SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 129 24/07/2021, 5*48 PM SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 129 24/07/2021,

21, 5*48 PM SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 129 24/07/2021, 5*48 PM

of publication in the Gazette before violators of the executive order

can be bound thereby.

_______________

* SECOND DIVISION.
174 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED
Pesigan vs. Angeles 175

*
No. L-64279. April 30, 1984. VOL. 129, APRIL 30, 1984 175

ANSELMO L. PESIGAN and MARCELINO L. PESIGAN, Pesigan vs. Angeles

petitioners, vs. JUDGE DOMINGO MEDINA ANGELES,
Regional Trial Court, Caloocan City Branch 129, acting for Same; Same; Same.·Indeed, the practice has always been to
REGIONAL TRIAL COURT of Camarines Norte, now publish executive orders in the Gazette. Section 551 of the Revised
presided over by JUDGE NICANOR ORIÑO, Daet Branch Administrative Code provides that even bureau „regulations and
40; DRA. BELLA S. MIRANDA, ARNULFO V. orders shall become effective only when approved by the
ZENAROSA, ET AL., respondents. Department Head and published in the Official Gazette or
otherwise publicly promulgated‰. (See Commissioner of Civil
Appeals; R.A. 5440 superseded Rule 42 of the Rules of Court. Service vs. Cruz, 122 Phil. 1015.)
·The Pesigans appealed to this Court under Rule 45 of the Rules of
Court and section 25 of the Interim Rules and pursuant to Republic Damages; Public Officers; The public officers who confiscated
Act No. 5440, a 1968 law which superseded Rule 42 of the Rules of the carabaos acted in good faith enforcing Exec. Order 626-A. The
Court. carabaos, however, have to be returned.·It results that they have a
cause of action for the recovery of the carabaos. The summary
Statutes; Criminal Law; An Executive Order (Exec. Order No. confiscation was not in order. The recipients of the carabaos should
626-A dated Oct. 25, 1980), prohibiting and penalizing return them to the Pesigans. However, they cannot transport the
transportation of carabaos from one province to another cannot be carabaos to Batangas because they are now bound by the said
enforced before its publication in the Official Gazette.·We hold that executive order. Neither can they recover damages. Doctor Miranda
the said executive order should not be enforced against the Pesigans and Zenarosa acted in good faith in ordering the forfeiture and
on April 2, 1982 because, as already noted, it is a penal regulation dispersal of the carabaos.
published more than two months later in the Official Gazette dated
June 14, 1982. It became effective only fifteen days thereafter as ABAD SANTOS, J., Separate opinion;
provided in article 2 of the Civil Code and section 11 of the Revised
Administrative Code. Public Officers; Leases; Damages; Carabaos confiscated without
legal basis have to be returned or their value paid; rentals should
Same; Same; Same.·That ruling applies to a violation of also be paid for their use.·The Pesigans are entitled to the return
Executive Order No. 626-A because its confiscation and forfeiture of their carabaos or the value of each carabao which is not returned
provision or sanction makes it a penal statute. Justice and fairness for any reason. The Pesigans are also entitled to a reasonable rental
dictate that the public must be informed of that provision by means for each carabao from the twenty six farmers who used them. The
farmers should not enrich themselves at the expense of the

https://central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/0000017ad7ec3a7f192a4711000d00d40059004a/p/AQC673/?username=Guest Page 1 of 8 https://central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/0000017ad7ec3a7f192a4711000d00d40059004a/p/AQC673/?username=Guest Page 2 of 8

SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 129 24/07/2021, 5*48 PM SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 129 24/07/2021, 5*48 PM

