G.R. No. 179799. September 11, 2009.* ZENAIDA R. GREGORIO, petitioner, vs. COURT OF APPEALS, SANSIO PHILIPPINES, INC., and EMMA J. DATUIN, respondents.

 Actions; Torts and Damages; Quasi-Delicts; Pleadings and Practice; Basic is the legal principle that the nature of an action is determined by the material averments in the complaint and the character of the relief sought.—A perusal of the allegations of Gregorio’s complaint for damages readily shows that she filed a civil suit against Sansio and Datuin for filing against her criminal charges for violation of B.P. Blg. 22; that respondents did not exercise diligent efforts to ascertain the true identity of the person who delivered to them insufficiently funded checks as payment for the various appliances purchased; and that respondents never gave her the opportunity to controvert the charges against her, because they stated an incorrect address in the criminal complaint. Gregorio claimed damages for the embarrassment and humiliation she suffered when she was suddenly arrested at her city residence in Quezon City while visiting her family. She was, at the time of her arrest, a respected Kagawad in Oas, Albay. Gregorio anchored her civil complaint on Articles 26, 2176, and 2180 of the Civil Code. Noticeably, despite alleging either fault or negligence on the part of Sansio and Datuin, Gregorio never imputed to them any bad faith in her complaint. Basic is the legal principle that the nature of an action is determined by the material averments in the complaint and the character of the relief sought. Undeniably, Gregorio’s civil complaint, read in its entirety, is a complaint based on quasi-delict under Article 2176, in relation to Article 26 of the Civil Code, rather than on malicious prosecution. Same; Same; Same; Elements; Article 26 of the Civil Code grants a cause of action for damages, prevention, and other relief in cases of breach, though not necessarily constituting a criminal offense, of the following rights: (1) right to personal dignity; (2) right to personal security; (3) right to family relations; (4) right to social intercourse; (5) right to privacy; and (6) right to peace of mind.—In every tort case filed under Article 2176 of the Civil Code, the plaintiff has to prove by a preponderance of evidence: (1) the damages suffered by him; (2) the fault or negligence of the defendant or some other person to whose act he must respond; (3) the connection of cause and effect between the fault or negligence and the damages incurred; and (4) that there must be no preexisting contractual relation between the parties. On the other hand, Article 26 of the Civil Code grants a cause of action for damages, prevention, and other relief in cases of breach, though not necessarily constituting a criminal offense, of the following rights: (1) right to personal dignity; (2) right to personal security; (3) right to family relations; (4) right to social intercourse; (5) right to privacy; and (6) right to peace of mind.

Same; Malicious Prosecution; In an action to recover damages for malicious prosecution, it must be alleged and established that the defendant was impelled by legal malice or bad faith in deliberately initiating an action against the plaintiff, knowing that the charges were false and groundless, intending to vex and humiliate her.—Sansio and Datuin are in error when they insist that Gregorio’s complaint is based on malicious prosecution. In an action to recover damages for malicious prosecution, it must be alleged and established that Sansio and Datuin were impelled by legal malice or bad faith in deliberately initiating an action against Gregorio, knowing that the charges were false and groundless, intending to vex and humiliate her. As previously mentioned, Gregorio did not allege this in her complaint. Moreover, the fact that she prayed for moral damages did not change the nature of her action based on quasi-delict. She might have acted on the mistaken notion that she was entitled to moral damages, considering that she suffered physical suffering,

mental anguish, fright, serious anxiety, besmirched reputation, wounded feelings, moral shock, and social humiliation on account of her indictment and her sudden arrest. 

NACHURA, J.: This is a petition1 for certiorari under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court assailing the Decision2 of the Court of Appeals (CA) dated January 31, 2007 and its Resolution3 dated September 12, 2007 in CA-G.R. SP No. 63602, entitled “Sansio Philippines, Inc., et al. v. Hon. Romulo SG. Villanueva, et al.” The case arose from the filing of an Affidavit of Complaint4 for violation of Batas Pambansa Bilang (B.P. Blg.) 22 (Bouncing Checks Law) by respondent Emma J. Datuin (Datuin), as Officer-in-Charge of the Accounts Receivables Department, and upon authority of petitioner Sansio Philippines, Inc. (Sansio), against petitioner Zenaida R. Gregorio (Gregorio) and one Vito Belarmino, as proprietors of Alvi Marketing, allegedly for delivering insufficiently funded bank checks as payment for the numerous appliances bought by Alvi Marketing from Sansio.

violation of B.P. Blg. 22, docketed as Criminal Case Nos. 236544, 236545, and 236546, before the Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC), Branch 3, Manila. The MeTC issued a warrant5 for her arrest, and it was served upon her by the armed operatives of the Public Assistance and Reaction Against Crime (PARAC) of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) on October 17, 1997, Friday, at around 9:30 a.m. in Quezon City while she was visiting her husband and their two (2) daughters at their city residence. Gregorio was brought to the PARAC-DILG Office where she was subjected to fingerprinting and mug shots, and was detained. She was released in the afternoon of the same day when her husband posted a bond for her temporary liberty. On December 5, 1997, Gregorio filed before the MeTC a Motion6 for Deferment of Arraignment and Reinvestigation, alleging that she could not have issued the bounced checks, since she did not even have a checking account with the bank on which the checks were drawn, as certified by the branch manager of the Philippine National Bank, Sorsogon Branch. She also alleged that her signature was patently and radically different from the signatures appearing on the bounced checks. The MeTC granted the Motion and a reinvestigation was conducted. In the course of the reinvestigation, Datuin submitted an Affidavit of Desistance7 dated August 18, 1998, stating, among others, that Gregorio was not one of the signatories of the bounced checks subject of prosecution. 

14. Be that as it may, incalculable damage has been inflicted on the plaintiff on account of the defendants’ wanton, callous and reckless disregard of the fundamental legal precept that “every person shall respect the dignity, personality, privacy and peace of mind of his neighbors and other persons” (Art. 26, Civil Code of the Philippines); 15. That the plaintiff, being completely innocent of the charges against her as adverted to in the preceding paragraphs, was socially humiliated, embarrassed, suffered physical discomfort, mental anguish, fright, and serious anxiety as a proximate result of her unjustified indictment, arrest and detention at the PARAC headquarters—all of these ordeals having been exacerbated by the fact that plaintiff is a woman who comes from a respected family in Oas, Albay, being the wife of an executive of the Philippine National Construction Corporation, the mother of two college students studying in Manila, a pharmacist by profession, a businesswoman by occupation, and an incumbent Municipal Councilor (Kagawad) of Oas, Albay, at the time of her arrest and detention; and that she previously held the following positions:

Sansio and Datuin are in error when they insist that Gregorio’s complaint is based on malicious prosecution. In an action to recover damages for malicious prosecution, it must be alleged and established that Sansio and Datuin were impelled by legal malice or bad faith in deliberately initiating an action against Gregorio, knowing that the charges were false and groundless, intending to vex and humiliate her.27 As previously mentioned, Gregorio did not allege this in her complaint. Moreover, the fact that she prayed for moral damages did not change the nature of her action based on quasi-delict. She might have acted on the mistaken notion that she was entitled to moral damages, considering that she suffered physical suffering, mental anguish, fright, serious anxiety, besmirched reputation, wounded feelings, moral shock, and social humiliation on account of her indictment and her sudden arrest. Verily, Gregorio was only acting within her right when she instituted against Sansio and Datuin an action she perceived to be proper, given the factual antecedents of the case. WHEREFORE, the petition is GRANTED. The Decision dated January 31, 2007 and the Resolution dated September 12, 2007 are REVERSED and SET ASIDE. Costs against respondents. SO ORDERED