GRANDFATHER RULE

Legal Basis:

1. Constitution
2. Narra Nickel Mining and Development Corp., Tesoro Mining and Development,
Inc., and McArthur Mining Inc. VS. Redmont Consolidated Mines Corp.
(DECISION);
3. Narra Nickel Mining and Development Corp., Tesoro Mining and Development,
Inc., and McArthur Mining Inc. VS. Redmont Consolidated Mines Corp.
(RESOLUTION);
4. DOJ Opinion No. 020, Series of 2005
5. SEC Opinion (July 16, 2001)

CONSTITUTIONAL MANDATE

Art. XII, Sec. 2 of the Constitution provides:

Sec. 2. All lands of the public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum and other
mineral oils, all forces of potential energy, fisheries, forests or timber, wildlife, flora and
fauna, and other natural resources are owned by the State. With the exception of
agricultural lands, all other natural resources shall not be alienated. The exploration,
development, and utilization of natural resources shall be under the full control and
supervision of the State. The State may directly undertake such activities, or it may
enter into co-production, joint venture or production-sharing agreements with Filipino
citizens, or corporations or associations at least sixty per centum of whose capital is
owned by such citizens. Such agreements may be for a period not exceeding twenty-
five years, renewable for not more than twenty-five years, and under such terms and
conditions as may be provided by law.

NATIONALITY OF CORPORATIONS

For the purpose of determining compliance with national restrictions on fully or partly
nationalized activities, two tests are acknowledged:

1. Control test
The nationality of the corporation is determined by the nationality of the
majority stockholders on whom equity control is vested, on the theory
that they would be able to elect the majority of the Board of Directors.
 2. Grandfather Rule
The method by which the percentage of Filipino Equity is computed in
cases where corporate shareholders are present in the situation, by
attributing the nationality of the second or even the subsequent tier of
ownership to determine the nationality of the corporate shareholder. To
arrive at the actual Filipino ownership and control in a corporation, both
the direct and indirect shareholdings in the corporation are determined.

SEC OPINION 16 JULY 2001; DOJ OPINION NO. 20 SERIES OF 2005

Shares belonging to corporations or partnerships at least 60% of the capital of

which is owned by Filipino citizens shall be considered as of Philippine nationality
(CONTROL TEST), but if the percentage of Filipino ownership in the corporation
or partnership is less than 60%, only the number of shares corresponding to such
percentage shall be counted as of Philippine nationality (GRANDFATHER
RULE).
o Thus, if 100,000 shares are registered in the name of a corporation or
partnership at least 60% of the capital stock or capital, respectively, of
which belong to Filipino citizens, all of the shares shall be recorded as
owned by Filipinos
o If less than 60%, or say, 50% of the capital stock or capital of the
corporation or partnership, respectively, belongs to Filipino citizens, only
50,000 shares shall be counted as owned by Filipinos and the other
50,000 shall be recorded as belonging to aliens.
o The Supreme Court recognized the intention of the framers of the
Constitution to apply the Grandfather Rule in cases where there is
corporate layering. It likewise noted that corporate layering, while
admittedly allowed by the Foreign Investment Act, becomes illegal if
used to circumvent the Constitution and other applicable laws.
o We must look into the citizenship of the individual stockholders, i.e. natural
persons, of the investor-corporation in order to determine if the
Constitutional and statutory restrictions are complied with.
o If the shares of stock of the immediate investor corporation is in turn held
and controlled by another corporation, then we must look into the
citizenship of the individual stockholders of the latter corporation.
o In other words, if there are layers of intervening corporations investing in
another corporation, we must delve into the citizenship of the individual
stockholders of each corporation.
o Example: Corporation A whose voting stock is 60% owned by Corporation
B with the remaining 40% in Corporation A being owned by foreigners.
 Corporation B, in turn, is 60% owned by Filipino individuals and 40%
owned by foreign individuals. Under the Grandfather Rule, Corporation A
is not necessarily considered a Filipino national because Corporation Bs
investment of 60% will have to be broken down to determine the actual,
indirect interests of Corporations Bs Filipino and foreign shareholders in
Corporation A.

APPLICATION OF GRANDFATHER

The Supreme Court enunciated its original April 2014 (Narra Nickel Mining et ak vs.
Redmont) decision that the Control Test is still the prevailing mode of determining
whether or not a corporation is a Filipino corporation. It is only in case of doubt,
based on the attendant facts and circumstances of the case, that the Grandfather Rule
is applied.

The Control Test can be, as it has been, applied jointly with the Grandfather
Rule to determine the observance of foreign ownership restriction in nationalized
economic activities.
o The Control Test and the Grandfather Rule are not, as it were,
incompatible ownership-determinant methods that can only be applied
alternative to each other.
o These methods can, if appropriate, be used cumulatively in the
determination of the ownership and control of corporations engaged in
fully or partly nationalized activities.
The Grandfather Rule, standing alone, should not be used to determine the
Filipino ownership and control in a corporation
o If the subject corporations Filipino equity falls below the threshold 60%,
the corporation is immediately considered foreign-owned, in which case,
the need to resort to the Grandfather Rule disappears.
o A corporation that complies with the 60-40 Filipino to foreign equity
requirement can be considered a Filipino corporation if there is no doubt
as to who has the "beneficial ownership" and "control" of the corporation.
In that instance, there is no need for a dissection or further inquiry on the
ownership of the corporate shareholders in both the investing and
investee corporation or the application of the Grandfather Rule.

