EN BANC
[G.R. No. 36900. October 19, 1934. ]
SAN MIGUEL BREWERY, Petitioner-Appellant, v. ESTEBAN C. ESPIRITU, Respondent-Appellee.
[G.R. No. 37003. October 19, 1934. ]
PEDRO CRUZ, petitioner and appellant, v. ESTEBAN C. ESPIRITU, Respondent-Appellee.
C. A. Sobral for appellant San Miguel Brewery.
Basilio Francisco for appellant Cruz.
Leoncio B. Monzon and Emilio P. Virata for Appellee.
SYLLABUS
1. PUBLIC SERVICE; ESTABLISHMENT OF AN ICE PLANT IN A MUNICIPALITY WHEREIN PLANT IN ANOTHER MUNICIPALITY IS AUTHORIZED TO SELL ICE. — The fact that one or various ice plants established in another municipality or municipalities are authorized to sell ice in a different municipality where no ice plant exists, does not prevent the authorization to establish an ice plant in the latter municipality when public convenience and necessity so demand.
2. ID.; CONTESTED MATTERS; HEARING BY THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION IN FULL. — The fact that a contested matter relating to public service has been heard by a commissioner in accordance with Act No. 3108, does not prevent the commission in full, or at least two commissioners, from deciding it after the passage of Act No. 3844 which requires that contested matters be heard and decided upon by the commission in full, or at least by two commissioners.
2. ID.; CONTESTED MATTERS; HEARING BY THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION IN FULL. — The fact that a contested matter relating to public service has been heard by a commissioner in accordance with Act No. 3108, does not prevent the commission in full, or at least two commissioners, from deciding it after the passage of Act No. 3844 which requires that contested matters be heard and decided upon by the commission in full, or at least by two commissioners.
D E C I S I O N
VILLA-REAL, J.:
This case embraces two appeals taken, one by the San Miguel Brewery (G. R. No. 36900), and the other by Pedro Cruz (G. R. No. 37003), from the decision of the Public Service Commission approving the application of Esteban C. Espiritu to establish and operate an ice plant in the municipality of Caloocan.
In support of its appeal, the San Miguel Brewery assigns the following alleged errors as committed by the Public Service Commission in its said decision, to wit:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"1. The Public Service Commission, represented by only two of its members who did not take part in the hearing of the case, erred in ordering the issuance to the respondent-appellee, Esteban C. Espiritu, of a certificate of public convenience to install, maintain and operate an ice plant in the municipality of Caloocan, in the suburbs of the City of Manila, there being no sufficient evidence before said commission to support said application.
"2. The Public Service Commission, represented by only two of its members who did not take part in the hearing of the case, erred in revoking the decision of December 21, 1931, and in rendering that of January 4, 1932, on the ground that it lacked jurisdiction to do both.
"3. The public Service Commission erred in denying the motion for reconsideration dated January 13, 1932."cralaw virtua1aw library
In support of his appeal, Pedro Cruz, in turn, assigns the following alleged errors as committed by the Public Service Commission in its decision in question, to wit:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"1. That the Public Service Commission, represented only by two of its members who did not take part in the hearing of the case, erred in reconsidering the decision rendered by the Public Service Commission in banc, dated December 21, 1931, denying the application of Esteban C. Espiritu, respondent-appellee, and issuing in its stead its order and decision of January 4, 1932, approving the application of Esteban C. Espiritu and ordering the issuance in his favor of a certificate of public convenience for the installation of an ice plant in the municipality of Caloocan, Rizal, and the sale of its ice within the limits of the said municipality.
"2. That the Public Service Commission erred in holding in its order and decision of January 4, 1932, that public convenience and necessity would be better served by the installation of an ice plant in the municipality of Caloocan, and by ordering the issuance of a certificate of public convenience in favor of Esteban C. Espiritu for the establishment and operation of an ice plant in Caloocan.
