GR 44291; (August, 1936) (Digest)
G.R. No. 44291 ; August 15, 1936
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, plaintiff-appellant, vs. AUGUSTO A. SANTOS, defendant-appellee.
FACTS
The provincial fiscal of Cavite filed an information against Augusto A. Santos for violating Section 28 of Fish and Game Administrative Order No. 2, issued by the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce. The charge alleged that Santos’s fishing boats operated within 1,500 yards north of Cavalry Point, Corregidor Island, which is within three kilometers from the shore—an area prohibited for fishing without written permission from the Secretary, as per the administrative order. The Court of First Instance of Cavite dismissed the case, holding that the offense fell under the original jurisdiction of the justice of the peace court of Corregidor, not Cavite. The prosecution appealed this order of dismissal.
ISSUE
Whether the conditional clause in Section 28 of Administrative Order No. 2, which prohibits unlicensed boats from fishing within three kilometers of certain islands without written permission, is valid.
RULING
No. The Supreme Court declared the conditional clause in Section 28 of Administrative Order No. 2 null and void. The clause effectively created a new prohibition not found in the enabling law, Act No. 4003 . The Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce exceeded the regulatory authority granted by Section 4 of Act No. 4003 , which only allowed the issuance of rules and regulations consistent with the Act to carry out its provisions. By enacting a new prohibition, the Secretary exercised legislative power, which cannot be delegated. Since the clause was invalid, the acts charged against Santos did not constitute a crime. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the dismissal of the information, but on this substantive ground rather than the jurisdictional issue raised by the lower court.
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