SECOND DIVISION

CARGILL, INC., G.R. No. 168266

Petitioner,
Present:

CARPIO, J., Chairperson,

BRION,
- versus - ABAD,
VILLARAMA, JR.,* and
PEREZ, JJ.

INTRA STRATA ASSURANCE

Promulgated:
CORPORATION,
Respondent. March 15, 2010
x--------------------------------------------------x

DECISION

CARPIO, J.:

The Case

This petition for review[1] assails the 26 May 2005 Decision[2] of the Court of
Appeals in CA-G.R. CV No. 48447.

The Facts

Petitioner Cargill, Inc. (petitioner) is a corporation organized and existing under the
laws of the State of Delaware, United States of America. Petitioner and Northern
Mindanao Corporation (NMC) executed a contract dated 16 August 1989 whereby
NMC agreed to sell to petitioner 20,000 to 24,000 metric tons of molasses, to be
delivered from 1 Januaryto 30 June 1990 at the price of $44 per metric ton. The
contract provides that petitioner would open a Letter of Credit with the Bank of
Philippine Islands. Under the red clause of the Letter of Credit, NMC was permitted
to draw up to $500,000 representing the minimum price of the contract upon
presentation of some documents.

The contract was amended three times: first, on 11 January 1990, increasing the
purchase price of the molasses to $47.50 per metric ton;[3] second, on 18 June 1990,
reducing the quantity of the molasses to 10,500 metric tons and increasing the price
to $55 per metric ton;[4] and third, on 22 August 1990, providing for the shipment of
5,250 metric tons of molasses on the last half of December 1990 through the first
half of January 1991, and the balance of 5,250 metric tons on the last half of January
1991 through the first half of February 1991.[5] The third amendment also required
NMC to put up a performance bond equivalent to $451,500, which represents the
value of 10,500 metric tons of molasses computed at $43 per metric ton. The
performance bond was intended to guarantee NMCs performance to deliver the
molasses during the prescribed shipment periods according to the terms of the
amended contract.

In compliance with the terms of the third amendment of the contract, respondent
Intra Strata Assurance Corporation (respondent) issued on 10 October 1990 a
performance bond[6] in the sum of P11,287,500 to guarantee NMCs delivery of the
10,500 tons of molasses, and a surety bond [7] in the sum of P9,978,125 to guarantee
the repayment of downpayment as provided in the contract.

NMC was only able to deliver 219.551 metric tons of molasses out of the agreed
10,500 metric tons. Thus, petitioner sent demand letters to respondent claiming
payment under the performance and surety bonds. When respondent refused to pay,
petitioner filed on 12 April 1991 a complaint[8] for sum of money against NMC and
respondent.

Petitioner, NMC, and respondent entered into a compromise agreement,[9] which the
trial court approved in its Decision[10] dated 13 December 1991. The compromise
agreement provides that NMC would pay petitioner P3,000,000 upon signing of the
compromise agreement and would deliver to petitioner 6,991 metric tons of molasses
from 16-31 December 1991. However, NMC still failed to comply with its obligation
under the compromise agreement. Hence, trial proceeded against respondent.

On 23 November 1994, the trial court rendered a decision, the dispositive portion of
which reads:

WHEREFORE, judgment is rendered in favor of plaintiff [Cargill, Inc.],

ordering defendant INTRA STRATA ASSURANCE CORPORATION
 to solidarily pay plaintiff the total amount of SIXTEEN MILLION NINE
HUNDRED NINETY-THREE THOUSAND AND TWO HUNDRED
PESOS (P16,993,200.00), Philippine Currency, with interest at the legal
rate from October 10, 1990 until fully paid, plus attorneys fees in the sum
of TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND PESOS (P200,000.00), Philippine
Currency and the costs of the suit.

The Counterclaim of Intra Strata Assurance Corporation is hereby dismissed for lack of
merit.

SO ORDERED.[11]

On appeal, the Court of Appeals reversed the trial courts decision and dismissed the
complaint. Hence, this petition.
The Court of Appeals Ruling

The Court of Appeals held that petitioner does not have the capacity to file this suit
since it is a foreign corporation doing business in the Philippines without the
requisite license. The Court of Appeals held that petitioners purchases of molasses
were in pursuance of its basic business and not just mere isolated and incidental
transactions.

The Issues

Petitioner raises the following issues:

1. Whether petitioner is doing or transacting business in the Philippines

in contemplation of the law and established jurisprudence;

2. Whether respondent is estopped from invoking the defense that

petitioner has no legal capacity to sue in the Philippines;

3. Whether petitioner is seeking a review of the findings of fact of the

Court of Appeals; and
 4. Whether the advance payment of $500,000 was released to NMC
without the submission of the supporting documents required
in the contract and the red clause Letter of Credit from which
said amount was drawn.[12]

The Ruling of the Court

We find the petition meritorious.

