MANILA JOCKEY CLUB, INC., PETITIONER-APPELLEE, VS. JUSTINIANO N. MONTANO, JR., ALFREDO LOZANO, JOSE ROXAS, IN THEIR CAPACITIES AS CHAIRMAN AND MEMBERS, RESPECTIVELY, OF THE GAME…

Direct appeal by the Solicitor General on behalf of respondents-appellants from the
decision of the Court of First
Instance of Manila, dated February 17, 1965, in Civil Case No. 57471, declaring
respondents-appellants to have acted “with
grave abuse of discretion in denying the proper permit and license to
petitioner to hold or conduct horse racing on June 24, 1964 at the San Lazaro
Hippodrome located at No. 2000 Felix Huertas
St., Manila; and declaring all acts and proceedings had in connection therewith
by the respondents, null and void.”

On June 18, 1964,
petitioner-appellee Manila Jockey Club, lnc., through its Manager Francisco Beech, filed with
the Games and Amusements Board an application for a permit to hold or conduct
horse racing on Wednesday, June 24, 1964, because this date was declared as a
Special Public Holiday in the City of
Manila on the occasion of “Araw ng Maynila” or Manila Foundation Day
by Presidential Proclamation No. 257, dated June 8, 1964.

The Games and Amusements
Board, composed of respondent Justiniano N. Montano, as Chairman, and
respondents Alfredo Lozano and Jose Roxas, as Members, refused to issue the
corresponding license to petitioner-appellee, in view of the letter dated June 18, 1964, copy of
whish was furnished to petitioner-appellee, of the then Acting Executive Secretary,
respondent Calixto O. Zaidivar.  In reply to the query of said Board on June
17, 1964 as to whether horse races may he held at the Manila Jockey Club on
June 24, 1964, the Acting Executive Secretary informed the Board that “in
accordance with the provisions of Section 4 of Republic Act No. 309, as amended
by Republic Act No. 983, horse races may, be held only on legal holidays prescribed
by law for the whole country, except Holy Thursday, Holy Friday, July fourth
and December thirtieth, and not on a special public holiday for a particular district, province
or city” and that the “Manila Jockey Club may not, therefore; hold
races in Manila on June 24, 1964.”

On June 23, 1964,
petitioner-appellee, not satisfied with the action taken, filed a
petition for certiorari with preliminary mandatory injunction with the
Court of First Instance of Manila, Branch XX, as Civil Case No. 57471,
contending, among others, that petitioner is lawfully entitled to the issuance
of the necessary permit and license to hold or conduct horse racing on
Wednesday, June 24, 1964, at the San Lazaro Hippodrome, under the provisions of
Section 4 of Republic Act No. 309, as amended by Republic Act No. 2325, as by
Proclamation No. 257 of the President of the Republic of the Philippines, dated
June 8, 1964, the date, June 24, 1964, has been declared a Special Public Holiday in the City of
Manila.  Petitioner then prayed, among
others, that a writ of preliminary mandatory injunction be issued ex parte; ordering the
respondents-appellants, their agents, representatives and assigns, to
issue the necessary permit and license to peti­tioner-appellee to hold or
conduct horse racing on June 24, 1964 at the aforesaid San Lazaro Hippo­drome;
and further ordering them to cease and desist from preventing or stopping
petitioner from holding or conducting horse races on June 24, 1964.

On the same day, June
23, 1964, the lower court issued the writ of preliminary mandatory
injunction, after the filing and approval of a bond in the sum of P5,000.00.

The respondents-appellants filed their answers on July 14 and 20,
1964, and thereafter, the case was set for pre-trial on November 7, 1964, and on this date the parties
agreed to submit the case for decision on the pleading and on their memoranda.

On February 17, 1965,
the lower court rendered its afore-mentioned decision.  Hence, the respondents-appellants interposed
the present appeal contending, among others, that the lower court erred in
holding that “Manila Foundation Day”, a Special Public Holiday only
in the City of Manila, is a legal holiday within the purview of Section 4 of
Republic Act No. 309, as amended, during which horse racing may be authorized.

Since the purpose of the petition for certiorari with
preliminary mandatory injunction filed by the petitioner-appellee is to compel
the Games and Amusements Board to issue to petitioner-appellee the necessary
permit and license to hold or conduct horse racing on a particular date – June
24, 1964 – at the San Lazaro Hippodrome
which is long past and considering that Republic Act No. 309 on the basis of which the suit was instituted has been repealed by Presidential Decree
No. 420, promulgated on March 20, 1974, abolishing the Games and Amusements
Board and treating the Philippine Racing Commission with broader powers, the
issue raised in the petition has, therefore, now become moot and academic.

ACCORDINGLY, the present appeal should be, as set is
hereby, DISMISSED.  No pronouncement as
to costs.

Fernando, (Chairman), Barredo, Aquino, and Concepcion, Jr., JJ., concur.