Published — August 24, 2022
The following post does not create a lawyer-client relationship between Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices (or any of its lawyers) and the reader. It is still best for you to engage the services of your own lawyer to address your legal concerns, if any.
Also, the matters contained in the following were written in accordance with the law, rules, and jurisprudence prevailing at the time of writing and posting, and do not include any future developments on the subject matter under discussion.
After reading “May a religious corporation purchase real and personal property?”, read also “Classes of Religious Corporations”
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A corporation sole may purchase and hold real estate and personal property for each church, charitable, benevolent, or educational purposes.
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It may receive bequests or gifts for such purposes.
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Such corporation may sell or mortgage real property held by it.
Religous corporations may be incorporated by one or more persons. Such corporations may be classified into corporations sole and religious societies. (Section 107, Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines.)
A corporation sole is a corporation formed by the chief archbishop, bishop, priest, minister, rabbi or other presiding elder of a religious denomination, sect, or church, for the purpose of administering or managing as a trustee, the affairs, properties and temporalities of any religious denomination, sect, or church. (Section 108, Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines.)
Any corporation sole may purchase and hold real estate and personal property for its church, for charitable, benevolent, or educational purposes, and may likewise receive bequests or gifts for such purposes.
The law says:
Section 111. Acquisition and Alienation of Property. – A corporation sole may purchase and hold real estate and personal property for each church, charitable, benevolent, or educational purposes, and may receive bequests or gifts for such purposes. Such corporation may sell or mortgage real property held by it by obtaining an order for that purpose from the Regional Trial Court of the province where the property is situated upon proof that the notice of the application for leave to sell or mortgage has been made through publication or as directed by the Court, and that it is in the interest of the corporation that leave to sell or mortgage be granted. The application for leave to sell or mortgage must be made by petition, duly verified, by the chief archbishop, bishop, priest, minister, rabbi, or presiding elder acting as corporation sole, and may be opposed by any member of the religious denomination, sect or church represented by the corporation sole: Provided, That in cases where the rules, regulations, and discipline of the religious denomination, set or church, religious society, or colder concerned represented by such corporation sole regulate the method of acquiring, holding, selling, and mortgaging real estate and personal property, such rules, regulations and discipline shall govern, and the intervention of the courts shall not be necessary. (Emphasis supplied.)
Are all religious groups required to be registered as a corporation?
No. In the early case of Barlin v. Ramirez (G.R. No. L-2832, November 24, 1906), the Court opined that the Roman Catholic Church is not registered like other religious societies or churches in the Philippines because it has been recognized as a juridical person since time immemorial.
The Corporation Code does not require any religious group to be registered as a corporation but if it chooses to acquire legal personality, its members should incorporate in accordance with the Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines.
Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices specializes in business law and labor law consulting. For inquiries, you may reach us at info@alburolaw.com, or dial us at (02)7745-4391/0917-5772207.
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