RePublic of the PhiliPPines ENr

DE pARrM ENr o F
n ANd- I-^ocAL GovE RN
ri?;Niinio M

A. Francisco Gotd Condominium II Bldg'

EDSA
City
corner Mapagmahat Street' Diliman' Quezon
ot""'fiotT$n'No' t35 s' 2oro

ELVIRA L. GOZUN-SUMADCHAT
Gozun Engineering Works
ii uracnrtl.tur Highway' San Nicolas
City of San Fernando
Province of PamPanga

Dear Ms. Gozun-Sumadchat:

Thishasreferencetoyour|etterrequestingforopiniononthefo||owing:
Sand and Gravel Permit ls
1. Whether or not the assignor of.an Industrial
and mayor's permit; and
required to nrs"iness license
"""riJ" of an
th-e power to order the assignee
2. Whether or not the mayor has to stop quarrying despite
lndustrial suno"inJ'cravel Peimit license and despite not
possessing tnu i"I"s"uty tqql permits.and
municipal and provincial
having been crted for any violation
"rr b-y-,
f"
and Geosciences Bureau
(MGB);
government, u''i'"rf u' byihe Mines
(iv) of Republic Act
you to Section 444 (b) (3)
At the outset, may we refer Code of lggl"' which
xno*n'ul ir'L-iLocal Governm"ni
No. T160, otherwise -'1" ,""i",p"r mayor's power to issue ricenses
ano
orovides the regal 0"r,,, oi'
permits, to wit:

Duties' Functlons
"section 444' The Chief Executive: Powers'
and ComPensation -

r)',:t:1"," J,:'#:!iit :1
,
i
3: T# ii" *# ", *":" i3' ?1" :Land. priofltles as
"T objectlves
development plans' program
or this code' particularrv those
"
ir'Jvio".|;';;;'ffi;'t"ttio-n 1ap'ogtatm"d for a-gro-industrial
resources growth and progress' and
development
"no '"u"nuJt
"no "o'ni'"y-'iio-J
relative thereto, shall:
suspend or revoke the
(iv) lssue licenses and permits and
same for u'j'[on oi the conditions upon which
"ny

ffi r**e*cT+*+nirx**r:;r*1ffi
iT[l3[tilfl;,i*$fl1i,,1;}ffi::n:ri:i:r'mni"nil;"Jr*i:l::r'r'n:;':il;H;;'iiil;;;;anii'rder
and
 ln Robte Arrrastre' lnc' vs' Hon. Attagracia Villaflor, et' al' [G R' No'-
aaa(bX3)(iv) of
l2SSOI. August 22, 2006l the Supreme Court held that Section
tfre Locat dovernment Code of i991, whereby the power of the respondent
of the
mayor to issue license and permits is circumscribed, is a manifestation
i"rlg"bd p"li.e power of a municipal corporation. According to the court, a law
oranordinancecanprovidetheconditionsuponwhichthepowerofihe
municipal mayor unoer Section aa(bX3)(iv) can be exercised'
Section
+a+iolisxi"l of the Local Government code of 1gg1 takes its cue from
section
16 til;;i, which is largely an exercise of delegated police power'

Clearly, the power of the municipal mayor to issue licenses

and permits is
police powe.r to,]!"
founded on t'he general welfare clause This delegated !9U^?
through its loca'i chief executives authorizes the latter to regulate tne use or
pi"p""'fv oi Conouct of property rights, le.b,usiness or practice of
-pursuanl
profession'
among'others, within its territbry .
to condltions provided by law or
ordinJnce for the common benefit of its inhabitants'
of
In reply to your first query on whether or not the assignor or transferor
having^ being duly
an Industrial' sand and Gravel Permit (said assignment
lgirt"r"d ;th the MGB ,nO tn" Office of tire Governbr pursuant,to Section 99 of
,,philippine Mining Act of 't995") is required to
n.l. zgaz, otheruise known as the
secureabusiness|icenseandmayor,spermit,theanswerisinthenegative-
Transfer or assignment
-the of rights inO oUligations' particularly under the ISG
p"itit, r"tl"u"s assignoi or transferor. of the obligation to secure the
of
i"."i.uw municipal riceni.i and permits which springs from the operation
businessbr the conduct of activity within the municipality'

As to your second query on whether or not the 1nuygl lu:^!h-" quarrylng

ryT:1"
Permit to stop
order the asiign"e of an industrial Sand and Gravel
and despite not
llr"pit",p".r!J.iG ;lt ih" n""u".ury tegat permits .and ticense
provincial government'
h"uing du"n cited-for any violation by thL municipal and
is also in
*il by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB)' the answer
".
"r negative.
the

|nD|LGopinionNo.g5S'2008,wehadtheoccasiontodiscussthe
for a
power and the requisites
limitation of the exercise of the delegated police
valid exercise of police power' thus:

'However, while it is beyond question that a local government

unit
has been defined as the power
(LGU) can exercise its police power which
use of property
of the State, or ot tne LGU' *h"t" ptop"', to regulate the
good pursuant to lts
anJ enloyment of life and liberty ior the common 16 of RA
.i"irtoiv ir"nt unoui tne General Welfare Clause of Section
limitation'
is without
7160, and pursuant to the ruling stated above' such
must concur'
To be a valid exercise of police power' two requisites
to wit: there must be a lawful subject and that the lawful means are
first requisite'
undertaken in furtneiance of said power, Anent
from those
interests of tne pubtic, in general, as distinguished police power ^of .a
particular class shall be the yardstick' before the ls
be subordinated to
exercised- Ergo, the enjoyment of private nghts may
principle: the welfare of
the interest of tne greater number pursuant to the
the People is the suPreme taw
means"
lnsofar as the second requisite is concerned "lawful
time-honored principle. that "the end does not
simpfy refers to th;t-putfotce,
ii"iii1 tn.rn""rr.". the lawful subject must be pursued via a
measure at risk of
lawful means, taifing which, shall put the police-power
of private rights"'
being struck oown a"s an "arbitrary intrusion
 la'ul means. failino which, shall pul the police power
measure at risk of
beins struck down a-s .n,,"iritr"&-irii{ii rights,.
"tirt""te
In addition ,o,,f" g-".f:o,, requisites, the
'a foilowing are required in
the exercise of polic,e. power aeteg;,
government unit: (a). there must
Uy. in this case, a local
be expreis grant of law; (b)- wit;;
territorial limits; and (c) it must not Ue contiarv
L iaw.,,

whire it is undisputed that property rights are

state, or the LGU as inthis.case, irr"i" nir.ioe .subject to reguration by the
. u",,o
No ress than the section l.Articre rrr ot ine-isiiionstitution of porice power.
"""r",.e guarantees the
protection of property rights through
the observance of due process, to wit:

'Secfion 7. No-person shall be deprived

of life, liberty, or property
without due process of law.."

In this case, absent any crear regar basis

for the order of the mayor to stop
quarrying, r.e. citation of the law or ordinance
as oppressive and confiscarory hence viorates the
vlofateO, the same ,";H;;;;;!
-oi
constitution"r 6r"i"r,t""
right to due process.

We hope to have enlightened you on the matter.

Very truly yours,

cc: DIR. REMro L BHoI{

Regional Director
Brgy. Maimpis, San Femanoo
Pampanga

tIS. LOIA S. f,EYEs

ctcoo
San Fernando City

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