GR L 9171; (August, 1956) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-9171; August 27, 1956
PAULINO OCHOA, ET AL., petitioners-appellants, vs. THE MAYOR AND TREASURER OF PASAY CITY, respondents-appellees.
FACTS
Petitioners Paulino Ochoa, et al., are bona fide pork vendors and stall holders in the public market of Pasay City. They were required to pay a fee of P0.05 per kilo for their swine or hogs slaughtered in the public abattoir of Pasay City, under Ordinance No. 3, series of 1945. Section 1 of said ordinance mandates that “all owners or incharge of every large cattle slaughtered within the Public Slaughterhouse must pay the slaughter fee of taxed by existing laws and ordinances.” Petitioners contended that the phrase “large cattle” in the ordinance does not include swine or hogs. They filed a case in the Court of First Instance of Rizal for a declaratory judgment to declare the application of the ordinance to swine as erroneous and illegal and to stop it immediately. Respondents, the Mayor and Treasurer of Pasay City, in their answer, raised solely the legal question of whether hogs or swine are included within the term “large cattle.” The lower court resolved this question in the negative, declaring the ordinance “inapplicable and without force and effect insofar as swine or hogs that may hereafter be slaughtered by the petitioners within the slaughterhouse of Pasay City.” Petitioners appealed, arguing that the decision’s effect should not be limited to swine slaughtered “hereafter.”
ISSUE
Whether the term “large cattle” in Ordinance No. 3, series of 1945 of Pasay City includes swine or hogs, thereby subjecting them to the slaughter fee.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s ruling that the term “large cattle” does not include swine or hogs. However, it modified the decision by removing the limitation “hereafter.” The Court held that since the ordinance is inapplicable to swine or hogs, it should not apply to any and all hogs or swine slaughtered in the public abattoir of Pasay City during the effectiveness of the ordinance, either before or after the final disposition of the case. Thus, the decision was modified to declare that swine or hogs slaughtered in the public abattoir at any time after the passage of the ordinance are not subject to its provisions. The decision was affirmed in all other respects, with no costs awarded.