GR No. 84111,
December 22, 1989
Facts: The Philippine Coast Guard seized 9000 sacks
of refined sugar owned by petitioner Yaokasin, which were then being unloaded
from the M/V Tacloban, and turned them over to the custody of the Bureau of
Customs. On June 7, 1988, the District Collector of Customs ordered the release
of the cargo to the petitioner but this order was subsequently reversed on June
15, 1988. The reversal was by virtue ofCustoms Memorandum Order (CMO) 20-87 in
implementation of the Integrated Reorganization Plan under P.D. 1, which
provides that in protest and seizure cases where the decision is adverse to the
government, the Commissioner of Customs has the power of automatic review.
Petitioner
objected to the enforcement of Sec. 12 of the Plan and CMO 20-87 contending
that these were not published in the Official Gazette. The Plan
which was part of P.D. 1 was however published in the Official Gazette.
Issue: W/n
circular orders such as CMO 20-87 need to be published in the OG to take effect
NO.
Article
2 of the Civil Code does not apply to circulars like CMO 20-87 which is an
administrative order of the Commissioner of Customs addressed to his
subordinates, the custom collectors. Said issuance requiring collectors of
customs to comply strictly with Section 12 of he Plan, is addressed only to
particular persons or a class of persons (the customs collectors), hence no
general applicability. As held in Tanada v. Tuvera, “It need
not be published, on the assumption that it has been circularized to all
concerned.”
Moreover,
Commonwealth Act. 638 provides an enumeration of what shall be published in the
Official Gazette. It provides that besides legislative acts, resolutions of
public nature of Congress, executive, administrative orders and proclamations
shall be published except when these have no general applicability.
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