Agustin v. Edu

Agustin v. Edu

G.R. No. L-49112 February 2, 1979

Fernando, J.

Issue:

                whether Letter of Instruction No. 229, as amended, was validly issued in the exercise of police power

Held:

                The Letter of Instruction in question was issued in the exercise of the police power. Police power is nothing more or less than the powers of government inherent in every sovereignty. It is identified with state authority to enact legislation that may interfere with personal liberty or property in order to promote the general welfare. Persons and property could thus be subjected to all kinds of restraints and burdens in order to promote the general comfort, health and prosperity of the state. Police power is the power to prescribe regulations to promote the health, morals, peace, education, good order or safety, and general welfare of the people. It is that inherent and plenary power in the State which enables it to prohibit all things hurtful to the comfort, safety and welfare of society. It is the most essential, insistent, and at least table powers, extending to all the great public needs.

                To avoid the taint of unlawful delegation, there must be a standard, which implies at the very least that the legislature itself determines matters of principle and lays down fundamental policy. A standard thus defines legislative policy, marks its maps out its boundaries and specifies the public agency to apply it. It indicates the circumstances under which the legislative command is to be effected. It is the criterion by which legislative purpose may be carried out. Thereafter, the executive or administrative office designated may in pursuance of the above guidelines promulgate supplemental rules and regulations. The standard may be either express or implied. If the former, the non-delegation objection is easily met. The standard though does not have to be spelled out specifically. It could be implied from the policy and purpose of the act considered as a whole. The principle of non-delegation “has been made to adapt itself to the complexities of modern governments, giving rise to the adoption, within certain limits, of the principle of “subordinate legislation” not only in the United States and England but in practically all modern governments. Accordingly, with the growing complexity of modern life, the multiplication of the subjects of governmental regulation, and the increased difficulty of administering the laws, there is a constantly growing tendency toward the delegation of greater powers by the legislature and toward the approval of the practice by the courts. Consistency with the conceptual approach requires the reminder that what is delegated is authority non-legislative in character, the completeness of the statute when it leaves the hands of Congress being assumed.