GR 193462; (February, 2014) (Digest)
G.R. No. 193462; February 4, 2014
DENNIS A.B. FUNA, Petitioner, vs. MANILA ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL OFFICE and the COMMISSION ON AUDIT, Respondents.
FACTS
Following the Philippines’ adherence to the “One China” policy in 1975, official diplomatic relations with Taiwan were terminated. To maintain unofficial, people-to-people relations, the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) was incorporated in 1997 as a non-stock, non-profit corporation under the Corporation Code. The Philippine government entrusted MECO with fostering trade, economic, and cultural ties and authorized it to perform certain consular functions in Taiwan, such as assisting overseas Filipino workers.
Petitioner Dennis A.B. Funa, believing MECO to be a government-owned or -controlled corporation (GOCC) under the operational supervision of the Department of Trade and Industry, requested the Commission on Audit (COA) to provide him with MECO’s latest audit report. COA’s response indicated MECO was not among the agencies it audited. Funa thus filed a petition for mandamus to compel COA to audit MECO’s funds and to compel MECO to submit to such audit.
ISSUE
Whether the Commission on Audit has the legal duty to audit the funds, properties, and operations of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office.
RULING
No. The Supreme Court denied the petition, holding that COA has no duty to audit MECO. The legal logic rests on MECO’s juridical nature. For COA’s audit jurisdiction to attach, the entity must be a government-owned or -controlled corporation (GOCC), a government instrumentality, or a subdivision thereof, as defined by law. The Court found MECO is a non-stock, non-profit corporation created under the general corporation law, not by a special charter. The government does not own any part of MECO; its directors are not government-appointed but are elected by its private members. While the government has designated MECO to perform specific administrative functions, this delegation does not transform it into a government entity. MECO operates using privately generated funds, not government appropriations or capital. Therefore, it remains a private corporation. Consequently, it falls outside the constitutional and statutory scope of entities subject to the audit jurisdiction of the COA. The Court emphasized that the performance of public functions does not automatically confer governmental status upon a private entity for audit purposes.