Kilosbayan vs.

Guingona
GR 113375, May 05, 1994

Facts:
Pursuant to Section 1 of the charter of the PCSO (R.A. No. 1169, as amended by B.P. Blg. 42)
which grants it the authority to hold and conduct charity sweepstakes races, lotteries and other
similar activities, the PCSO decided to establish an on-line lottery system for the purpose of
increasing its revenue base and diversifying its sources of funds. Sometime before March 1993,
after learning that the PCSO was interested in operating an on-line lottery system, the Berjaya
Group Berhad, a multinational company and one of the ten largest public companies in
Malaysia, became interested to offer its services and resources to PCSO. As an initial step,
Berjaya Group Berhad (through its individual nominees) organized with some Filipino investors
in March 1993 a Philippine corporation known as the Philippine Gaming Management
Corporation (PGMC), which was intended to be the medium through which the technical and
management services required for the project would be offered and delivered to PCSO. Before
August 1993, the PCSO formally issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Lease Contract of
an on-line lottery system for the PCSO. On 15 August 1993, PGMC submitted its bid to the
PCSO. On 21 October 1993, the Office of the President announced that it had given the
respondent PGMC the go-signal to operate the countrys on-line lottery system and that the
corresponding implementing contract would be submitted not later than 8 November 1993 for
final clearance and approval by the Chief Executive. On 4 November 1993, KILOSBAYAN sent
an open letter to President Fidel V. Ramos strongly opposing the setting up of the on-line lottery
system on the basis of serious moral and ethical considerations. Considering the denial by the
Office of the President of its protest and the statement of Assistant Executive Secretary Renato
Corona that only a court injunction can stop Malacaang, and the imminent implementation of
the Contract of Lease in February 1994, KILOSBAYAN, with its co-petitioners, filed on 28
January 1994 this petition. Petitioner claims that it is a non-stock domestic corporation
composed of civic-spirited citizens, pastors, priests, nuns, and lay leaders. The rest of the
petitioners, are suing in their capacities as members of the Board of Trustees of KILOSBAYAN
and as taxpayers and concerned citizens. The public respondents, meanwhile allege that the
petitioners have no standing to maintain the instant suit, citing the Courts resolution in
Valmonte vs. Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
Issue:

Whether or not the petitioners have locus standi to file such petition.

Held:

The ramifications of such issues immeasurably affect the social, economic, and moral well-
being of the people even in the remotest barangays of the country and the counter-productive
and retrogressive effects of the envisioned on-line lottery system are as staggering as the
billions in pesos it is expected to raise. The legal standing then of the petitioners deserves
recognition and, in the exercise of its sound discretion, the Court hereby brushes aside the
procedural barrier which the respondents tried to take advantage of.