Angelynn C. Salazar 1D Legal Research
Along Rosario Street extending from Plaza Calderon de la
MAXIMO CALALANG, petitioner v. A.D. WILLIAMS, ET AL.,
respondents
GR NO. 47800, December 2, 1940
Constitutionality of Commonwealth Act No. 548 with respect to the
delegation of legislative power. The provisions of said Act do not confer
legislative power upon the Director of Public Works and the Secretary of
Public Works. To promulgate rules and regulations on the use of national
roads to determine when and how long it should be closed to traffic is an
administrative function which cannot be directly discharged by the
National Assembly. It must rely on the discretion of other designated
government officials with the authority and knowledge to do so. The
exercise of such discretion is not the making of the law.
Facts:
Maximo Calalang, in his capacity as a private citizen and taxpayer of
Manila, petitioned for a writ of prohibition against respondent, A.D.
Williams, as Chairman of the National Traffic Comission(NTC), Eugelio
Rodriguez, as the Mayor of Manila, and Juan Dominguez, as the Acting
Chief of Police of Manila.
A Resolution was promulgated by the Director of Public Works(DPW), as
endorsed by the Secretary of Public Works and Communications (SPWC),
to prohibit animal-drawn vehicles from passing along below places from
a period of one year from the date of the opening of the Colgante Bridge
to traffic:
1.
Barca to Dasmariñas Street, from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and
from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
2. Along Rizal Avenue extending from the railroad crossing at
Antipolo Street to Echague Street, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
This Resolution was enforced by the Mayor and the Acting Chief Police of
the City of Manila which resulted to the prohibition of animal-drawn
vehicles to pass and pick up passengers in the abovementioned places. It
was promulgated pursuant to Commonwealth Act No. 548.
Petitioner contends that said Commonwealth Act is unconstitutional
because it constitutes undue delegation of legislative power to DPW and
SPWC.
Issue: W/N Commonwealth Act No. 548 is a violation of the Constitution
by designating legislative power upon the DPW and SPWC.
Held: The Supreme Court held in the negative. The Commonwealth Act
No. 648 is not in violation of the Constitution since it does not confer
legislative power to the DPW and SPCW.
Section 1 of the Commonwealth Act. 648 states:
SECTION 1. To promote safe transit upon, and avoid
obstructions on, roads and streets designated as national roads
by acts of the National Assembly or by executive orders of the
President of the Philippines, the Director of Public Works, with
the approval of the Secretary of Public Works and
Communications, shall promulgate the necessary rules and
regulations to regulate and control the use of and traffic on such
 roads and streets. Such rules and regulations, with the approval
of the President, may contain provisions controlling or regulating
the construction of buildings or other structures within a
reasonable distance from along the national roads. Such roads
may be temporarily closed to any or all classes of traffic by the
Director of Public Works and his duly authorized representatives
whenever the condition of the road or the traffic thereon makes
such action necessary or advisable in the public convenience and
interest, or for a specified period, with the approval of the
Secretary of Public Works and Communication.
The above provision does not delegate legislative power to the DPW and
SPWC. The authority given to them, which they exercised to promulgate
the resolution of prohibiting animal-drawn vehicles in certain areas, is to
merely carry out the legislative policy laid down by the National
Assembly.
Additional Principles/Definitions related to the case:
Principle of Subordinate Legislation or Quasi-legislative Power
Subordinate Legislation is the authority delegated by the
law-making body to the administrative body to adopt rules and
regulations intended to carry out the provisions of a law and
implement legislative policy.
Legislative Power v Quasi-legislative Power
Legislative power involves the discretion to determine
what the law shall be, while quasi-legislative power determines
how the law shall be enforced.
Legislative power cannot be delegated while quasi-
legislative power can be delegated.

To promulgate rules and regulations on the use of national roads and to

determine when and how long a national road should be closed to traffic (for further reading:
is an administrative function which cannot be directly discharged by the https://lawphilreviewer.wordpress.com/category/administrativ
National Assembly. It must rely on the discretion of the government e-law/)
official with whom the duty to determine when the proper occasion of
executing the law rests.

The Supreme Court cited the cases of People v Rosenthal and Osmena,
and Pangasinan Transportation v The Public Service Commission where
instances of adopting the principle of ‘subordinate legislation’ to
accommodate the complexities of modern government.