8

G.R. No. L-24693 July 31, 1967

ERMITA-MALATE HOTEL AND MOTEL OPERATORS ASSOCIATION, INC., HOTEL DEL MAR INC. and
GO CHIU, petitioners-appellees,
vs.
THE HONORABLE CITY MAYOR OF MANILA, respondent-appellant.
VICTOR ALABANZA, intervenor-appellee.

Facts:

Petitioner, a non-stock corporation having eighteen hotel and motel operators as members,
prayed that Ordinance No. 4760 be declared unconstitutional and void for being violative of
due process as (1) it would impose P6,000.00 fee per annum for first class motels and P4,500.00
for second class, (2) premises and facilities of these institutions would be open for inspection by
the city mayor or chief of police, violating their right to privacy, and (3) it prohibits a person
below eighteen years old, unless accompanied by parents, to enter such buildings.

Respondent contended that ordinance bears a reasonable relation, which is to curb immorality,
to a proper and valid exercise of Police Power and that only guests or customers can invoke
right to privacy. Lower court found the mayor no authority to enforce the law.

Issue:

Whether or not regulations imposed are valid exercise of Police Power.

Ratio Decidendi:

Yes, the judiciary should not lightly set aside legislative action when there is no clear invasion of
personal and property rights under police regulation. Presumption of validity of ordinance must
prevail in the absence of factual foundation of record that method of regulation prescribed is
unreasonable. The challenged ordinance was enacted to minimize certain practices hurtful to
public morals, more specifically because of the increased rate of prostitution, adultery and
fornication in Manila traceable in great part to the existence of motels, which has become the
“ideal haven for prostitutes and thrill-seekers.”

The ordinance proposes to check the guests of these establishments by requiring them to fill up
a registration form. The increase in the license fees was intended to discourage establishments
of the kind from operating for purpose other than legal. The law intends to curb the
opportunity for the immoral or illegitimate use to which such premises could be, and are being
devoted. Furthermore, the right of the individual is necessarily subject to reasonable restraint
by general law for the common good under the scope of Police Power.