CHAPTER 4

Basis:
Indiscriminate suits against the State will result in the impairment
of its dignity, besides being a challenge to its supposed infallibility
The logical and practical ground that there can be no legal right
against the authority which makes the law on which the right
depends
The demands and inconveniences of litigation will divert the time
and resources of the State from the more pressing matters
demanding its attention, to the prejudice of the public welfare.


Application
The usual practice is to file such claims not against the State itself,
but against the officer of the government who is supposed to
discharge the responsibility or grant the redress demanded.
Instances when a public officer may be sued in his official
capacity without the necessity of first obtaining the consent
of the State to be sued
o A public officer may be impleaded to require him to do a duty
required by law
o To restrain him from doing an act alleged to be unconstitutional
or illegal
o To recover from him taxes unlawfully assessed or collected
o An action filed for recovery only of title or possession of property
claimed to be held by him in his official capacity

o Where a public officer acts without or in excess of jurisdiction,
any injury caused by him is his own personal liability and cannot
be imputed to the State.

Waiver of Immunity
The State may, if it so desires, divest itself of its sovereign
immunity and thereby voluntarily open itself to suit.
The State may be sued if it gives its consent.
Forms of Consent
1. Express must be embodied in a duly enacted statute and
may not be given by a mere counsel of the government
A. General law
i. Act No. 3083 declares that the Government of the
Philippine Islands hereby consents and submits to
be sued upon any moneyed claims involving liability
arising from contract, express or implied, which
could serve as a basis of civil action between
parties.
ii. C.A. No. 327 as amended by P.D. No. 1445 a
claim against the government must be filed with the
Commission on Audit. Rejection of the claim will
authorize the claimant to elevate the matter to the
Supreme Court on certiorari.
B. Special law
i. Special law enacted by the Philippine Legislature
authorizing an individual to sue the Philippine
Government for injuries he had sustained when his
motorcycle collided with a government ambulance.
2. Implied - when the State itself:
A. Commences litigation
In this case, the defendant is entitled to file a
counterclaim against it.
B. When it enters into a contract
The State is deemed to have divested itself of the
mantle of sovereign immunity and descend to the level
of the ordinary individual.
It becomes subject to judicial action and process.
Suability would follow only if the contract is entered
into by the government in its proprietary capacity
Governmental contracts do not result in implied waiver
of the immunity of the State from suit


Suit against Government Agencies
Where the suit filed is against one of the government entities, it must
be ascertained whether or not the State has given its consent to be
sued. Ascertainment will depend on whether the government agency
impleaded is incorporated or unincorporated.
Incorporated agency has a charter of its own that invests it
with a separate juridical personality (i.e. SSS, UP)
Test of Suability found in its charter. It is suable if its charter
says so, and is true regardless of the functions it is performing)
(Charter a formal document giving rights and privileges)

Unincorporated agency has no separate juridical
personality but is merged in the general machinery of the
government (i.e. Department of Justice, Bureau of Mines,
Government Printing Office)
o Necessary to determine the nature of the primary
functions in which the agency is engaged.
Proprietary functions suable
Governmental functions not suable

Exemption from Legal Requirements
When the State litigates, it is not required to put up a bond for
damages, or an appeal bond, since it can be assumed that it is
always solvent.
Neither can it be asked to pay the legal fees prescribed in the
Rules of Court or the costs of the suit.
Interest is also not chargeable against it.
EXCEPTION: 1. When it has expressly stipulated to pay it
2. When interest is allowed by an act of the
legislature
3. in eminent domain cases where damages sustained by the
owner take the form of interest at the legal rate.








Municipal corporations like provinces and cities, though
agencies of the State when engaged in governmental
functions and therefore should enjoy sovereign immunity
from suit, are still subject to suit because their charter
provides that they can sue and be sued.
When the State gives its consent to be sued, it does not thereby
also consent to the execution of the judgment against it. Such
execution will require another waiver, lacking which the decision
cannot be enforced against the State.
The test is whether the decision when rendered against the
public officer impleaded, enforcement thereof will require an
affirmative act from the State (i.e. appropriation of the needed
amount to satisfy the judgment.)
Par in parem non habet imperium principle of the
sovereign equality of States, under which one State cannot
assert jurisdiction over another.