G.R. No. 175352 - Liban vs. Gordon

Petitioners Dante V. Liban, Reynaldo M. Bernardo and Salvador M. Viari filed a petition seeking to declare Senator Richard J. Gordon’s Senate seat forfeited under Section 13, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution for concurrently serving as Chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) Board of Governors.
The PNRC intervened in the case; respondent Senator Gordon opposed forfeiture.

The Court held that the PNRC Chairman’s position is not a government office or in a government-owned or controlled corporation, so Senator Gordon did not forfeit his seat.
The Court further declared void Sections 1–13 of Republic Act No. 95 (RA 95) as amended (the PNRC Charter) because they create the PNRC as a private corporation by special law, contrary to Section 16, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution, and ordered the PNRC to incorporate under the Corporation Code.

Respondent’s Motion for Clarification and/or Reconsideration argued that the constitutionality of RA 95 was never raised by the parties and that the Charter invalidation was therefore obiter dicta.
PNRC’s Motion for Partial Reconsideration contended:

It was never a party and had no opportunity for due process on the Charter’s constitutionality.
Its current legal basis is Presidential Decree No. 1264, not RA 95.
It is a sui generis, autonomous auxiliary to government under international humanitarian law.

Respondent later agreed with PNRC’s motion and noted pending legislation recognizing PNRC as a non-governmental organization auxiliary.

Whether the Court erred in deciding the constitutionality of RA 95 when neither the petitioners nor the PNRC initially raised that issue.
Whether the invalidation of RA 95 provisions should be treated as obiter given the standing ruling and the lack of direct challenge.

Whether the PNRC is strictly a private corporation subject to the constitutional prohibition on special-law creation.
Whether the PNRC’s sui generis and treaty-mandated status places it outside the private-corporation ban and justifies its charter.