Peopl

eofP.
I.and HSBCvs.JoseO.Ver
aandMar
ianoCuUnj
i
eng

G.
R.No.45657 Nover
mber1
6,1
937

Fact
s:

WhenMar i
anoCuUnj i
eng wasconvi ct
edonJanuar y8,1934bythe
CourtofFi r
stInst
ance ofMani l
a ofa cri
minalcase fi
l
ed by Hongkong
ShanghaiBanki
ngCorporati
on,hefi
ledaMoti
onf orRecomendat
ion. Deni
ed,
hefi
ledfourmoreunsuccessful
motionf
ornewt r
ialbef
oret
hesamecour t
.

Notlossi
nghope,hef il
edanappealwi t
ht heSupremeCour tassert
ing
hi
si nnocence forthe charge he was convicted.When his Mot i
on for
Reconsider
ati
onwasdi smiss
ed, Unj i
engthenf i
ledforasecondMot ionfor
Reconsider
ati
onori fnotanew tri
albuttheCour tremandedtothecour tof
or
igi
nhiscasef ort
heexecuti
onofthejudgement .

Undaunted,Unji
endecidedt oavailforpr obat
ionundert heLegi sl
ative
ActNo.4221 .Hesoughtr emedywi thJudgePedr oTuazon,Pr esidingJudge
ofCFIMani la,butwas direct
ed instead tot he I
nsularPr obation Of fi
ce.
Denied,hewentbef orethesalaofJudgeJoseO.Ver aofBr anch7,CFI
Mani l
a,who ent er
tai
n Unji
eng's appl
icati
on. Thi s pr ompted t he private
respondenttof i
l
eitsopposi
ti
ononApr il5,1 937,all
egingamongot hersthat
the said Actisatt
ended with Consti
tuti
onali nfi
rmit
ieson t he gr oundsof
viol
ati
onofequalpr ot
ect
ionclauseaswel lunduedel egat
ionofl egisl
ative
power sonpr ovi
nci
alboardsofprovinceswhowi lli
mplementt hepar donon
convicts.

WhenJudgeVer afurt
heredcall
eduponr especti
vepar ti
est osubmi t
thei
rargument sonthematterbeforehi
ssal awi t
houtsett
li
ngf i
rsttheissueof
theconstit
uti
onali
tyofAct4221 ,theCi t
yFi scalofMani l
ar epresentingthe
stat
eandt hepr i
vater
espondentwentt ot heSupr emeCour tbyonapet i
ti
on
forcerti
orari
. On August31 ,1937.the hi gh cour
tissued a t empor ar
y
rest
rai
ning orderonJudgeVer aregarding thecasependi ng r esol
utionof
questi
ons posi t
edbythepetit
ioners
.

I
ssue:

WON ActNo.4221 i
s unconst
it
uti
onalf
or undue del
egat
ion of
l
egi
slat
ive powerto provi
nci
alboar
ds ofpr
ovi
nces who wi
l
ldr
aftand
i
mplementthepardononconvi
cts
?

WONActNo.4221i
sunconst
it
uti
onalf
orvi
olat
ingt
heequalpr
otect
ion
l
aws?

Hel
d:

Thepowertopar donundert he1 935Consti

tuti
onisvestedwi t
ht he
Presi
dentunderActi
cleVII,Secti
on1 1,Subsect
ion6. Thati sexcl
usiveand
cannotbe exerci
se muchso del egated bythe l
egi
slat
uretothe provincial
boards. Whilethelegi
slatur
emaysett heper i
odsandguideli
nesfort hose
whocanavai l
ofthepardon,itwithinthepoweroftheexecuti
vetograntsuch
l
easeoff r
eedom orwhom t ograntit
.

