G.R. No. L-33169 and L-33212 July 30, 1982
GLICERIO JAVELLANA, petitioner, vs. HON. CESAR KINTANAR, Judge of the Court of First Instance of Negros Occidental, CITY OF BAGO, CITY COUNCIL, CITY MAYOR, and CITY TREASURER, all of the City of Bago, respondents.

FACTS

Glicerio Javellana owned and operated a market in Bago City, leasing store spaces and stalls to vendors and serving the general public for over twenty years under a city permit. In 1968, the City Treasurer refused his license payment, citing newly enacted Ordinance No. 150, which prohibited any person or entity other than the city government from establishing or operating a public market within Bago. Javellana filed a petition seeking to nullify Ordinances Nos. 142, 145, and 150, Series of 1968, and to enjoin their enforcement. Juanito Novillas and other market stallholders and vendors intervened in the petition.
The ordinances in question were: No. 142, prohibiting the sale of perishable goods outside city public markets; No. 145, requiring inspection of such goods at the city-owned market; and No. 150, exclusively reserving the operation of public markets to the city government. Javellana and the intervenors argued the ordinances were unreasonable and ultra vires, asserting that Javellana’s market was private, not public, as he owned the land and building.

ISSUE

The core issue is whether Javellana’s market qualifies as a “public market” under Ordinance No. 150, thereby prohibiting its continued private operation.

RULING

The Supreme Court dismissed the appeals, upholding the validity of Ordinance No. 150 and its application to Javellana’s market. The legal logic centered on the definition of a “public market.” The Court rejected the appellants’ ownership-based test, affirming that a market is “public” based on its dedication to serving the general public, not on its ownership. Citing Vda. de Salgado vs. De la Fuente, the Court held a market is public when operated as a public utility under government control, regardless of private ownership.
The Court found Javellana’s market indisputably met this functional test. His own testimony confirmed it serviced the public from Bago and adjoining municipalities, with numerous leased stalls serving thousands of people. Consequently, the market fell within the scope of Ordinance No. 150. The Court also summarily validated Ordinances Nos. 142 and 145 as proper regulatory and revenue measures under the city’s charter, particularly Section 15 of R.A. No. 4382 , which grants powers to regulate markets and promote general welfare. Since Ordinance No. 150 validly applied, the challenge to the ancillary ordinances became moot. The trial court’s dismissal of the petition was thus correct.