MMDA Vs Bel Air Village Association (328 SCRA 837) : June 30, 2013 Winnieclaire

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MMDA vs Bel Air Village Association (328

SCRA 837)
Posted on June 30, 2013 by winnieclaire
Standard
Facts: Petitioner MMDA is a government agency tasked with the delivery of basic services in Metro Manila.
Respondent Bel-Air Village Association, Inc. (BAVA) is a non-stock, non-profit corporation whose members are
homeowners in Bel-Air Village, a private subdivision in Makati City.
respondent received from petitioner, through its Chairman, a notice requesting respondent to open Neptune Street to
public vehicular traffic. respondent instituted against petitioner before the RTC for injunction. After due hearing, the
trial court denied issuance of a preliminary injunction.[2] Respondent questioned the denial before the Court of
Appeals. The appellate court conducted an ocular inspection of Neptune Street and it issued a writ of preliminary
injunction enjoining the implementation of the MMDAs proposed action finding that the MMDA has no authority to
order the opening of Neptune Street, a private subdivision road.
Petitioner MMDA claims that it has the authority to open Neptune Street to public traffic because it is an agent of the
state endowed with police power in the delivery of basic services in Metro Manila. One of these basic services is
traffic management which involves the regulation of the use of thoroughfares to insure the safety, convenience and
welfare of the general public.

Issue: W/N MMDA exercises police power.

Held: It bears stressing that police power is lodged primarily in the National Legislature. It cannot be exercised by any
group or body of individuals not possessing legislative power. The National Legislature, however, may delegate this
power to the President and administrative boards as well as the lawmaking bodies of municipal corporations or local
government units. A local government is a political subdivision of a nation or state which is constituted by law and
has substantial control of local affairs. The Local Government Code of 1991 defines a local government unit as a
body politic and corporate one endowed with powers as a political subdivision of the National Government and as
a corporate entity representing the inhabitants of its territory. Local government units are the provinces, cities,
municipalities and barangays. They are also the territorial and political subdivisions of the state.

Our Congress delegated police power to the local government units in the Local Government Code of 1991. This
delegation is found in Section 16 of the same Code, known as the general welfare clause
Local government units exercise police power through their respective legislative bodies. The legislative body of the
provincial government is the sangguniang panlalawigan, that of the city government is the sangguniang panlungsod,
that of the municipal government is the sangguniang bayan, and that of the barangay is the sangguniang barangay.
The Local Government Code of 1991 empowers the sangguniang panlalawigan, sangguniang panlungsod and
sangguniang bayan to enact ordinances, approve resolutions and appropriate funds for the general welfare of the
[province, city or municipality, as the case may be], and its inhabitants pursuant to Section 16 of the Code and in the
proper exercise of the corporate powers of the [province, city municipality] provided under the Code x x x. The same
Code gives the sangguniang barangay the power to enact ordinances as may be necessary to discharge the
responsibilities conferred upon it by law or ordinance and to promote the general welfare of the inhabitants thereon.
Metro-wide services are those services which have metro-wide impact and transcend local political boundaries or
entail huge expenditures such that it would not be viable for said services to be provided by the individual local
government units comprising Metro Manila.There are seven (7) basic metro-wide services and the scope of these
services cover the following: (1) development planning; (2) transport and traffic management; (3) solid waste disposal
and management; (4) flood control and sewerage management; (5) urban renewal, zoning and land use planning,
and shelter services; (6) health and sanitation, urban protection and pollution control; and (7) public safety.
The implementation of the MMDAs plans, programs and projects is undertaken by the local government units,
national government agencies, accredited peoples organizations, non-governmental organizations, and the private
sector as well as by the MMDA itself. For this purpose, the MMDA has the power to enter into contracts, memoranda
of agreement and other cooperative arrangements with these bodies for the delivery of the required services within
Metro Manila
It will be noted that the powers of the MMDA are limited to the following acts: formulation, coordination, regulation,
implementation, preparation, management, monitoring, setting of policies, installation of a system and
administration. There is no syllable in R. A. No. 7924 that grants the MMDA police power, let alone legislative
power. Even the Metro Manila Council has not been delegated any legislative power. Unlike the legislative
bodies of the local government units, there is no provision in R. A. No. 7924 that empowers the MMDA or its
Council to enact ordinances, approve resolutions and appropriate funds for the general welfare of the
inhabitants of Metro Manila. The MMDA is, as termed in the charter itself, a development authority. It is an
agency created for the purpose of laying down policies and coordinating with the various national
government agencies, peoples organizations, non-governmental organizations and the private sector for the
efficient and expeditious delivery of basic services in the vast metropolitan area. All its functions are
administrative in natureIt is thus beyond doubt that the MMDA is not a local government unit or a public
corporation endowed with legislative power. It is not even a special metropolitan political subdivision as
contemplated in Section 11, Article X of the Constitution.
Clearly then, the MMC under P. D. No. 824 is not the same entity as the MMDA under R. A. No. 7924. Unlike the
MMC, the MMDA has no power to enact ordinances for the welfare of the community.

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