G.R. No. L-18102; June 30, 1962
TEODORA LOPERA, petitioner-appellee, vs. SEVERINO E. VICENTE, as Municipal Mayor of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, et al., respondents, SEVERINO E. VICENTE, respondent-appellant.

FACTS

Petitioner Teodora Lopera operated a cabaret in Puerto Princesa under a license valid until December 1960, issued pursuant to a temporary permit. The Municipal Council enacted Ordinance No. 6, s. 1960, which prohibited the operation of cabarets within a radius of 500 lineal meters from any public building, school, hospital, or church. Acting on this ordinance, the Municipal Mayor ordered the closure of Lopera’s cabaret on December 4, 1960, after a report from the Engineer’s office indicated it was located 476 meters from the provincial hospital, thus within the prohibited distance.
Lopera filed a special civil action for mandamus with preliminary injunction before the Court of First Instance of Palawan, contesting the ordinance’s legality. She argued that it contravened Republic Act No. 1224 , which she claimed fixed a definitive distance of 200 meters. The trial court ruled in her favor, declaring Ordinance No. 6 illegal for conflicting with the national law, as it sought to amend the congressional act by extending the radius to 500 meters. The court ordered the cabaret reopened and made the preliminary injunction permanent.

ISSUE

Whether Ordinance No. 6, s. 1960, of the Municipal Council of Puerto Princesa, which sets a 500-meter prohibition radius for cabarets from specified public establishments, is valid under Republic Act No. 1224 .

RULING

The Supreme Court reversed the trial court’s order and upheld the validity of Ordinance No. 6. The Court clarified the legal logic by interpreting Section 1 of Republic Act No. 1224 . The law empowers municipal councils to regulate or prohibit cabarets within their jurisdiction. The proviso stating that “no such places… shall be established… within a radius of two hundred lineal meters” sets a minimum prohibition distance, not a fixed or maximum one. The statute does not intend to impose a uniform 200-meter radius nationwide but establishes a baseline below which municipalities cannot go.
Consequently, municipal councils retain the discretion, under their general welfare authority, to fix a greater distance if deemed necessary for local health, safety, and morals. Ordinance No. 6’s 500-meter radius is a valid exercise of this delegated regulatory power, as it exceeds the statutory minimum. Since Lopera’s cabaret was found to be within 476 meters of a hospital, its closure was justified. The Court also noted Lopera’s claim of prior operation since 1958 was unsubstantiated, as evidence showed operation began under a temporary permit in 1960, after earlier ordinances had prohibited cabarets. The writ of injunction was set aside.