Case Digest (G.R. No. L-12435)
Facts:
United States v. Regino Blanco, G.R. No. 12435, November 09, 1917, the Supreme Court, Carson, J., writing for the Court. The panel included Arellano, C.J., Araullo and Street, JJ., who concurred; Torres, Johnson, and Avancena, JJ., did not sit; Malcolm, J., filed a separate concurring opinion.The defendant-appellant, Regino Blanco, was charged with violating a municipal ordinance of Castillejos, Province of Zambales, prohibiting obstruction of public highways. Blanco was originally convicted and fined P25 by the justice of the peace of Castillejos. He appealed to the Court of First Instance of Zambales, which affirmed the conviction and the P25 fine. The judgment of the Court of First Instance was then appealed to the Supreme Court.
Counsel for Blanco raised two principal contentions on appeal. First, that there was no affirmative proof in the record that the municipal ordinance had been approved by the provincial board as required by section 9 of the ordinance, which stated the ordinance would take effect "from the date of its approval by the honorable Junta Provincial"; hence, counsel argued, there was no evidence that the ordinance was in force at the time of the alleged offense. Second, counsel argued that the ordinance had been enacted under Article 39(j) of Act No. 82 (the Municipal Code) and that Act No. 82 had been repealed by the Administrative Code, so the ordinance should be deemed abrogated.
The Court noted that Act No. 2677, enacted after the appeal was perfected, expressly authorized appeals in cases of this kind and therefore did not dwell on earlier procedural questions about the proper disposition of the appeal. The Court considered whether a justice of the peace and the appellate courts on appeal therefrom may take judicial notice of municipal ordinances and whether the Administrative Code's incorporati...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- May a court of the justice of the peace and the appellate courts on appeal from a justice of the peace take judicial notice of municipal ordinances in force in the municipality where the case originated when there is no affirmative proof of the ordinance's approval in the record?
- Did the repeal of the Municipal Code by the Administrative Code abrogate municipal ordinances enacted under the Municipal Code, such that the ordinan...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)