Philippine Ecclesiastical Catholic Church Apostolic Vicar Incarnant v. Sales

November 26, 2015 IN THE MATTER OF PHILIPPINE ECCLESIASTICAL CATHOLIC CHURCH APOSTOLIC VICAR INCARNANT (P.E.C.C.A.V.I.) SIMBAHANG KATOLIKO PILIPINO rep. by AGAPITO S. CABARON , petitioner , vs. FERDINAND B. SALES, in his capacity as Director, Company Registration and Monitoring Department , respondent . FOR : Review on Certiorari ORDER Before the Commission is Petition for Review on Certiorari filed by Philippine Ecclesiastical Catholic Church Apostolic Vicar Incarnant Simbahang Katoliko Pilipino ("Petitioner"), assailing the action of Ferdinand B. Sales ("Respondent"), in his capacity as Director of the Commission's Company Registration and Monitoring Department ("CRMD"), of refusing to accept Petitioner's payment of the penalty in relation to Petitioner's previous Petition to Set Aside the Order of Revocation of Certificate of Registration filed before the CRMD. Petitioner was registered as a religious corporation on 6 January 1977 under SEC Registration No. 71471. On 8 July 2013, Petitioner received from Respondent an Order revoking Petitioner corporation's certificate of registration for failure to submit its reportorial requirements from the year 1996 up to 2013. 1 On 26 December 2013, Petitioner filed a Petition to Set Aside the Order of Revocation of Certificate of Registration ("26 December 2013 Petition") and paid the corresponding docket fee of P2,020.00. 2 Petitioner likewise executed an Affidavit of Undertaking to Comply with Petition Requirements and Pay the Assessed Penalty , 3 in which Petitioner corporation undertook, among others, to pay the assessed penalty of Forty-Eight Thousand Five Hundred Pesos (P48,500.00) within ninety (90) days from 31 December 2013 or until 31 March 2014. Petitioner likewise acknowledged that the Commission has the discretion to abandon the petition to set aside without taking any further action on the same, should Petitioner corporation fail to comply with the said undertaking. On 31 March 2014, Petitioner has not yet paid the assessed penalty. Instead, it submitted a request to the CRMD for a reduction of the penalty by fifty percent (50%). 4 The request was denied by Respondent in a letter dated 27 May 2014; 5 said letter was received by Petitioner on 8 July 2015. In a letter dated 31 July 2014, 6 Petitioner corporation manifested its willingness to pay the penalty in its full amount; however, Respondent, in a letter dated 28 August 2014 ("Letter-Order"), 7 refused to accept the payment, on the grounds that the period for the payment of the penalty had already lapsed. CAIHTE Petitioner thereafter sought a reconsideration of Respondent's Letter-Order through a letter filed with the CRMD dated 2 September 2014. 8 Later, Respondent denied said request in a letter dated 14 November 2014, 9 reiterating the statements given in the Letter-Order . On 25 March 2015, the CRMD received the instant Petition dated 15 December 2014 which was filed through registered mail. It must be emphasized that Petitioner did not attach in the Petition any proof as to when the Petition was filed through registered mail. The Petition was forwarded by the CRMD to the Office of the Commission Secretary on 30 March 2015. In turn, the Office of the Commission Secretary forwarded the Petition with the Office of the General Counsel on 8 May 2015. In the first place, the instant Petition should not be given due course . Pursuant to the 2006 Rules of Procedure of the SEC ("2006 Rules"), a petition for review on certiorari is to be filed to the Commission En Banc within ten (10) days from receipt of the order or ruling subject of the petition . 10 In the case at bar, the order assailable for the purpose of filing a petition for review on certiorari is the 28 August 2014 Letter-Order , because it is in this order where Respondent originally conveyed its final decision and reason for refusal to accept Petitioner's payment of the assessed penalty of P48,500.00. However, within the 10-day period from Petitioner's receipt of the Letter-Order , Petitioner did not file any petition for review on certiorari to question the Letter-Order . Petitioner instead filed with the CRMD the 2 September 2014 letter. Moreover, it is observed that the instant Petition is dated 15 December 2014. Hence, it can only be surmised that the earliest date that the instant Petition may have been filed is on 15 December 2014. Thus, the instant Petition was not filed on time , as the filing was made months after receipt of the Letter-Order . Nonetheless, Petitioner is not left without any recourse to revive its corporate existence. While its 26 December 2013 Petition is effectively denied for Petitioner's failure to pay the assessed penalties on or before 31 March 2014, it is not prohibited from filing a new petition to set aside an order of revocation due to reporting delinquency as long as the corporate term has not yet expired . In fact, the Commission currently employs a more relaxed stance on cases of similar nature, consistent with a current Bill to amend the Corporation Code 11 that will permit perpetual corporate term. Recently, the Commission resolved not to toll the period for filing a petition to set aside the order of revocation or suspension of certificates of registration of corporations whose corporate terms have not yet expired for failure to comply with reportorial requirements. 12 In view thereof, Petitioner is not precluded from filing another petition to set aside the order of revocation of its Certificate of Registration, subject to the payment of the necessary fees and compliance with the conditions for giving due course to the petition . WHEREFORE, the Petition is hereby DISMISSED, without prejudice. SO ORDERED. Mandaluyong City, Philippines, November 26, 2015. (On Official Business) TERESITA J. HERBOSA Chairperson (On Official Business) MANUEL HUBERTO B. GAITE Commissioner (SGD.) ANTONIETA F. IBE Commissioner (SGD.) EPHYRO LUIS B. AMATONG Commissioner (SGD.) BLAS JAMES G. VITERBO Commissioner Footnotes 1. Paragraph 4 of the Petition. 2. Paragraph 5 of the Petition. 3. Dated 27 December 2013, with Agapito S. Cabaron as affiant; p. 87 of the Records. 4. Annex "A", p. 97 of the Records. 5. Annex "B", p. 96 of the Records. 6. Annex "C", p. 94 of the Records. 7. Annex "D", p. 90 of the Records. 8. Annex "E", p. 89 of the Records. 9. Annex "F", p. 88 of the Records. 10. Rule XII, Section 12-2 of the 2006 Rules. 11. Batas Pambansa Blg. 68 (1980). 12. SEC Resolution No. 396, Series of 2015, which reads: RESOLVED, To FIX, as INDEFINITE the period for filing of a Petition to Set Aside the Order of Revocation or Suspension of Certificates of Registration of Corporations for failure to comply with reportorial requirements.