G.R. No. L-3745; April 30, 1952
CORNELIO S. RUPERTO and RAYMUNDO NATIVIDAD, deceased, substituted by MAGDALENA P. DE NATIVIDAD, ETC., petitioners-appellants, vs. Major General GEORGE F. MOORE, ETC., Col. SYRIL FAINE, ETC., Major THOMAS J. BROWN, ETC., Lt. Col. FLORENTINO GONZALES, ET AL., respondents-appellees.

FACTS

Major General George F. Moore issued an order on September 22, 1947, revoking the initial recognition previously granted to petitioners Cornelio S. Ruperto and Raymundo Natividad as guerrilla officers of the American Dominion Forces in the Philippines. The order stated they failed to meet the required standards and lacked sufficient evidence to substantiate their claimed service, and directed the deletion of their names from the recognized roster. This recognition had originally been accorded by special orders from General Douglas MacArthur on June 19, 1945. Following the revocation, petitioners filed an action in the Court of First Instance of Manila seeking to nullify the order and secure their reinstatement as guerrilla officers. The respondents filed a motion to dismiss on grounds of lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter and over their persons. The court initially dismissed the petition for lack of jurisdiction on August 26, 1949, and after petitioners failed to submit the legal basis for their cause of action within a given period, issued a final order of dismissal on January 31, 1950, from which petitioners appealed.

ISSUE

Whether the Philippine courts have jurisdiction over the action filed by petitioners to nullify the revocation order issued by Major General George F. Moore and to secure their reinstatement as recognized guerrilla officers.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the order of dismissal, holding that the Philippine courts have no jurisdiction over the case. The Court ruled that the real party in interest is the Government of the United States of America, as the petitioners’ ultimate aim was to press a claim for emoluments or back pay against the U.S. treasury. Since the action is essentially against a foreign government, and the U.S. Government has not given its consent to be sued, the courts of the Philippines lack jurisdiction. The Court emphasized that the principle of sovereign immunity bars such suits. It further noted that petitioners should have exhausted administrative remedies by appealing the revocation to the appropriate U.S. military authorities before the deadline of June 30, 1948, and that granting the relief sought was not within the province of the Court.