JMM PROMOTION AND MANAGEMENT, INC. v. CA 260 SCRA 319 August 5, 1996 (CASE DIGEST)

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW II

FUNDAMENTAL POWERS OF THE STATE

POLICE POWER

JMM PROMOTION AND MANAGEMENT, INC., and KARY INTERNATIONAL INC., petitioner, v. HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS, HON. MA. NIEVES CONFESSOR, then Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment, HON. JOSE BRILLANTES, in his capacity as acting Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment and HON. FELICISIMO JOSON, in his capacity as Administrator of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, respondents.

G.R. No. 120095. August 5, 1996

KAPUNAN, J.:

FACTS:

The Federation of Entertainment Talent Managers of the Philippines (FETMOP for brevity) filed a class suit on January 27, 1995 assailing that the Department Order No. 3 which establishes various procedures and requirements for screening performing artists under a new system of training, testing, certification and deployment of the former and other related issuance, principally contending that the said orders, 1.)violated the constitutional right to travel; 2.) abridged existing contracts for employment; and 3.) deprived individual artists of their licenses without due process of law. FETMOP also averred that the issuance of the Artist Record Book (ARB) was discriminatory and illegal and in gross violation of the constitutional right to life liberty and property. FETMOP prayed for the issuance of the writ of preliminary injunction against the orders.

JMM Promotion and Management, Inc. (JMM for brevity) and Kary International, Inc. (Kary for brevity) filed a motion for intervention in the civil case which was granted by the trial court on February 15, 1995. However, on February 21, 1995, the trial court issued an order denying petitioner's prayer for writ of preliminary injunction and dismissed the compliant. An appeal was made to the trial court regarding its decision but it was also however, dismissed. As a consequences, ARB requirement was issed. The Court of Appeals upheld the trial court's decision and concluded that the said issuance constituted a valid exercise of Police power.

ISSUE:

Whether or not the the said issuance is a valid exercise of Police Power.

RULING:

Yes, the ARB requirement and questioned Department Order related to its issuance were issued by the Secretary of Labor pursuant to a valid exercise of Police Power by the State. The proper regulation of a profession, calling, business or trade has always been upheld as a legitimate subject of a valid exercise of police power by the state particularly when their conduct afffects either the execution of a legitimate governmental functions, the preservation of the State, the public health and welfare and public morals. According to the maxim sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas (use your property in such a fashion so as to not disturb others) it must of course be within the legitimate range of legislative action to define the mode and manner in which every one may so use his own property so as not to pose injury to himself or others.

In any case, where the liberty curtailed affects at most the right of property, the permissible scope of regulatory measures is certainly much wider. To pretend that licensing or accreditation requirements violates due process clause is to ignore the settled practice, under the mantle of the police power, of regulating entry to the practice of various trades or profession. Professional leaving for abroad are required to pass rigid written and practical exams before they are deemed fit to practice their trade. It is not claimed that these requirements pose an unwarranted deprivation of a property right under the due process clause. So long as professionals and other workers meet reasonable regulatory standards no such deprivation exists.

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