G.R. No. L-23793; February 23, 1968
ORMOC SUGARCANE PLANTERS ASSOCIATION, INC., petitioner-appellant, vs. THE MUNICIPAL BOARD OF ORMOC CITY and HON. ESTEBAN C. CONEJOS as Mayor of Ormoc City, respondents-appellees.

FACTS

This is a petition for declaratory judgment filed by the Ormoc Sugarcane Planters Association, Inc., whose members’ rights are affected by Ormoc City Ordinance No. 4, Series of 1964. The ordinance imposes a municipal tax equivalent to one percent (1%) on any and all productions of centrifugal sugar milled at the Ormoc Sugar Company, Incorporated, in Ormoc City per export sale to the United States of America and other foreign countries. The petitioner seeks a declaration of the ordinance’s nullity. The case is a companion to G.R. No. L-23794, where the Supreme Court had already declared the same ordinance unconstitutional and void.

ISSUE

Whether Ormoc City Ordinance No. 4, Series of 1964, is constitutional and valid.

RULING

The Supreme Court declared Ordinance No. 4, Series of 1964, unconstitutional, void, and no longer of any effect. The ruling is based on two primary grounds. First, the ordinance imposes a tax on export, which infringes the equal protection clause of the Constitution as it refers exclusively to the Ormoc Sugar Company. Second, the taxing power of chartered cities was amended by Republic Act No. 4497 , which explicitly denies the power to impose any tax, fee, or levy that burdens exports of Philippine products. This amendment, which took effect on June 19, 1965, repealed the ordinance in question. The decision in the companion case, G.R. No. L-23794, is cited as direct precedent.