Gold Line Tours

v.
Heirs Of Lacsa
GR No. 159108
18 June 2012

Facts:

Maria Conception Lacasa died as a result of a collision between Goldline bus where she
is a passenger and a jeepney. A case was filed by her heirs against the driver and the owner of
the bus company, where the court ruled in her favor. In the execution of the judgment, a tourist
bus owned by GoldLine Tours, Inc. was levied by the court. The petitioner interposed that the
bus should be returned because it was the owner and that petitioner had not been made a
party to the case and that petitioner was a corporation entirely different from Travel & Tours
Advisers, Inc., which is the defendant in the case filed by the respondents. Both the RTC and CA
declared petitioner and Travel & Tours Advisers, Inc. to be one and the same entity, and ruled
that the levy of petitioner’s property to satisfy the final and executory decision rendered is
correct.

Issue: Whether or not Gold Line Tours, Inc. Travel & Tour Advisers, Inc. is one and the same
entity.

Ruling: Yes.

The veil of corporate existence of a corporation is a fiction of law that should not defeat
the ends of justice. Yes, if a Court has sufficient factual basis to conclude that two corporations
are one and the same entity as when they have the same President and controlling shareholder
and it is generally known in the place where they do business that both transportation
companies are one, the third party claim filed by the other corporation can be set aside and the
levy on its property can be held valid even though the latter is not made a party to the case .
The judgment may be enforced against the other corporation to prevent multiplicity of suits
and save the parties unnecessary expenses and delay.