G.R. No. 177131, 7 June 2011

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 inBoy 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: NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing premises, the COMMISSION PROPER HAS RESOLVED, AS IT DOES HEREBY RESOLVE to conduct an annual financial audit of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards, and express an opinion on whether the financial statements which include the Balance Sheet, the Income Statement and the Statement of Cash Flows present fairly its financial position and results of operations. x x x x BE IT RESOLVED FURTHERMORE, that for purposes of audit supervision,the Boy Scouts of the Philippines shall be classified among the government corporations belonging to the Educational, Social, Scientific, Civic and Research Sector under the Corporate Audit Office I, to be audited, similar to the subsidiary corporations, by employing the team audit approach.

ISSUE:

Whether or not Boy Scout of the Philippines is a government owned and controlled corporation subject for COA’s audit jurisdiction.

RULING:

YES. After looking at the legislative history of its amended charter and carefully studying the applicable laws and the arguments of both parties, we find 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” to serve the following public interest or purpose:

Sec. 3. The purpose of this corporation shall be to promote through organization and cooperation with other agencies, the ability of boys to do useful things for themselves and others, to train them in scoutcraft, and to inculcate in them patriotism, civic consciousness and responsibility, courage, self-reliance, discipline and kindred virtues, and moral values, using the method which are in common use by boy scouts.

The BSP as a Public Corporation under Par. 2, Art. 2 of the Civil Code

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. (Emphases supplied.)

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.

Since the BSP, under its amended charter, continues to be a public corporation or a government instrumentality, we come to the inevitable conclusion that it is subject to the exercise by the COA of its audit jurisdiction in the manner consistent with the provisions of the BSP Charter.

*Case Digest by JAY MARK P. BALBOSA JD – IV, Andres Bonifacio College, SY 2019 – 2020