delivering
the goods to an unpaid seller unless the receipt is first surrendered
for cancellation.
IV — CRIMINAL OFFENSES
Sec. 50. Issue of receipt for goods not received.
— A warehouseman, or an officer, agent, or servant of a warehouseman
who issues or aids in issuing a receipt knowing that the goods for
which such receipt is issued have not been actually received by such
warehouseman, or are not under his actual control at the time of
issuing such receipt, shall be guilty of a crime, and, upon conviction,
shall be punished for each offense by imprisonment not exceeding five
years, or by a fine not exceeding ten thousand pesos, or both.
Sec. 51. Issue of receipt containing false
statement. — A warehouseman, or any officer, agent or servant of a
warehouseman who fraudulently issues or aids in fraudulently issuing a
receipt for goods knowing that it contains any false statement, shall
be guilty of a crime, and upon conviction, shall be punished for each
offense by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or by a fine not
exceeding two thousand pesos, or by both.
Sec. 52. Issue of duplicate receipt not so marked.
— A warehouse, or any officer, agent, or servant of a warehouseman who
issues or aids in issuing a duplicate or additional negotiable receipt
for goods knowing that a former negotiable receipt for the same goods
or any part of them is outstanding and uncanceled, without plainly
placing upon the face thereof the word "duplicate" except in the case
of a lost or destroyed receipt after proceedings are provided for
in section fourteen, shall be guilty of a crime, and, upon conviction,
shall be punished for each offense by imprisonment not exceeding five
years, or by a fine not exceeding ten thousand pesos, or by both.
Sec. 53. Issue for warehouseman's goods or
receipts which do not state that fact. — Where they are deposited with
or held by a warehouseman goods of which he is owner, either solely or
jointly or in common with others, such warehouseman, or any of his
officers, agents, or servants who, knowing this ownership, issues or
aids in issuing a negotiable receipt for such goods which does not
state such ownership, shall be guilty of a crime, and, upon conviction,
shall be punished for each offense by imprisonment not exceeding one
year, or by a fine not exceeding two thousand pesos, or by both.
Sec. 54. Delivery of goods without obtaining
negotiable receipt. — A warehouseman, or any officer, agent, or servant
of a warehouseman, who delivers goods out of the possession of such
warehouseman, knowing that a negotiable receipt the negotiation of
which would transfer the right to the possession of such goods is
outstanding and uncanceled, without obtaining the possession of such
receipt at or before the time of such delivery, shall, except in the
cases provided for in sections fourteen and thirty-six, be found guilty
of a crime, and, upon conviction, shall be punished for each offense by
imprisonment not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding two
thousand pesos, or by both.
Sec. 55. Negotiation of receipt for mortgaged
goods. — Any person who deposits goods to which he has no title, or
upon which there is a lien or mortgage, and who takes for such goods a
negotiable receipt which he afterwards negotiates for value with intent
to deceive and without disclosing his want of title or the existence of
the lien or mortgage, shall be guilty of a crime, and, upon conviction,
shall be punished for each offense by imprisonment not exceeding one
year, or by a fine not exceeding two thousand pesos, or by both.
V — INTERPRETATION
Sec. 56. Case not provided for in Act. — Any case
not provided for in this Act shall be governed by the provisions of
existing legislation, or in default thereof, by the rule of the law
merchant.
Sec. 57. Name of Act. — This Act may be cited as
the Warehouse Receipts Act.
Sec. 58. Definitions. — (a) In this Act,
unless the content or subject matter otherwise requires:
"Action" includes counterclaim,
set-off, and suits in equity as provided by law in these islands.
"Delivery" means voluntary transfer of possession from one person to
another.
"Fungible goods" means goods of which any unit is, from its nature by
mercantile custom, treated as the equivalent of any other unit.
"Goods" means chattels or
merchandise in storage or which has been or is about to be stored.
"Holder" of a receipt means a person who has both actual possession of
such receipt and a right of property therein.
"Order" means an order by indorsement on the receipt.
"Owner" does not include mortgagee.
"Person" includes a corporation or partnership or two or more persons
having a joint or common interest.
To "purchase" includes to take as mortgagee or as pledgee.
"Receipt" means a warehouse receipt.
"Value" is any consideration sufficient to support a simple
contract. An antecedent or pre-existing obligation, whether for
money or not, constitutes value where a receipt is taken either in
satisfaction thereof or as security therefor.
"Warehouseman" means a person lawfully engaged in the business of
storing goods for profit.
(b) A thing is done "in good faith" within the
meaning of this Act when it is in fact done honestly, whether it be
done negligently or not.
Sec. 59. Application of Act. — The provisions of
this Act do not apply to receipts made and delivered prior to the
taking effect hereof.
Sec. 60. Repeals. — All acts and laws and parts
thereof inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed.
Sec. 61. Time when Act takes effect. — This Act
shall take effect ninety days after its publication in the Official
Gazette of the Philippines shall have been completed.
Enacted: February 5, 1912
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