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LBP vs. HEIRS OF ALSUA
SECOND DIVISION
Sirs/Mesdames:
Quoted hereunder, for your information, is a resolution of this Court dated JUL 27 2005-A.
G.R. No. 167361 (Land Bank of the Philippines vs. Heirs of Fernando Alsua, namely: Clotilde S. Alsua, Roberto S. Alsua, Ma. Elena S. Alsua and Ramon Alsua.)
Land Bank of the Philippines (Land Bank) filed this Petition for Review on Certiorari [1] cralaw dated April 27, 2005, assailing the Decision [2] cralaw of the Court of Appeals in C.A. G.R. Sp. No. 76364. The questioned ruling affirmed the orders [3] cralaw of the trial court [4] cralaw in Agrarian Case No. 2002-02 for Just Compensation. The first assailed order dismissed the case, along with other just compensation cases, for failure to prosecute for an unreasonable length of time, while the second assailed order denied the motion for reconsideration.
Notably, this petition was filed on behalf of Land Bank by the law firm of Piczon Beramo and Associates, and signed by Attys. Danilo B. Beramo and Rafael L. Berba�o. [5] cralaw It has been brought to our attention in a similar pending case [6] cralaw that these lawyers assert themselves to be government lawyers belonging to the Land Bank Legal Department and not private counsels.
Land Bank is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC), established under the Agricultural Land Reform Code. [7] cralaw Section 91 of its charter provides that Land Bank shall have its own legal department. [8] cralaw Under Section 10, Book IV, Title III, Chapter 3 of the Administrative Code of 1987, however, it is the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) which acts as the principal law office of all GOCCs, their subsidiaries, other corporate offsprings and government acquired asset corporations. Section 1 of Administrative Order No. 130, issued by then President Ramos, required that all matters pertaining to GOCCs such as Land Bank "shall be exclusively referred to and handled by the [OGCC]."
Our resolution in a similar pending case entitled Land Bank of the Philippines v. Teresita Panlilio-Luciano, [9] cralaw supra, dealt extensively with the authority of the Land Bank Legal Department vis- �-vis that of the OGCC to represent Land Bank in legal proceedings. We said:
True enough, the provision allows the constitution of the LBP Legal Department. However, contrary to the submission of Attys. Beramo and Berba�o, such does not operate as an exception to the general rule that the OGCC is the principal law office of GOCCs. Nothing in the LBP charter designates the legal department as the principal law office of LBP. In fact, the cited provision merely says that the LBP shall have a legal department, without elaboration as to the tasks and functions of such department.
There is nothing in the LBP charter that expressly authorizes the said Legal Department to appear in behalf of LBP in any court or quasi-judicial proceeding. Attys. Beramo and Berba�o insist that the creation of the LBP Legal Department "necessarily entails conferment of the power to represent [LBP] in any and all cases" and consequently confers the power to "exercise such incidental powers or perform such acts as are necessary to make the conferred power effective." At first blush, this is not an unreasonable position; yet, we are precluded from adopting the same, owing to the explicit proviso in Section 10, Book IV, Title III, Chapter 3 of the Administrative Code of 1987, which reads:
Section 10. Office of the Government Corporate Counsel.--The Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) shall act as the principal law office of all government-owned or controlled corporations, their subsidiaries, other corporate offsprings and government acquired asset corporations and shall exercise control and supervision over all legal departments and divisions maintained separately and such powers and functions as are now or may hereafter be provided by law. In the exercise of such control and supervision, the Government Corporate Counsel shall promulgate rules and regulations to effectively implement the objectives of the Office.
