The Holy See v. Rosario Digest

G.R. No.
101949
238 SCRA 524
December 1, 1994
Petitioner: The Holy See
Respondent: Hon. Elidberto Rosario, Jr., in his capacity as Presiding Judge of RTC
Makati, Branch 61 and Starbright Sales Enterprises, Inc.
Facts:
The petitioner The Holy See filled a petition for certiorari to reverse and set aside
the Orders of the Regional Trial Court of Makati, Manila in Civil Case No. 90-183. The
Holy See exercises sovereignty over Vatican and is represented in the Philippines by
the Papal Nuncio while the private respondent, Starbright Sales Enterprises, Inc. is
engaged in the real estate business. The petition was stimulated from a controversy
over a parcel of land in the Municipality of Paraaque registered in the name of the
petitioner consisting of 6,000 sq.m. (Lot 5-A). The said lot is close to Lots 5-B and 5D which are registered to Philippine Realty Corporation (PRC). Three lots were sold
to Ramon Licup through the agent Msgr. Domingo Cirilios. Licup assigned his rights
to the sale to the private respondent. A dispute arose as to which party has the
responsibility of evicting and clearing the land of squatters and because of the
refusal of the squatters to vacate the lots sold Msgr. Cirilios returned the P100, 000
earnest money. The lots were then sold to Tropicana Properties by the petitioner and
the PRC. Starbright Sales Enterprises, Inc. filed a suit for annulment of the Deeds of
sale against the PRC and the Tropicana, the reconveyance of the lots in question
and specific performance and damages against Msgr. Cirilios and The Holy See. The
Holy See moved to dismiss the compliant for lack of jurisdiction based on sovereign
immunity from suit while Msgr. Cirilos for being an improper party. RTC denied the
motion on ground that petitioner already "shed off" its sovereign immunity by
entering into a business contract. The special civil action for certiorari was
forwarded to the Supreme Court because the subsequent Motion for
Reconsideration was also denied.
Issue:
Whether the Holy See can invoke sovereign or diplomatic immunity.
Held:
Yes. The Court held that Holy See may properly invoke sovereign immunity for its
non-suability. The petition for certiorari was hereby GRANTED and the complaint in
Civil Case No. 90-183 against petitioner was DISMISSED. The Holy See has dominion
and sovereign jurisdiction over the Vatican and it was recognized by Italy when
entered into the Lateran Treaty. In Sec. 2 Art II of the 1987 Constitution and as a
condition and consequence of our admission in the society of nations the principles
of International Law even without the affirmation are adopted by our Courts and
thus shall form part of the laws of the land.
An act of jure gestionis is considered if the transaction of the petitioner ordinary
course of real estate business bought and sold lands however the petitioner claimed
that it acquired said property for the site of its mission or the Apostolic Nunciature
in the Philippines which the Court considered as acts of jure imperii and denied the
acquisition and subsequent disposal of the lot were made to gain or profit. The act
of selling the lot of concern is non-propriety in nature making The Holy See immune
from suit. The lot was acquired through a donation from the Archdiocese of Manila
for the use of petitioner to construct the official place of residence of the Papal
Nuncio, the Holy Sees Ambassador and not for a business or commercial function.
The transfer of the property and its subsequent disposal are likewise clothed with a
governmental (non-proprietal) character as petitioner sold the lot not for profit or
gain rather because it merely cannot remove the squatters living in said property
making the said property impossible to serve its purpose as a donation.
In Article 31(A) of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations that
diplomatic envoy shall be granted immunity from civil and administrative
jurisdiction of the receiving state over any real action relating to private immovable
property. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) certified that the Embassy of the
Holy See is a duly accredited diplomatic missionary to the Republic of the
Philippines and is thus exempted from local jurisdiction and is entitled to the
immunity rights of a diplomatic mission or embassy in this Court.

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