ThePr obati
onActi salsoanew addi t
iont othest at
utebooksandi t
s
val
idit
yhasnotbeenbef orechal lengeoncour ts. RespondentUnj iengshas
beenatl ar
gef orover4year ssi ncehewasconvi ctedandi sawai ti
ngt he
decisi
onoft hecour t
srul
ingont heconst i
tut
ionali
tyoft heAct.Manysi milarl
y
si
tuatedconvi ct
sar eawaiti
ngf ort heresoluti
onoft hecase. Publ i
cpol i
cy
only demands t hatJudge Ver a shoul d have addr essed the i
ssue ofi t
s
constit
uti
onali
tyonceandf orall
. Bot hthestateandt hepr i
vatepeti
ti
onerhas
alegal st
andingtoquesti
ont heconst it
uti
onali
tyoft heActasi twil
li
njurethem
oftheirri
ghtsforj
usti
ceforthewr ongdonet ot hem byt heaccusedUnj i
eng.

Theprobat i
onsystem i
salsoaclearviolati
onofequalprotectionclause.
Thisequalprotecti
onclauseispr ovi
dedunderSect i
on1 (
1),Ar t
icleIIofthe
Consti
tut
ionguar ant
eeingequalpr ot
ecti
onofl awsthroughoutt hecount r y.
UnderSect i
on 11oft hisAct,the provinci
alboar dsofeach pr ovi
nce ar e
endowedwi t
ht hepowert omakesaidlawsef fecti
veornotintheirrespective
provi
nces. Uni formity ofappli
cati
on ofl awsaccr ossthe land mustbe
fundamentalf
orlawst obevali
dandl awful.

The cour
tdeclared ActNo.4221as unconst
it
uti
onaland voidfor
vi
olat
ingtheequalpr
ot ect
ioncl
auseaswel
lasunduedelegat
ionofl
egisl
ati
ve
powerbelongingtot
hePr esi
dental
one.
 Rest
it
utoYnotvs
.Int
ermedi
ateAppeal
l
ateCour
t
G.
R.No.74457Mar
ch20,1
987

Fact
s:

Fort r
anspor t
ing 6 heads ofcar abaos aboard a pump boatf rom
Masbatet oIloi
l
o,Rest i
tutoYnotwasaccost edbyelement soft heBarotac
Nuevo,Iloi
lo pol
ice and hi sani
malsconf i
scated. He wast hen char
ged
befor
et he Regi onalTrialCourtinI l
oil
o Ci t
yf orviol
ati
ng the amended
Executi
veOr derNo.626i ssuedbyt
henPr esidentMarcosin1 980prohi
bit
ing
the movementort ranspor tofcarabaos as wellas car abeefbetween
provi
nces.

Ynotwentt ocourtandsoughtr ecoveryofhi sanimals.Pendi

ngt ri
al,the
RTCi ssuedawr itofrepl
evin andhi sani malsr el
easeduponhi spaying t he
superseadbondofPhp12, 000.Whent hecour tsustai
nedt heconfi
scationof
thecar abaosandt heanimalscouldnol ongerbepr oduced,thecourtorder ed
hisbond conf i
scat ed. The RTC al so refused tor ul
e on Ynot'smai n
argumentt hattheexecut i
veorderitselfwasunconst it
uti
onalforviol
ati
onof
due pr ocessclause ofthe Constit
ution,conf ermenton t he administ
rat i
ve
authori
tiesjudi
cialpower stojudge t he guiltofvi ol
atorsoft he execut i
ve
decreeandasani nvali
ddelegati
onofl egisl
ati
vepower stoexecuti
veof f
icials.

I
ssue:
 WON Executi
veOrder626-Aisunconsti
tut
ional foraut
hori
zi
ngthe
outr
ightconfi
scat
ion of carabaosand car
abeef swit
houtaccordi
ng t
he
ownerahear i
ngbeforeacompetentandi
mparti
alcourtasmandatedbydue
processcl
ause?

WON Executi
veOr der626-
A i sanimproperexer
ciseoflegi
sl
ati
ve
powerbyt
hePresidentunderAmendmentNo.6ofthe1
973Consti
tuti
on?

