G.R. No. L-4403 July 17, 1951
WISE AND COMPANY, INC., plaintiff-appellee, vs. PRICE STABILIZATION CORPORATION (PRISCO), defendant-appellant.

FACTS

Plaintiff Wise and Company, Inc., an old importer licensed since 1890 and registered with the Philippine Relief and Trade Rehabilitation Administration (PRATRA), sought to compel the defendant Price Stabilization Corporation (PRISCO), PRATRA’s successor, to issue it a monthly quota allocation and import license for 7,918 bags of wheat flour starting August 1950. The plaintiff claimed entitlement under Sections 12 and 14 of Republic Act No. 426, which allocated 70% of the total wheat flour import quota to old importers and 30% to new importers. The defendant PRISCO refused, contending that under Section 15 of the same Act, it had exclusive authority to determine and regulate wheat flour allocation in accordance with Executive Order No. 305 and the rules of the Wheat Flour Board, and was not bound by the restrictions in Sections 12 and 14.

ISSUE

Whether PRATRA, and subsequently PRISCO, in allocating wheat flour import quotas, is subject to the restrictions established by Sections 12 and 14 of Republic Act No. 426, or whether it may make allocations pursuant to Executive Order No. 305 and Section 15 of the Act.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s decision, ruling that PRISCO must allocate wheat flour import quotas in accordance with the pattern laid down in Sections 12 and 14 of Republic Act No. 426. The Court held that the proviso in Section 15 merely assigned the function of allocating wheat flour to PRATRA (later PRISCO) instead of the Import Control Commissioner, but did not exempt wheat flour from the Act’s other provisions. To hold otherwise would constitute an undue and unconstitutional delegation of legislative power. Therefore, the plaintiff, as an old importer, was entitled to the claimed monthly quota allocation.