HING SIONG, PLAINTIFF AND APPELLEE,VS.. GUI CHIONG ET AL., DEFENDANTS. CATALINO CONCEPCION, APPELLANT.

On June 30,1920, Catalino Concepcion, acting  as customs broker for a Chinese principal, Ong  Siong Kang (altos Gui  Chiong) procured the delivery  of two shipments  of goods from  Kobe, Japan, against two bonds for the production  of the corresponding bills of lading.  These bonds supply the basis of this action and, so far as concerns the present appeal, the sole question is whether the appellant, Catalino Concepcion, made himself personally liable by the manner in which he intervened  in the execution of these bonds.   The bond, Exhibit A to the complaint, begins  as follows, and the corresponding paragraph in the other bond (Exhibit B) is the same; with the  exception of the amount stated  therein, which is P13,500:

“Know All  Men  By These Presents That we, Catalino Concepcion,  customs broker for  Ong  Siong Kang, of Manila, P. I., as principal, and Union Guarantee Co.,  Ltd.,  as sureties, are held and firmly bound unto the Government  of the Philippine Islands,  in the sum of eighteen thousand nine hundred fifty pesos  (P18,950) to be paid to the Government of the Philippine Islands, for the payment whereof we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors, and administrators, jointly and severally, firmly by these  presents.”

As signatories to the bond, we find first the name of the appellant, Catalino Concepcion, affixed  by his agent, P. Concepcion.  Then follows the signature of Gui Chiong Co., affixed by Ong Siong Kang, which in  turn is followed  by the signature of the Union Guarantee  Co.,  Ltd., affixed  by R. E. Humphreys.  It is admitted that Gui Chiong is  an alias of Ong Siong Kang, and it  results that  Ong  Siong Kang,  the principal of Catalino Concepcion, is himself a signatory party  to the bond.

The  liability of the principal upon these bonds is undeniable; and  it  appears that the surety, the Union Guarantee Co., Ltd., has satisfied the liability under both bonds, and in the trial court judgment over was given  in favor  of the Union Guarantee Co.,  Ltd.,  to recover of  both Catalino  Concepcion and Ong Siong Kang the amount  paid  by said  Guarantee Co. as surety.  It is from the liability thus fixed upon the appellant Conception by the judgment in favor of the  Guarantee  Co., that the present appeal is prosecuted.

We see no possible ground for doubting the correctness of the trial  court’s conclusion with respect to the liability of the appellant upon these bonds.   But it is insisted that the  words following the appellant’s name in the  bonds show that he  was acting only in the capacity of customs broker for Ong Siong Kang, and it is urged that his principal, and not Concepcion himself,  should  alone be held liable upon the bond.  We are of the opinion that this contention  is untenable in view of the wording  of  the bond and the manner in which it is signed.  The words “customs broker for Ong Siong Kang, of Manila,” must be considered merely  as descriptio personæ;   Ong Siong  Kang is himself a signatory to the bond and it is impossible to maintain that the appellant signed only as broker when his principal also signed for himself.

In the appellant’s brief it is suggested that, if the liability of the appellant is sustained by the court, nevertheless his responsibility should be limited to the amount of the bond given by him as customs broker, which is said to be  in the amount of P4,000.  In this connection reference is made to the decision in the case of  Government of the Philippine Islands  and Collector of Customs vs.. Tienzo, G. R.  No. 21567.^[1]  But in that case the document upon which liability was based expressly limited the liability on the broker to the amount of his bond. In the present case the extent of the liability is fixed at the amount stated in the respective bonds, and there is no ground for such a limitation as suggested.

The judgment appealed from must be affirmed, and it is so ordered, with costs against the appellant.

Avanceña, C.  J., Johnson, Malcolm, Villamor, Ostrand, Johns, and Romualdez, JJ,, concur.

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^[1] Promulgated September 26, 1924, not reported.