G.R. No. 175352, 15 July 2009
FACTS:
Dante V. Liban, Reynaldo M. Bernardo, and Salvador M. Viari (petitioners) filed with this Court a Petition to Declare Richard J. Gordon as having forfeited his seat in the Senate. Petitioners are officers of the Board of Directors of the Quezon City Red Cross Chapter while respondent is Chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) Board of Governors.
During respondent’s incumbency as a member of the Senate of the Philippines, he was elected Chairman of the PNRC. Petitioners allege that by accepting the chairmanship of the PNRC Board of Governors, respondent has ceased to be a member of the Senate as provided in the Constitution.
Petitioner filed this instant petition.
ISSUE:
Whether the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) is a government- owned or controlled corporation.
RULING:
The PNRC is not government-owned but privately owned. The vast majority of the thousands of PNRC members are private individuals, including students. Under the PNRC Charter, those who contribute to the annual fund campaign of the PNRC are entitled to membership in the PNRC for one year. PNRC is, thus, a privately owned, privately funded, and privately run charitable organization.
The office of the PNRC Chairman is not a government office or an office in a government-owned or controlled corporation for purposes of the prohibition in the 1987 Constitution. However, since the PNRC Charter is void insofar as it creates the PNRC as a private corporation, the PNRC should incorporate under the Corporation Code and register with the Securities and Exchange Commission if it wants to be a private corporation.
*Case digest by Teonilo M. Bagalanon Jr., JD – 4, Andres Bonifacio College, SY 2019 – 2020