"3. That the Public Service Commission erred in denying the motion for reconsideration of the herein petitioner-appellant, dated, January 11, 1932."cralaw virtua1aw library
This case arose from an application filed by Esteban C. Espiritu with the Public Service Commission on May 16, 1931, praying for the issuance in his favor of a certificate of public convenience and necessity to establish and operate an ice plant with a capacity of 10 tons daily, in the municipality of Caloocan, Province of Rizal, with authority to sell its product not only in said municipality but also in those of Malabon, San Juan del Monte and Navotas of the Province of Rizal, and in that of Polo of the Province of Bulacan, at the rate of P0.02 a kilo at the plant and P0.02 1/2 at domicile.
The petitioner-appellant San Miguel Brewery filed its opposition to said application on May 28, 1931, and the petitioner Pedro Cruz filed his on the same date.
After various hearings held before the Commissioner, M. V. del Rosario, the case was submitted for decision on September 28, 1931. While said case was pending decision, the Philippine Legislature, on November 9, 1931, approved and promulgated Act No. 3844, amending section 2 of Act No. 3108, otherwise known as the Public Service Act, which reads as follows:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"SEC. 2 . . . All contested matters that may be presented before the Commission shall be heard and decided upon by the Commission in full or at least by two Commissioners, and before any Commissioner is assigned to write the decision or any resolution which affects in some way the right of the parties concerned, the matter shall be voted upon by the members of the Commission who have taken part in the direction of the case: Provided, however, That any one of the Commissioners may, through authority of the Commission, make all the inquires which the Commission is empowered to undertake."cralaw virtua1aw library
On December 21, 1931, the Public Service Commission, through the Commissioner, M. V. del Rosario, and with the conformity of the Associate Commissioners, R. A. Cruz and A. R. Teodoro, rendered a decision the dispositive part of which reads as follows:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"In view of the foregoing, and it not having been established that the public necessity and convenience will be better served with the installation of an ice plant applied for by Esteban C. Espiritu, and inasmuch as the granting of said application might cause a competition which might become ruinous to the interests of the rest of the operators who have made Caloocan a part of their sphere of distribution, the petition of Esteban C. Espiritu is hereby denied in so far as it seeks the issuance in his favor of a certificate of public convenience to install, maintain and operate an ice plant in the municipality of Caloocan.
"Thus decision shall take effect immediately and shall become final thirty (30) days after notice thereof to the parties."cralaw virtua1aw library
On December 28, 1931, the respondent-appellee Esteban C. Espiritu filed a motion wherein he limited his field of distribution to the municipality of Caloocan and prayed that the former decision be reconsidered by granting him a certificate of public convenience and necessity to install, maintain and operate an ice plant in said municipality.
On January 4, 1932, the two Associate Commissioners, R. A. Cruz and A. R. Teodoro, with the Commissioner, M. V. del Rosario, dissenting, granted the motion for reconsideration of the decision dated December 21, 1931, and rendered a decision directing the issuance of a certificate of public convenience and necessity in favor of the applicant Esteban C. Espiritu for the establishment and operation of an ice plant in the municipality of Caloocan only.
In reconsidering its decision and rendering a new one, with the Commissioner, M. V. del Rosario, dissenting, the majority of the members of the Public Service Commission base its opinion on the following facts:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"(1) The oppositor, San Miguel Brewery, has not established an ice plant in the municipality of Caloocan, neither have the oppositors Teodora Santos and Pedro Cruz established one therein. Teodora Santos, by virtue of her certificate of public convenience has been authorized to established an ice plant in the municipality of Meycauayan with the right to distribute in the municipalities of Marilao, Bocaue, Bigaa, Sta. Maria, San Jose, Obando, and Polo, and Pedro Cruz, by virtue of the certificate of public convenience issued to him, was authorized to establish an ice plant in the municipality of Malabon with the right to sell the manufactured ice in the municipalities of Caloocan and Navotas.
"(2) According to the 1918 census, the number of inhabitants in the municipality of Caloocan was 19,551, which is now approximately 33,110, according to the statistical division of the Philippine Health Service, yet, in spite of this large number of inhabitants, said municipality has no ice plant of its own.
