G.R. No. L-64279. April 30, 1984.
ANSELMO L. PESIGAN and MARCELINO L. PESIGAN, petitioners, vs. JUDGE DOMINGO MEDINA ANGELES, Regional Trial Court, Caloocan City Branch 129, acting for REGIONAL TRIAL COURT of Camarines Norte, now presided over by JUDGE NICANOR ORIÑO, Daet Branch 40; DRA. BELLA S. MIRANDA, ARNULFO V. ZENAROSA, ET AL., respondents.

FACTS

Petitioners Anselmo and Marcelino Pesigan, carabao dealers, transported twenty-six carabaos and a calf from Sipocot, Camarines Sur to Batangas on April 2, 1982. They possessed a health certificate from the provincial veterinarian, a permit to transport from the provincial commander, and three certificates of inspection from the Constabulary, a livestock inspector, and the municipal mayor. While passing through Basud, Camarines Norte, the carabaos were confiscated by respondents Lt. Arnulfo Zenarosa and Dr. Bella Miranda, the provincial veterinarian, based on Presidential Executive Order No. 626-A dated October 25, 1980. This order prohibited the inter-provincial transport of carabaos and mandated confiscation and forfeiture for violations. Dr. Miranda subsequently distributed the carabaos to local farmers.
The Pesigans filed a replevin action to recover the carabaos and damages. The sheriff could not execute the replevin order. The trial court, presided by Judge Domingo Angeles, dismissed the case for lack of cause of action. The Pesigans appealed directly to the Supreme Court.

ISSUE

Whether Executive Order No. 626-A was enforceable against the petitioners on April 2, 1982, despite its publication in the Official Gazette only on June 14, 1982.

RULING

No. The Supreme Court reversed the trial court’s dismissal and set aside the confiscation. The Court held that Executive Order No. 626-A could not be enforced against the Pesigans on April 2, 1982, as it was a penal regulation that only became effective fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette on June 14, 1982, pursuant to Article 2 of the Civil Code and Section 11 of the Revised Administrative Code.
The legal logic is grounded in the fundamental requirement of due process. The term “laws” in the Civil Code provision includes regulations and circulars that prescribe penalties, such as the confiscation sanction in the executive order. Publication in the Official Gazette or public promulgation is indispensable to apprise the public of the contents of such penal regulations and to make them binding. This principle, established in People vs. Que Po Lay, ensures that individuals are informed of a law’s provisions before they can be held liable for its violation. Since the order was unpublished at the time of the confiscation, the petitioners could not have been expected to know of its prohibition. The respondents, acting in good faith, were not liable for damages, but the summary confiscation was invalid. The recipients were ordered to return the carabaos to the petitioners, who were entitled to possess them but could no longer transport them inter-provincely as the published order was now in effect.