Case Digest (G.R. No. L-9657)
Facts:
Leopoldo T. Bacani and Mateo A. Matoto v. National Coconut Corporation, G.R. No. L-9657, November 29, 1956, the Supreme Court En Banc, Bautista Angelo, J., writing for the Court.
Plaintiffs Leopoldo T. Bacani and Mateo A. Matoto, court stenographers assigned to Branch VI of the Court of First Instance of Manila, prepared stenographic transcripts of the hearings in Civil Case No. 2293, Francisco Sycip v. National Coconut Corporation. Assistant Corporate Counsel Federico Alikpala, representing National Coconut Corporation (NCC), requested copies of the stenographic transcripts for the corporation’s use; plaintiffs delivered a 714-page transcript and submitted bills for their fees.
NCC paid the stenographers P564 to Bacani and P150 to Matoto at the rate of P1.00 per page. Upon audit, the Auditor General disallowed those payments and, relying on a Department of Justice circular that treated NCC as a government entity exempt from paying such fees, required plaintiffs to reimburse the amounts (demand dated January 19, 1953). On February 6, 1954, the Auditor General ordered the Department of Justice cashier to deduct P25 from Bacani’s salary and P10 from Matoto’s salary every payday beginning March 30, 1954.
To prevent the salary deductions and obtain a judicial declaration that NCC is not a government entity within the meaning of Section 16, Rule 130 of the Rules of Court, plaintiffs filed an action in the Court of First Instance of Manila. Defendants asserted that NCC was part of the Government under Section 2 of the Revised Administrative Code and therefore exempt from paying the stipulated stenographers’ fees. After trial, the Court of First Instance ruled for the plaintiffs, holding (1) NCC was not a government entity within Section 16, Rule 130; (2) the paymen...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Is the procedural contention of appellants that the case falls under Section 1, Rule 45 (appeals from decisions of the Auditor General) meritorious?
- Is the National Coconut Corporation a component of the "Government of the Republic of the Philippines" within the meaning of Section 16, Rule 130 of the Rules of Court, thereby exempting it from payment of stenographers' fees?
- Were the payments made by NCC to the plaintiffs valid and enforceable such that plaintiffs are not obliged...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
- (Pro-only)
Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)