"(3) In his testimony, applicant Espiritu claims that after studying the conditions obtaining in his locality (Caloocan), he found that there is a sufficient market for ice, and the establishment of the proposed ice plant will not cause a ruinous competition but, on the contrary, with the facilities which he will give the public in due time, the applicant will much better promote the welfare of the inhabitants.
"(4) As one of the prime necessities in ordinary and every-day life, ice has constant application and use, in addition to being a daily food preservative.
"(5) The applicant, Esteban C. Espiritu, is an experienced businessman and has sufficient capital to manage and administer the proposed ice plant in the municipality of Caloocan, expressly waiving service to neighboring towns (see his motion for reconsideration). Said waiver has changed the fundamental aspects of the question raised at the time this case was submitted for decision and when this Commission, in its order dated December 21, 1931, paused to define jurisdictions and enumerate the consequences of its decision which would grant to the applicant the privilege of extending his sphere of activity to other municipalities outside Caloocan."cralaw virtua1aw library
In the case of Limjoco v. Public Service Commission and Cabrera (G. R. No. 32831, not reported, which was decided on September 13, 1930), this court sitting in second division, stated as follows:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"In granting or denying a certificate, the public convenience and necessity should be taken into consideration first and above all. The more fact that a holder of a certificate of public convenience and necessity is authorized to supply and sell ice in a locality does not prevent the authorization of another holder of a certificate of public convenience and necessity to supply and sell ice in the same locality when the latter is in a better position to do so than the former, and when his service proves to be better and more beneficial to the inhabitants of said locality, taking into consideration the distance between the municipality where the plant is established and that in which the ice manufactured in said plant is to be sold. This is not a case of a land transportation company with a time-table, whose service may he increased or decreased according to the needs of the public, but that of a company supplying ice manufactured by it, whose efficiency to satisfy the needs of the buying public depends upon its promptness and economy in so doing."cralaw virtua1aw library
In this case, it is an admitted fact that in the municipality of Caloocan is no ice plant and that the plant for the installation of which the herein appellee Esteban C. Espiritu seeks authority and certificate of public convenience and necessity, will be the first therein. It is true that the appellants, San Miguel Brewery and Pedro Cruz, supply said municipality with ice from their respective plants, that of the former being established on General Solano Street of the City of Manila and that of the latter in Malabon, Province of Rizal, both of which places are some kilometers from Caloocan, but they have no permanent ice depositories in the latter municipality, where those in need thereof for domestic purposes as well as for urgent cases of illness, may go at any time. They have only delivery-trucks which distribute ice to their customers in said municipality at certain hours of the day. It being of general knowledge, and therefore, of judicial knowledge, no evidence is necessary to show that an ice plant in the locality is much more advantageous to the general public as to facility in acquiring said article of commodity, not to say of domestic necessity, without loss in weight, than a plant some kilometers from said locality, which distributes ice to its customers by means of delivery-trucks at certain hours of the day. Even in the case where an outside manufacturer has an ice depository in the locality, this court has found and held that it is always more advantageous to have an ice plant in the same locality. (San Miguel Brewery v. Calumpit Ice Plant, G. R. No. 31550, promulgated January 14, 1930, not reported; Cruz and Lapid v. San Miguel Brewery [1933], 57 Phil., 1017; San Miguel Brewery v. Lapid, 53 Phil., 539.)
The fact that the Commissioner, M. V. del Rosario, heard the case and took the evidence when the commission had not yet been reorganized by virtue of Act No. 3844, amendatory to Act No. 3108, does not prevent two commissioners who did not take part in the hearing of said case from deciding it after said subsequent Act had gone into effect, inasmuch as said section 2 of said Act No. 3844 provides that any one of the commissioners may, through authority of the commission, make all the inquiries which the commission is empowered to undertake. Inasmuch as the hearing and decision of a contested matter relating to public service by a single commissioner was authorized by the former law, the hearing conducted by the Commissioner, M. V. del Rosario, was valid, and as the new law authorizes the commission to delegate the hearing of a contested matter to a single commissioner, the hearing conducted under the former law has the same effect as if it were authorized by the commission under the new law. To hold otherwise would be to annul all the matters heard by a single commissioner and undecided before the new law went into effect, to the great detriment of the interests of the parties litigant. Such, certainly, was not the intention of the Legislature.
