·
Lot at 502 Quezon Boulevard, Manila was leased in
the early 1900's to Servillano Ocampo, who built a house thereon where he lived
with his parents and his sister Angela. He died on March 17, 1956. The lease
was taken over by Angela Ocampo, who continued to stay in the house together
with her children, including petitioner Virginia Ocampo Juarez.
·
In 1976, because of her age, Angela moved to
Virginia's house in Pasay City. The house on Quezon Boulevard she leased to
Roberto Capuchino, reserving only one room for her personal belongings.
·
Meantime, the lot had been sold by the Aranetas
to Susanna Realty, Inc., which in turn sold it in 1985 to Cetus Development Corporation.
·
Cetus filed a complaint for ejectment
on the ground that the lessee had subleased the property without its consent in
violation of BP 877.
·
Trial Court: BP 877 inapplicable because the sublease was made
prior to its effectivity.
·
RTC: Affirmed.
·
CA reversed. BP 877
applicable. Original contract of lease did not specify a fixed term and payment
of the rental was made on a monthly basis. The contract was deemed terminated
from month to month. Hence, when it was renewed in July 1985, it became subject
to BP 877, which had come into effect on June 12, 1985.
Issue: WON the application of BP 877 which
requires the petitioner to seek a written consent from the owner is a violation
of the impairment clause and prohibition against ex post facto laws. NO.
Ratio
·
NCC 1687: If the period for the lease has
not been fixed, it is understood to be from year to year, if the rent agreed
upon is annual; from month to month, if it is monthly; from week to week, if
the rent is weekly; and from day to day, if the rent is to be paid daily...
·
When the sublease was renewed in July 1985, it
had become invalid under BP 877. The law was operating prospectively upon the renewed contract.
·
The impairment clause is no longer inviolate;
there are many who now believe it is an
anachronism in the present-day society. It was quite useful before in protecting the integrity of private
agreements from government meddling, but that was when such agreements did not affect the community in general.
·
The interests of the public have become involved
in what are supposed to be still private agreements, which have as a result been removed from the
protection of the impairment clause. These agreements have come within the
embrace of the police power… As long as the contract affects the public welfare
so as to require the interference of the State, then police power must prevail
over the impairment clause.
·
In Philippine
Veterans Bank Employees Union vs. Philippine
Veterans Bank: …The clause,
according to Corwin, "is lately of negligible importance, and might well
be stricken from the Constitution. For most practical purposes, in fact, it has
been"… The impact of the modern
society has left the clause in a shambles, as it were, making practically every
contract susceptible to change on behalf of the public. The contract may be
altered validly if it involves the public interest, to which private interests
must yield "as a postulate of the existing social order."
·
Housing is a serious social problem of the country.
The regulation of rentals, has long been the continuing concern of the
government.The laws intends prevent the lessor from imposing arbitrary
conditions on the lessee while at the same time deterring the lessee from
abusing the statutory benefits accorded to him.
·
The contention that BP 877 is an ex post facto law must also be rejected. It is not
penal in nature. She is not being prosecuted under the said penal provisions.
She was sued in the municipal court in a civil complaint to eject her from the
lot on the ground that she had unlawfully subleased it.
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