Case Digest (G.R. No. 177056)
Case Digest (G.R. No. 177056)
Facts:
The Office of the Solicitor General v. Ayala Land Incorporated, Robinson’s Land Corporation, Shangri‑La Plaza Corporation and SM Prime Holdings, Inc., G.R. No. 177056, September 18, 2009, Supreme Court Third Division, Chico‑Nazario, J., writing for the Court.The petitioner is the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG); the respondents are mall operators Ayala Land, Robinsons Land, Shangri‑La Plaza Corporation, and SM Prime Holdings, Inc. The malls maintained by respondents have off‑street parking facilities (some constructed by respondents, some leased) for which respondents charge users set fees and include on parking tickets a clause disclaiming liability for loss or damage to parked vehicles.
Following three Senate hearings in 1999, the Senate Committees on Trade and Commerce and on Justice and Human Rights issued Senate Committee Report No. 225 (2 May 2000), concluding that the collection of parking fees by shopping malls was contrary to the National Building Code (PD 1096) and recommending that the OSG institute actions to enjoin collection of parking fees and to seek enforcement of penal sanctions under the Code, among other measures.
Anticipating enforcement action, SM Prime filed a Petition for Declaratory Relief under Rule 63 (Civil Case No. 00‑1208) on 3 October 2000 against the Secretary of Public Works and local building officials, seeking declarations that Rule XIX of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of PD 1096 was ultra vires and that SM Prime had the legal right to lease parking spaces. On 4 October 2000 the OSG filed a Petition for Declaratory Relief and Injunction (with prayer for TRO and preliminary injunction) against the mall operators (Civil Case No. 00‑1210), asking the RTC to enjoin respondents from collecting parking fees and to declare such practice violative of the National Building Code and its IRR. The two cases were consolidated by order of the RTC.
At pre‑trial the issues were limited to: (1) OSG’s capacity to sue and whether the controversy involved public welfare; (2) propriety of declaratory relief; (3) whether respondents are obligated to provide parking spaces free of charge; and (4) entitlement to damages. On 29 May 2002, the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Makati, Branch 138 (Judge Sixto Marella, Jr.) issued a Joint Decision holding that the OSG had capacity and that declaratory relief was proper, but that Section 803 of PD 1096 and Rule XIX of the IRR require only that parking spaces be provided, not that they be free; therefore respondents could not be compelled to provide free parking and no damages were awarded.
Both the OSG and SM Prime appealed to the Court of Appeals (CA‑G.R. CV No. 76298). The Court of Appeals dismissed the OSG appeal for raising a pure question of law but, exercising its discretion to resolve the broader consolidated appeals, affirmed the RTC in toto on 25 January 2007: it upheld OSG’s capacity to sue, rejected the exhaustion‑of‑administrative‑remedies argument, declined to decide the IRR’s validity because it was not framed as an issue at trial, and read Section 803 and Rule XIX as setting minimum parking space requirements only, not regulating parking fees.
The OSG filed a Petition for Review on Certiorari under Rule 45 seeking reversal of the CA decision. The Supreme Court Third Division, with Chico‑Nazario, J. as ponente, denied the petition on 18 September 2009, affirming the Court of Appeals and the RTC.
Issues:
- Did the OSG have the legal capacity to institute Civil Case No. 00‑1210 on behalf of the public?
- Was the OSG required to exhaust administrative remedies before seeking judicial relief?
- Do Section 803 of the National Building Code (PD 1096) and Rule XIX of its IRR obligate mall owners to provide parking spaces free of charge?
- If such an obligation were imposed, would a prohibition on charging parking fees be a valid exercise of police power or would it amount to a taking requiring just compensation?
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)