TANO v. SOCRATES, 278 SCRA 154 (Digested Case)

TANO v. SOCRATES

Re: General principles (Sec. 1-5, LGC1991)

FACTS: The City Council of Puerto Princesa enacted an ordinance banning the shipment of live fish and lobster outside the City for 5 years. In the same light, the Provincial Council of Palawan also enacted a resolution that prohibits the catching, gathering, buying, selling, and possessing and shipment of live marine coral dwelling aquatic organisms for 5 years within the Palawan waters. The petitioners Airline Shippers Association of Palawan together with marine merchants were charged for violating said ordinance and resolution by the city and provincial governments. The petitioners now allege that the Ordinances deprived them of due process of law, their livelihood, and unduly restricted them from the practice of their trade, in violation of Section 2, Article XII and Sections 2 and 7 of Article XIII of the 1987 Constitution; that the Office Order No. 23 contained no regulation nor condition under which the Mayors permit could be granted or denied; in other words, the Mayor had the absolute authority to determine whether or not to issue permit; and that the Ordinance No. 2 of the Province of Palawan altogether prohibited the catching, gathering, possession, buying, selling and shipping of live marine coral dwelling organisms, without any distinction whether it was caught or gathered through lawful fishing method, the Ordinance took away the right of petitioners-fishermen to earn their livelihood in lawful ways

ISSUES: WON the assailed ordinances and resolution are valid.

HELD: Yes. The LGC vests municipalities with the power to grant fishery privileges in municipal waters and to impose rentals, fees or charges therefor; to penalize, by appropriate ordinances, the use of explosives, noxious or poisonous substances, electricity, muro-ami, and other deleterious methods of fishing; and to prosecute any violation of the provisions of applicable fishery laws. Further, the sangguniang bayan, the sangguniang panlungsod and the sangguniang panlalawigan are directed to enact ordinances for the general welfare of the municipality and its inhabitants, which shall include, inter alia, ordinances that protect the environment and impose appropriate penalties for acts which endanger the environment such as dynamite fishing and other forms of destructive fishing ... and such other activities which result in pollution, acceleration of eutrophication of rivers and lakes or of ecological imbalance. Further, one of the devolved powers enumerated in the section of the LGC on devolution is the enforcement of fishery laws in municipal waters including the conservation of mangroves.[30] This necessarily includes enactment of ordinances to effectively carry out such fishery laws within the municipal waters.