Case Digest (G.R. No. L-5122)
Facts:
National Airports Corporation v. Jose Teodoro Sr., as Judge of the Court of First Instance of Negros Occidental, and Philippine Airlines, Inc., G.R. No. L-5122, April 30, 1952, the Supreme Court En Banc, Tuason, J., writing for the Court; Paras, C.J., Feria, Pablo, Bengzon, Montemayor, Reyes, and Bautista Angelo, JJ., concur.The National Airports Corporation (NAC) was organized under Republic Act No. 224, which made the Corporation Law applicable to it. By Executive Order No. 365 dated November 10, 1950, the NAC was abolished and its functions and assets were transferred to the newly created Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA). Section 7 of EO No. 365 transferred records, properties, assets, choses in action, obligations, liabilities and contracts of the NAC to the CAA; other sections granted the CAA powers to enter into contracts, purchase property, grant concessions and charge fees and rentals.
Before abolition, Philippine Airlines, Inc. (PAL) had paid P65,245.00 to the NAC for landing and parking fees at Bacolod Airport No. 2 covering periods up to July 31, 1948; the land was owned by Capitol Subdivision, Inc. In 1951 Capitol Subdivision sued PAL in the Court of First Instance of Negros Occidental to recover those fees. PAL filed a third‑party complaint against the NAC (alleging it paid NAC believing NAC to be lessee/operator who would remit rentals to the landowner) and caused summons to be served upon the CAA.
The Solicitor General, after answering the third‑party complaint, moved to dismiss on two grounds: (1) NAC had lost its juridical personality and thus the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain a third‑party complaint against it; and (2) the CAA, being an unincorporated governmental office, lacked the capacity to sue or be sued. The trial court's handling of the third‑party claim and the motion to dismiss led to the p...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Does the trial court lack jurisdiction over the third‑party complaint because the National Airports Corporation has lost its juridical personality?
- Is the Civil Aeronautics Administration, an unincorporated government agency created by Executive Order No. 365, capable of suing and being sued?
- If the NAC was abolished and its assets and liabilities transferred to the CAA, is the third‑party complaint properly frame...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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