Hel
d:

Element ar
yinaconst itut
ionaldemocr acyisthedoct ri
neof hear ing
beforeonei sadj
udgedgui l
tyandbedepr ivedofhi spr opert
y. Whi l
et he
stat
eisaccor dedutmostrespectanddi scret
ioninitsexerciseofpoli
cepower
toservet herpubli
cgoodandwel f
are,i
t mustbewi thintheboundsofwhati s
j
ustandf airtodeterabusesandi mpuni t
ybyt hoseconfer r
edwi t
hpower sto
i
mpl ementt heexecuti
vedecr ee.Whi l
et he Execut i
veOr der626-Aai m of
preventing the wanton sl
aughterofcar abaosso vi t
alin ouragr i
cul
tur
ei s
l
audabl e,theconstit
uti
onalprovi
sionsmustneverbet ransgressed.

Dueprocessmeansanoti
ceandhear i
ngatthever
yleast
. Underthe
decr
eeauthori
ti
esatwillcanapprehendvi
olat
orsoftheban.Withoutany
hear
inginacompetentcourtaf
for
dedt oowners,t
heconfi
scat
edcarabaos
maybedisposedwit
houtanycompensati
on.

I
n author i
zi
ng t he Chai rman of t he Nat i
onal Meat I nspection
Commi ssi
ont oorderthedi stri
buti
onof conf iscatedcar abeef t oanyonehe
'
mayseef i
t'andf ort
heDi r ectorofAni malIndust rytoreleasef ordistr
ibut
ion
thoseconfi
scatedanimal stoanydeser vingfarmer shepr efers,suchunl i
mited
discr
eti
on is an invali
d exer ci
se ofdel egat ing legi
slati
ve powerby t he
Presi
denttohissubordinatesi ntheexecut i
vebr anch. Del egati
onofpower s,
mayi tbequasi -
judi
cialorr ule-making,mustbecl ear,l
imited,andf ini
teand
notinasweepi ngandr ovi
ngcommi ssionast heexecut i
veof fi
cial
s' maysee
fi
t'. Such unbounded aut hor i
tyleads onl yt o abuse,ar bit
rar
iness and
i
mpuni t
yini
mi cali
nasoci etyunderar uleoflaw.

The Courtdeclar
ed t
he quest
ioned decr
ee unconst
it
uti
onaland
or
der
edtheret
urnoftheconf
iscat
edbondtothepeti
ti
oner
.

