B-142428, APR. 21, 1960

B-142428, APR. 21, 1960

TO MR. MAXIMO A. ALONZAGA:

ON SEPTEMBER 28, 1959, OUR CLAIMS DIVISION DISALLOWED A CLAIM SUBMITTED BY YOU WHEREIN YOU SOUGHT COMPENSATION FOR SERVICES RENDERED THE MILITARY FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES DURING THE YEARS FROM 1917 TO 1919. YOU WERE INFORMED THAT SINCE YOUR CLAIM WAS NOT RECEIVED IN THE UNITED STATES GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE WITHIN TEN YEARS FROM THE TIME OF ACCRUAL, IT WAS BARRED FROM CONSIDERATION UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE ACT OF OCTOBER 9, 1940, 54 STAT. 1061, 37 U.S.C. 71A, 237.

YOUR REPLY OF DECEMBER 14, 1959, ASKS THAT YOUR CLAIM BE RECONSIDERED BECAUSE, AS YOU RESIDED OUTSIDE THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES, YOU HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF THE EXISTENCE OF THE BARRING STATUTE, AND THAT SINCE YOU HAD SUBMITTED THE CLAIM TO OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES AS EARLY AS 1946 YOU THOUGHT THAT THE TIME LIMITATION MIGHT NOT BE FOR APPLICATION. THE CLAIMS DIVISION, IN A LETTER DATED JANUARY 8, 1960, SUSTAINED THEIR ORIGINAL DISALLOWANCE.

ON MARCH 7, 1960, YOU AGAIN REQUESTED RECONSIDERATION OF YOUR CLAIM. YOU SAY THAT YOU AGREE THAT THE FAILURE TO FILE A TIMELY CLAIM IS VITAL TO YOUR CASE, BUT YOU REASSERT YOUR BELIEF IN THE MERIT OF THE CLAIM AND ASK THAT WE SET ASIDE THE TECHNICALITY WHICH BARS IT FROM CONSIDERATION. YOU ALSO FEEL THAT LEGISLATION AFFECTING CLAIMS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES, SUCH AS THE ACT OF OCTOBER 9, 1940, SUPRA IS NOT SUFFICIENTLY PUBLICIZED AND, THEREFORE, IS NOT COMMON KNOWLEDGE IN THE PHILIPPINES.

BEFORE THE ENACTMENT OF THE ACT OF OCTOBER 9, 1940, SUPRA, THERE WAS NO STATUTORY LIMITATION, WITH A FEW SPECIFIC EXCEPTIONS NOT HERE PERTINENT, ON THE TIME WITHIN WHICH A CLAIM AGAINST THE UNITED STATES COULD BE PRESENTED TO FEDERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICERS. IF YOUR CLAIM WAS OTHERWISE VALID, IT COULD HAVE BEEN PRESENTED TO OUR OFFICE FOR SETTLEMENT ANYTIME UP UNTIL THE DATE OF ENACTMENT OF THE STATUTE, I.E., OCTOBER 9, 1940. SINCE THE STATUTE, HOWEVER, PROVIDES THAT CLAIMS MUST BE PRESENTED WITHIN TEN YEARS FROM THE DATE OF ACCRUAL OR BE FOREVER BARRED, IT FOLLOWS THAT YOUR CLAIM WAS BARRED AS OF OCTOBER 9, 1940, AS THIS WAS THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE STATUTE AND MORE THAN TEN YEARS HAD THEN PASSED SINCE YOUR CLAIM FIRST ACCRUED. THE LIMITATION WAS APPLICABLE NOT ONLY TO CLAIMS ACCRUING AFTER OCTOBER 9, 1940, BUT TO THOSE CLAIMS WHICH WERE IN EXISTENCE AT THAT DATE AS WELL.

AS WE HAVE ALREADY NOTED, YOU ASK IN YOUR LETTER OF MARCH 7, 1960, THAT WE SET ASIDE THE TECHNICALITY OF THE LAW WHICH BARS YOUR CLAIM FROM CONSIDERATION. WE ARE NOT AUTHORIZED, HOWEVER, TO MAKE ANY EXCEPTION TO THE EXPRESS PROHIBITION OF THE STATUTE. SEE ALSO OUR DECISION OF NOVEMBER 14, 1938, 18 COMP. GEN. 454 AT PAGE 457.

YOU FURTHER SAY THAT THE ACT OF OCTOBER 9, 1940, SUPRA, IS NOT COMMON KNOWLEDGE IN THE PHILIPPINES AND THEREFORE YOU SHOULD NOT BE BOUND BY ITS CONTENTS. IT IS WELL SETTLED THAT LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF A STATUTE IS NOT A BAR TO ITS APPLICATION. AS WE POINTED OUT IN OUR DECISION, B-122685, MARCH 18, 1955, THE ENACTMENT OF THE STATUTE CONSTITUTES LEGAL PUBLIC NOTICE TO ALL PERSONS CONCERNED OF ITS CONTENTS.

IN THE LIGHT OF THE FOREGOING COMMENTS WE MUST CONCLUDE THAT THE ACTION TAKEN BY THE CLAIMS DIVISION OF THIS OFFICE IN DENYING YOUR CLAIM WAS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE ACT OF OCTOBER 9, 1940, SUPRA, AND WAS PROPER UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES.