Title
Municipality of Biaan, Laguna, Rogelio vs. Lee, Antonio P. Aguilar and Roberto Herdez vs. Holiday Hills Stock and Breeding Farm Corporation
Case
G.R. No. 200403
Decision Date
Oct 10, 2022
Biñan, Laguna enacted an ordinance phasing out large livestock farms to protect public health. Hog farms challenged it, claiming due process violations. SC upheld the ordinance, ruling farms a nuisance per se and the regulation a valid exercise of police power.
municipal ordinance
police power
public nuisance
A

Case Summary (G.R. No. 200403)

Ordinance Content (Municipal Ordinance No. 06, 2004)

The ordinance, titled “Urban Control Zones Regulation and Gradual Phase Out of Large Livestock Farms in BiAAn, Laguna,” aims to regulate urban control zones for agricultural use and to phase out large piggeries, fowl and other livestock farms. It exempts existing large farms temporarily by granting a maximum three-year period from approval for gradual reduction of livestock to manageable levels, prohibits the establishment of new large livestock farms upon effectivity, and provides that after three years no business permit or permit to operate shall be issued to existing large livestock farms within the municipality.

Procedural History

Respondents received notice of the ordinance’s implementation and challenged its validity via a petition for certiorari, declaratory relief and prohibition with application for preliminary injunction before the Regional Trial Court (RTC). The RTC dismissed respondents’ petition and upheld the ordinance as a valid exercise of police power, finding the respondents’ facilities constituted a nuisance per se. The Court of Appeals (CA) reversed the RTC, concluding the ordinance violated respondents’ substantive due process because the hog farms were at most nuisances per accidens, not per se, and thus could not be summarily abated by ordinance. The CA denied reconsideration; the municipal government sought review before the Supreme Court.

Issue Presented to the Supreme Court

Whether the Court of Appeals correctly reversed the RTC and declared Municipal Ordinance No. 06 unconstitutional for violating respondents’ substantive due process rights, or whether the ordinance was a valid exercise of the local government’s police power and therefore constitutional.

Legal Standard for Valid Ordinances and Scope of Local Police Power

The Court reiterated established tests for validity of local ordinances: an ordinance must (1) not contravene the Constitution or any statute; (2) not be unfair or oppressive; (3) not be partial or discriminatory; (4) regulate rather than prohibit trade; (5) be general and consistent with public policy; and (6) not be unreasonable. Local ordinances derive from the legislative delegation of power to local government units; they must conform to constitutional limits and national law. The Local Government Code’s Section 16 (General Welfare clause) permits local legislative bodies to exercise police power to promote public health, safety and the general welfare within their territorial jurisdiction.

Requisites to Justify Regulation under Police Power

To validly invoke police power to restrict private rights, petitioners must show: (1) the public interest generally (as distinct from a particular class) requires interference with private rights; and (2) the means adopted are reasonably necessary to accomplish the purpose and are not unduly oppressive on individuals. Both requisites were the focal point of the Court’s analysis.

Nuisance Doctrine: Per Se versus Per Accidens

The Court reviewed the long-standing doctrine distinguishing nuisances per se (inherently and under all circumstances nuisances, subject to summary abatement under the law of necessity) from nuisances per accidens (dependent on circumstances and factual findings, requiring judicial determination and cannot be summarily abated by administrative or legislative bodies). Jurisprudential examples and principles were cited to underscore that municipal legislative bodies may declare and abate nuisances only when the subject is a nuisance per se; otherwise, factual determinations belong to courts.

Factual Findings and Application of the Nuisance Doctrine

Relying on the record and prior findings (including RTC findings and resident complaints), the Court determined that the large hog farms at issue emitted offensive and injurious odors that immediately interfered with the safety, health and comfort of nearby residents. Given the nature and location of the operations—proximity to residential subdivisions—and the evidence of community impact, the Court concluded the farms constitute a nuisance per se rather than a nuisance per accidens. The immediacy and

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