The OGCC is authorized to receive attorney's fees adjudged in favor of their client government-owned or controlled corporations, their subsidiaries/other corporate offsprings and government acquired asset corporations. These attorney's fees shall accrue to a Special Fund of the OGCC, and shall be deposited in an authorized government depository as trust liability and shall be made available for expenditure without the need for a Cash Disbursement Ceiling, for purposes of upgrading facilities and equipment, granting of employee's incentive pay and other benefits, and defraying such other incentive expenses not provided for in the General Appropriations Act as may be determined by the Government Corporate Counsel. [Emphasis supplied]
The above provision mandates the OGCC, and not the LBP Legal Department, as the principal law office of the LBP. Moreover, it establishes the proper hierarchical order in that the LBP Legal Department remains under the control and supervision of the OGCC. Indeed, if we were to accede to the position of Attys. Beramo and Berba�o that the mere constitution of an LBP Legal Department ipso facto confers upon it the capacity to litigate cases in behalf of LBP in any legal proceeding, then the role of the OGCC as the principal law office of all GOCCs would be rendered nugatory in all GOCCs with Legal Departments.
At the same time, the existence of the OGCC does not render the LBP Legal Department a superfluity. We do not doubt that the LBP Legal Department carries out vital legal services to LBP. However, the performance of such functions cannot deprive the OGCC's role as overseer of the LBP Legal Department and its mandate of exercising control and supervision over all GOCC legal departments. For the purpose of filing petitions and making submissions before this Court, such control and supervision imply express participation by the OGCC as principal legal counsel of LBP. . . .
Our recent holding in Phividec Industrial Authority v. Capitol Steel Corporation, [10] cralaw also enunciates the government policy to accord the OGCC the status as principal law office of all GOCCs as it exercises control and supervision over all legal departments or divisions of GOCCs, such as the Land Bank. Hence, as the principal law office of all GOCCs, the OGCC is expected to at least superintend the work engaged in by the Land Bank Legal Department and consent to any positive legal action maintained by the Land Bank. At a bare minimum, the OGCC, in the exercise of its control and supervision over the Land Bank Legal Department, must consent to the filing of the instant petition.
There is no showing that the OGCC has complied with its duty to exercise its role as the principal law office of the Land Bank in the filing of the present petition. In keeping with our ruling in the analogous case of Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. La Suerte, [11] cralaw however, we shall defer action on the petition and require the OGCC to enter its appearance for Land Bank in this case.
WHEREFORE, the Court hereby RESOLVES to:
1)������������� DIRECT the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) to: (a) ENTER its appearance as counsel for petitioner; and (b) MANIFEST whether or not it is adopting the instant petition, both within ten (10) days from receipt of this resolution; and
2)������������� DEFER ACTION on the petition pending compliance with the above-stated directives.
Very truly yours,
(Sgd.) LUDICHI YASAY-NUNAG
Clerk of Court
Endnotes:
[1] cralaw Rollo, pp. 25-54.
[2] cralaw Id. at 55-63. Penned by Associate Justice Japar B. Dimaampao and concurred in by Associate Justices Martin S. Villarama, Jr. and Edgardo F. Sundiam; Dated September 17, 2004.
[3] cralaw Dated December 4, 2002 and February 19, 2003.
[4] cralaw Regional Trial Court, Branch 3, Legazpi City.
[5] cralaw Supra note 1 at 52.
[6] cralaw Land Bank of the Philippines v. Teresita Panlilio-Luciano, G.R. No. 165428.
[7] cralaw Republic Act No. 3844.
"It is a body corporate formed to finance the acquisition by the Government of landed estates for division and resale to small landholders, as well as the purchase of the landholding by the agricultural lessee from the landowner." Section 74.
[8] cralaw "Sec. 91. Legal Counsel.-The Secretary of Justice shall be ex-officio legal adviser of the Bank. Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, the Land Bank shall have its own Legal Department, the chief and members of which shall be appointed by the Board of Trustees. The composition, budget and operating expenses of the Office of the Legal Counsel and the salaries and traveling expenses of its officers and employees shall be fixed by the Board of Trustees and paid by the Bank." R.A. 3844.
[9] cralaw Supra note 6.
[10] cralaw G.R. No. 155692, October 23, 2003, 414 SCRA 327.
[11] cralaw 433 Phil. 465 (2002).
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