MANILA, Philippines—The Court of Appeals has ordered former pro basketball player Alvin Patrimonio to pay the P200,000 that columnist Napoleon Gutierrez borrowed from a mutual friend in 1994.

The appellate court, however, added that Gutierrez should, in turn, reimburse the money to Patrimonio, now the team manager of Purefoods in the Philippine Basketball Association.

Based on court records, Gutierrez paid the P200,000 loan he obtained from Octavio Marasigan III in 1994, using one of Patrimonio's checks which, unfortunately, bounced.

Gutierrez reportedly told Marasigan that Patrimonio needed the money for the construction of his house. But this was denied by the former basketball star who said he did not authorize Gutierrez to borrow money for him.

Marasigan later sued Patrimonio for estafa (fraud), which the latter countered by seeking to nullify the loan.

However, the Quezon City Regional Trial Court dismissed Patrimonio's plea and ordered him to pay the P200,000 plus interest. It also directed Gutierrez to reimburse Patrimonio the same amount.

This prompted the basketball star to go to the appellate court. In his petition, he asked the court to nullify the loan, saying Marasigan knew that the P200,000 was for Gutierrez, and that it was the columnist that Marasigan should run after.

Patrimonio also argued that he had no knowledge of the transaction between the two men who were his classmates in college.

But in a Sept. 24 decision penned by Justice Monina Arevalo-Zenarosa, the appellate court said Patrimonio was liable to pay Marasigan the P200,000 because he had authorized Gutierrez to use several of his blank checks – but on the condition that Gutierrez should inform him first before using the checks.

Patrimonio earlier said that he gave Gutierrez several blank checks for their business expenses.

At that time, the two were partners in a company that produced basketball shows and mini concerts.

The appellate court said that although it was aware that the P200,000 never went to Patrimonio, he was still obliged to honor his check under the law.

It also pointed out that Marasigan should have checked first with Patrimonio before giving the money to Gutierrez.

The court noted that at that time, Patrimonio was at the peak of his career, being one of the star players of Purefoods, and earning millions of pesos, which made it unlikely that he would need to borrow money.

"Taking note of the fact that Alvin Patrimonio was a former schoolmate, teammate and perhaps even a friend of Marasigan, and especially considering the sizeable amount involved in the transaction, this Court finds irrational [Marasigan's] failure to invest a few minutes of his time to place a call to [Patrimonio] considering the validity of his check," it said.