G.R. No. L-7995
May 31, 1957
LAO H. ICHONG, in his
own behalf and in behalf of other alien residents, corporations and
partnerships adversely affected. by Republic Act No.
1180, petitioner, vs. JAIME HERNANDEZ, Secretary of Finance, and
MARCELINO SARMIENTO, City Treasurer of Manila,respondents.
Constitutional
Law – Treaties May Be Superseded by Municipal Laws in the Exercise of Police
Power
Lao
Ichong is a Chinese businessman who entered the country to take advantage of
business opportunities herein abound (then) – particularly in the retail
business. For some time he and his fellow Chinese businessmen enjoyed a
“monopoly” in the local market in Pasay. Until in June 1954 when Congress
passed the RA 1180 or the Retail Trade Nationalization Act the purpose of which
is to reserve to Filipinos the right to engage in the retail business. Ichong
then petitioned for the nullification of the said Act on the ground that it
contravened several treaties concluded by the RP which, according to him,
violates the equal protection clause (pacta sund servanda). He said that as a
Chinese businessman engaged in the business here in the country who helps in
the income generation of the country he should be given equal opportunity.
ISSUE:
Whether
or not a law may invalidate or supersede treaties or generally accepted
principles?
HELD:
Yes,
a law may supersede a treaty or a generally accepted principle. In this case, there
is no conflict at all between the raised generally accepted principle and with
RA 1180. The equal protection of the law clause “does not demand absolute
equality amongst residents; it merely requires that all persons shall be
treated alike, under like circumstances and conditions both as to privileges
conferred and liabilities enforced”; and, that the equal protection clause “is
not infringed by legislation which applies only to those persons falling within
a specified class, if it applies alike to all persons within such class, and
reasonable grounds exist for making a distinction between those who fall within
such class and those who do not.”
For
the sake of argument, even if it would be assumed that a treaty would be in
conflict with a statute then the statute must be upheld because it represented
an exercise of the police power which, being inherent could not be bargained
away or surrendered through the medium of a treaty. Hence, Ichong can no
longer assert his right to operate his market stalls in the Pasay city market.
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