[ Act No. 3083, March 16, 1923 ]

AN ACT DEFINING THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS MAY BE SUED

Be it enacted by the  Senate  and  House of Representatives of the Philippines in Legislature assembled and by the authority of the  same:SECTION 1. Subject to the provisions  of this  Act,  the Government  of the Philippine Islands  hereby consents  and submits  to  be sued  upon any moneyed claim  involving liability  arising from contract, express or  implied, which could serve as a basis  of civil action between private parties. SEC. 2. A person desiring to avail himself of the privilege herein conferred must show that he has presented  his claim to the Insular Auditor and  that the latter did not decide the same within two months from the  date  of its presentation.SEC. 3. Original  actions brought pursuant to the authority  conferred in this Act shall be instituted in the  Court of First  Instance of the City of Manila or  of the province where the claimant  resides, at  the  option of the latter, upon which court exclusive  original jurisdiction is hereby conferred to hear  and determine such actions. SEC. 4. Actions  instituted  as aforesaid shall be  governed by the same rules of procedure, both original and appellate. as if the litigants were  private parties.SEC. 5. When the Government of  the Philippine Islands is plaintiff in an action instituted in any court of original jurisdiction,  the defendant shall  have the  right  to assert therein, by way of set-off or counterclaim in  a similar action between  private parties.SEC. 6. Process in actions brought  against  the Government of  the Philippine  Islands pursuant to the authority granted  in  this Act  shall be  served  upon the  Attorney- General whose duty it shall be to  appear and make defense, either himself or through delegates.SEC. 7. No  execution  shall issue  upon  any  judgment rendered by any court against the Government of the Philippine Islands under the provisions  of  this  Act; but  a copy thereof duly certified by the clerk of the Court in which judgment is rendered shall  be transmitted by such clerk to the Governor-General, within five  days  after the same becomes  final.SEC. 8. The Governor-General,  at the commencement of each regular  session  of  the  Legislature, shall transmit to that body for appropriate action  all decisions so received by him, and if said body determine that payment should be made, it shall appropriate the sum which the  Government has  been sentenced to pay, including  the same in the  appropriations for the  ensuing year.SEC. 9. This Act shall take effect  on its approval.Approved, March 16, 1923.

Source: Supreme Court E-Library