Case Summary (G.R. No. 13678)
Key Dates
• February 28, 1917: Orion municipal council enacts Ordinance No. 3, restricting specified card games to Sundays and legal holidays.
• March 8, 1917: Police arrest participants in a panguingue game, seizing cards, counters, tray, and cash.
• Trial and Appeal: Convicted in Justice of the Peace Court (Orion) and Court of First Instance (Bataan); appeal to Supreme Court of the Philippine Islands.
• Decision: November 12, 1918.
Applicable Law
• Administrative Code of 1916/1917:
– Section 2184 (2238): General welfare clause empowering municipal councils to enact ordinances for health, safety, morals, peace, order, comfort, convenience, and property protection.
– Section 2188(j) (2242(j)): Mandatory duty to prohibit and penalize gambling.
• Act No. 1757 (Insular Law, 1904-1905): Defines “gambling” as games of chance played for money or valuables.
• Relevant Precedents:
– U.S. v. Hilario (1913): Distinction between games of chance and skill under Act No. 1757.
– U.S. v. Pompeya (1915): Broad municipal police power over public morals.
– Town of Ruston v. Perkins (1905): Municipal authority to suppress “other species of gambling.”
Facts and Procedural History
- Orion’s Ordinance No. 3 forbade playing panguingue, poker, and similar games except on Sundays and official holidays, with fines up to ₱200 (and subsidiary imprisonment).
- Salaveria, despite his official role in enforcing such laws, participated in an illicit game.
- Convictions were obtained at two levels; Salaveria appealed, challenging five points, four on technical or evidentiary grounds (all rejected), and one attacking the ordinance’s validity.
Issue
Whether a municipal ordinance, enacted under the Administrative Code’s general welfare clause and gambling prohibition provision, validly restricts the playing of panguingue—a game not clearly one of chance—outside designated days.
Majority Analysis
- Gambling Definition: Act No. 1757 confines “gambling” to chance-based games; panguingue’s character (skill vs. chance) was unresolved but judicially perceived as not purely chance, raising doubts about invoking the gambling-specific power.
- Police Power and General Welfare: Municipal councils possess broad delegated police power—via the general welfare clause of §2184—to regulate conduct affecting morals, public order, and welfare.
- Reasonableness and Local Self-Government:
- The ordinance is neither arbitrary nor discriminatory.
- Local councils, familiar with community conditions, are best positioned to judge moral and economic harms from card play.
- Judicial deference is warranted absent clear invasion of personal or property rights.
- Legislative Practice and Executive Opinion: Frequent municipal regulation of gambling, supported by Attorney-General and Executive opinions, underscores accepted policy to curb vice.
- Balancing Liberty and Public Interest: Liberty is not unduly restricted by temporal limits on a pastime; imposing such restrictions falls within the municipality’s authority to promote public morals and prosperity.
Holding
Ordinance No. 3 of Orion, Bataan, is valid under the general welfare and specific gambling provisions of the Administrative Code. Salaveria is guilty of violating the ordinance and is sentenced to the maximum fine of ₱200 (or subsidiary imprisonment) plus costs.
Concurring Opinions
• Justice Johnson: Agreed that the ordin
Case Syllabus (G.R. No. 13678)
Parties and Citation
- Plaintiff and Appellee: The United States
- Defendant and Appellant: Prudencio Salaveria, Justice of the Peace of Orion, Bataan at time of offense
- Citation: 39 Phil. 102; G.R. No. 13678; Decision promulgated November 12, 1918
Ordinance No. 3 of Orion, Bataan
- Enacted February 28, 1917, under Resolution No. 28 by the municipal council
- Prohibited the playing of specified games—including Panguingue, Manilla, Jung-kiang, Paris-paris, Poker, Tute, Burro, and Treinta-y-uno—on days other than Sundays and official holidays
- Imposed fines for house owners (P10–P200) and gamblers (P5–P200), with subsidiary imprisonment at one peso per day for insolvency
Factual Background
- On March 8, 1917 (not a Sunday or legal holiday), seven individuals—including Salaveria and his wife—were found playing panguingue in Salaveria’s residence
- Police seized playing cards, sigayes (counters), a tray, and P2.07 in money used in the game
- Facts established by uncontroverted evidence and admissions of the accused
Procedural History
- Conviction in the Justice of the Peace Court of Orion
- Affirmation of conviction by the Court of First Instance of Bataan
- Appeal to the Supreme Court raising five assignments of error
Assignments of Error
- Four technical assignments deemed without merit or unsupported by proof
- Fifth assignment challenged the validity of municipal Ordinance No. 3 under which Salaveria was convicted
- Supreme Court’s review focused on the ordinance’s authority and validity
Governing Statutes and Definitions
- Administrative Code (1916):
· Section 2188(j) mandates municipal councils to prohibit and penalize gambling
· Section 2184 empowers councils to enact ordinances for health, safety, morals, peace, good orde