National Power Corporation v. Spouses Soliman

Summary

NAPOCOR employee Soliman Irasusta was awarded a housing lot and signed a contract to sell in 1985 while single. After his 1986 marriage to fellow NAPOCOR employee Melinda, the company invalidated his lot based on its 'one household, one lot' policy for married employee-spouses. The spouses filed for specific performance to enforce the original contract. The Supreme Court upheld lower courts' rulings that the policy applied only to employees married at the time of award, not those who married afterward. Using literal contract interpretation principles, the Court found Soliman had a vested contractual right that could not be retroactively invalidated by subsequent marriage. The decision affirmed the validity of the original contract while requiring both parties to fulfill their respective obligations, establishing that employment housing policies cannot retroactively affect vested contractual rights acquired before policy-triggering events occur.