DOJ Opinion No. 130, s. 1993

DOJ OPINION NO. 130 , s. 1993 September 16, 1993 Mr. Francisco L. Viray President National Power Corporation cor. Quezon Avenue & Agham Road Diliman, Quezon City Sir : This refers to your request for opinion "on the exemption of the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) from payment of the building permit fee in connection with the construction of the Bataan Combined Cycle Power Project". It appears that the Municipal Engineer of Limay, Bataan, where the aforesaid project is located, has billed NAPOCOR the amount of P59,698,520.00 as building permit fee for the construction of the Bataan Combined Cycle Power Project; and that NAPOCOR has informed the municipal government of Limay that pursuant to Section 13 of its charter (R.A. No. 6395, as amended), "it is exempt from the payment of all forms of taxes, duties, fees, imposts as well as costs and service fees including filing fees, appeal bonds, supersedes bonds, in any court or administrative proceedings." You now request "affirmation" of your position that NAPOCOR is exempt from payment of the building permit fee in the construction of the Bataan Combined Cycle Power Plant. cdll We sustain the abovestated view. The broad and all-encompassing character of the abovequoted tax-immunity provision should leave no room for doubt that NAPOCOR is exempt from any and all kinds of taxes, fees or imposts chargeable under existing laws by the National Government or any of its political subdivisions and instrumentalities. This proposition has been upheld by this Department in several instances (See Sec. of Justice Opns. No. 108, s. 1954; No. 36, s. 1984; No. 144, s. 1985; and No. 37, s. 1990). Moreover, the Supreme Court has implicitly affirmed this view in Maceda vs. Macaraig, Jr. (197 SCRA 771) where it ruled that the use of the phrase "all forms of taxes" in Section 3 of the NAPOCOR charter evinces a clear legislative intention to exempt NAPOCOR from any kind of tax. This pronouncement equally applies to "fees", "duties" and "imposts", which are explicitly mentioned in the aforesaid section of law. The reason for the comprehensive reach of NAPOCOR's immunity from all government impositions is that, as the court said, the corporation is non-profit in character and thus enable it to devote all its returns of investment to expansion, settle its obligations and effectively implement the legislative policy mandated in R.A. No. 6395. Please be advised accordingly. Very truly yours (SGD.) FRANKLIN M. DRILON Secretary