In view of the foregoing considerations, this court is of the opinion and so holds: (1) That the fact that one or several ice plants established in another municipality or municipalities are authorized to sell ice in another municipality where no ice plant exists, does not prevent the authorization to establish an ice plant in the latter municipality when the public convenience and necessity so demand; and (2) that the fact that a contested matter relating to public service has been heard by a commissioner in accordance with Act No. 3108, does not prevent the commission in full, or at least two commissioners, from deciding upon it after the passage of Act No. 3844 which requires that contested matters be heard and decided upon by the commission in full or at least by two commissioners.
Wherefore, not finding any error in the appealed decision, it is affirmed in toto, with costs against the appellants. So ordered.
Avanceña, C.J., Street, Malcolm, Abad Santos, Hull, Vickers, Imperial, Butte and Diaz, JJ., concur.
GODDARD, J., dissenting:chanrob1es virtual 1aw library
I dissent.
As the hearing before the Public Service Commission and after the applicant Esteban C. Espiritu closed his case the attorneys of the oppositors moved to dismiss the application upon several grounds, one of which was that the applicant had not proved the necessity and convenience for the granting of the certificate prayed for. This motion should have been granted. I venture to say that a certificate of public convenience and necessity has never been granted upon such flimsy and worthless evidence as that presented by the petitioner in this case. However, after the oppositors had presented their evidence it was so apparent that there was absolutely no necessity for the establishment of an ice plant in Caloocan that the Public Service Commission, in the dispositive part of its first decision, dated December 21, 1931, said:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"En vista de todo lo expuesto, y no habiendose establecido que la necesidad y conveniencia publica estaran mejor servidas con la instalacion de una planta de hielo solicitada por Esteban C. Espiritu, y pudiendose causar, si se concediera lo pedido, una competencia que podria degenerar en ruinosa a los intereses de todos los demas operadores que han hecho de Caloocan parte de su esfera de distribucion, por la presente, se deniega la peticion de Esteban C. Espiritu en cuanto pide que se le expida un certificado de conveniencia publica para instalar, mantener, y operar una fabrica en el Municipio de Caloocan." This decision was written by the Hon. M. V. del Rosario and concurred in by the other two Commissioners Anastasio R. Teodoro and R. A. Cruz.
Seven days later, December 28, 1931, Espiritu filed a motion of reconsideration in which he amended his original application and prayed that he be granted a certificate of public convenience for supplying ice to the municipality of Caloocan only, excluding the municipalities of Malabon, Navotas and San Juan del Monte of Rizal Province and Polo of the Province of Bulacan. On January 4, 1932, with Commissioner Del Rosario dissenting, the other commissioners revoked the first decision and granted Espiritu a certificate of public convenience to establish maintain and operate an ice plant in the municipality of Caloocan only.
In its first decision the Public Service Commission said:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"Ahora bien:
In support of its appeal, the San Miguel Brewery assigns the following alleged errors as committed by the Public Service Commission in its said decision, to wit:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"1. The Public Service Commission, represented by only two of its members who did not take part in the hearing of the case, erred in ordering the issuance to the respondent-appellee, Esteban C. Espiritu, of a certificate of public convenience to install, maintain and operate an ice plant in the municipality of Caloocan, in the suburbs of the City of Manila, there being no sufficient evidence before said commission to support said application.
"2. The Public Service Commission, represented by only two of its members who did not take part in the hearing of the case, erred in revoking the decision of December 21, 1931, and in rendering that of January 4, 1932, on the ground that it lacked jurisdiction to do both.
