Section 175 of the Insurance Code defines a suretyship as a contract or agreement whereby a party, called the surety, guarantees the performance by another party, called the principal or obligor, of an obligation or undertaking in favor of a third party, called the obligee. It includes official recognizances, stipulations, bonds or undertakings issued under Act 536,[14] as amended. Suretyship arises upon the solidary binding of a person – deemed the surety – with the principal debtor, for the purpose of fulfilling an obligation.[15] Such undertaking makes a surety agreement an ancillary contract as it presupposes the existence of a principal contract. Although the contract of a surety is in essence secondary only to a valid principal obligation, the surety becomes liable for the debt or duty of another although it possesses no direct or personal interest over the obligations nor does it receive any benefit therefrom. And notwithstanding the fact that the surety contract is secondary to the principal obligation, the surety assumes liability as a regular party to the undertaking.[16]
The extent of a surety’s liability is determined by the language of the suretyship contract or bond itself. It cannot be extended by implication, beyond the terms of the contract.[17] Thus, to determine whether petitioner is liable to respondent under the surety bond, it becomes necessary to examine the terms of the contract itself.
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