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4G.R. No. L-22619 December 2, 1924 NATIONAL COAL COMPANY, plaintif-appellee, vs. THE COLLECTOR OF INTERNAL REEN!E, deendant-appellant. "OHN#ON, J.: This action was brought in t he Court o First Instance o the City o Manila on the 1th day o !uly, 1"#$, or the purpose o recovering the su% o &1#,'((.)*, alleged to have been paid under protest by the plaintif co%pany to the deendant, as speci+c ta on #(,'*".$ tons o coal. aid co%pany is a corporation created by ct /o. #'0 o the &hilippine egislature or the purpose o developing the coal industry in the &hilippine Islands and is actually engaged in coal %ining on reserved lands belonging to the 2overn%ent. It clai%ed ee%ption ro% taes under the provision o sections 1( and 10 o ct /o. #1", and prayed or a 3udg%ent ordering the deendant to reund to the plaintif said su% o &1#,'((.)*, with legal interest ro% the date o the presentation o the co% plaint, and costs against the deendant. The deendant answered denying generally and speci+cally all the %aterial allegations o the co%plaint , ece pt the legal eist ence and perso nalit y o the plain tif. s a speci al deense, the deendant alleged 4a5 that the su% o &1#,'((.)* was paid by the plaintif wit hout pro tests, and 4b5 that said su% was due and owi ng ro% the plain tif to the 2ov ern%ent o the &hi lip pine Isl and s under the pro vis ion s o sectio n 1(" ) o the d%in istr ative Code and praye d that the co%pl aint be dis%i ssed, with costs again st the plaintif. 6pon the issue thus presented, the case was brought on or trial. ter a consideration o the evidence adduced by both parties, the 7onorable &edro Conception, 3udge, held that the words 8land s owned by any perso n, etc.,8 in section 10 o ct /o. #1" shoul d be understood to %ean 8lands held in lease or usuruct,8 in har%ony with the other provision o said ct9 that the coal lands possessed by the plaintif, belonging to the 2overn%ent, ell within the provisions o section 10 o ct /o. #1"9 and that a ta o &'.'( per ton o 1,'1) :ilos on each ton o coal etracted therero%, as provided in said section, was the only ta which should be collected ro% the plaintif9 and sentenced the deendant to reund to the plaintif the su% o &11,'*1.11 which is the diference between the a%ount collected under section 1(") o the d%inistrative Code and the a%ount which should have been collected under the provisions o said section 10 o ct /o. #1". Fro% that sentence the deendant appealed, and now %a:es the ollowing assign%ents o error; I. The court below erred in holding that section 10 o ct /o. #1" does not reer to coal lands owned by persons and corporations. II. The court below erred in holding that the plaintif was not sub3ect to the ta prescribed in section 1(") o the d%inistrative Code. The <uestion conronting us in this appeal is whether the plaintif is sub3ect to the taes und er secti on 10 o ct /o. #1", or to the speci+c tae s under secti on 1(") o the d%inistrative Code. The plaintif corporation was created on the 1'th day o March, 1"1, by ct /o. #'0, or the purpose o developing the coal industry in the &hili ppine Island, in har%ony with the general plan o the 2overn%ent to encourage the develop%ent o the natural resources o the country, and to provided acilities thereor. =y said ct, the co%pany was granted the general powers o a corporation 8and such other powers as %ay be necessary to enable it to prosecute the business o developing coal deposits in the &hilippine Island and o %ining, etr acting , transporting and selli ng the coal contain ed in said deposit s.8 4ec. #, ct /o. #'0.5 =y the sa%e law 4ct /o. #'05 the 2overn%ent o the &hilippine Islands is %ade the %a3or ity stoc:h older, evident ly in orde r to insur e prope r gover n%ent supervis ion and control, and thus to pl ace the 2overn%ent in a posi tion to render all possible encourage%ent, assistance and help in the prosecution and urtherance o the co%pany>s business. ?n May 1(, 1"1, two %onths ater the passage o ct /o. #'0, creating the /ational Coal Co%pa ny, the &hil ippin e egi slatur e passe d ct /o. #1" 8to provi de or the leasing and development o coal lands in the &hilippine Islands.8 ?n ?ctober 1*, 1"1, upon petition o the /ational Coal Co%pany, the 2overnor-2eneral, by &rocla%ation /o. $", withdrew 8ro% settle%ent, entry, sale or other disposition, all coal-bearing public lands within the &rovince o @a%boanga, Aepart%ent o Mindanao and ulu, and the Island o &olillo, &rovince o T ayabas.8 l%ost i%%ediately ater the issuance o said procla%ation the /ational Coal Co%pany too: possession o the coal lands within the said reservation, with an area o about ('' hectares, without any urther or%ality, contract or lease. ? the $',''' shares o stoc: issued by the co%pany, the 2overn%ent o the &hilippine Islands is the owner o #",*'" shares, that is, o "" 1B$ per centu% o the whole capital stoc:. I we understand the theory o the plaintif-appellee, it is, that it clai%s to be the owner o the land ro% which it has %ined the coal in <uestion and is thereor e sub3ect to the provisions o section 10 o ct /o. #1" and not to the provisions o the section 1(") o the d%in istra tive Code. That contention o the plain tif leads us to an ea%i natio n o the evidence upon the <uestion o the ownership o the land ro% which the coal in <uestion was %ined. as the plaintif the owner o the land ro% which the coal in <uestion was %inedD I the evidence shows the aEr%ative, then the 3udg%ent should be aEr%ed. I the evidence shows that the land does not belong to the plaintif, then the 3udg%ent should be reversed, unless the plaintif>s rights all under section $ o said ct. The only witness presented by the pl aintif upon the <uestion o the ownership o the lan d in <uestion was Mr. Aal%acio Costas, who stated that he was a %e%ber o the board o directors o the plaintif corporation9 that the plaintif corporation too: possession o the land in <uestion by virtue o the procla%ation o the 2overnor-2eneral, :nown as &rocla%ation /o. $" o the yea r 1"19 that no docu%ent had been issued in avor o the plai nti f corpo ration9 that said corpo ration had received no per%i ssion ro% the ecretary o griculture and /atural esources9 that it too: possession o said lands covering an area o

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