"3. The public Service Commission erred in denying the motion for reconsideration dated January 13, 1932."cralaw virtua1aw library
In support of his appeal, Pedro Cruz, in turn, assigns the following alleged errors as committed by the Public Service Commission in its decision in question, to wit:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"1. That the Public Service Commission, represented only by two of its members who did not take part in the hearing of the case, erred in reconsidering the decision rendered by the Public Service Commission in banc, dated December 21, 1931, denying the application of Esteban C. Espiritu, respondent-appellee, and issuing in its stead its order and decision of January 4, 1932, approving the application of Esteban C. Espiritu and ordering the issuance in his favor of a certificate of public convenience for the installation of an ice plant in the municipality of Caloocan, Rizal, and the sale of its ice within the limits of the said municipality.
"2. That the Public Service Commission erred in holding in its order and decision of January 4, 1932, that public convenience and necessity would be better served by the installation of an ice plant in the municipality of Caloocan, and by ordering the issuance of a certificate of public convenience in favor of Esteban C. Espiritu for the establishment and operation of an ice plant in Caloocan.
"3. That the Public Service Commission erred in denying the motion for reconsideration of the herein petitioner-appellant, dated, January 11, 1932."cralaw virtua1aw library
This case arose from an application filed by Esteban C. Espiritu with the Public Service Commission on May 16, 1931, praying for the issuance in his favor of a certificate of public convenience and necessity to establish and operate an ice plant with a capacity of 10 tons daily, in the municipality of Caloocan, Province of Rizal, with authority to sell its product not only in said municipality but also in those of Malabon, San Juan del Monte and Navotas of the Province of Rizal, and in that of Polo of the Province of Bulacan, at the rate of P0.02 a kilo at the plant and P0.02 1/2 at domicile.
The petitioner-appellant San Miguel Brewery filed its opposition to said application on May 28, 1931, and the petitioner Pedro Cruz filed his on the same date.
After various hearings held before the Commissioner, M. V. del Rosario, the case was submitted for decision on September 28, 1931. While said case was pending decision, the Philippine Legislature, on November 9, 1931, approved and promulgated Act No. 3844, amending section 2 of Act No. 3108, otherwise known as the Public Service Act, which reads as follows:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"SEC. 2 . . . All contested matters that may be presented before the Commission shall be heard and decided upon by the Commission in full or at least by two Commissioners, and before any Commissioner is assigned to write the decision or any resolution which affects in some way the right of the parties concerned, the matter shall be voted upon by the members of the Commission who have taken part in the direction of the case: Provided, however, That any one of the Commissioners may, through authority of the Commission, make all the inquires which the Commission is empowered to undertake."cralaw virtua1aw library
x x x
On December 21, 1931, the Public Service Commission, through the Commissioner, M. V. del Rosario, and with the conformity of the Associate Commissioners, R. A. Cruz and A. R. Teodoro, rendered a decision the dispositive part of which reads as follows:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"In view of the foregoing, and it not having been established that the public necessity and convenience will be better served with the installation of an ice plant applied for by Esteban C. Espiritu, and inasmuch as the granting of said application might cause a competition which might become ruinous to the interests of the rest of the operators who have made Caloocan a part of their sphere of distribution, the petition of Esteban C. Espiritu is hereby denied in so far as it seeks the issuance in his favor of a certificate of public convenience to install, maintain and operate an ice plant in the municipality of Caloocan.
"Thus decision shall take effect immediately and shall become final thirty (30) days after notice thereof to the parties."cralaw virtua1aw library
On December 28, 1931, the respondent-appellee Esteban C. Espiritu filed a motion wherein he limited his field of distribution to the municipality of Caloocan and prayed that the former decision be reconsidered by granting him a certificate of public convenience and necessity to install, maintain and operate an ice plant in said municipality.
On January 4, 1932, the two Associate Commissioners, R. A. Cruz and A. R. Teodoro, with the Commissioner, M. V. del Rosario, dissenting, granted the motion for reconsideration of the decision dated December 21, 1931, and rendered a decision directing the issuance of a certificate of public convenience and necessity in favor of the applicant Esteban C. Espiritu for the establishment and operation of an ice plant in the municipality of Caloocan only.
