G.R. No. L-11014; January 21, 1958
VICTORIANA ESPIRITU, JORGE ROBLES, JOSEFINA DE VERA, FAUSTINO QUINTIVES, LEONOR BRIONES, EVANGELINA PATACSIL, TEOFILO ANCHETA and BRIGIDA MANGONON, petitioners-appellants, vs. THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL, MUNICIPAL MAYOR and THE CHIEF OF POLICE OF POZORRUBIO, PANGASINAN, respondents-appellees.

FACTS

During the last world war, the public market building of Pozorrubio, Pangasinan was destroyed. After Liberation, market vendors, including the petitioners-appellants, began constructing temporary stalls and small residences on a portion of the town plaza. The Municipal Treasurer collected fees from these stall owners at the rate of P0.25 per square meter per month. After the municipal market was rehabilitated, the stall owners refused to transfer to the market place. The Municipal Council received petitions from civic organizations seeking the removal of the stalls from the plaza to convert the area into a children’s park and was also alerted by a circular from the Secretary of the Interior that such stalls were illegal. Consequently, the Council passed Resolution No. 20, Series of 1951, ordering the occupants to remove their structures within sixty days. In response, eight stall owners filed a petition for prohibition with the Court of First Instance of Pangasinan against the municipal officials. The trial court dismissed the petition, lifted a preliminary injunction, and ordered the removal of the stalls. Pending appeal, the respondents-appellees manifested that the appellants had voluntarily vacated the plaza and transferred their buildings to private lots, rendering the case moot and academic.

ISSUE

Whether the Municipal Council of Pozorrubio has the authority to order the removal of privately constructed market stalls and residences from the town plaza.

RULING

Yes. The decision of the trial court is affirmed. Town plazas are properties of public dominion, intended for public use and outside the commerce of man. They cannot be disposed of or leased by the municipality to private parties. The temporary occupation and use of the plaza by private individuals, tolerated due to the emergency caused by the war and the destruction of the public market, must cease once the emergency has ended. The structures erected on the plaza constituted a nuisance subject to abatement. The fees collected by the Municipal Treasurer were determined to be market stall fees, not rental payments for the use of the plaza, and no contract existed between the appellants and the municipality for such use. The appellants’ voluntary removal of their structures from the plaza confirms the lack of merit in their claim.