Case Digest BSP vs. COA
Case Digest BSP vs. COA
Case Digest BSP vs. COA
vs
COA
G.R. No. 177131, June 7, 2011
BOY SCOUTS OF THE PHILIPPINES VS. COMMISSION ON AUDIT
FACTS:
This case arose when the COA issued Resolution No. 99-011on August 19,
1999 ("the COA Resolution"), with the subject "Defining the Commissions policy with
respect to the audit of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines." In its whereas clauses, the
COA Resolution stated that the BSP was created as a public corporation under
Commonwealth Act No. 111, as amended by Presidential Decree No. 460 and
Republic Act No. 7278; that in Boy Scouts of the Philippines v. National Labor
Relations Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that the BSP, as constituted under
its charter, was a "government-controlled corporation within the meaning of Article
IX(B)(2)(1) of the Constitution"; and that "the BSP is appropriately regarded as a
government instrumentality under the 1987 Administrative Code." The COA
Resolution also cited its constitutional mandate under Section 2(1), Article IX
(D).Finally, the COA Resolution reads:
ISSUE:
After looking at the legislative history of its amended charter and carefully
studying the applicable laws and the arguments of both parties, [the Supreme Court
found] that the BSP is a public corporation and its funds are subject to the COA's
audit jurisdiction.
The BSP Charter (Commonwealth Act No. 111, approved on October 31, 1936),
entitled "An Act to Create a Public Corporation to be Known as the Boy Scouts of the
Philippines, and to Define its Powers and Purposes" created the BSP as a "public
corporation". There are three classes of juridical persons under Article 44 of the Civil
Code and the BSP, as presently constituted under Republic Act No. 7278,falls under
the second classification.Article 44 reads:
Art. 44. The following are juridical persons:
(1) The State and its political subdivisions;
(2)Other corporations,institutions and entities for public interest or purpose created
by law; their personality begins as soon as they have been constituted according to
law;
(3) Corporations, partnerships and associations for private interest or purpose to
which the law grants a juridical personality, separate and distinct from that of each
shareholder, partner or member.
The BSP, which is a corporation created for a public interest or purpose, is subject to
the law creating it under Article 45 of the Civil Code, which provides:
Art. 45.Juridical persons mentioned in Nos. 1 and 2 of the preceding article are
governed by the laws creating or recognizing them.
Evidently, the BSP, which was created by a special law to serve a public purpose in
pursuit of a constitutional mandate, comes within the class of "public corporations"
defined by paragraph 2, Article 44 of the Civil Code and governed by the law which
creates it, pursuant to Article 45 of the same Code. DENIED.