In reconsidering its decision and rendering a new one, with the Commissioner, M. V. del Rosario, dissenting, the majority of the members of the Public Service Commission base its opinion on the following facts:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"(1) The oppositor, San Miguel Brewery, has not established an ice plant in the municipality of Caloocan, neither have the oppositors Teodora Santos and Pedro Cruz established one therein. Teodora Santos, by virtue of her certificate of public convenience has been authorized to established an ice plant in the municipality of Meycauayan with the right to distribute in the municipalities of Marilao, Bocaue, Bigaa, Sta. Maria, San Jose, Obando, and Polo, and Pedro Cruz, by virtue of the certificate of public convenience issued to him, was authorized to establish an ice plant in the municipality of Malabon with the right to sell the manufactured ice in the municipalities of Caloocan and Navotas.
"(2) According to the 1918 census, the number of inhabitants in the municipality of Caloocan was 19,551, which is now approximately 33,110, according to the statistical division of the Philippine Health Service, yet, in spite of this large number of inhabitants, said municipality has no ice plant of its own.
"(3) In his testimony, applicant Espiritu claims that after studying the conditions obtaining in his locality (Caloocan), he found that there is a sufficient market for ice, and the establishment of the proposed ice plant will not cause a ruinous competition but, on the contrary, with the facilities which he will give the public in due time, the applicant will much better promote the welfare of the inhabitants.
"(4) As one of the prime necessities in ordinary and every-day life, ice has constant application and use, in addition to being a daily food preservative.
"(5) The applicant, Esteban C. Espiritu, is an experienced businessman and has sufficient capital to manage and administer the proposed ice plant in the municipality of Caloocan, expressly waiving service to neighboring towns (see his motion for reconsideration). Said waiver has changed the fundamental aspects of the question raised at the time this case was submitted for decision and when this Commission, in its order dated December 21, 1931, paused to define jurisdictions and enumerate the consequences of its decision which would grant to the applicant the privilege of extending his sphere of activity to other municipalities outside Caloocan."cralaw virtua1aw library
In the case of Limjoco v. Public Service Commission and Cabrera (G. R. No. 32831, not reported, which was decided on September 13, 1930), this court sitting in second division, stated as follows:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"In granting or denying a certificate, the public convenience and necessity should be taken into consideration first and above all. The more fact that a holder of a certificate of public convenience and necessity is authorized to supply and sell ice in a locality does not prevent the authorization of another holder of a certificate of public convenience and necessity to supply and sell ice in the same locality when the latter is in a better position to do so than the former, and when his service proves to be better and more beneficial to the inhabitants of said locality, taking into consideration the distance between the municipality where the plant is established and that in which the ice manufactured in said plant is to be sold. This is not a case of a land transportation company with a time-table, whose service may he increased or decreased according to the needs of the public, but that of a company supplying ice manufactured by it, whose efficiency to satisfy the needs of the buying public depends upon its promptness and economy in so doing."cralaw virtua1aw library
In this case, it is an admitted fact that in the municipality of Caloocan is no ice plant and that the plant for the installation of which the herein appellee Esteban C. Espiritu seeks authority and certificate of public convenience and necessity, will be the first therein. It is true that the appellants, San Miguel Brewery and Pedro Cruz, supply said municipality with ice from their respective plants, that of the former being established on General Solano Street of the City of Manila and that of the latter in Malabon, Province of Rizal, both of which places are some kilometers from Caloocan, but they have no permanent ice depositories in the latter municipality, where those in need thereof for domestic purposes as well as for urgent cases of illness, may go at any time. They have only delivery-trucks which distribute ice to their customers in said municipality at certain hours of the day. It being of general knowledge, and therefore, of judicial knowledge, no evidence is necessary to show that an ice plant in the locality is much more advantageous to the general public as to facility in acquiring said article of commodity, not to say of domestic necessity, without loss in weight, than a plant some kilometers from said locality, which distributes ice to its customers by means of delivery-trucks at certain hours of the day. Even in the case where an outside manufacturer has an ice depository in the locality, this court has found and held that it is always more advantageous to have an ice plant in the same locality. (San Miguel Brewery v. Calumpit Ice Plant, G. R. No. 31550, promulgated January 14, 1930, not reported; Cruz and Lapid v. San Miguel Brewery [1933], 57 Phil., 1017; San Miguel Brewery v. Lapid, 53 Phil., 539.)
