CHAVEZ VS.

NHA
G.R. No. 164527 August 15, 2007
Facts:
On August 5, 2004, former Solicitor General Francisco I. Chavez, filed an
instant petition which impleaded as respondents the NHA, RBI, R-II Holdings,
Inc. (RHI), HCPTI, and Mr. Reghis Romero II, raising constitutional issues.
Petitioner asserts his right to information on all documents such as contracts,
reports, memoranda, and the like relative to SMDRP.
Issue:
Whether or not the NHA must be compelled to disclose all information related to the
smokey mountain development and reclamation project.
Held:
The petition is partially granted.
Respondents argue that petitioner Chavez has no legal standing to file the petition.
Only a person who stands to be benefited or injured by the judgment in the suit or
entitled to the avails of the suit can file a complaint or petition.47 Respondents
claim that petitioner is not a proper party-in-interest as he was unable to show that
"he has sustained or is in immediate or imminent danger of sustaining some direct
and personal injury as a result of the execution and enforcement of the assailed
contracts or agreements."48 Moreover, they assert that not all government
contracts can justify a taxpayers suit especially when no public funds were utilized
in contravention of the Constitution or a law.
This relief must be granted.
The right of the Filipino people to information on matters of public concern is
enshrined in the 1987 Constitution, thus:
ARTICLE II
xxxx
SEC. 28. Subject to reasonable conditions prescribed by law, the State adopts and
implements a policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public
interest.
ARTICLE III
SEC. 7. The right of the people to information on matters of public concern shall be
recognized. Access to official records, and to documents, and papers pertaining to
official acts, transactions, or decisions, as well as to government research data used
as basis for policy development, shall be afforded the citizen, subject to such
limitations as may be provided by law.