G.R. Nos. 45447, 45448; March 30, 1937
MIRASOL TRANSPORTATION CO., INC., petitioner, vs. NEGROS TRAVELWAYS CORPORATION and RUSTICO M. MATUS, respondents.

FACTS

The petitioner, Mirasol Transportation Co., Inc., appealed a decision of the Public Service Commission dated January 27, 1937, by filing a petition for review in the Supreme Court on January 29, 1937. The respondents moved to dismiss the appeal on the ground that the petitioner failed to file a motion for reconsideration of the Commission’s decision before filing the petition for review.

ISSUE

Is the filing of a motion for reconsideration a condition precedent to the perfection of an appeal from an order, ruling, or decision of the Public Service Commission by means of a petition for review under Act No. 146 (the Public Service Act)?

RULING

No. Under the provisions of Act No. 146 ( Commonwealth Act No. 146 ), the filing of a motion for reconsideration is not a mandatory requirement for the perfection of an appeal by petition for review. The Court distinguished the applicable law from the old Act No. 3108 , under which prior jurisprudence (Philippine Shipowners’ Association vs. Public Utility Commission) had held that an application for rehearing was a condition precedent. Sections 34, 35, and 36 of Act No. 146 do not impose such a condition for filing a petition for review. Therefore, the respondents’ motion to dismiss the appeal was denied. The Court expressly refrained from ruling on whether the same rule applies to appeals by certiorari, as that issue was not involved in the case.

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