Doing Business in the Philippines and Capacity to Sue

The principal issue in this case is whether petitioner, an unlicensed foreign

corporation, has legal capacity to sue before Philippine courts. Under Article
123[13] of the Corporation Code, a foreign corporation must first obtain a license and
a certificate from the appropriate government agency before it can transact business
in the Philippines. Where a foreign corporation does business in
the Philippines without the proper license, it cannot maintain any action or
proceeding before Philippine courts as provided underSection 133 of the
Corporation Code:

Sec. 133. Doing business without a license. No foreign corporation

transacting business in the Philippines without a license, or its successors
or assigns, shall be permitted to maintain or intervene in any action, suit
or proceeding in any court or administrative agency of the Philippines; but
such corporation may be sued or proceeded against before Philippine
courts or administrative tribunals on any valid cause of action recognized
under Philippine laws.

Thus, the threshold question in this case is whether petitioner was doing business in
the Philippines. The Corporation Code provides no definition for the phrase doing
business. Nevertheless, Section 1 of Republic Act No. 5455 (RA 5455), [14] provides
that:
x x x the phrase doing business shall include soliciting orders, purchases,
service contracts, opening offices, whether called liaison offices or
branches; appointing representatives or distributors who are domiciled in
the Philippines or who in any calendar year stay in the Philippines for a
period or periods totalling one hundred eighty days or more; participating
 in the management, supervision or control of any domestic business firm,
entity or corporation in the Philippines; and any other act or acts that
imply a continuity of commercial dealings or arrangements, and
contemplate to that extent the performance of acts or works, or the
exercise of some of the functions normally incident to, and in
progressive prosecution of, commercial gain or of the purpose and
object of the business organization. (Emphasis supplied)

This is also the exact definition provided under Article 44 of the Omnibus
Investments Code of 1987.

Republic Act No. 7042 (RA 7042), otherwise known as the Foreign Investments Act
of 1991, which repealed Articles 44-56 of Book II of the Omnibus Investments Code
of 1987, enumerated not only the acts or activities which constitute doing business
but also those activities which are not deemed doing business. Section 3(d) of RA
7042 states:

[T]he phrase doing business shall include soliciting orders, service

contracts, opening offices, whether called liaison offices or branches;
appointing representatives or distributors domiciled in the Philippines or
who in any calendar year stay in the country for a period or
periods totalling one hundred eighty (180) days or more; participating in
the management, supervision or control of any domestic business, firm,
entity or corporation in the Philippines; and any other act or acts that imply
a continuity of commercial dealings or arrangements, and contemplate to
that extent the performance of acts or works, or the exercise of some of
the functions normally incident to, and in progressive prosecution of,
commercial gain or of the purpose and object of the business
organization: Provided, however, That the phrase doing business shall not
be deemed to include mere investment as a shareholder by a foreign entity
in domestic corporations duly registered to do business, and/or the
exercise of rights as such investor; nor having a nominee director or
officer to represent its interests in such corporation; nor appointing a
representative or distributor domiciled in the Philippines which transacts
business in its own name and for its own account.

Since respondent is relying on Section 133 of the Corporation Code to bar petitioner
from maintaining an action in Philippine courts, respondent bears the burden of
proving that petitioners business activities in the Philippines were not just casual or
occasional, but so systematic and regular as to manifest continuity and permanence
of activity to constitute doing business in the Philippines. In this case, we find that
respondent failed to prove that petitioners activities in the Philippines constitute
doing business as would prevent it from bringing an action.

The determination of whether a foreign corporation is doing business in

the Philippines must be based on the facts of each case.[15] In the case
of Antam Consolidated, Inc. v. CA,[16] in which a foreign corporation filed an action
for collection of sum of money against petitioners therein for damages and loss
sustained for the latters failure to deliver coconut crude oil, the Court emphasized
the importance of the element of continuity of commercial activities to constitute
doing business in the Philippines. The Court held:
In the case at bar, the transactions entered into by the respondent with the
petitioners are not a series of commercial dealings which signify an intent
on the part of the respondent to do business in the Philippines but
constitute an isolated one which does not fall under the category of doing
business. The records show that the only reason why the respondent
entered into the second and third transactions with the petitioners was
because it wanted to recover the loss it sustained from the failure of the
petitioners to deliver the crude coconut oil under the first transaction and
in order to give the latter a chance to make good on their obligation. x x x

x x x The three seemingly different transactions were entered into by the

parties only in an effort to fulfill the basic agreement and in no way
indicate an intent on the part of the respondent to engage in a continuity
of transactions with petitioners which will categorize it as a foreign
corporation doing business in the Philippines.[17]

Similarly, in this case, petitioner and NMC amended their contract three times to
give a chance to NMC to deliver to petitioner the molasses, considering that NMC
already received the minimum price of the contract. There is no showing that the
transactions between petitioner and NMC signify the intent of petitioner to establish
a continuous business or extend its operations in the Philippines.

The Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 7042 provide under Section 1(f),
Rule I, that doing business does not include the following acts:
 1. Mere investment as a shareholder by a foreign entity in domestic
corporations duly registered to do business, and/or the exercise of rights
as such investor;
2. Having a nominee director or officer to represent its interests in such corporation;
3. Appointing a representative or distributor domiciled in
the Philippines which transacts business in the representative's or distributor's own
name and account;
4. The publication of a general advertisement through any print or broadcast media;
5. Maintaining a stock of goods in the Philippines solely for the purpose of having the
same processed by another entity in the Philippines;
6. Consignment by a foreign entity of equipment with a local company to be used in
the processing of products for export;
7. Collecting information in the Philippines; and
8. Performing services auxiliary to an existing isolated contract of sale which are not
on a continuing basis, such as installing in the Philippines machinery it has
manufactured or exported to the Philippines, servicing the same, training domestic
workers to operate it, and similar incidental services.

Most of these activities do not bring any direct receipts or profits to the foreign
corporation, consistent with the ruling of this Court in National Sugar Trading Corp.
v. CA[18]that activities within Philippine jurisdiction that do not create earnings or
profits to the foreign corporation do not constitute doing business in the
Philippines.[19] In that case, the Court held that it would be inequitable for the
National Sugar Trading Corporation, a state-owned corporation, to evade payment
of a legitimate indebtedness owing to the foreign corporation on the plea that the
latter should have obtained a license first before perfecting a contract with the
Philippine government. The Court emphasized that the foreign corporation did not
sell sugar and derive income from the Philippines, but merely purchased sugar from
the Philippine government and allegedly paid for it in full.

In this case, the contract between petitioner and NMC involved the purchase of
molasses by petitioner from NMC. It was NMC, the domestic corporation, which
derived income from the transaction and not petitioner. To constitute doing business,
the activity undertaken in the Philippines should involve profit-making.[20] Besides,
under Section 3(d) of RA 7042, soliciting purchases has been deleted from the
enumeration of acts or activities which constitute doing business.

Other factors which support the finding that petitioner is not doing business in the
Philippines are: (1) petitioner does not have an office in the Philippines; (2)
petitioner imports products from the Philippines through its non-exclusive local
broker, whose authority to act on behalf of petitioner is limited to soliciting
purchases of products from suppliers engaged in the sugar trade in the Philippines;
and (3) the local broker is an independent contractor and not an agent of petitioner.[21]

As explained by the Court in B. Van Zuiden Bros., Ltd. v. GTVL Marketing

Industries, Inc.:[22]

An exporter in one country may export its products to many foreign

importing countries without performing in the importing countries specific
commercial acts that would constitute doing business in the importing
countries. The mere act of exporting from ones own country, without
doing any specific commercial act within the territory of the importing
country, cannot be deemed as doing business in the importing country. The
importing country does not require jurisdiction over the foreign exporter
who has not yet performed any specific commercial act within the territory
of the importing country. Without jurisdiction over the foreign exporter,
the importing country cannot compel the foreign exporter to secure a
license to do business in the importing country.

Otherwise, Philippine exporters, by the mere act alone of exporting their products, could
be considered by the importing countries to be doing business in those countries. This
will require Philippine exporters to secure a business license in every foreign country
where they usually export their products, even if they do not perform any specific
commercial act within the territory of such importing countries. Such a legal concept
will have deleterious effect not only on Philippine exports, but also on global trade.

To be doing or transacting business in the Philippines for purposes of

Section 133 of the Corporation Code, the foreign corporation
must actually transact business in the Philippines, that is, perform
specific business transactions within the Philippine territory on a
continuing basis in its own name and for its own account. Actual
transaction of business within the Philippine territory is an essential
 requisite for the Philippines to to acquire jurisdiction over a foreign
corporation and thus require the foreign corporation to secure a
Philippine business license. If a foreign corporation does not transact
such kind of business in the Philippines, even if it exports its products to
the Philippines, the Philippines has no jurisdiction to require such foreign
corporation to secure a Philippine business license.[23] (Emphasis supplied)

In the present case, petitioner is a foreign company merely importing molasses from
a Philipine exporter. A foreign company that merely imports goods from a
Philippine exporter, without opening an office or appointing an agent in
the Philippines, is not doing business in the Philippines.

Review of Findings of Fact

The Supreme Court may review the findings of fact of the Court of Appeals which
are in conflict with the findings of the trial court.[24] We find that the Court of Appeals
finding that petitioner was doing business is not supported by evidence.

Furthermore, a review of the records shows that the trial court was correct in
holding that the advance payment of $500,000 was released to NMC in accordance
with the conditions provided under the red clause Letter of Credit from which
said amount was drawn. The Head of the International Operations Department of the
Bank of Philippine Islands testified that the bank would not have paid the beneficiary
if the required documents were not complete. It is a requisite in a documentary credit
transaction that the documents should conform to the terms and conditions of the
letter of credit; otherwise, the bank will not pay. The Head of the International
Operations Department of the Bank of Philippine Islands also testified that they
received reimbursement from the issuing bank for the $500,000 withdrawn by
NMC.[25] Thus, respondent had no legitimate reason to refuse payment under the
performance and surety bonds when NMC failed to perform its part under its contract
with petitioner.
WHEREFORE , we GRANT the petition. We REVERSE the
Decision dated 26 May 2005 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CV No. 48447.
We REINSTATE the Decision dated 23 November 1994 of the trial court.

SO ORDERED.