East
ernShi
ppi
ngLi
nes
,Inc. vs. POEAet
.al
 G.R.No.766633Oct
ober1
8,1
988

Fact
s:
Whent he Phi l
ippineOverseasEmpl oymentAgency awar dedthe
widowofVitali
anoSaco,f ormerChiefOffi
ceroftheM/VEast er
nPolari
s,t
he
mandatorycompensat ionanddamagesunderExecut t
iveOrderNo.797and
t
hePOEA' sMemor andum Circul
arNo.2,shipownerEasternShippi
neLines,
I
nc.averr
edt hatt
hatthewi dow'sclai
m shouldbewithSocialSecur
it
ySystem
/
StateI
nsuranceFund.
Pet
it
ionercontendthatSacowasnotaoverseasworkerbutadomesti
c
worker
. Thus,clai
msf ordamagesincaseofdeathmustbemadewi thSSS
r
athert
hanf orPOEAt oordert
hem asemployert
ocompensatethevict
im.
Unabletogetafavor
ableruli
ngfrom POEA, peti
ti
oner,wit
hout
submitti
ngamot i
onforreconsi
derati
onwiththeAgency,proceededdirect
ly
toSupremeCour trai
singaquesti
onoflaw.Thewi dowoftheSacodi dnot
objecttothepeti
ti
onforcer
ti
orarihopi
ngsuchwi l
labbr
eviat
ethepr oceedi
ngs
tothei
rbenef i
t
I
ssue:
WONSacoi
sadomest
icempl
oyeeoranover
seaswor
ker
?
WONPOEA'sMemor andum Ci
rcul
arNo.2i
savi
olat
ionoft
hepr
inci
ple
ofnon-
del
agat
ionofl
egi
sl
ativepower
?
Hel
d:
ThePOEA cr eat
edunderExecut iveOrder797isthepr i
mar yagency
promulgatedin1 982topr omoteandmoni t
ortheoverseasempl oymentof
Fi
li
pinosandt oprotectthei
rri
ght
s.UnderSect i
on4(a)ofEA797,t heagency
i
svest edwiththeor i
ginalandexclusi
vejur
isdi
cti
onoverallcases,incl
udi
ng
moneycl aimsarisi
ngf rom employmentsuchascl ai
msf ordeath,disabi
l
it
y
andotherbenefit
s.
Under t he POEA' s 1 985 Rul es and Regul at
ions on Over seas
Empl oyment ,overseaswor kingempl oymenti sdef i
nedasempl oymentofa
worker s outside the Phil
i
ppi nes,including employmenton boar d vessels
pl
yingi nt
ernat i
onalwat er
scover edbyaval i
dcontract. Acont ractworker,
ont heot herhand,i sdescr ibedasanyper sonwor kingorwhohaswor ked
overseasundera val i
d cont ractand shallincl
ude seamen oranyper son
workingover seasorwhohasbeenempl oyeedbyanot herwhichmaybea
l
ocalempl oyer ,f
orei
gnempl oyer ,pr
incipalorpartnerunderaval idcontract
andshal li
ncludeseamen.
Ver
il
y,Sacoi
sanover
seaswor
kerandhi
swi
dow'
scl
aimf
ordamages
i
scognizabl
ewiththePOEAandnotwi t
hanySSS. Thust heawardgrant
ed
toSaco'swidow underMemor andum Circul
arNo.2i si
naccor dwit
hthe
agenci
esstandard compensat
ion and damagesin case ofacci
dent
sf or
seabor
neoverseasworker
s.
Onthepet ioner'
scont ent
iononi nvali
dMemor andum Cir
cularNo.2as
viol
ati
veofnon- delegat
ionofl egi
slat
ivepower stoPOEA,t hecour tpoi
nted
thatSect
ion4( a)ofExecut i
veOr derNo.797t hatclear
lyal
lowstheagencyt o
promulgatenecessar yrul
esand r egulati
onst ogover ntheexer ci
seoft he
adjudi
caryfuncti
onsoft hePOEA. Gr eat erfl
exibil
i
tyonagencytomaker ules
to bestachieved itsstatutorymandat et o protectthe r
ightofwor kersis
necessaryowingt ot henatureandspeci al
ty oft heagency'st
asks.
I
ntheend,thecour
tdismi
ssedthepet
ioner
'sassert
ions.Saco'
swidow
tor
ecei
vethecompensati
ongivenbyPOEAofPhp1 80,000.00deathbenef
it
andPhp12,000.
00forbur
ial
expense.

Cong.Enr
iqueT.Gar
ciavs.Execut
iveSecr
etar
y
G.R.No.1
57854

Fact
s:

Twoyear saf terCongr esshadpassedR. A.8479:TheDownst ream Oi l

I
ndust ryDer egulati
onActof1 998i ntolaw t oful
lyder egul atet hecount ry'soil
i
ndust r
y andopeni ttotheent ryofanyi ndus t
ryplayer saswel lasr emoved
anygover nmentpr iceandnon- pricef i
xingcont rols,Congr essmanEnr i
queT.
Gar cia of Bat aan f i
l
ed anot her pet iti
on f or cer tiorarichal l
engi ng t he
Const itut
ionalit
yofAr ti
cle1 9oft hesaidl aw. Heaver redt hatt het i
mel inef or
ful
lder egulati
onoft heoi lindust rydomi nat edbyt hebi gthr eeoi lcompani es
(CaltexPhi l
i
pines,Shel landPet ron), i ssodr asti
ct hatSect ion1 9 i nef fect
defeat st hever yobj ecti
veoft hel aw tobr eaktheol i
gopol isticcont roloft he
establishedBi g3compani es. Ar ti
cl
e1 9 ofsai dl aw pr ovi desonl yaf or
5-mont ht ransiti
onper i
odt of ullder egulat i
onandt hePr esi dentmayeven
havet heopt iontoaccel eratei tupont her ecommendat i
onoft heDepar tment
ofEner gyandt heDepar tmentofFi nancewhenpubl ici nterestsor equires .In
Gar cia'sview,t hetimel i
nei sunr eal i
sti
candant i
-peopl eandant i-compet i
ti
on.
+

