G.R. No. L-35048 - William Lines, Inc., et al. vs. City of Ozamis, et al.
Manila
SECOND DIVISION
G.R. No. L-35048 April 23, 1974
WILLIAM LINES, INC., SWEET LINES, INC., CARLOS A. GO THONG & CO., INC., and GEORGE & PETER LINES, INC.,petitioners-appellants,
vs.
THE CITY OF OZAMIS, City Mayor and City Treasurer, all of the City of Ozamis, and Court of First Instance of Misamis Occidental, (Judge Geronimo Marave)respondents-appellees.
Manuel B. Pastrana for petitioners-appellants.
Oscar E. Gador for respondents-appellees.
FERNANDO,J.:
In this petition for declaratory relief to annul an ordinance of respondent City of Ozamis,1the assertion was made that the imposition of a gross sales tax of one and one-half percent (1-½%) on the gross freight and fares of the cargo and passengers shipped or transported from Ozamis City collectible on owners, operators or agents of shipping companies with shipping offices or shipping agencies therein is tainted by legal and constitutional infirmity. The lower court decided adversely against petitioners, upholding its validity. Hence this appeal by certiorari with such a plea being reiterated with an even greater insistence. It is unavailing. There is, in the present Constitution, support for such an ordinance and renders futile any attempt at its nullification. We sustain the order of dismissal by the lower court.
It is undisputed that on March 18, 1971, the Municipal Board of the City of Ozamis approved Ordinance No. 604, Series of 1971. Its first section is worded thus: "All shipping agencies or offices or shipping agents with offices established in the City of Ozamis and transacting business in the City are hereby required to pay license fee therefore at the rate of Fifty (P50.00) Pesos per quarter and a yearly Mayor's permit fee of Forty (P40.00) Pesos."2It Seems quite obvious that there is no infringement of any statutory or constitutional provision. Its second section is worded thus: "There is also hereby imposed upon owners, operators or agents of shipping companies with shipping offices or shipping agencies established in the City of Ozamis and transacting business in the city, a gross sales tax of 1-½ per centum of the gross freight and fares of the cargo and passengers shipped or transported out from Ozamis City by any of their vessels, ships or boats plying between Ozamis City and other ports, payable quarterly to the City Treasurer of Ozamis; [Provided], that 50% of the proceeds of the tax collections hereof shall be specifically allocated as City's aid for the barrio high schools in the City of Ozamis."3This is the questioned provision. The other sections deal with the five percent (5%) surcharge,4the repealing clause,5and the penal sanction.6In the decision of the lower court upholding its validity reliance is had on the Local Autonomy Act,7with stress being laid on the fact that the tax levied in Section 2 "is for public purposes, just and uniform."8
The petition for declaratory relief was thus dismissed in its decision of October 14, 1971.ℒαwρhi৷As was made clear at the outset, this appeal by certiorari is to be disposed of similarly.
1. There is this categorial statement in the petition that the aforesaid Ordinance No. 604 of the City of Ozamis "is illegal, unconstitutional and null and void ..."9In raising the constitutional issue, petitioners undoubtedly are relying on the plenary legislative power being possessed by the then Congress of the Philippines subject to its devolution over matters of municipal, provincial, or city concern to local governments. It is one of the exceptions to the fundamental principle of non-delegation.10It would follow then that the authority vested in such unit is limited to the terms of the grant. It is the contention of petitioners that under the Local Autonomy Act as amended,11the validity of the gross sales tax may be assailed. To so argue is to lose sign of what is ordained in the present Constitution. There is this declaration of principle: "The State shall guarantee and promote the autonomy of local government units, especially the barrio, to ensure their fullest development as self-reliant communities."12Even more explicit is this provision on the article on local government: "Each local government unit shall have the power to create its own sources of revenue and to levy taxes, subject to such limitations as may be provided by law."13In the Local Tax Code,14in line with the constitutional policy of according the widest possible autonomy on local governments even as to the power to tax, the absence of any restriction to its conceded competence to impose a revenue measure of this character is quite manifest. It would appear therefore that the Constitution, far from lending support to petitioners, precisely favors the stand of the respondent City of Ozamis. InDe Chavez v. Zobel,15a decision promulgated last January, this Court was quite categorical in its view that it cannot "set at naught an express mandate of the Constitution."16The opinion continues: "Once it has spoken, our duty is clear; obedience is unavoidable."17So again, in the face of an explicit provision empowering a local government unit to create its own sources of revenue and to levy taxes, without any limitation to be found in the applicable Presidential decree, the plea of unconstitutionality cannot be sustained.
2. This is not to say that without the invocation of the present Constitution, the lower court decision dismissing this petition for declaratory relief would be susceptible to the charge of non-conformity with what the law then prescribed. The cases cited in the petition to cast doubt on the competence of the City of Ozamis to enact the challenged ordinance speak the language of a bygone era.18To quote from that eminent jurist, Claro M. Recto: "But as the saying goes, heretofore much water has passed under the bridge."19With the enactment of Republic Act No. 2264, this Court, in line with the policy set forth therein, has accorded the widest latitude to the efforts of municipal corporations to meet the ever-increasing need for revenues with the appropriate taxing ordinances.20Perhaps petitioners, being sufficiently aware that a general objection premised on alleged unconstitutionality orultra viresis not likely to carry weight, would stigmatize the questioned provision as being an export tax. Reference toProcter and Gamble Trading Company v. Municipality of Medina21suffices to demonstrate its lack of persuasive character. Thus: "Nor are appellants anymore successful in resisting its operation by the allegation in the second assignment of error that what is therein imposed is an export tax expressly prohibited by law. The decisive case, Ormoc Sugarcane Planters Association Inc. v. Municipal Board of Ormoc City, the opinion being penned by Justice Makalintal, leaves no doubt that only where there is a clear showing that what is being taxed is an export to any foreign country would the amendatory provision of Republic Act No. 2264, prohibiting it come into play. The ordinance in question is not susceptible to such a reproach."22The contention that it is a tax on public utilities is beside the point, not only for the reasons set forth in the comment of Solicitor General Estelito Mendoza sustaining the validity of the ordinance, but also in view of the constitutional provisions above referred to as implemented by the applicable Presidential Decree.
WHEREFORE,the decision of the lower court dated October 14, 1971 dismissing this petition for declaratory relief and upholding the validity of Ordinance No. 604 of respondent City of Ozamis is hereby affirmed. Costs against petitioners.
Zaldivar (Chairman), Barredo, Antonio, Fernandez and Aquino, JJ., concur.
Footnotes