G.R. No. 48578 ; February 19, 1943
THE PROVINCE OF MINDORO, plaintiff-appellee, vs. MARCELO E. CRUZ and CARMEN DESIDERIO, defendants-appellants.

FACTS

From July 13, 1937, to August 11, 1938, the motorboats Rogelio X and Marianito, owned by defendants Marcelo E. Cruz and Carmen Desiderio, used the wharf at the port of Calapan, Mindoro, without paying dockage fees to the Province of Mindoro, accumulating a total sum of P936. The Province of Mindoro filed an action to recover these fees, and the trial court ruled in favor of the province, ordering the defendants to pay the amount. The defendants appealed the judgment.

ISSUE

Whether the Province of Mindoro retained the right to collect wharfage fees for the use of the Calapan wharf after the port was declared a national port by an Executive Order effective January 1, 1937.

RULING

Yes. The Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s judgment. The wharf was constructed with authority from the Public Service Commission and was funded partly by the National Government and partly by the Province of Mindoro. Due to its part ownership, the Province of Mindoro had historically charged and collected fees for the wharf’s use without objection from the National Government. The subsequent classification of the port of Calapan as a national port did not divest the Province of Mindoro of its part ownership of the wharf or its corresponding right to collect wharfage fees. The Court held that the province could only be deprived of this right if complete ownership of the wharf were transferred to the National Government through the proper legal process. The defendants were ordered to pay the dockage fees, with costs.