PESIGAN vs. ANGELES, G.R. No.

L-64279, April 30,

1984

FACTS:

Petitioners Anselmo and Marcelino Pesigan, carabao dealers, transported in a 10-wheeler

truck in April 1982, 26 carabaos and a calf, from Camarines Sur to Batangas.  Despite the health
certificate, permit to transport, and certificate of inspection issued to them by the provincial
veterinarian, provincial commander and constabulary command, respectively, while petitioners were
negotiating the town of Basud, Camarines Norte, the carabaos were confiscated by private
respondents, Police Station Commander Lt. Zanarosa, and provincial veterinarian Dr. Miranda.  The
confiscation was based on Executive Order 626-A which prohibited the transport of carabaos from one
province to another.  Pursuant to EO 626-A, Dr Miranda distributed the carabaos to 25 farmers of
Basud.  Petitioners filed for recovery of the carabaos and damages, against private respondent Judge
Angeles who heard the case in Daet and later transferred to Caloocan City, and dismissed the case for
lack of cause of action. 

ISSUE:
                Whether or not EO 626-A be enforced before its publication in the Official Gazette. 

HELD:
Said executive order should not be enforced against the Pesigans on April 2, 1982 because, as
already noted, it is a penal regulation published more than two months later in the Official Gazette
dated June 14, 1982. It became effective only fifteen days thereafter as provided in article 2 of the Civil
Code and section 11 of the Revised Administrative Code.

The word "laws" in article 2 (article 1 of the old Civil Code) includes circulars and regulations which
prescribe penalties. Publication is necessary to apprise the public of the contents of the regulations
and make the said penalties binding on the persons affected thereby.

Pesigan v Angeles Digest 1984

G.R. No. L-64279 April 30, 1984

ANSELMO L. PESIGAN and MARCELINO L. PESIGAN, petitioners,
vs.

JUDGE DOMINGO MEDINA ANGELES, Regional Trial Court, Caloocan City Branch 129,
acting for REGIONAL TRIAL COURT of Camarines Norte, now presided over by JUDGE
NICANOR ORIÑO, Daet Branch 40; DRA. BELLA S. MIRANDA, ARNULFO V. ZENAROSA,
ET AL., respondents.

Quiazon, De Guzman Makalintal and Barot for petitioners.

The Solicitor General for respondents.

AQUINO, J.:

Facts of the Case:

Anselmo L. Pesigan and Marcelo L. Pesigan, carabao dealers, transported in an Isuzu

ten-wheeler truck in the evening of April 2, 1982 twenty-six carabaos and a calf from Sipocot,
Camarines Sur with Padre Garcia, Batangas as the destination.

The carabaos were confiscated by Lieutenant Arnulfo V. Zenarosa, the town’s police
station commander, and by Doctor Bella S. Miranda, provincial veterinarian, in spite of the
permit and certificates to transport. Doctor Miranda, thereafter, distributed the carabaos
among twenty-five farmers of Basud Camarines Norte – where said carabaos were
confiscated, and to a farmer from Vinzons municipal nursery.

Judge Domingo Medina Angeles, who heard the case filed by the Pesigans against
Zenarosa and Miranda, dismissed the case for lack of cause of action. The cause of
confiscation was based on Executive Order No. 628-A.
Issue: Whether or not Executive Order 626-A is effective prior to its publication in the Official
Gazette.

Held:

No, Executive Order 626-A cannot be enforced at the time the carabaos and calf were
confiscated, April 2, 1982 more than two months prior to the publication of the said E.O on
the Official Gazette --- June 14, 1982.

Executive Order 626-A is a penal regulation. Justice and fairness dictate that the public
must be informed of that provision by means of publication in the Gazette before violators can
be bound.

Other reference

ARTICLE 2. Laws shall take effect after fifteen days following the completion of their
publication either in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation in the
Philippines, unless it is otherwise provided.

Applicable here is the familiar maxim in criminal law: Nullum crimen nulla poena sine
lege. There is no crime where there is no law punishing it.

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 626-A

FURTHER AMENDING EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 626

WHEREAS, the President has given orders prohibiting the interprovincial movement of
carabaos and the slaughtering of carabaos not complying with the requirements of
Executive Order No. 626 particularly with respect to age;

Section 1. Executive Order No. 626 is hereby amended such that henceforth, no
carabao, regardless of age, sex, physical condition or purpose and no carabeef shall
be transported from one province to another. The carabaos or carabeef transported
in violation of this Executive Order as amended shall be subject to confiscation and
forfeiture by the government to be distributed to charitable institutions and other
similar institutions as the Chairman of the National Meat Inspection Commission
may see fit, in the case of carabeef, and to deserving farmers through dispersal as
the Director of Animal Industry may see fit, in the case of carabaos.

Section 2. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 25th day of October in the year of Our Lord, nineteen
hundred and eighty.

(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President of the Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.) JOAQUIN T. VENUS, JR.

Presidential Assistant