G.R. No. 103797 - PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION ON GOOD GOVERNMENT, VS. THE HONORABLE SANDIGANBAYAN (THIRD DIVISION), AEROCOM INVESTORS AND MANAGERS, INC., POLYGON INVESTORS AND MANAGERS, INC., TRADERS ROYAL BANK, HECTOR P. CORPUS, AND SEVERINO P. BUAN, JR..

Ruling

Accordingly, writs of sequestration were issued by the PCGG over POTC and PHILCOMSAT. On March 29, 1991, POTC and PHILCOMSAT filed before the Sandiganbayan Civil Case No. 0114, for certiorari and injunction, seeking to nullify the writs of sequestration and to enjoin PCGG and its officers, agents and nominees from interfering with the management and operation of said corporations. Plaintiffs hinged their petition on the argument that since the PCGG had failed to institute the corresponding judicial action required under Article XVIII, Section 26, second paragraph of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, [2] the assailed writs of sequestration issued against them had long ceased to be effective. The PCGG opposed the petition, arguing that the sequestration was in full force and effect, belying the plaintiff-corporations contention that the PCGG had failed to file the mandated judicial action. On the contrary, the PCGG alleged, there was pending before the Sandiganbayan Civil Case No. 0009, filed on July 22, 1987 well within the period allowed by the cited constitutional provision. One of the named defendants therein was Jose L. Africa, allegedly a stockholder with controlling interest in POTC and PHILCOMSAT. The plaintiff-corporations, however, were not named party-defendants in Civil Case No. 0009. Nevertheless, the PCGG contended that the filing of the case against Jose L. Africa, despite the fact that the plaintiff-corporations were not impleaded as party-defendants, satisfied the Constitutional provision requiring judicial action against these sequestered corporations. On August 8, 1991, POTC and PHILCOMSAT filed a motion for summary judgment, submitting for resolution the sole issue of whether or not Civil Case No. 0009 pending before the Sandiganbayan is the judicial action contemplated and required under Section 26, Article XVIII of the 1987 Constitution, considering that said corporations were not impleaded as defendants in the said case. The Sandiganbayan found for the plaintiffs POTC and PHILCOMSAT, ruling that the PCGG failed to institute any judicial action directly against the plaintiff-corporations. While Jose L. Africa was a stockholder of said corporations, the latter have a legal personality distinct and separate from their stockholders. Thus, a suit against any of their stockholders is not ipso facto a suit against the corporations themselves. Consequently, the Sandiganbayan issued a Resolution in Civil Case No. 0114, promulgated on December 4, 1991, disposing as follows: The writs of sequestration over the herein plaintiff-corporations were issued on March 14, 1986 and April 11, 1986, or before the ratification of the Constitution on February 2, 1987. The record does not show, however, that a judicial action has been filed against the plaintiff-corporations from the date of their sequestration up to August 2, 1987 or six months after the ratification of the Constitution. On the other hand, what appears in the record is the Certif