Vinzons Chato Violation  The Constitutional Rights Public Officer Revenue

II.

a) Liwayway Vinzons-Chato was then the Commissioner of Internal Revenue while Fortune Tobacco Corporation is an entity engaged in the manufacture of different brands of cigarettes, among which are "Champion," "Hope," and "More" cigarettes.  Fortune filed a complaint against Vinzons-Chato to recover damages for the alleged violation of its constitutional rights arising from Vinzons-Chato's issuance of Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 37-934 (which re-classified Fortune cigarettes as locally manufactured with foreign brands and thereby imposed higher taxes), which the Supreme Court later declared invalid. Vinzons-Chato filed a Motion to Dismiss arguing that she cannot be held liable for damages for acts she performed while in the discharge of her duties as BIR Commissioner. Is she correct?  Explain. (5%)

SUGGESTED ANSWER:

Yes.  As a general rule, a public officer is not liable for acts performed in the discharge of his duties.  The exceptions are when he acted with malice, bad faith, or gross negligence in the performance of his duty, or when his act is in violation of the constitutionally guaranteed rights and liberties of a person under Article 32 of the NCC.  The public officer is not automatically considered to have violated the rights or liberties of a person simply because the rule the public officer issued was declared invalid by the Court.  The complainant must still allege and prove the particular injury or prejudice he has suffered from the violation of his constitutional right by the issuance of the invalidated rule.

The problem does not state any fact from which any malice, bad faith or gross negligence on the part of Vinzons-Chato may be inferred, or the particular injury or prejudice the complainant may have suffered as a result of the violation of his constitutional rights.  Hence, she cannot be liable.  The facts presented are similar to the  facts of the case of Vinzons-Chato v. Fortune, GR No. 141309, December 23, 2008).