Association of Flood Victims v. COMELEC

Facts:

SC affirmed COMELEC Resolution cancelling the certificate of registration of the Alliance of Barangay Concerns (ABC) Party-List which won in the party-list elections in the 2010 national elections. The disqualification of the ABC Party-List resulted in the re-computation of the party-list allocations in the House of Representatives, in which the COMELEC followed the formula outlined in the case of Barangay Association for National Advancement and Transparency (BANAT) v. Commission on Elections. The COMELEC then issued Minute Resolution No. 12-0859.

Petitioners Association of Flood Victims and Hernandez filed with the SC a special civil action for certiorari and/or mandamus under Rule 65 of the Rules of Court. Petitioners assert that the COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion when it issued Minute Resolution No. 12-0859.

Issue:

Whether or not the petitioners have the legal capacity to sue.

Held:

No. Under Sections 1 and 2 of Rule 3, only natural or juridical persons, or entities authorized by law may be parties in a civil action, which must be prosecuted or defended in the name of the real party in interest.

In their petition, it is stated that petitioner Association of Flood Victims “is a non-profit and non-partisan organization in the process of formal incorporation, the primary purpose of which is for the benefit of the common or general interest of many flood victims who are so numerous that it is impracticable to join all as parties,” and that petitioner Hernandez “is a Tax Payer and the Lead Convenor of the Association of Flood Victims.” Clearly, petitioner Association of Flood Victims, which is still in the process of incorporation, cannot be considered a juridical person or an entity authorized by law, which can be a party to a civil action.

More so in this case where there is no showing that petitioner Hernandez is validly authorized to represent petitioner Association of Flood Victims.

Since petitioner Association of Flood Victims has no legal capacity to sue, petitioner Hernandez, who is filing this petition as a representative of the Association of Flood Victims, is likewise devoid of legal personality to bring an action in court. Neither can petitioner Hernandez sue as a taxpayer because he failed to show that there was illegal expenditure of money raised by taxation or that public funds are wasted through the enforcement of an invalid or unconstitutional law.

Besides, petitioners have no locus standi or legal standing. Locus standi or legal standing is defined as:

x x x a personal and substantial interest in the case such that the party has sustained or will sustain a direct injury as a result of the governmental act that is being challenged. The term “interest” means a material interest, an interest in issue affected by the decree, as distinguished from mere interest in the question involved, or a mere incidental interest. The gist of the question of standing is whether a party alleges such personal stake in the outcome of the controversy as to assure that concrete adverseness which sharpens the presentation of issues upon which the court depends for illumination of difficult constitutional questions.