Thoughthesamear guments wereal

readystruckdowni n1999io
Garciav.Coronacasefil
edbyt hesamepet
it
ioner,t
hecour tdeemeditbestt
o
setasidethedoctr
ineofresjudi
cataf
oramatterofovereachingand
over
ri
dingi
mpor
tancet
othenat
ion.

I
ssue:

WONSect i
on19ofR.A.8479i
sincont
ravent
ionofthe
ant
i-monopoli
sti
candunfai
rcompeti
ti
ons prohi
bit
ionsof Sect
ion1
9of
Art
icl
eXIIoft
he1 987Const
it
uti
on?

WONthecourtshoul
dusei
tpowerofj
udi
cial
revi
ewunderSect
ion4(
2),
Art
icl
eVIIonaneconomicpoli
cyl
aiddownbyaco-equalbr
anchof
government?

Hel
d:

Arti
cle1 9oftheConstit
uti
ondoesnotdecl
areanout r
ightprohibi
ti
onof
monopolies.I
tsimplyal
lowst hestat
etoactwhenpublici
nterestsorequir
es.
Butevenifconf r
ontedwit
ht heexist
enceofmonopol
ies,thestatemayoptf or
regul
ati
onr at
herthanprohibit
ioni
naccordwit
hit
snationali
nterestt
okeept he
suppl
yofpet rolandgassteadlyavail
abl
e.

Thepowerofj udicialr
eviewisaweaponthecour tmustusespari
ngl
y
andwithintheboundsper mitt
edbyConsti
tut
ionunderSection4(2)Ar
ti
cleVI
II
.
nexer
ci si
ngthi
spower ,thecour t
smustbecognizantofthefol
l
owing
Const
it
ut i
onalr
equir
ement s
.

(1) anact
ual
caseorcont
rover
sycal
l
ingf
ort
heexer
ciseofj
udi
cial
power

(
2) t
heper
sonchal
l
engi
nganactmusthavel
ocusst
andi
ont
hei
ssue

(3)t
hequesti
onofconst
it
uti
onal
i
tymustber
aisedatt
heear
li
est
possi
bleoppor
tuni
ty

(
4)t
hei
ssueofconst
it
uti
onal
i
tymustbet
hever
yli
smot
aoft
hecase

Nowher ewasi ntherequirementsenumer atedintheexer ci

seofpower
ofj
udi ci
alrevi
ewt hatt
hequest i
ononpol icydir
ectionsorthewi sdom ofa
purelypoli
ti
calquesti
onver i
lypositedbytheConst i
tut
iononbot hthe
Legisl
ati
veandt heExecut i
ve. Thedi scr
etionofthepolit
icaldepartments
mustbegi venut mostrespectbyt heCour t
sasmuchasquest i
onsofl awand
constit
uti
onali
tyofadirecti
veorl awshallbethedomai noft hejudici
ary.
Suchi sthedoctri
neoft heseparationoft
hepower softhet hr
eebr achesof
governmentt hateachmuchr espectandacknowl edge.

Thewi
sdom oft
hemet
hodandpr
ocessoft
heder
egul
ati
oni
sthe
provi
nceoft
helegisl
atur
eandt
heexecut
ivet
hatt
hesupr
emecour
tbet
ter
optsnott
otr
ansgress.

Peti
ti
onofGar
ciawasdismissedasnon-j
usti
fi
abl
emat
terand
pr
oscr
ibedbyt
hepri
ncipl
eofseparati
onofpowers.