GR 34564; (September, 1931) (Digest)
G.R. No. 34564 ; September 29, 1931
BASILIO CARIÑO, plaintiff-appellant, vs. ARSENIO JAMORALNE, Municipal Treasurer of Dumaguete, Oriental Negros, defendant-appellee.
FACTS
Basilio Cariño applied for a license to open a cockpit in Calindagan, Dumaguete, offering to pay the fees under Municipal Ordinance No. 236, which set an annual tax of P1,800. The municipal treasurer refused to issue the license. The municipal council had enacted Ordinance No. 236, but the provincial board disapproved it as “contrary to the policy of the central government,” a decision upheld by the Chief of the Executive Bureau. Cariño filed a mandamus action to compel issuance of the license. The Court of First Instance dismissed the case, holding it lacked jurisdiction because the ordinance’s nullity had been settled administratively.
ISSUE
1. Whether the provincial board and the Chief of the Executive Bureau acted within their authority in disapproving Municipal Ordinance No. 236.
2. Whether the courts have jurisdiction to determine the validity of a municipal ordinance despite prior administrative rulings.
RULING
1. The provincial board exceeded its authority. Under Section 2233 of the Administrative Code, the provincial board may only declare a municipal ordinance invalid if it is beyond the powers conferred upon the municipal council. Disapproval based on the ordinance being “contrary to the policy of the central government” is not a valid ground, as the municipal council acted within its discretionary power to regulate cockpits under Section 2243 of the Administrative Code. The administrative disapproval was therefore improper.
2. The courts retain jurisdiction to determine the validity of municipal ordinances. Section 2236 of the Administrative Code expressly preserves the power of judicial tribunals to hold void any municipal act for want of statutory authority, irrespective of executive decisions. Thus, the trial court erred in dismissing the case for lack of jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court reversed the trial court’s decision, declared Ordinance No. 236 valid, and ordered the issuance of the writ of mandamus to compel the municipal treasurer to accept the fee and issue the license.
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