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BOY SCOUT OF THE PHILIPPINES VS COMMISSION ON AUDIT

Facts:
COA issued a Resolution No. 99-011 on August 19, 1999, with the subject “Defining the Commission’s Policy with respect to the audit of the Boy Scout of the Philippines.” The BSP which was created as a public corporation, and that in BSP vs. NLRC, the Supreme Court ruled that the BSP, as constituted under its charter, was a Government Owned and Controlled Corporation within the meaning of Art. IX (B) (2) (1) of the Constitution, and that the BSP is regarded as a government instrumentality under the Administrative Code. For the purposes of audit supervision, the BSP shall be classified among the government corporations to be audited by employing the team audit approach. The BSP sought reconsideration of the COA Resolut

ion in a letter signed by then BSP National President Jejomar C. Binay, saying that it is not subject to the COA’s jurisdiction.

Issues:
Whether or not the Boy Scout of the Philippines is a government owned and controlled corporation?
Whether or not it is under the jurisdiction of the COA?

The Ruling of the court:

After looking at the legislative history of its amended charter and carefully studying the applicable laws and the arguments of both parties, The SC finds that the BSP is a public corporation and its funds are subject to the COA’s audit jurisdiction.

The BSP is a public corporation or a government agency or instrumentality with juridical personality, which does not fall within the constitutional prohibition in Article XII, Section 16, notwithstanding the amendments to its charter. Not all corporations, which are not government owned or controlled, are ipso facto to be considered private corporations as there exists another distinct class of corporations or chartered institutions which are otherwise known as "public corporations." These corporations are treated by law as agencies or instrumentalities of the government which are not subject to the tests of ownership or control and economic viability but to different criteria relating to their public purposes/interests or constitutional policies and objectives and their administrative relationship to the government or any of its Departments or Offices.

Since the BSP, under its amended charter, continues to be a public corporation or a government instrumentality, we come to the inevitable conclusion that it is subject to the exercise by the COA of its audit jurisdiction in the manner consistent with the provisions of the BSP Charter.