See - 209287.pdf
"x x x.
It is equally important to stress that the ascertainment of good faith, or the lack of it, and the determination of whether or not due diligence and prudence were exercised, are questions of fact.49 The want of good faith is thus better determined by tribunals other than this Court, which is not a trier of facts.50 For sure, the Court cannot jettison the presumption of good faith in this or in any other case. The presumption is a matter of law. It has had a long history. Indeed, good faith has long been established as a legal principle even in the heydays of the Roman Empire.51 In Soriano v. Marcelo,
52 citing Collantes v. Marcelo,53 the Court emphasizes the necessity of the presumption of good faith, thus:
Well-settled is the rule that good faith is always presumed and the Chapter on Human Relations of the Civil Code directs every person, inter alia, to observe good faith which springs from the fountain of good conscience. Specifically, a public officer is presumed to have acted in good faith in the performance of his duties. Mistakes committed by a public officer are not actionable absent any clear showing that they were motivated by malice or gross negligence amounting to bad faith. "Bad faith" does not simply connote bad moral judgment or negligence. There must be some dishonest purpose or some moral obliquity and conscious doing of a wrong, a breach of a sworn duty through some motive or intent or ill will. It partakes of the nature of fraud. It contemplates a state of mind affirmatively operating with furtive design or some motive of self-interest or ill will for ulterior purposes.
The law also requires that the public officer’s action caused undue injury to any party, including the government, or gave any private party unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his functions. x x x
The Court has further explained in Philippine Agila Satellite, Inc. v. Trinidad-Lichauco: 54
We do not doubt the existence of the presumptions of “good faith” or “regular performance of official duty”, yet these presumptions are disputable and may be contradicted and overcome by other evidence. Many civil actions are oriented towards overcoming any number of these presumptions, and a cause of action can certainly be geared towards such effect. The very purpose of trial is to allow a party to present evidence to overcome the disputable presumptions involved. Otherwise, if trial is deemed irrelevant or unnecessary, owing to the perceived indisputability of the presumptions, the judicial exercise would be relegated to a mere ascertainment of what presumptions apply in a given case, nothing more.
Consequently, the entire Rules of Court is rendered as excess verbiage, save perhaps for the provisions laying down the legal presumptions. Relevantly, the authors, proponents and implementors of the DAP, being public officers, further enjoy the presumption of regularity in the performance of their functions. This presumption is necessary because they are clothed with some part of the sovereignty of the State, and because they act in the interest of the public as required by law.55 However, the
presumption may be disputed.56 At any rate, the Court has agreed during its deliberations to extend to
the proponents and implementors of the DAP the benefit of the doctrine of operative fact. This is because they had nothing to do at all with the adoption of the invalid acts and practices.
x x x."
