REV. FR. LUIS R. AYO, JR., PETITIONER, VS. HON. MELQUIADES G. ILAO AND ERNESTO F. JALGALADO, RESPONDENTS.

Original action for certiorari with preliminary injunction.

On January 30, 1964,
petitioner herein, Rev. Fr. Luis R. Ayo, Jr.,
Catholic parish priest of Capalonga, Camarines Norte, applied, from the Bureau of Private
Schools, for a permit to open a first year high school in said
municipality.  Respondent Ernesto F. Jalgalado, Director of the Capalonga
Institute, which is authorized to operate a school in the same place, opposed
said application.  On March 30, 1964, said Bureau gave due
course thereto, subject to certain conditions. 
The application was, however, denied, on April 13, 1964, because some of these conditions – namely,
completion of a school building and other facilities necessary for the
operation of a school – had not, as yet, been fulfilled.  A reconsideration of the decision of the Bureau
to this effect having been denied, Fr. Ayo filed, on July 21, 1964, a second petition for
reconsideration.

Meanwhile, or on July 14, 1964, Jalgalado
had commenced, in the Court of First Instance of Camarines
Norte, presided over by respondent Judge, Hon. Melquiades
G. Ilao, Civil Case No. 1606 of said court, against
Fr. Ayo, to restrain him from constructing the school
building necessary to house the Capalonga Parochial
School, from advertising or announcing the opening thereof for the school year
1964-1965 and from enrolling students therefor, as
well as to recover P19,900.00 as damages.  Jalgalado,
likewise, prayed for a writ of preliminary injunction, which Judge Ilao issued ex parte
the next day.  On July 28, 1964, Fr. Ayo
filed an urgent motion to dissolve said writ and set the motion for hearing on August 1, 1964; but, Judge Ilao postponed the hearing to another date.

Inasmuch as the school year was about to begin, and Fr. Ayo knew that he could not possibly get a school permit
unless the school building was completed, on August 4, 1964, he commenced the
present action for certiorari against
Jalgalado, and Judge Ilao,
to annul and set aside all proceedings before the latter.  On August
6, 1964, upon the posting of a bond in the sum of P10,000.00, we issued a writ of preliminary injunction
restraining the enforcement of the writ issued by Judge Ilao.

The petition before us is predicated upon the theory that the
latter had committed a grave abuse of discretion in issuing said writ, because Jalgalado’s complaint in the lower court did not set forth
a cause of action.  Indeed, Jalgalado based his complaint upon the allegation that the Capalonga Institute, of which he was a Director had a
permit to operate a school in Capalonga, and that, in
consequence of the fact that Fr. Ayo was
“advertising thru various catholic organizations, as well as thru his
authorized representatives, that the Capalonga
Parochial School would open its door to first year high school students, in the
school year 1964-1965, despite the fact that its application for a permit therefor had been denied by the Bureau of Private Schools,
on April 13, 1964, “not a single student” had “enrolled in the Capalonga Institute for the First Year, for the reason that
said municipality” is “predominantly composed of Roman
Catholics.”

It should be noted, in this connection, that, acting upon Fr. Ayo’s second request for reconsideration, dated July 21,
1964, said Bureau gave due course to this request and submitted the matter to
the Department of Education, which, in turn, granted said request and issued
Temporary Permit No. 755, series of 1964, authorizing the Capalonga
Parochial School to open and conduct the “first year of the secondary
course (day),” from August 3, 1964 to August 2, 1965, subject to some
conditions, one of which was that “the building now Under construction x x x should be completed within
the first semester” of said school year. 
Meanwhile, the Capalonga
Parochial School was allowed to
hold its classes in Fr. Ayo’s convent.  Assuming that Jalgalado
had a right to restrain Fr. Ayo, as long as he did
not have the necessary authority from the aforementioned Bureau, such right was
extinguished when Fr. Ayo obtained said temporary
permit No. 755, series of 1964.  In other
words, the issue raised by Jalgalado’s complaint in
Civil Case No. 1606 of the Court of First Instance of Camarines
Norte has thereby become moot.

In fact, however, the authority of Jalgalado’s
school to operate as such in Capalonga did not confer
upon him any exclu­sive right.  As a consequence,
he had no cause of action against Fr. Ayo
for announcing that he would open and operate a parochial school in Capalonga, and for undertaking the construction of a school
building therefor, even if Fr. Ayo
had not, as yet, secured the permit necessary for such parochial school.  Jalgalado could
have reported said announcement to the Bureau of Private Schools, for such
action as it may deem proper; but, he had no right to sue directly Fr. Ayo, who had no legal obligations towards Jalgalado.

The latter’s allegation to the effect that not a single student
had renrolled in his school for the first year
secondary course, because of the announcement that the Parochial School would
be open – as it eventually opened legally – for first year students during the
school year 1964-1965, did not suffice to give Jalgalado
a cause of action.  There is no
allegation that, in the absence of such announcement, said students would have
enrolled in Jalgalado’s school.  Worse still, his complaint suggests the contrary,
for said school is non-sectarian, whereas Jalgalado’s
complaint alleges that the inhabitants of Capalonga
are “predominantly Roman Catholics”. 
At any rate, since Fr. Ayo had the requisite
building permit, Judge Ilao obviously committed a
grave abuse of discretion in issuing the writ prohibiting the construction – or
completion – of said building.

WHEREFORE, the writ of preliminary injunction issued by
Judge Ilao is, accordingly, annulled, and the
preliminary injunction issued by this Court hereby made permanent.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Reyes, J.B.L., Dizon, Makalintal, Bengzon, J.P., Zaldivar, Sanchez, Castro, Angeles, and Fernando, JJ., concur.