Jacomille vs Secretary of DOTC

Case Digest: GR 212381 Apr 22 2015

Facts:

The LTO formulated the Motor Vehicle License Plate Standardization Program (MVPSP) to supply the new
license plates for both old and new vehicle registrants. The DOTC, in its invitation for bidders on Feb 20,
2013, announced that it intends to apply the sum of 3.8 billion for the contract. The award was granted
to JKG Power Plates on July 22, 2013. The contract signing, however, was halted. It was made only on
February 2014 when sufficient funds from the GAA 2014 were already made available for the project.

Jacomille instituted a taxpayer suit questioning the procurement process on the ground that it did not
comply with the requirements of RA 9184 and its implementing laws, and that when DOTC commenced
the MVPSP, there was no sufficient funding as reflected in the GAA 2013. Jacomille saw this as a clear
misrepresentation or even a deception by the said DOTC against the government and the general public
as a whole.

JKG Power Plates averred that the case was not a proper subject of taxpayer suit because no taxes would
be spent for this project. The money to be paid for the plates would not come from taxes, but from
payments of vehicle owners, who would pay P450.00 for every pair of motor vehicle license plate, and
P120.00 for every motorcycle license plate. Out of the P450.00, the cost of the motor vehicle plate
would only be P380.00. In effect, the government would even earn P70.00 from every pair of plate.

Issue: W/N Jacomillo has legal standing to maintain the suit

Held:

Yes. Jacomillo as a taxpaying citzen is a proper party because the MVPSP involves the expenditure of
public funds. While the motor vehicle registrants will pay for the license plates, the bid documents and
contract for MVPSP indicate that the government shall bear the burden of paying for the project.
As a rule, a person suing as a taxpayer must show that the act complained of directly involves the illegal
disbursement of public funds derived from taxation. Jacomillo satisfies this requirement when he alleges
that public funds in the amount of P3 .851 billion shall be used in a project that has undergone an
improper procurement process.