CALALANG V.

WILLIAMS (1940)
FACTS Petitioner: Maximo Calalang private citizen and taxpayer of Manila Respondents: (1) Chairman of the National Traffic Commission; (2) Director of Public Works; (3) Acting Secretary of Public Works and Communications; (4) Mayor of Manila; and (5) Acting Chief of Police of Manila In this case, Calalang prays for a writ of prohibition against for the respondents for imposing a ban on animaldrawn vehicles along Rosario St. and Rizal Avenue in Manila during certain hours, for one year from the opening of the Colgante Bridge. He claims that the ban is detrimental to the owners of animal-drawn vehicles, as well as of the riding public. The ban was recommended by the National Traffic Commission to the Director of Public Works, in pursuance of Commonwealth Act No. 548, which authorizes said Director to promulgate rules and regulations to regulate and control the use of and traffic on national roads. The Director indorsed, with modification, such recommendation to the Secretary of Public Works and Communications, who in turn, approved the recommendation. The recommendation was enforced by the Mayor and Acting Police of Manila. ISSUES + RATIO WON Commonwealth Act No. 548 constitutes an undue delegation of legislative power NO There is a difference between delegating power to make the law, and conferring an authority or discretion as to executing the law. The former cannot be done, while the latter can be done. (Rubi v. Provincial Board of Mindoro) Commonwealth Act No. 548 does not confer legislative power. The authority therein conferred is not to determine what public policy demands, but merely to carry out the legislative policy laid down. Specifically, the authority conferred is the ascertainment of facts and circumstances upon which the application of said law is to be predicated. To promulgate rules and regulations is an administrative function which cannot be directly discharged by the National Assembly. It must depend on the discretion of some other government official to determine whether the proper occasion exists for the executing the law. But this is not the making of the law. Lockes Appeal To assert that a law is less than a law, because it is made to depend on a future event or act, is to rob the Legislature of the power to act wisely for the public welfare. People v. Rosenthal & Osmena The principle of separation of powers has been made to adapt itself to the complexities of modern governments giving rise to the adoption of the principle of subordinate legislation. The rigidity of the theory of separation of powers has been relaxed by permitting the delegation of greater powers by the legislative and vesting a larger amount of discretion in administrative and executive officials. WON the ban constitutes an unlawful interference with legitimate business or trade, and abridge the right to personal liberty and freedom of locomotion NO Commonwealth Act No. 548 was passed in police power, and aims to promote safe transit and avoid obstructions on national roads. The National Assembly, in enacting the law, was inspired by a desire to relieve congestion of traffic, which is a menace to public safety. Public welfare, then, was at the bottom of the enactment of the law, and the State may interfere with personal liberty, property, business, and occupations, to promote this general welfare. To this fundamental aim, the rights of the individual may be subordinated. The citizen should achieve the required balance of liberty and authority, so that there may be established the resultant equilibrium which means peace, order, and happiness for all. The paradox is that the curtailment of liberty is precisely the very means of insuring its preservation. The scope of police power keeps expanding as civilization advances. Dobbins v. Los Angeles The right to exercise police power is a continuing one. A business lawful today may in the future, become a menace to public health and welfare, and be required to yield to the public good. People v. Pomar Advancing civilization is bringing within the police power of the state today things which were not thought of as being within such power yesterday. WON the ban infringes upon the promotion of social justice NO The promotion of social justice is not to be achieved through a mistaken sympathy towards any given group. HELD Petition dismissed.

APACIBLE, A.