GR L 2652; (December, 1949) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-2652, December 7, 1949
JULIA LORENZO and MARIANO ESTRELLA, plaintiffs-appellants, vs. THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF NAIC, CAVITE and PILAR DINIO, defendants-appellees.
FACTS
The Municipal Council of Naic, Cavite passed Resolution No. 20 to re-zone and reorder the municipal market. Under the new plan, plaintiff Julia Lorenzo retained her original stall (now designated Lot No. 4), but it ceased to be a corner stall due to the rearrangement, allegedly reducing her sales. A different stall (Lot No. 2) was awarded by the council to R. Manalaysay, who later privately exchanged it with defendant Pilar Dinio for her Lot No. 1. Lorenzo protested the award of Lot No. 2 to Manalaysay and the subsequent exchange, claiming the award should have been made through public bidding. The municipal council overruled her protest. Lorenzo filed an action challenging the legality of the council’s resolutions.
ISSUE
Whether the Municipal Council of Naic was required by law to award individual market stalls through public bidding.
RULING
No. The Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal of the complaint. Section 2319 of the Revised Administrative Code, which requires public bidding, applies only to the leasing of an entire municipal ferry, market, or slaughterhouse to a private operator. It does not apply to the distribution of individual stalls or spaces within a market administered by the municipality itself. Under Section 2242(q) of the same Code, the municipal council has the authority to regulate the use of the market and to award stalls under conditions it imposes, without the need for public bidding. The rearrangement and award were within the council’s discretionary power. The subsequent private exchange of stalls between Manalaysay and Dinio was a private arrangement that did not concern Lorenzo.
AI Generated by Armztrong.