City of Naga Vs Agna
City of Naga Vs Agna
City of Naga Vs Agna
*
No. L36049. May 31, 1976.
http://central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/0000015aa97a86b927ff0433003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 1/12
3/7/2017 SUPREMECOURTREPORTSANNOTATEDVOLUME071
__________________
* FIRST DIVISION
177
every provision of each. However, when the new provision and the
old relating to the same subject cannot be reconciled the former
shall prevail as it is the latter expression of the legislative will.
Same Local Taxation law There is no conflict between
Section 2309 of the Revised Administrative Code on when a
municipal tax ordinance shall take effect and Section 2 of Republic
Act 2264 (Local Autonomy Act) on effectivity of local tax
ordinances.A city tax ordinance which changes the existing
graduated sales tax to a percentage tax falls within Section 2309
of the Revised Administrative Code which provides that A
municipal license tax already in existence shall be subject to
change only by ordinance enacted prior to the 15th day of
December of any year after the next succeeding year x x x.
Actually we do not see any conflict between Section 2309 of the
Revised Administrative Code and Section 2 of the Republic Act
No. 2264 (Local Autonomy Act). The conflict, if any, is more
apparent than real. It is one that is not incapable of
reconciliation. And the two provisions can be reconciled by
applying the first clause of Section 2309 of the Revised
Administrative Code when the problem refers to the effectivity of
an ordinance changing or repealing a municipal license tax
already in existence. But where the problem refers to effectivity of
an ordinance creating an entirely new tax, let Section 2 of
Republic Act No. 2264 (Local Autonomy Act) govern. In the case
before Us, the ordinance in question is one which changes the
graduated sales tax on gross sales or receipts of dealers of
merchandise and sarisari merchants prescribed in Section 3 of
Ordinance No. 4 of the City of Naga to percentage tax on their
gross salesan ordinance which definitely falls within the clause
of Section 2309 of the Revised Administrative Code. Accordingly it
should be effective and enforceable in the next succeeding year
after the year of its approval or in 1971 and private respondents
should be refunded of the taxes they have paid to the petitioners
on their gross sales for the quarter from July 1, 1970 to
http://central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/0000015aa97a86b927ff0433003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 2/12
3/7/2017 SUPREMECOURTREPORTSANNOTATEDVOLUME071
MARTIN, J.:
178
__________________
181
____________________
182
effect on June 30, 1970, which is the fifteenth day after its
passage by the Municipal Board of the City of Naga on
June 15, 1970, or as earlier explained, it could have taken
effect on July 6, 1970, the date the ordinance was deemed
approved because the ordinance itself provides that it shall
take effect upon its approval. Of the two provisions invoked
by petitioners to support their stand that the ordinance in
question took effect in the year of its approval, it is Section
2 of Republic Act No. 2264 (Local Autonomy Act) that is
more relevant because it is the provision that specifically
refers to effectivity of a tax ordinance and being a provision
http://central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/0000015aa97a86b927ff0433003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 7/12
3/7/2017 SUPREMECOURTREPORTSANNOTATEDVOLUME071
183
http://central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/0000015aa97a86b927ff0433003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 8/12
3/7/2017 SUPREMECOURTREPORTSANNOTATEDVOLUME071
184
6
reasonable interpretation x x x. It will also
http://central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/0000015aa97a86b927ff0433003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False be noted that 9/12
3/7/2017 SUPREMECOURTREPORTSANNOTATEDVOLUME071
6
reasonable interpretation x x x. It will also be noted that
Section 2309 of the Revised Administrative Code and
Section 2 of Republic Act No. 2264 (Local Autonomy Act)
refer to the same subject matterenactment and effectivity
of a tax ordinance. In this respect they can be considered in
pari materia. Statutes are said to be in pan materia when
they relate to the same person or thing, or to the same
class of
7
persons or things, or have the same purpose or
object. When statutes are in pari materia, the rule of
statutory construction dictates that they should be
construed together. This is because enactments of the same
legislature on the same subject matter are supposed to
form part of one uniform system that later statutes are
supplementary or complimentary to the earlier enactments
and in the passage of its acts the legislature is supposed to
have in mind the existing legislation on the same subject8
and to have enacted its new act with reference thereto.
Having thus in mind the previous statutes relating to the
same subject matter, whenever the legislature enacts a
new law, it is deemed to have enacted the new provision in
accordance with the legislative policy embodied in those
prior statutes unless there is an express repeal
9
of the old
and they all should be construed together. In construing
them the old statutes relating to the same subject matter
should be compared with the new provisions and if possible
by reasonable construction, both should be so construed
that effect may be given to every provision of each.
However, when the new provision and the old relating to
the same subject cannot be reconciled the former shall 10
prevail as it is the latter expression of the legislative will.
Actually we do not see any conflict between Section 2309 of
the Revised Administrative Code and Section 2 of the
Republic Act No. 2264 (Local Autonomy Act). The conflict,
if any, is more apparent than real. It is one that is not
incapable of reconciliation. And the two provisions can be
reconciled by applying the first clause of Section 2309 of
the Revised Administrative Code when the problem refers
to the effectivity of an ordinance changing or repealing a
municipal license tax
___________________
185
http://central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/0000015aa97a86b927ff0433003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 10/12
3/7/2017 SUPREMECOURTREPORTSANNOTATEDVOLUME071
Petition dismissed.
http://central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/0000015aa97a86b927ff0433003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 11/12
3/7/2017 SUPREMECOURTREPORTSANNOTATEDVOLUME071
186
o0o
Copyright2017CentralBookSupply,Inc.Allrightsreserved.
http://central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/0000015aa97a86b927ff0433003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 12/12