G.R. No. 113092 - Centeno vs. Villalon-Pornillos

In late 1985, officers of the Samahang Katandaan ng Nayon ng Tikay—a civic organization of elderly residents of Barrio Tikay, Malolos, Bulacan—initiated a fund drive to renovate the local chapel.
Petitioner Martin Centeno, as chairman, together with Vicente Yco, solicited a P1,500.00 contribution from Judge Adoracion G. Angeles without first securing a permit from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as required under Presidential Decree No. 1564.

Based on Judge Angeles’s complaint, an information for violation of P.D. 1564 was filed against Centeno, Yco, and Religio Evaristo before the MTC of Malolos, Branch 2 (Criminal Case No. 2602).
The MTC denied the motion to quash the information and, after trial, found Centeno and Yco guilty beyond reasonable doubt on December 29, 1992. Each was fined ₱200.00, with a recommendation for executive clemency due to their good faith.

Yco withdrew his appeal, leaving Centeno as sole appellant in RTC Branch 10, Malolos.
On May 21, 1993, the RTC affirmed the conviction but increased Centeno’s penalty to six months’ imprisonment and a ₱1,000.00 fine, denying reconsideration.

Centeno challenged whether solicitations for a religious purpose (chapel renovation) fall within the ambit of P.D. 1564’s “charitable or public welfare purposes.”
He argued that the statute does not expressly include religious solicitations, that penal laws must be strictly construed in favor of the accused, and that applying P.D. 1564 to religious solicitations impinges on the constitutional right to free exercise of religion.

Whether solicitations made for a religious purpose are covered by Presidential Decree No. 1564’s requirement of a DSWD permit for contributions “for charitable or public welfare purposes.”