DOUBT
In the case of Narra Nickel Mining and Development Corp et al vs. Redmont
Consolidated Mines Corp, the Supreme Court has held that "doubt" that demands the
application of the Grandfather Rule in addition to or in tandem with the Control Test is
not confined to, or more bluntly, does not refer to the fact that the apparent Filipino
ownership of the corporations equity falls below the 60% threshold. Rather, doubt
refers to various indicia that the "beneficial ownership" and "control" of the
corporation do not in fact reside in Filipino shareholders but in foreign
stakeholders. Under the pertinent provisions of the Anti-Dummy Law in relation to the
minimum Filipino equity requirement in the Constitution, "significant indicators of the
dummy status" have been recognized in view of reports "that some Filipino investors or
businessmen are being utilized or [are] allowing themselves to be used as dummies by
foreign investors" specifically in joint ventures for national resource exploitation. These
indicators are:

1. That the foreign investors provide practically all the funds for the joint
investment undertaken by these Filipino businessmen and their foreign partner;

2. That the foreign investors undertake to provide practically all the

technological support for the joint venture;

3. That the foreign investors, while being minority stockholders, manage the
company and prepare all economic viability studies.

EXAMPLE: ACTUAL CASE (NARRA NICKEL MINING DEVELOPMENT CORP.,

TESORO MINING DEVELOPMENT , INC., and MCARTHUR MINING, INC. VS
REDMONT CONSOLIDATED MINES CORP.

Tesoro Corporation (One of the many corporations grandfathered in the case)

Supposedly Filipino corporation Sara Marie Mining, Inc. (Sara Marie) holds 59.97% of
the 10,000 common shares of petitioner Tesoro while the Canadian-owned company,
MBMI, holds 39.98% of its shares.

Name Nationality Number of Amount Amount Paid

Shares Subscribed
Sara Marie Filipino 5,997 P5,997,000.00 P825,000.00
Mining, Inc.
MBMI Canadian 3,998 P3,998,000.00 P1,878,174.6
Resources, 0
Inc.16
Lauro L. Filipino 1 P1,000.00 P1,000.00
Salazar
Fernando B. Filipino 1 P1,000.00 P1,000.00
Esguerra
 Manuel A. Filipino 1 P1,000.00 P1,000.00
Agcaoili
Michael T. American 1 P1,000.00 P1,000.00
Mason
Kenneth Canadian 1 P1,000.00 P1,000.00
Cawkel
Total 10,000 P10,000,000.0 P2,708,174.6
0 0

In turn, the Filipino corporation Olympic Mines & Development Corp. (Olympic) holds
66.63% of Sara Maries shares while the same Canadian company MBMI holds 33.31%
of Sara Maries shares. Nonetheless, it is admitted that Olympic did not pay a
single peso for its shares. On the contrary, MBMI paid for 99% of the paid-up
capital of Sara Marie.

Name Nationality Number of Amount Amount Paid

Shares Subscribed
Olympic Filipino 6,663 P6,663,000.00 P0.00
Mines &
Developmen
t Corp.17
MBMI Canadian 3,331 P3,331,000.00 P2,794,000.0
Resources, 0
Inc.
Amanti Filipino 1 P1,000.00 P1,000.00
Limson
Fernando B. Filipino 1 P1,000.00 P1,000.00
Esguerra
Lauro Filipino 1 P1,000.00 P1,000.00
Salazar
Emmanuel Filipino 1 P1,000.00 P1,000.00
G. Hernando
Michael T. American 1 P1,000.00 P1,000.00
Mason
Kenneth Canadian 1 P1,000.00 P1,000.00
Cawkel
Total 10,000 P10,000,000.0 P2,800,000.0
0 0

The fact that MBMI had practically provided all the funds in Sara Marie and Tesoro
creates serious doubt as to the true extent of its (MBMI) control and ownership
over both Sara Marie and Tesoro since, as observed by the SEC, "a reasonable
investor would expect to have greater control and economic rights than other investors
who invested less capital than him." The application of the Grandfather Rule is clearly
called for, and as shown below, the Filipinos control and economic benefits in petitioner
Tesoro (through Sara Marie) fall below the threshold 60%, viz:

Filipino participation in petitioner Tesoro: 40.01%

 66.67
(Filipino equity in Sara Marie) x 59.97 (Sara Maries share in Tesoro) =
39.98%
100
39.98% + .03% (shares of individual Filipino shareholders [SHs] in Tesoro)
=40.01%

In simple words, Sara Marie is just 66.67% (6,667 shares out of 10,000) Filipino.
Sara Marie is subscribed to 59.97% of Tesoro Shares. Therefore, only 4001.19
shares or 40.01% (59.97% of 6667 shares = 3998.199 shares. Add 3998.199
shares and 3 individual shares = 4001.19 shares) should be attributed to Filipino
ownership.

Foreign participation in petitioner Tesoro: 59.99%

33.33
(Foreign equity in Sara Marie) x 59.97 (Sara Maries share in Tesoro)
= 19.99%
100
19.99% + 39.98% (MBMIs direct participation in Tesoro) + .02% (shares of foreign
individual SHs in Tesoro)
= 59.99%

With only 40.01% Filipino ownership in petitioner Tesoro, as compared to 59.99%

foreign ownership of its shares, it is clear that petitioner Tesoro does not comply with the
minimum Filipino equity requirement imposed in Sec. 2, Art. XII of the Constitution.

A doubt exists as to the extent of control and beneficial ownership of MBMI over the
petitioners and their investing corporate stockholders.

The Court applied the Grandfather Rule to determine the matter of true ownership and
control over the petitioners as doubt exists as to the actual extent of the participation of
MBMI in the equity of the petitioners and their investing corporations.