(a) Entity without Juridical Personality

Entities authorized by law to be parties:

• A corporation by estoppel;
• A contract of partnership having a capital of three thousand pesos or more but which fails to comply with the registration requirements;
• Estate of a deceased person;
• A legitimate labor organization;
• The Roman Catholic Church; and
• A dissolved corporation for suits that occur within 3 years after its dissolution and suits in connection with the settlement and closure of its affairs (Riano 2014 p. 264)

SUITS AGAINST ENTITIES WITHOUT JURIDICAL PERSONALITY

When two or more persons not organized as an entity with juridical personality enter into a transaction, they may be sued under the name by which they are generally or commonly known.

In the answer of such defendant, the names and addresses of the persons composing said entity must all be revealed. (Rule 3, Sec. 15)

NOTE: These entities may be a defendant but not a plaintiff as the provision states “may be sued.” An unlicensed foreign corporation doing business in the Philippines cannot sue before Philippine courts. On the other hand, an unlicensed foreign corporation not doing business in the Philippines can sue before Philippine courts. (Van Zuiden v. GTVL, G.R. No. 147905, 2007)

In suits where an agent represents a party, the principal is the real party-in-interest, an agent cannot file a suit in his own name on behalf of the principal. The agent, however, may sue or be sued solely in its own name and without joining the principal when the following elements concur: (1) Agent acted in his own name during the transaction, (2) Agent acted for the benefit of an undisclosed principal, and (3) Transaction did not involve the property of the principal.

In this case, only the first element is present. A Corp, therefore, does not have the capacity to sue because being an agent of the passengers, it is not a real party-in-interest in this case. (V-Gent v. Morning Star, G.R. No. 186305, 2015)

Judgment against Entity without Juridical Personality

When judgment is rendered against two or more persons sued as an entity without juridical personality, the judgment shall set out their individual or proper names, if known. (Rule 36, Sec. 6)