Pesigans. Camarines Norte, were confiscated by Lieutenant Arnulfo

V. Zenarosa, the townÊs police station commander, and by
PETITION to review the order of the Regional Trial Court Doctor Bella S. Miranda, provincial veterinarian. The
of Caloocan City. Angeles, J. confiscation was based on the aforementioned Executive
Order No. 626-A which provides „that henceforth, no
The facts are stated in the opinion of the Court.
carabao, regardless of age, sex, physical condition or
Quiazon, De Guzman, Makalintal and Barot for
purpose and no carabeef shall be transported from one
petitioners.
province to another. The carabaos or carabeef transported
The Solicitor General for respondents.
in violation of this Executive Order as amended shall be
AQUINO, J.: subject to confiscation and forfeiture by the government to
be distributed x x x to deserving farmers through dispersal
At issue in this case is the enforceability, before publication as the Director of Animal Industry may see fit, in the case
in the Official Gazette of June 14, 1982, of Presidential of carabaos‰ (78 OG 3144).
Executive Order No. 626-A dated October 25, 1980, Doctor Miranda distributed the carabaos among twenty-
providing five farmers of Basud, and to a farmer from the Vinzons
municipal nursery (Annex I).
176 The Pesigans filed against Zenarosa and Doctor
Miranda an action for replevin for the recovery of the
176 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED carabaos allegedly valued at P70,000 and damages of
P92,000. The replevin order
Pesigan vs. Angeles
177
for the confiscation and forfeiture by the government of
carabaos transported from one province to another. VOL. 129, APRIL 30, 1984 177
Anselmo L. Pesigan and Marcelo L. Pesigan, carabao
Pesigan vs. Angeles
dealers, transported in an Isuzu ten-wheeler truck in the
evening of April 2, 1982 twenty-six carabaos and a calf
from Sipocot, Camarines Sur with Padre Garcia, Batangas, could not be executed by the sheriff. In his order of April
as the destination. 25, 1983 Judge Domingo Medina Angeles, who heard the
They were provided with (1) a health certificate from the case at Daet and who was later transferred to Caloocan
provincial veterinarian of Camarines Sur, issued under the City, dismissed the case for lack of cause of action.
Revised Administrative Code and Presidential Decree No. The Pesigans appealed to this Court under Rule 45 of
533, the Anti-Cattle Rustling Law of 1974; (2) a permit to the Rules of Court and section 25 of the Interim Rules and
transport large cattle issued under the authority of the pursuant to Republic Act No. 5440, a 1968 law which
provincial commander; and (3) three certificates of superseded Rule 42 of the Rules of Court.
inspection, one from the Constabulary command attesting We hold that the said executive order should not be
that the carabaos were not included in the list of lost, enforced against the Pesigans on April 2, 1982 because, as
stolen and questionable animals; one from the livestock already noted, it is a penal regulation published more than
inspector, Bureau of Animal Industry of Libmanan, two months later in the Official Gazette dated June 14,
Camarines Sur and one from the mayor of Sipocot. 1982. It became effective only fifteen days thereafter as
Inspite of the permit to transport and the said four provided in article 2 of the Civil Code and section 11 of the
certificates, the carabaos, while passing at Basud, Revised Administrative Code.
The word „laws‰ in article 2 (article 1 of the old Civil

https://central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/0000017ad7ec3a7f192a4711000d00d40059004a/p/AQC673/?username=Guest Page 3 of 8 https://central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/0000017ad7ec3a7f192a4711000d00d40059004a/p/AQC673/?username=Guest Page 4 of 8

SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 129 24/07/2021, 5*48 PM SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 129 24/07/2021, 5*48 PM

