Case # 5

Title
Bagatsing v. Ramirez
Case
G.R. No. L-41631
Ponente
MARTIN, J :
Decision Date
1976-12-17
The case involves a dispute over the publication requirements of a tax ordinance enacted by the
Municipal Board of Manila, with the court ultimately ruling that the Local Tax Code, which only
requires publication after approval, prevails over the Revised City Charter, which requires
publication before enactment and after approval.

Case summary:
The delegation of the collection of market stall fees to a private corporation does not affect the
public purpose of the imposition. In upholding the validity of the tax ordinance, the Supreme
Courrt held that, “The fees collected do not go direct to the private coffers of the corporation but
for the purpose of raising revenues for the city. That is the object that it serves. The entrusting of
the collection of the fees does not destroy the public purpose of the ordinance. So long as the
purpose is public, it does not matter whether the agency through which the money is dispensed
is public or private. The right to tax depends on the nature or character of the person or
corporation whose intermediate agency is to be used in applying it. The people may be taxed for
a public purpose, although it be under the direction of an individual or private corporation.