LIBAN V.

GORDON
G.R. NO. 175352, JULY 15 2009
FACTS: In 1947, President Roxas signed R.A. 95, otherwise
known as the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC!" Charter.
#he Rep$%li& o' the Philippines, adhering to the (ene)a
Con)entions, esta%lished the PNRC as a )ol$ntar* organi+ation
'or the p$rpose &onte,plated in the (ene)a Red Cross
Con)ention.
#he PNRC is a non-pro.t, donor-'$nded, )ol$ntar*, h$,anitarian
organi+ation, whose ,ission is to %ring ti,el*, e/e&ti)e, and
&o,passionate h$,anitarian assistan&e 'or the ,ost )$lnera%le
witho$t &onsideration o' nationalit*, ra&e, religion, gender, so&ial
stat$s, or politi&al a0liation. #he PNRC pro)ides 1 ,a2or ser)i&es3
4lood 5er)i&es, 6isaster 7anage,ent, 5a'et* 5er)i&es, Co,,$nit*
8ealth and N$rsing, 5o&ial 5er)i&es and 9ol$ntar* 5er)i&e.
:i%an et al. are o0&ers o' the 4oard o' 6ire&tors o' the ;$e+on
Cit* Red Cross Chapter. In <==1, d$ring (ordon>s in&$,%en&*
as a ,e,%er o' the 5enate, he was ele&ted Chair,an o' the
PNRC 4oard o' (o)ernors.
:i%an et al.>s position3 In Camporedondo v. NLRC, it was held that
the PNRC is a (?CC. In a&&epting and holding the position o'
Chair,an o' the PNRC 4oard o' (o)ernors, (ordon has a$to,ati&all*
'or'eited his seat in the 5enate. In&$,%ent national legislators lose
their ele&ti)e posts $pon their appoint,ent to another go)ern,ent
o0&e.
(ordon>s position3
(1" 8e has %een working as a Red Cross )ol$nteer 'or the past 4=
*ears. 8e was alread* Chair,an o' the PNRC 4oard o' (o)ernors when
he was ele&ted 5enator in 7a* <==4, ha)ing %een ele&ted Chair,an in
<==@ and re-ele&ted in <==5.
(<" PNRC is not a (?CC
(@" #he prohi%ition $nder Art. 1, A1@ o' the Constit$tion does not appl*
in the present &ase sin&e )ol$nteer ser)i&e to the PNRC is neither an
o0&e nor an e,plo*,ent
ISSUE: Bhether the o0&e o' the PNRC Chair,an is a
go)ern,ent o0&e or an o0&e in a (?CC.
HELD: NO. PNRC IS A PRIVATE ORGANIATION PERFOR!ING
PUBLIC FUNCTIONS.
#he PNRC is a ,e,%er o' the National 5o&iet* o' the
International Red Cross and Red Cres&ent 7o)e,ent
(7o)e,ent!". #he C$nda,ental Prin&iples o' the 7o)e,ent
pro)ide a $ni)ersal standard o' re'eren&e 'or all its ,e,%ers.
#he PNRC, as a ,e,%er, has the d$t* to $phold the
C$nda,ental Prin&iples and ideals o' the 7o)e,ent. In order to
%e re&ogni+ed as a National 5o&iet*, the PNRC has to %e
a$tono,o$s. #he reason 'or this a$tono,* is '$nda,ental. #o
%e a&&epted %* warring %elligerents as ne$tral workers d$ring
international or internal ar,ed &onDi&ts, the PNRC )ol$nteers
,$st not %e seen as %elonging to an* side o' the ar,ed &onDi&t.
#he PNRC &annot %e seen as a (?CC, and neither &an the PNRC
)ol$nteers %e identi.ed as go)ern,ent personnel or as
instr$,ents o' go)ern,ent poli&*. ?therwise, the ins$rgents or
separatists will treat PNRC )ol$nteers as ene,ies. #h$s, the
PNRC ,$st not onl* %e, %$t ,$st also %e seen to %e,
a$tono,o$s, ne$tral and independent.
T"# $%&&%'()* +,# -,%%$ ."+. ."# PNRC (/ )%. + GOCC:
(1" #he PNRC does not ha)e go)ern,ent assets and does not re&ei)e
an* appropriation 'ro, Congress. #he PNRC is .nan&ed pri,aril* %*
pri)ate &ontri%$tions.
(<" #he PNRC is not &ontrolled %* the go)ern,ent. Ender its Charter,
onl* 1 o' the @= ,e,%ers o' the 4oard o' (o)ernors are appointed %*
the President (o' the <4 re,aining, 1F are ele&ted %* the &hapter
delegates o' the PNRC and the other 1 are ele&ted %* the <4 ,e,%ers
alread* &hosen". #he PNRC 4oard o' (o)ernors ele&ts the Chair,an
and all its other o0&ers. (ordon was ele&ted, as all PNRC Chair,en
are ele&ted, %* a pri)ate se&tor-&ontrolled PNRC 4oard
(@" #he PNRC Chair,an is neither appointed %* the President nor %*
the head o' an* depart,ent, agen&*, &o,,ission or %oard o' the
Gxe&$ti)e, H$di&ial or :egislati)e %ran&hes. 8en&e, the PNRC Chair,an
is not an o0&ial or e,plo*ee o' the Philippine (o)ern,ent. Not %eing
a go)ern,ent o0&ial or e,plo*ee, the PNRC Chair,an, as s$&h, does
not hold a go)ern,ent o0&e or e,plo*,ent.
(4" #he PNRC %oard>s de&isions or a&tions are not re)iewa%le %* the
President. Neither &an the President re)erse or ,odi'* the de&isions or
a&tions o' the Chair,an, it is the 4oard that &an re)iew, re)erse or
POLITICAL LA0 REVIE0 1 ATTY. JAC2 JI!ENE 1 !AR2 JOREL O. CALIDA
,odi'* the de&isions or a&tions o' the Chair,an. #his pro)es again
that the o0&e o' the Chair,an is a pri)ate o0&e, not a go)ern,ent
o0&e.
In the Camporedondo r$ling, the test $sed was whether the
&orporation was &reated %* its own spe&ial &harter 'or the
exer&ise o' a p$%li& '$n&tion or %* in&orporation $nder the
general &orporation law. 5in&e the PNRC was &reated $nder a
spe&ial &harter, the Co$rt then r$led that it is a go)ern,ent
&orporation. 8owe)er, it 'ailed to &onsider the de.nition o' a
(?CC in the Ad,inistrati)e Code.
A (?CC ,$st %e owned %* the go)ern,ent, and in the &ase o'
a sto&k &orporation, at least a ,a2orit* o' its &apital sto&k ,$st
%e owned %* the go)ern,ent. In the &ase o' a non-sto&k
&orporation, %* analog* at least a ,a2orit* o' the ,e,%ers
,$st %e go)ern,ent o0&ials holding s$&h ,e,%ership %*
appoint,ent or designation %* the go)ern,ent. Ender this
&riterion, and as dis&$ssed earlier, the go)ern,ent does not
own or &ontrol PNRC.
5e&tion 11, Arti&le III o' the Constit$tion pro)ides3

The Congress shall not, except by general law, provide for the
formation, organization, or regulation of private corporations.
overnment!owned or controlled corporations may be created or
established by special charters in the interest of the common good
and sub"ect to the test of economic viability.
Congress &annot ena&t a law &reating a pri)ate &orporation with
a spe&ial &harter. 5$&h legislation wo$ld %e $n&onstit$tional.
Pri)ate &orporations ,a* exist onl* $nder a general law. I' the
&orporation is pri)ate, it ,$st ne&essaril* exist $nder a general
law. Ender existing laws, the general law is the Corporation
Code, ex&ept that the Cooperati)e Code go)erns the
in&orporation o' &ooperati)es. #he Constit$tion a$thori+es
Congress to &reate (?CCs thro$gh spe&ial &harters. 5in&e
pri)ate &orporations &annot ha)e spe&ial &harters, it 'ollows that
Congress &an &reate &orporations with spe&ial &harters onl* i'
s$&h &orporations are go)ern,ent-owned or &ontrolled.
#h$s, altho$gh the PNRC is &reated %* a spe&ial &harter, it
&annot %e &onsidered a (?CC in the a%sen&e o' the essential
ele,ents o' ownership and &ontrol %* the go)ern,ent. In
&reating the PNRC as a &orporate entit*, Congress was in 'a&t
&reating a pri)ate &orporation. 8owe)er, the &onstit$tional
prohi%ition against the &reation o' pri)ate &orporations %*
spe&ial &harters pro)ides no ex&eption e)en 'or non-pro.t or
&harita%le &orporations. ConseJ$entl*, the pro)isions o' the
PNRC Charter, inso'ar as it &reates a pri)ate &orporation and
grants it &orporate powers is )oid 'or %eing $n&onstit$tional.
POLITICAL LA0 REVIE0 1 ATTY. JAC2 JI!ENE 1 !AR2 JOREL O. CALIDA