G.R. No. 110249 – 343 Phil. 670 – 278 SCRA 154 – Political Law – Constitutional Law – The Judicial Department – Judicial Power – Limitations of Judicial Power – Declaratory Relief
In 1992, the City of Puerto Princesa enacted an ordinance which banned the shipment of all live fish from the city going out. In 1993, the catching and selling of live fish was also prohibited by way of another ordinance. As a result, marine merchants in Palawan filed a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court against officials of Palawan including Gov. Salvador Socrates. They alleged that the two ordinances in Puerto Princesa and their implementing rules are unconstitutional as they violate Secs. 2 and 7, Art. XIII which provide:
Sec. 2. The promotion of social justice shall include the commitment to create economic opportunities based on freedom of initiative and self-reliance; and
Sec. 7. The State shall protect the rights of subsistence fishermen, especially of local communities, to the preferential use of the communal marine and fishing resources, both inland and offshore. xxx
ISSUE: Whether or not the petition shall prosper.
HELD: No. The petition is treated as an action for declaratory relief as it asks for a declaration that the ordinances are void for being unconstitutional. However, the petitioners violated the doctrine of hierarchy of courts when they bypassed the lower courts. The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in actions for declaratory relief is appellate and not original.
Nevertheless, the SC took cognizance of the petition. The SC ruled that the petitioners failed to prove that they are adversely affected by the ordinances. The constitutional provisions they invoked pertain to marginal fishermen to which they were not able to show that they belong to. They are marine merchants which are not in any way marginalized fisher folk.
The SC also recognized the intent of the LGU in enacting the ordinances which was to protect the local marine ecology. The SC recognized the danger of “live fishing” which involves the use of sodium cyanide to render fish unconscious; that the method destroys coral life which in turn destroys the livelihood of the residents of Palawan.
