Preference in Payment

Nature of the Preference

Preference in payment in civil liability ex delicto governs the order in which the property of criminal participants is reached to satisfy the civil consequences of a felony. It does not create a new item of damages, change the offender's degree of participation, or convert the civil judgment into a penalty.

Article 110 of the Revised Penal Code supplies the operative rule. Principals, accomplices, and accessories are solidarily liable among themselves for the quota assigned to their own class, and subsidiarily liable for the quotas of the other persons liable. The subsidiary burden is enforced first against principals, next against accomplices, and last against accessories.

The preference is a collection rule. The offended party seeks full satisfaction of the civil award, while the internal allocation among offenders is settled afterward through contribution or reimbursement.

Presuppositions of the Rule

• There must be civil liability ex delicto. The felony must have produced civil consequences, such as restitution, reparation for damage caused, indemnification for consequential damages, or their monetary equivalents.
• There must be several criminally liable participants. Article 110 speaks in terms of principals, accomplices, and accessories; its preference is built around degrees of participation in the felony.
• The civil award must be enforceable. The amount of civil liability and the persons answerable for it must appear from the judgment or from proper proceedings enforcing that judgment.
• The rule matters when payment is incomplete. If all persons liable pay the portions ultimately chargeable to them, there is no unsatisfied balance requiring subsidiary enforcement.

Quota, Solidarity, and Subsidiary Liability

Article 109 requires the court, when two or more persons are civilly liable for a felony, to determine the amount for which each must respond. Article 110 qualifies that apportionment by allowing collection through class solidarity and inter-class subsidiary liability.

A quota identifies the share ultimately chargeable to a person or class. It is important for reimbursement, but it does not always limit what a solvent offender may initially be compelled to pay to satisfy the offended party.

Solidarity within the class means that members of the same participation class answer for the quota of that class. If several principals share a principal-class quota, the offended party may proceed against any solvent principal for that quota, subject to the paying principal's right to recover the co-principals' respective shares.

Subsidiary liability between classes means that, if a quota remains unpaid by the person or class ultimately chargeable, another class may be made to answer according to the statutory order. The secondary debtor pays to satisfy the judgment, but acquires a right of action against the person whose share was paid.

Order of Enforcement

The statutory order is mandatory in the enforcement of subsidiary liability. The property of principals is reached first, the property of accomplices is reached next, and the property of accessories is reached last.

1. First, principals. Principals are the primary actors in the felony and bear the first burden for subsidiary payment. If an accomplice's or accessory's quota remains unpaid, the law first looks to the principals before shifting the burden to a less directly liable class.
2. Second, accomplices. Accomplices are reached when the principals' property cannot satisfy the unpaid balance. Their liability may cover their own class quota and, subsidiarily, unpaid shares that cannot be collected from principals.
3. Third, accessories. Accessories are reached last. Their participation is legally less direct, so their property should not be used for another's unpaid quota until resort to principals and accomplices has failed in the legally relevant sense.

The order applies to the subsidiary aspect of liability. Each offender remains primarily answerable for the quota ultimately chargeable to him, but collection for an unsatisfied balance follows the statutory sequence.

Insolvency or insufficiency is what makes subsidiary enforcement meaningful. Mere refusal to pay does not by itself justify skipping the order; there must be an unsatisfied balance after proper resort to the class that must answer first.

Operation Within the Same Class

When all liable offenders belong to the same class, Article 110 still matters through solidarity. If all are principals, the offended party may enforce the principal-class civil liability against any one or more solvent principals, without first dividing execution into equal personal portions.

The paying offender's protection is not resistance to the offended party's collection, but recourse against co-debtors. A principal who pays the entire principal quota may seek contribution from the other principals for their respective shares.

Solidarity within the class prevents the offended party from bearing the risk that one member of the same participation class is insolvent. The loss initially falls on the solvent co-participant, who must then pursue contribution from those who should ultimately bear part of the burden.

Operation Across Different Classes

When principals, accomplices, and accessories are all civilly liable, Article 110 creates a hierarchy for an unpaid balance. The hierarchy reflects the relative gravity and proximity of their participation in the felony.

If an accessory's quota is unpaid, principals are the first subsidiary source of payment. If the principals cannot satisfy the balance, accomplices are next. Accessories are last, even though the unpaid share may have originated from another class.

If a principal's quota is unpaid and the principals' property is insufficient, accomplices may be reached next, and accessories only afterward. The rule is not that every class pays only for itself; the rule is that the unpaid civil liability is pursued in the order fixed by law.

A less culpable class that pays subsidiarily does not become the true ultimate debtor for the share paid. Payment satisfies the offended party, but the payer may proceed against the offender or class whose quota was discharged.

Reimbursement and Contribution

Article 110 expressly preserves the paying offender's right of action after solidary or subsidiary liability has been enforced. This right prevents Article 110 from becoming a device for permanently shifting another offender's civil burden to the person most convenient to collect from.

• Contribution applies when one member of a class pays more than his internal share of the class quota.
• Reimbursement applies when a person or class pays subsidiarily for the quota ultimately chargeable to another person or class.
• Full satisfaction of the offended party's civil award limits further collection from other offenders, but it does not extinguish internal recourse among those who should bear the liability.
• Partial satisfaction reduces the remaining enforceable balance, while preserving the statutory order for whatever remains unpaid.

The right of recourse is independent of the offended party's need for prompt satisfaction. Contribution disputes among offenders should not delay execution of the civil judgment in favor of the offended party.

Relation to Other Payment Rules

The preference in Article 110 should be distinguished from the order for payment of pecuniary liabilities when an offender's property is insufficient. That separate rule ranks the kinds of liabilities, giving priority to reparation and indemnification before fines and costs. Article 110 ranks the persons whose property may be reached for civil liability ex delicto.

Special subsidiary civil liability of employers, innkeepers, tavernkeepers, and proprietors of establishments is also distinct. Those persons are not liable because they are principals, accomplices, or accessories, but because a separate statutory rule makes them answer after the directly liable offender cannot satisfy the judgment under the requisites of that special liability.

Persons who are civilly liable despite exemption from criminal liability are likewise governed by the specific rule that creates their civil liability. Article 110 is aimed at participants who are criminally liable for the felony and whose civil liability flows from that criminal participation.

Legal Effects

• The civil award remains single in purpose. The offended party may not recover more than full satisfaction, even if several persons are solidarily or subsidiarily liable.
• The offender's degree of participation controls the order. Classification as principal, accomplice, or accessory determines when that offender's property may be reached for an unpaid balance.
• The quota controls the final burden. Even when collection exceeds a person's internal share, reimbursement restores the allocation fixed by law and judgment.
• Subsidiary liability requires an unpaid balance. It is a secondary obligation for collection, not an immediate erasure of the quota of the person primarily chargeable.
• Execution and reimbursement are separate concerns. The offended party enforces the civil judgment; the paying offender later enforces contribution or reimbursement against the proper co-debtors.

Compact Illustration

If two principals, one accomplice, and one accessory are adjudged civilly liable, the court's allocation identifies the shares ultimately chargeable to them. The offended party may collect the principal-class quota from either principal because they are solidarily liable within their class.

If the accomplice's quota remains unpaid, the first subsidiary resort is against the principals. If the principals cannot satisfy the unpaid balance, resort may be had against the accomplice's property for obligations properly chargeable to that level, and only after the legally required resort may the accessory be reached.

Whoever pays beyond his ultimate share is not left remediless. The paying offender may sue the others for their respective shares, because Article 110 is designed to secure payment to the offended party without destroying the final allocation of civil liability among the offenders.