Case Digest (G.R. No. 7012)
Facts:
The Iloilo Ice and Cold Storage Company v. The Municipal Council of Iloilo et al., G.R. No. L-7012, March 26, 1913, the Supreme Court En Banc, Trent, J., writing for the Court.
The plaintiff (appellee), The Iloilo Ice and Cold Storage Company, constructed an ice and cold storage plant in the City of Iloilo pursuant to authority previously granted by the defendant (appellant), the Municipal Council of Iloilo. After the plant began operation, nearby residents complained that smoke from the plant injured their health and comfort. The municipal council appointed a committee which reported the complaints to be well founded.
Acting on that report, the municipal council passed a resolution directing that the company elevate its smokestacks to 100 feet within one month and providing that, if not done, the municipal president should execute an order requiring the closing or suspension of the establishment. In response the company filed suit in the Court of First Instance seeking to enjoin the municipal council from enforcing that resolution; the complaint alleged that the council threatened to close the plant administratively and by force without resort to the courts.
On notice and after hearing, the trial court issued a preliminary injunction restraining the municipal council from executing its resolution. The municipal council answered, admitting some allegations but denying others and pleading a special defense that the plant discharged dense smoke in a populous district, that the municipal board of health found the smoke prejudicial to public health, and that the company violated city ordinances and therefore could not claim the remedy sought. The plaintiff demurred to the answer on the grounds that the answer did not state a defense and was vague and argumentative.
The trial court sustained the demurrer and ordered the defendant to amend its answer within five days or have the injunction made permanent; the defendant excepted and appealed to this Court. The main question pressed on appeal was...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the trial court err in sustaining the plaintiff’s demurrer to the municipal council’s answer?
- May a municipal council, under section 39(j) of the Municipal Code, by resolution declare and abate as a nuisance a lawful business that is not a nuisance per se, without judicial determination (i.e., by extrajudici...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)