G.R. L-7043. July 27, 1954

This is an appeal from a judgment rendered by the Court of First
Instance of Rizal declaring Commonwealth Act No. 601, approved on
August 19, 1940, as an undue delegation of legislative power, and,
therefore, null and void; that the act of defendant provincial board in
proceeding to the closing of the Sea Breeze Dancing and Bowling Alleys,
Navotas, Rizal, in compliance with the provisions of Section 2 of
Executive Order No. 319, promulgated by the President of the
Commonwealth under the authority of said Commonwealth Act No. 601, is
illegal; that the plaintiff’s right to operate the said dancing hall is
authorized by municipal ordinance No. 2 of Navotas, Rizal dated June 9,
1937, and the closing thereof is oppressive, confiscatory, violative of
property rights, and is not conducive to public interest, and,
therefore, enjoining the defendant provincial board from enforcing the
said order of closure promulgated by it.

Commonwealth Act No. 601 provides as follows:

SECTION 1. Any provision of existing laws to the
contrary notwithstanding, no license shall hereafter be issued for the
establishment, maintenance and operation of cabarets, dancing schools,
dance halls, cockpits, night clubs, race tracks, gaming centers, and
other similar places of amusement, except in accordance with rules and
regulations to be promulgated by the President of the Philippines for
the purpose, and upon payment of fees provided therein. The license
fees which shall be collected under the provisions hereof shall accrue
to the treasury of the city, municipality, or municipal district where
the business is operated.

SEC. 2. This Act shall take effect
on the first day of January, 1941, or at an earlier date upon the
promulgation of the rules and regulations herein provided. By virtue of
the authority granted in the said Act to the President of the
Philippines, the latter promulgated Executive Order No. 319, paragraph
2 of which provides as follows:

2. Location.—No
night club, cabaret, dancing school or dance hall shall be established
within a distance of one thousand lineal meters from any city hall or
municipal building, provincial building, public plaza, public school,
church, hospital, athletic stadium, public park, or any institution of
learning or of charity.

Application for permit to operate said dance hall was1 filed with
the office of the provincial treasurer of Rizal pursuant to the said
Executive Order No. 319. Thereupon, the district engineer of Rizal made
an inspection, upon request of the provincial treasurer, and reported
that the building intended for the dancing hall is 456 lineal meters
distant from the Bagong Bayan Elementary School and 550 lineal meters
from a protestant church, all in the municipality of Navotas, Rizal.
Because of this, no permit was issued; but plaintiff secured a license
under a municipal ordinance of Navotas, the mayor thereof granting him
permit to operate the dancing hall in accordance with said ordinance.
Upon learning of the opening of the dance hall, the provincial board
took steps to have it closed, so plaintiff herein started these
proceedings in the Court of First Instance of Rizal to enjoin the
defendant provincial board from carrying out its intention of closing
the dance hall. The court issued a writ of preliminary injunction
against the defendant, and after due trial, made the findings set forth
above and made the preliminary injunction permanent. Against this
decision the provincial board of Rizal has prosecuted this appeal,
which was certified to this Court by the Court of Appeals on the ground
that the question involved is the constitutionality of Commonwealth Act
No. 601 and Executive Order No. 319.

During the pendency of this case, however, and on May 21, 1954, a
new law was passed, Republic Act No. 979, entitled “An Act Amending
Republic Act Numbered Nine Hundred and Thirty-Eight Entitled ‘An Act
granting Municipal or City Board and Councils the Power to Regulate the
Establishment, Maintenance and Operation of Certain Places of Amusement
Within Their Respective Territorial Jurisdictions.”‘ This law expressly
repeals “any law, executive order or parts thereof, inconsistent”
therewith (Section 2). Commonwealth Act No. 601 and Executive Order No.
319, Section 2, under which the appellant provincial board of Rizal
ordered the closing of the Sea Breeze Dancing and Bowling Alleys, have,
therefore, been repealed and are no longer in force. The issue involved
in this case has consequently become moot.

Wherefore, the case should be, as it is hereby, dismissed, without costs.

Paras, C. J., Pablo, Bengzon, Padilla, Montemayor, Reyes, A., Jugo, Bautista Angelo, Concepcion and Reyes, J. B. L, JJ., concur.