GR 185184 Lazaro Javier (Digest)
G.R. No. 185184 , October 3, 2023
Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, represented by its Administrator, Diosdado Jose M. Allado, Petitioner, vs. Provincial Government of Bulacan, represented by Gov. Josefina M. Dela Cruz, Respondent.
FACTS
The Provincial Government of Bulacan filed a complaint for specific performance/payment of national wealth share against the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS). Respondent LGU claimed entitlement to a share in the proceeds from the utilization and development of national wealth—specifically, water from the Angat Dam—within its territorial jurisdiction, pursuant to Section 7, Article X of the 1987 Constitution and the Local Government Code. The ponencia (main opinion) granted MWSS’s petition and dismissed the complaint. It established three requisites for such a claim: (1) existence of national wealth forming part of a natural resource; (2) location within the LGU’s territory; and (3) proceeds generated from its utilization and development. The ponencia found the first and third requisites absent, ruling that dam water is “appropriated water” no longer constituting a natural resource, and that MWSS, as a non-profit regulatory body, is not engaged in utilization and development for profit.
ISSUE
Whether the complaint for specific performance filed by the Provincial Government of Bulacan against MWSS should be dismissed.
RULING
Yes, the complaint is dismissed. Justice Lazaro-Javier, in her Concurring Opinion, agrees with the result but on a different, more fundamental ground: the complaint lacks a cause of action against MWSS. A cause of action requires a right vested in the plaintiff, a correlative obligation on the defendant, and a breach of that obligation. While the LGU has a right to a national wealth share, the obligation to pay rests with the entity that actually utilized and developed the resource. Citing the Water Code and the Court’s ruling in IDEALS, Inc. v. PSALM, she clarifies that “appropriation of water”—the act of acquiring rights over water from a natural source—is the pivotal act of utilization and development. The water in Angat Dam was appropriated by the National Power Corporation (NPC), which holds the requisite water permit and controls the dam’s operation. MWSS merely draws and distributes this already-appropriated water. Therefore, the proper defendant is NPC, not MWSS. On this procedural ground alone, the dismissal is warranted. Justice Lazaro-Javier respectfully dissents, however, from the ponencia’s substantive ruling that dam water ceases to be national wealth once diverted, arguing this interpretation unduly restricts the constitutional guarantee of an equitable share for LGUs.