Nagkakaisang Maralita ng Sitio Masigasig, Inc v Military Shrine Services - Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, Department of National Defense

Doctrines: The requirement of publication is indispensable to give effect to the law, unless the law itself has otherwise provided.

Case Title: Nagkakaisang Maralita ng Sitio Masigasig, Inc v Military Shrine Services - Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, Department of National Defense, G.R. No. 187587 June 5, 2013, CJ Sereno

Facts:

By virtue of Proclamation No. 423, President Carlos P. Garcia reserved parcels of land in the Municipalities of Pasig, Taguig, Parañaque, Province of Rizal and Pasay City for a military reservation. President Ferdinand E. Marcos (President Marcos) issued Proclamation No. 208, amending Proclamation No. 423, which excluded a certain area of Fort Bonifacio and reserved it for a national shrine. The excluded area is now known as Libingan ng mga Bayani, which is under the administration of herein respondent Military Shrine Services – Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (MSS-PVAO).

Later, this proclamation has been amended by Proclamation No. 2476 which excluded barangays Lower Bicutan, Upper Bicutan and Signal Village from the operation of Proclamation No. 423 and declared it open for disposition under the provisions of Republic Act Nos. (R.A.) 274 and 730. At the bottom of Proclamation No. 2476, President Marcos made a handwritten addendum that the new proclamation includes Western Bicutan. Unfortunately, when Proclamation No. 2476 was published in the Official Gazette, this handwritten addendum was not included.

To prevent the increasing number of informal settlers who are occupying some areas of Fort Bonifacio including some portion of the Libingan ng mga Bayani, General Order No. 1323 was promulgated which created Task Force Bantay (TFB). Demolition of illegal structures existed to prevent the area from the increasing number of informal settlers.

Members of petitioner Nagkakaisang Maralita ng Sitio Masigasig, Inc. (NMSMI) and Western Bicutan Lot Owners Association, Inc. (WBLOAI) filed for a Petition with Commission on Settlement of Land Problems (COSLAP) praying for the reclassification of the areas they are occupying as is already alienable and disposable and for the distribution and sale by the Land Management Bureau’s of the subject lands to its bona fide occupants.

COSLAP ruled that the portion of lands in question are inalienable and disposable even though the handwritten addendum was not included on the publication. According to them, the handwritten addendum of President Marcos was an integral part of Proclamation No. 2476, and was therefore, controlling. The intention of the President could not be defeated by the negligence or inadvertence of others. NMSMI and WBLOAI filed Petition for Review under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court. Hence this present petition.

Issue/s:

Whether the handwritten addendum of President Marcos in Proclamation No.2476 has the force and effect of law even if it is not included in the publication of the said law which classifies the questioned lands as alienable and disposable.

Held:

The handwritten addendum does not have the force and effect of law.

Article 2 of the Civil Code expressly provides that laws shall take effect after fifteen days following the completion of their publication in the Official Gazette, unless it is otherwise provided. The requirement of publication is indispensable to give effect to the law unless the law itself has otherwise provided. The phrase "unless otherwise provided" refers to a different effectivity date other than after fifteen days following the completion of the law’s publication in the Official Gazette but does not imply that the requirement of publication may be dispensed with.

The Supreme Court hold that all statutes, including those of local application and private laws, shall be published as a condition for their effectivity, which shall begin fifteen days after publication unless a different effectivity date is fixed by the legislature. Covered by this rule are presidential decrees and executive orders promulgated by the President in the exercise of legislative powers whenever the same are validly delegated by the legislature or, at present, directly conferred by the Constitution. Administrative rules and regulations must also be published if their purpose is to enforce or implement existing law pursuant also to a valid delegation.

Applying the foregoing ruling to the instant case, the Court cannot rely on a handwritten note that was not part of Proclamation No. 2476 as published. Without publication, the note never had any legal force and effect. Furthermore, under Section 24, Chapter 6, Book I of the Administrative Code, "the publication of any law, resolution or other official documents in the Official Gazette shall be prima facie evidence of its authority."

Thus, whether President Marcos intended to include Western Bicutan is not only irrelevant but speculative. Simply put, the courts may not speculate as to the probable intent of the legislature apart from the words appearing in the law.