The fact that the Commissioner, M. V. del Rosario, heard the case and took the evidence when the commission had not yet been reorganized by virtue of Act No. 3844, amendatory to Act No. 3108, does not prevent two commissioners who did not take part in the hearing of said case from deciding it after said subsequent Act had gone into effect, inasmuch as said section 2 of said Act No. 3844 provides that any one of the commissioners may, through authority of the commission, make all the inquiries which the commission is empowered to undertake. Inasmuch as the hearing and decision of a contested matter relating to public service by a single commissioner was authorized by the former law, the hearing conducted by the Commissioner, M. V. del Rosario, was valid, and as the new law authorizes the commission to delegate the hearing of a contested matter to a single commissioner, the hearing conducted under the former law has the same effect as if it were authorized by the commission under the new law. To hold otherwise would be to annul all the matters heard by a single commissioner and undecided before the new law went into effect, to the great detriment of the interests of the parties litigant. Such, certainly, was not the intention of the Legislature.
In view of the foregoing considerations, this court is of the opinion and so holds: (1) That the fact that one or several ice plants established in another municipality or municipalities are authorized to sell ice in another municipality where no ice plant exists, does not prevent the authorization to establish an ice plant in the latter municipality when the public convenience and necessity so demand; and (2) that the fact that a contested matter relating to public service has been heard by a commissioner in accordance with Act No. 3108, does not prevent the commission in full, or at least two commissioners, from deciding upon it after the passage of Act No. 3844 which requires that contested matters be heard and decided upon by the commission in full or at least by two commissioners.
Wherefore, not finding any error in the appealed decision, it is affirmed in toto, with costs against the appellants. So ordered.
Avanceña, C.J., Street, Malcolm, Abad Santos, Hull, Vickers, Imperial, Butte and Diaz, JJ., concur.
Separate Opinions
GODDARD, J., dissenting:chanrob1es virtual 1aw library
I dissent.
As the hearing before the Public Service Commission and after the applicant Esteban C. Espiritu closed his case the attorneys of the oppositors moved to dismiss the application upon several grounds, one of which was that the applicant had not proved the necessity and convenience for the granting of the certificate prayed for. This motion should have been granted. I venture to say that a certificate of public convenience and necessity has never been granted upon such flimsy and worthless evidence as that presented by the petitioner in this case. However, after the oppositors had presented their evidence it was so apparent that there was absolutely no necessity for the establishment of an ice plant in Caloocan that the Public Service Commission, in the dispositive part of its first decision, dated December 21, 1931, said:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"En vista de todo lo expuesto, y no habiendose establecido que la necesidad y conveniencia publica estaran mejor servidas con la instalacion de una planta de hielo solicitada por Esteban C. Espiritu, y pudiendose causar, si se concediera lo pedido, una competencia que podria degenerar en ruinosa a los intereses de todos los demas operadores que han hecho de Caloocan parte de su esfera de distribucion, por la presente, se deniega la peticion de Esteban C. Espiritu en cuanto pide que se le expida un certificado de conveniencia publica para instalar, mantener, y operar una fabrica en el Municipio de Caloocan." This decision was written by the Hon. M. V. del Rosario and concurred in by the other two Commissioners Anastasio R. Teodoro and R. A. Cruz.
Seven days later, December 28, 1931, Espiritu filed a motion of reconsideration in which he amended his original application and prayed that he be granted a certificate of public convenience for supplying ice to the municipality of Caloocan only, excluding the municipalities of Malabon, Navotas and San Juan del Monte of Rizal Province and Polo of the Province of Bulacan. On January 4, 1932, with Commissioner Del Rosario dissenting, the other commissioners revoked the first decision and granted Espiritu a certificate of public convenience to establish maintain and operate an ice plant in the municipality of Caloocan only.
In its first decision the Public Service Commission said:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"Ahora bien:
