Maybank Philippines, Inc. (Formerly PNB-Republic Bank), Petitioner vs. vs. pou pouse ses s !s !sca car r an" an" Neni Nenita ta #arro arrosa sa,, Re Resp spon on"e "ent nts. s. ($r ($r. No. No. %&'&, !ctober &, %&*) P+R-B+RNB+, J.: Facts On December 15, 1980, respondent Spouses Tarrosa obtained a loan from from PNBPNB- epub epubli lic c Ban!, Ban!, no" no" #a$b #a$ban an! ! P% P%il ilip ippi pine nes, s, in t%e t%e amou amount nt of P91,00 P91,000&0 0&00 0 secur secured ed b$ a real real estate estate mort'a' mort'a'e e o(er o(er a 50 500-s 0-s)ua )uare re meter meter parcel of land situated in San *arlos, Ne'ros Occidental& +fter pa$ment of said loan, t%e respondents a'ain obtained anot%er loan from #a$ban! in t%e amount of P0,000&00 pa$able on #arc% 11, 198& espondents failed to pa$ upon maturit$& Sometime in +pril 1998, a .inal Demand /etter "as sent b$ peti petiti tion oner er ban! ban! to respo espond nden ents ts re)ui e)uiri rin' n' t%e t%e latt latter er to sett settle le t%ei t%eirr loan loan obli'ation obli'ation "%ic% "%ic% alread$ alread$ amounted amounted to P5,9 P5,9&91 &91 inclusi(e inclusi(e of principal, principal, interest, and penalt$ c%ar'es& T%e spouses oered to settle it in a lesser amount to "%ic% t%e ban! refused& On 2une 35, 1998, #a$ban! instituted an e4traudicial foreclosure proceedin' and t%e subect propert$ "as e(entuall$ sold in a public auction to P%ilma$ Propert$ 6nc& 7PP6& T%e spouses t%en led a complaint for declaration of nullit$ and in(alidit$ of t%e foreclosure sale a(errin' amon' ot%ers t%at t%e second loan is an unsecured loan and t%at, #a$ban!:s ri'%t to foreclose %ad alread$ prescribed&
Issue 1& ;%en ;%en are are t%e respon responden dentt spouse spouses s consid consider ered ed in defaul defaultt under under t%e la"<
Rulin/ n acti action on to en0o en0orc rce e a ri/h ri/htt aris arisin in/ / 0rom 0rom a mo mort rt/a /a/e /e shou shoul" l" be en0orc en0orce" e" 1ithin 1ithin ten (&) (&) years years 0rom 0rom the time the ri/ht o0 action action accrues, i.e., 1hen the mort/a/or "e0aults in the payment o0 his obli obli/a /ati tion on to the the mo mort rt/a /a/e /ee2 e2 ot othe her1 r1is ise, e, it 1ill 1ill be barr barre" e" by pres prescr crip ipti tion on an" an" the the mo mort rt/a /a/e /ee e 1ill 1ill lose lose his his ri/h ri/hts ts un"e un"er r the the mort mo rt/a /a/e /e.. 3o1e 3o1eve ver r, mere mere "eli "elin4 n4ue uenc ncy y in paym paymen entt "oes "oes not not necessarily mean "elay in the le/al concept. 6n order t%at t%e debtor ma$ be in default, it is necessar$ t%at= 7a t%e obli'ation be demandable and alread$ li)uidated> 7b t%e debtor dela$s performance> and 7c t%e creditor re)uires t%e performance udiciall$ or
e4traudiciall$, unless demand is not necessar$& ? i&e&, "%en t%ere is an e4press stipulation to t%at eect> "%ere t%e la" so pro(ides> "%en t%e period is t%e controllin' moti(e or t%e principal inducement for t%e creation of t%e obli'ation> and "%ere demand "ould be useless& #oreo(er, it is not su@cient t%at t%e la" or obli'ation 4es a date for performance> it must furt%er state e4pressl$ t%at after t%e period lapses, default "ill commence& T%us, it is only 1hen "eman" to pay is unnecessary in case o0 the a0orementione" circumstances, or 1hen re4uire", such "eman" is ma"e an" subse4uently re0use" that the mort/a/or can be consi"ere" in "e0ault an" the mort/a/ee obtains the ri/ht to 5le an action to collect the "ebt or 0oreclose the mort/a/e.
In this case, the provision in the Real +state Mort/a/e bet1een the parties merely articulate" Maybank6s ri/ht to elect 0oreclosure upon ps. #arrosa6s 0ailure or re0usal to comply 1ith the obli/ation secure", 1hich is one o0 the ri/hts "uly accor"e" to mort/a/ees in a similar situation. In no 1ay "i" it a7ect the /eneral parameters o0 "e0ault, particularly the nee" o0 prior "eman" un"er rticle &&89& o0 the :ivil :o"e, consi"erin/ that it "i" not e;pressly "eclare (a) that "eman" shall not be necessary in or"er that the mort/a/or may be in "e0ault2 or (b) that "e0ault shall commence upon mere 0ailure to pay on the maturity "ate o0 the loan. #here0ore, Maybank6s ri/ht to 0oreclose the real estate mort/a/e accrue" only a0ter the lapse o0 the perio" in"icate" in its 5nal "eman" letter 0or ps. #arrosa to pay, i.e., a0ter the lapse o0 5ve (*) "ays 0rom receipt o0 the 5nal "eman" letter "ate" March , &99<.
