Title
Velasco vs. Villegas
Case
G.R. No. L-24153
Decision Date
Feb 14, 1983
Barbershop owners challenged Manila's ordinance banning massage services in adjacent rooms, claiming it violated due process. The Supreme Court upheld the ordinance as a valid police power measure to promote public welfare and prevent immorality, dismissing the petition as improper due to prior criminal cases.

Case Digest (G.R. No. 211289)
Expanded Legal Reasoning Model

Facts:

  • Parties and Representation
    • Petitioners-Appellants
      • Tomas Velasco, Lourdes Ramirez, Sy Pin, Edmundo Unson, Apolonia Ramirez, and Lourdes Lomibao
      • Acting as component members of the Sta. Cruz Barbershop Association and in representation of all barbershop owners in the City of Manila
    • Respondents-Appellees
      • Hon. Antonio J. Villegas, City Mayor of Manila
      • Hon. Herminio A. Astorga, Vice-Mayor and Presiding Officer of the Municipal Board
      • The Municipal Board of the City of Manila
      • Eduardo Quintos, Sr., Chief of Police of the City of Manila
  • Ordinance No. 4964 and Lower Court Proceedings
    • Ordinance No. 4964, Section 1
      • Prohibits any barber shop operator from conducting massage business in any adjacent room(s) of the barber shop or in any room(s) within the same building under the same operator.
    • Proceedings Below
      • Petitioners-Appellants filed for declaratory relief challenging the constitutionality of the ordinance, alleging deprivation of property and means of livelihood without due process.
      • They admitted that criminal charges for violations of the ordinance had already been filed and resolved.
      • The trial court dismissed the petition for declaratory relief on the ground that such remedy is unavailable once a criminal case involving the same issue has been adjudicated.

Issues:

  • Whether a petition for declaratory relief lies when criminal cases involving the same ordinance have already been filed and decided.
  • Whether Ordinance No. 4964 constitutes an unconstitutional deprivation of property or means of livelihood without due process.

Ruling:

  • (Subscriber-Only)

Ratio:

  • (Subscriber-Only)

Doctrine:

  • (Subscriber-Only)

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