Case Summary (G.R. No. L-8451)
Issues
- Whether a corporation sole with a non-Filipino incumbent is qualified under the 1935 Constitution to acquire private agricultural lands.
- Whether the constitutional requirement that 60 percent of a corporation’s capital be Filipino-owned applies to a corporation sole, and, if so, how it is satisfied.
Constitutional Provisions on Land Acquisition
- Section 1, Article XIII: Natural resources and disposition limited to Filipino citizens or corporations with at least 60 percent Filipino capital, “subject to any existing right, grant, lease or concession at the time of the inauguration of the Government established under this Constitution.”
- Section 5, Article XIII: No private agricultural land may be transferred except to individuals, corporations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain.
Corporate Sole under Philippine Law
- Section 154, Corp. Law: Bishop or presiding elder may become a corporation sole to manage church temporalities.
- Section 155: Articles of incorporation required, affirming the administrator’s charge over church estates.
- Section 157: Upon filing, temporalities are held in trust by the corporation sole for church benefit.
- Section 159: Corporation sole may purchase and hold real and personal property for church, charitable, benevolent, and educational purposes, and receive bequests or gifts; court leave required to mortgage or sell unless church discipline provides otherwise.
- Section 163: Temporalities administered by the corporation sole are held in trust for the use, purpose, and benefit of the church of which the diocese or district is a part.
Ownership and Control of Church Properties
The Court recognized that church temporalities are owned by the church as a “moral person” or by dioceses as minor moral persons, with the bishop or ordinary serving only as administrator. Title acquired by a corporation sole passes by operation of law to its successor in office, ensuring continuity of administration. Ownership vests in the church itself; the corporation sole has no proprietary interest beyond its trust function.
Constitutional Interpretation and Application
- The Constitution’s nationality and natural-resources provisions were aimed at preventing foreign exploitation of undeveloped natural wealth and did not contemplate the special form of religious corporations sole.
- Corporations sole have no nationality; their capacity to acquire real property under pre-Constitution statutes was not intended to be curtailed.
- The saving clause in Section 1 preserves “existing rights” as of governmental inauguration, including the corporate power to acquire ecclesiastical properties.
- A purposive and liberal construction of the Constitution guards against absurd or unjust results—namely, denying church entities lands needed for places of worship, education, health, and burial.
Court’s Holding
By majority, the Supreme Court held that:
- The petitioner, as a corporation sole, is constitutionally qualified to acquire and register private agricultural lands despite its incumbent’s foreign citizenship.
- Sections 1 and 5 of Article XIII do not apply to corporations sole, which hold lands in trust for Filipino faithful wi
Case Syllabus (G.R. No. L-8451)
Facts of the Case
- On October 4, 1954, Mateo L. Rodis, a Filipino citizen and resident of Davao City, executed a deed of sale transferring a parcel covered by Transfer Certificate of Title No. 2263 to the Roman Catholic Apostolic Administrator of Davao, Inc., a corporation sole with Msgr. Clovis Thibault, a Canadian citizen, as its incumbent.
- When presented for registration, the Register of Deeds of Davao City required the purchaser to submit an affidavit showing that at least 60 per cent of its members were Filipino citizens, based on a prior resolution in the Carmelite Nuns of Davao case.
- The purchaser offered to submit an affidavit but argued the situation differed: unlike the Carmelite congregation, the corporation sole has one incorporator and holds property in trust for the entire Catholic population of Davao, the vast majority of whom are Filipinos.
- Doubts on the document’s registerability led the Register of Deeds to refer the matter to the Land Registration Commissioner en consulta, pursuant to Section 4 of Republic Act No. 1151.
Procedural History
- After a hearing and petitioner’s memorandum, the Land Registration Commissioner issued a resolution (September 21, 1954) holding that under Article XIII, Sections 1 and 5 of the 1935 Constitution, no private agricultural land may be transferred to a corporation unless at least 60 per cent of its capital, properties, or assets is Filipino-owned or controlled.
- The Register of Deeds was ordered to deny registration absent proof of compliance with this requirement. A motion for reconsideration was denied.
- The Roman Catholic Apostolic Administrator of Davao, Inc. filed a petition for mandamus with the Supreme Court. On November 15, 1954, the Court gave due course under the procedure for appeals from the Public Service Commission (Rule 43).
Issues Presented
- Whether a religious corporation sole, with an alien incumbent, is “qualified to acquire and hold private agricultural lands” under Article XIII, Sections 1 and 5 of the Constitution.
- Whether the Constitution’s requirement that 60 per cent of a corporation’s capital be Filipino-owned applies to a non-stock corporation sole whose incumbent is an alien and whose properties are held in trust for the Catholic Church.
Constitutional and Statutory Provisions
- Article XIII, Section 1: All public-domain natural resources, including agricultural lands, are vested in the State and may be disposed of only to Filipino citizens or to corporations with at least 60 per cent Filipino capital, “subject to any existing right…at the time of the inauguration” of the government under the Constitution.
- Article XIII, Section 5: No private agricultural land may be transferred except to individuals, corporations, or associations “qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain in the Philippines.”
- Corporation Law (Public Act No. 1459), Sections 154, 155, 157, 159, 163: Authorizes a bishop or chief priest to become a corporation sole, administer church temporalities in trust, and to purchase, hold, receive gifts or bequests, and, subject to court or internal discipline, to sell or mortgage real estate for churc