Case Digest (G.R. No. 131512)
Facts:
Land Transportation Office v. City of Butuan, G.R. No. 131512, January 20, 2000, the Supreme Court Third Division, Vitug, J., writing for the Court.Petitioners are the Land Transportation Office (LTO), represented in the caption by Assistant Secretary Manuel F. Bruan and the LTO regional and field offices; respondent is the City of Butuan, represented by Mayor Democrito D. Plaza II. The controversy concerns whether functions performed by the LTO — specifically the registration of tricycles and the issuance of drivers’ licenses — were devolved to local government units (LGUs) under the Local Government Code (R.A. No. 7160), and whether the City may validly regulate tricycles and issue municipal franchises, registrations and permits by ordinance.
In 1992 the Sangguniang Panglungsod of Butuan enacted an ordinance regulating tricycles-for-hire (identified in the record as SP Ordinance No. 916-92), providing for municipal franchise fees, vehicle registration fees, and driver permits; the City later sought judicial validation of an ordinance reported in the record as SP Ordinance No. 962-93. The Regional Trial Court (Branch 2) of Butuan City (Judge Rosarito Dabalos) granted a permanent writ of injunction on 20 March 1995 prohibiting the LTO, its officers and agents from registering tricycles or issuing licenses to tricycle drivers within Butuan, holding that such powers had devolved to the LGU. The trial court specified that municipal registrations and franchises would be valid only within Butuan City’s territorial limits.
The Court of Appeals, in a decision dated 17 November 1997 (opinion penned by Justice Jorge S. Imperial, concurred in by Justices Ramon U. Mabutas, Jr. and Hilarion L. Aquino), affirmed the trial court’s issuance of the permanent injunction. The LTO filed a petition for review on certiorari with the Supreme Court (seeking annulment and setting aside of the Court of Appeals’ decision), raising the single assignment of error that only the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) franchising autho...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Did the Local Government Code (R.A. No. 7160) and its implementing guidelines devolve to local government units the LTO’s functions to register tricycles and to issue drivers’ licenses?
- Was the injunction issued by the Regional Trial Court and affirmed by the Court of Appeals properly sustained insofar as it enjoined the LTO from registering tricycles a...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
- (Pro-only)
Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)