Code) includes circulars and regulations which prescribe effect.‰

penalties. Publication is necessary to apprise the public of Indeed, the practice has always been to publish
the contents of the regulations and make the said penalties executive orders in the Gazette. Section 551 of the Revised
binding on the persons affected thereby. (People vs. Que Po Administrative Code provides that even bureau
Lay, 94 Phil. 640; Lim Hoa Ting vs. Central Bank of the „regulations and orders shall become effective only when
Phils., 104 Phil. 573; Balbuna vs. Secretary of Education, approved by the Department Head and published in the
110 Phil. 150.) Official Gazette or otherwise publicly promulgated‰. (See
The Spanish Supreme Court ruled that „bajo la Commissioner of Civil Service vs. Cruz, 122 Phil. 1015.)
denominación genérica de leyes, se comprenden también In the instant case, the livestock inspector and the
los reglamentos, Reales decretos, Instrucciones, Circulares provincial veterinarian of Camarines Norte and the head of
y Reales ordenes dictadas de conformidad con las mismas the Public Affairs Office of the Ministry of Agriculture were
por el Gobierno en uso de su potestad.‰ (1 Manresa, Codigo unaware of Executive Order No. 626-A. The Pesigans could
Civil, 7th Ed., p. 146.) not have been expected to be cognizant of such an executive
Thus, in the Que Po Lay case, a person, convicted by the order.
trial court of having violated Central Bank Circular No. 20 It results that they have a cause of action for the
and sentenced to six monthsÊ imprisonment and to pay a recovery of the carabaos. The summary confiscation was
fine of P1,000, was acquitted by this Court because the not in order. The recipients of the carabaos should return
circular was published in the Official Gazette three months them to the Pesigans. However, they cannot transport the
after his conviction. He was not bound by the circular. carabaos to Batangas because they are now bound by the
That ruling applies to a violation of Executive Order No. said executive order. Neither can they recover damages.
626-A because its confiscation and forfeiture provision or Doctor Miranda and Zenarosa acted in good faith in
sanction makes it a penal statute. Justice and fairness ordering the forfeiture and dispersal of the carabaos.
dictate that the public must be informed of that provision WHEREFORE, the trial courtÊs order of dismissal and
by means of the confiscation and dispersal of the carabaos are reversed
and set aside. Respondents Miranda and Zenarosa are
178
ordered to restore the carabaos, with the requisite
documents, to the petitioners, who as owners are entitled to
178 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED possess the same,
Pesigan vs. Angeles 179

publication in the Gazette before violators of the executive VOL. 129, APRIL 30, 1984 179
order can be bound thereby.
The cases of Police Commission vs. Bello, L-29960, Pesigan vs. Angeles
January 30, 1971, 37 SCRA 230 and Philippine Blooming
Mills vs. Social Security System, 124 Phil. 499, cited by the with the right to dispose of them in Basud or Sipocot,
respondents, do not involve the enforcement of any penal Camarines Sur. No costs.
regulation. SO ORDERED.
Commonwealth Act No. 638 requires that all
Presidential executive orders having general applicability Makasiar, (Chairman), Concepcion, Jr., Guerrero,
should be published in the Official Gazette. It provides that and Escolin, JJ., concur.
„every order or document which shall prescribe a penalty Abad Santos, J., The Pesigans are entitled to the
shall be deemed to have general applicability and legal return of their carabaos or the value of each carabao which

https://central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/0000017ad7ec3a7f192a4711000d00d40059004a/p/AQC673/?username=Guest Page 5 of 8 https://central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/0000017ad7ec3a7f192a4711000d00d40059004a/p/AQC673/?username=Guest Page 6 of 8

SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 129 24/07/2021, 5*48 PM SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 129 24/07/2021, 5*48 PM

is not returned for any reason. The Pesigans are also

entitled to a reasonable rental for each carabao from the
twenty six farmers who used them. The farmers should not
enrich themselves at the expense of the Pesigans.
De Castro, J., no part.

Order reversed and set aside.

Notes.·Statutes generally have no retroactive effect.

Only laws existing at the time of the execution of contract
are applicable to transactions executed at that time.
(Philippine Virginia Tobacco Adm. vs. Gonzales, 92 SCRA
172.)
The legal requirement of publication in the Official
Gazette for effectivity of laws cannot be disregarded by the
contention that copies of election decree have been
published and distributed. (Peralta vs. COMELEC, 82
SCRA 30.)
The purpose why penal statutes are construed strictly
against the state is not to enable a guilty person to escape
punishment through a technicality, but to provide a precise
definition of forbidden acts. (People vs. Purisima, 86 SCRA
542.)
A statute operates prospectively and never retroactively
unless the legislative intent to the contrary is made
manifest either by express terms of the statute or by
necessary implication. (Baltazar vs. Court of Appeals, 104
SCRA 619.)

··o0o··

180

© Copyright 2021 Central Book Supply, Inc. All rights reserved.

https://central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/0000017ad7ec3a7f192a4711000d00d40059004a/p/AQC673/?username=Guest Page 7 of 8 https://central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/0000017ad7ec3a7f192a4711000d00d40059004a/p/AQC673/?username=Guest Page 8 of 8