Republic of the Philippines v. Sandiganbayan, et al.

G.R. No. 90478

November 21, 1991
Narvasa, J.

FACTS:
In 1987, the PCGG filed a case against individuals, including Tantoco, Jr., and Santiago, seeking
reconveyance, reversion, and damages. Legal motions followed, with Tantoco and Santiago requesting
specific details from the PCGG. The Sandiganbayan denied these motions in 1988, stating the complaint
was clear.

The legal process continued with Tantoco and Santiago submitting counterclaims. In 1989, as the case
approached pre-trial, they sought specifics from the PCGG through interrogatories and a motion for
document production. The Sandiganbayan approved these requests despite the PCGG's opposition,
leading to resolutions in September 1989.

ISSUE:
Is the PCGG immune from suit?

HELD:
No. The state is of course immune from suit in the sense that it cannot, as a rule, be sued without its
consent. However, it is axiomatic that in filing an action, it divests itself of its sovereign character and
sheds its immunity from suit, descending to the level of an ordinary litigant.

The PCGG cannot claim a superior or preferred status to the State, even while assuming of an act for the
State. The suggestion that the State makes no implied waiver of immunity by filing a suit except when in
doing so it acts in, or in matters concerning, its proprietary or nongovernmental capacity, is
unacceptable. It attempts a distinction without support in principle or precedent. On the contrary, ―the
consent of the State to be sued may be given expressly or impliedly. Express consent may be manifested
either through a general law or a special law. Implied consent is given when the State itself commences
litigation or when it enters into a contract.