DOJ OPINION NO. 135, s.

1987

November 26, 1987

Mr. Jorge B. Contretras

Executive Director
Employees' Compensation Commission (ECC)
3rd Floor, ECC Building
355 Senator Gil J. Puyat Avenue
Makati, Metro Manila

Sir :

This refers to your request for opinion on whether the Employees'

Compensation Commission (ECC) is liable to pay to the Bel-Air Village
Association, Inc. "home-owners' dues" in the amount of P8,220.00 a year
purportedly for its and its clients' use of Jupiter Street, as public
thoroughfare bordering your office building located at 355 Senator Gil J.
Puyat Avenue in Makati, Metro Manila.
You state that the lot, as well as the building of the ECC was acquired
in 1984; that in the Title to the property (TCT No. 131889), there is an
annotation which reads that "the vendee of this lot including any heirs,
successors and assigns shall automatically become a . . . member of the Bel-
Air Village Association"; and that as a member of the Association, the ECC is
being billed an annual homeowner's dues of P8,220.00 year from 1984 to
1987, or a total accumulated dues of P32,880.00.
You pose the query in the light of Article 204 of the Labor Code (P.D.
No. 442, as amended) which reads:
"Art. 204. Exemption from levy, tax, etc. — All laws to the contrary
notwithstanding, the State Insurance Fund and all its assets shall be
exempt from any tax, fee, charge, levy, or customs or import duty, and
no law hereafter enacted shall apply to the State Insurance Fund
unless it is provided therein that the same is applicable by expressly
stating its name."

Subject to the extended discussion below, our answer is in the

affirmative.
The ECC is a government corporation attached to the Department of
Labor. Its principal function is to initiate, rationalize and coordinate the
policies of the employees' compensation program. As a government
corporation, it has the power to sue and be sued in court and to acquire
property, real or personal, which may be necessary or expedient for the
attainment of its purposes and objectives. prcd

Thus, when the ECC acquired subject lot and building in 1984, it was
aware of the conditions and terms thereof in relation to the Bel-Air Village
Association organized and operating in there are, as clearly provided in the
annotations found at the back of the TCT covering the property. Article 204
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 of the Labor Code, which exempts the State Insurance Fund and all its assets
(ECC lot and building included) from any tax, fee charge, levy or customs or
import duty, does not include "homeowner's dues" which are not collectible
or due to the government but to a private entity, i.e., the Bel-Air Village
Association.
Moreover, upon verification with the Office of Regional Director,
National Capital Region, Department of Public Works and Highways, we were
informed that Jupiter Street is a private road within the Bel-Air Village, a
private residential subdivision in Makati, Metro Manila. To date, the road is
still being maintained by the subdivision owners because the same has not
yet been turned over to the municipal government of Makati pursuant to the
provision of P.D. No. 957, otherwise known as the "Subdivision and
Condominium Buyers Protective Decree."
In fine, it is believed that pending the turn over and conversion of
Jupiter Street into a municipal or public road/street, the ECC is liable to pay
to the Bel-Air Village Association its annual homeowners' dues.

Very truly yours,

(SGD.) SEDFREY A. ORDOÑEZ

Secretary of Justice

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