Acebedo v. CA

ACEBEDO OPTICAL COMPANY, INC. v. THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS,
G.R. No. 100152, March 31, 2000

FACTS:

• Petitioner Acebedo Optical Company, Inc. applied for a business permit to operate in Iligan City. After hearing the sides of local optometrists, Mayor Camilo Cabili of Iligan granted the permit but he attached various special conditions which basically made Acebedo dependent upon prescriptions or limitations to be issued by local optometrists. Petitioner basically is not allowed to practice optometry within the city (but may sell glasses only). Acebedo however acquiesced to the said conditions and operated under the permit.
• Private respondent Samahan ng Optometrist Sa Pilipinas (SOPI), Iligan Chapter, lodged a complaint against the petitioner before the Office of the City Mayor, alleging that Acebedo had violated the conditions set forth in its business permit and requesting the cancellation and/or revocation of such permit. Acting on such complaint, then City Mayor conduct an investigation through the City Legal Officer on the matter. Respondent City Legal Officer submitted a report to the City Mayor finding the herein petitioner guilty of violating all the conditions of its business permit and recommending the disqualification of petitioner from operating its business in Iligan City.

ISSUE:

• Whether or not the respondent city mayor acted beyond his authority in imposing the special conditions in the permit

HELD:

• Yes, the power to issue licenses and permits necessarily includes the corollary power to revoke, withdraw or cancel the same. And the power to revoke or cancel, likewise includes the power to restrict through the imposition of certain conditions. In the case of Austin-Hardware, Inc. vs. Court of Appeals,[7] it was held that the power to license carries with it the authority to provide reasonable terms and conditions under which the licensed business shall be conducted. As the Solicitor General puts it:
• "If the City Mayor is empowered to grant or refuse to grant a license, which is a broader power, it stands to reason that he can also exercise a lesser power that is reasonably incidental to his express power, i. e. to restrict a license through the imposition of certain conditions, especially so that there is no positive prohibition to the exercise of such prerogative by the City Mayor, nor is there any particular official or body vested with such authority"
• However, Distinction must be made between the grant of a license or permit to do business and the issuance of a license to engage in the practice of a particular profession. The first is usually granted by the local authorities and the second is issued by the Board or Commission tasked to regulate the particular profession. A business permit authorizes the person, natural or otherwise, to engage in business or some form of commercial activity. A professional license, on the other hand, is the grant of authority to a natural person to engage in the practice or exercise of his or her profession.
• In the case at bar, what is sought by petitioner from respondent City Mayor is a permit to engage in the business of running an optical shop. It does not purport to seek a license to engage in the practice of optometry as a corporate body or entity, although it does have in its employ, persons who are duly licensed to practice optometry by the Board of Examiners in Optometry.
• A business permit is issued primarily to regulate the conduct of business and the City Mayor cannot, through the issuance of such permit, regulate the practice of a profession, like that of optometry. Such a function is within the exclusive domain of the administrative agency specifically empowered by law to supervise the profession, in this case the Professional Regulations Commission and the Board of Examiners in Optometry.
• The regulatory power to issue licenses or permits extends only up to the regulation of a business and not in the regulation of a profession. Therefore, the acts of the mayor are ultra vires and cannot be given effect.