FACTS:
BML Trading won a bid to supply the Bureau of Communication with 15,000 pounds of bluestone copper sulphate worth P10,500. Before the Bureau could release the payment to BML, the Sheriff garnished P9,111.70 of the P10,000.
ISSUE(S):
Whether or not the garnishment of the amount payable to BML while it was still in the possession of the Bureau of Communication was illegal, therefore null and void.
HELD:
YES. By executing the garnishment against the money while still in the possession of the Bureau of Communication, a government agency was included in the action. Being a government agency, the doctrine of state immunity applies.