Tests of a Valid Ordinance - Formal and Substantive Requirements

     TOPICS:

1. Tests of a valid ordinance
2. Formal requirements - enacted within the corporate powers of the LGU; passed in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law
3. Substantive requirements - conform with the limitations under the Constitution and the statutes - due process requirements (procedural - notice & hearing & substantive - lawful means and lawful purpose) & the 6 requisites 

Legaspi vs. City of Cebu

FACTS:

The Sangguniang Panlungsod of the City of Cebu enacted Ordinance No. 1664 authorizing the traffic enforcers of Cebu City to immobilize any motor vehicle violating the parking restrictions. 

Petitioner Atty. Jaban had found his car being immobilized by a steel clamp, was impounded for 3 days, and that he was imposed with a fine of 4,200. Petitioner filed in the RTC of Cebu City seeking the declaration of Ordinance No. 1644 as unconstitutional for being in violation of due process. 

ISSUE:

Whether or not the ordinance is unconstitutional.

RULING: 

No, the ordinance is not unconstitutional. 

For an ordinance to be constitutional, it must comply with the formal requirements, such that it must be enacted within the corporate powers of the local government units, and it must comply with the substantive requirements, such that it must conform with the limitations under the Constitution.

In this case, Ordinance No. 1664 was enacted within the corporate powers of the local government units under Section 458 of the LGC, such as the power to regulate traffic on all streets and prohibit encroachments or obstacles. Moreover, Ordinance No. 1664 also conforms with the limitation on due process under the Constitution. While due process requires notice and hearing, the immobilization of illegally parked vehicles without notice falls under its exceptions. Notice is not necessary because the transgressors were not around at the time of the apprehension. 

Therefore, Ordinance No. 1664 is constitutional. 

  

STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION DISCUSSION

1.  What are the formal requirements for a valid ordinance?

The ordinance must be enacted within the corporate powers of the LGU, and it was passed in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law. 

2. What are the substantive requirements for a valid ordinance?

The ordinance must conform with the limitations under the Constitution and the statutes – due process of law (procedural and substantive), as well as with the requirements of fairness and reason, and its consistency with public policy.

To be valid, an ordinance must conform to the following substantive requirements:

1) It must not contravene the constitution or any statute.

2) It must not be unfair or oppressive.

3) It must not be partial or discriminatory.

4) It must not prohibit but may regulate trade.

5) It must be general and consistent with public policy.

6) It must not be unreasonable.

3. Speaking of formal requirements, where are the corporate powers of the LGU sourced from, and what are these corporate powers? 

The powers of the LGUs are sourced from the Local Government Code, which was enacted by Congress. The LGC is the implementing law for the delegation to the various LGUs of the State's great powers: the police power, the power of eminent domain, and the power of taxation.

4. What is police power? 

Police power is regarded as "the most essential, insistent and the least limitable of powers, extending as it does 'to all the great public needs.’”

Police power is primarily lodged with the Congress. However, it is delegated to the LGUs by virtue of Section 458 (Powers, Duties, Functions, and Composition) and Section 16 (General Welfare) of the LGC. 

5. Speaking of substantive requirements, what is the meaning of due process, and where is it sourced from?

Due process is embedded in Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution, which provides that, “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.”

Due process pertains to "procedural due process" and "substantive due process"

6. Differentiate "procedural due process" from "substantive due process"

Procedural due process refers to the procedures that the government must follow before it deprives a person of life, liberty, or property, that is, the kind of notice and the form of hearing that the government must provide. 

Substantive due process, as that phrase connotes, asks whether the government has an adequate reason for taking away a person's life, liberty, or property, that is, if the law is necessary to achieve a compelling government purpose (lawful means and lawful purpose). 

7. What are examples of the exception to the notice and hearing under the procedural requirements of due process?

Among the instances are the cancellation of the passport of a person being sought for the commission of a crime, the preventive suspension of a civil servant facing administrative charges, the distraint of properties to answer for tax delinquencies, the padlocking of restaurants found to be unsanitary or of theaters showing obscene movies, and the abatement of nuisance per se. 

Full text here.