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Republic of the Philippines
SUPREME COURT
Manila
SECOND DIVISION
G.R. No. 159149 August 28, 2007
THE HONORABLE SECRETARY VINCENT S. PEREZ, in his capacity as the Secretary of the Department of
Energy, Petitioner,
vs.
LPG REFILLERS ASSOCIATION OF THE PHILIPPINES, INC., Respondent.
R E S O L U T I O N
QUISUMBING, J.:
In its Motion for Reconsideration,1 respondent LPG Refillers Association of the Philippines, Inc. seeks the reversal
of this Court’s Decision2 dated June 26, 2006, which upheld the validity of the assailed Department of Energy
(DOE) Circular No. 20000610.
In assailing the validity of the Circular, respondent argues that:
I. Circular No. 200006010 (the "assailed Circular") listed prohibited acts and punishable offenses which
are brandnew or which were not provided for by B.P. Blg. 33, as amended; and that B.P. Blg. 33
enumerated and specifically defined the prohibited/punishable acts under the law and that the punishable
offenses in the assailed Circular are not included in the law.
II. The petitionerappellant admitted that the assailed Circular listed prohibited acts and punishable offenses
which are brandnew or which were not provided for by B.P. Blg. 33, as amended.
III. B.P. Blg. 33, as amended, is in the form of a penal statute that should be construed strictly against the
State.
IV. The assailed Circular not only prescribed penalties for acts not prohibited/penalized under B.P. Blg. 33,
as amended, but also prescribed penalties exceeding the ceiling prescribed by B.P. Blg. 33, as amended.
V. The Honorable Court failed to consider that the imposition by the assailed Circular of penalty on per
cylinder basis made the imposable penalty under the assailed Circular exceed the limits prescribed by B.P.
Blg. 33, as amended.
VI. The Honorable Court failed to rule on the position of the respondentappellee that the amount of
imposable fine prescribed under the assailed Circular is excessive to the extent of being confiscatory and
thus offends the Bill of Rights of the 1987 Constitution.
VII. The noble and laudable aim of the Government to protect the general consuming public against the
nefarious practices of some [un]scrupulous individuals in the LPG industry should be achieved through
means in accord with existing law.3
The assigned errors, being closely allied, will be discussed jointly.
On the first, second and third grounds, respondent argues that the Circular prohibited new acts not specified in
Batas Pambansa Bilang 33, as amended. Respondent insists that since B.P. Blg. 33, as amended is a penal
statute, it already criminalizes the specific acts involving petroleum products. Respondent invokes the "void for
vagueness" doctrine in assailing our decision, quoted in this wise:
The Circular satisfies the first requirement. B.P. Blg. 33, as amended, criminalizes illegal trading, adulteration,
underfilling, hoarding, and overpricing of petroleum products. Under this general description of what
constitutes criminal acts involving petroleum products, the Circular merely lists the various modes by
which the said criminal acts may be perpetrated, namely: no price display board, no weighing scale, no tare
weight or incorrect tare weight markings, no authorized LPG seal, no trade name, unbranded LPG cylinders, no
serial number, no distinguishing color, no embossed identifying markings on cylinder, underfilling LPG cylinders,
tampering LPG cylinders, and unauthorized decanting of LPG cylinders…4 (Emphasis supplied.)
Respondent misconstrues our decision. A criminal statute is not rendered uncertain and void because general
terms are used therein. The lawmakers have no positive constitutional or statutory duty to define each and every
word in an enactment, as long as the legislative will is clear, or at least, can be gathered from the whole act, which
is distinctly expressed in B.P. Blg. 33, as amended.5 Thus, respondent’s reliance on the "void for vagueness"
doctrine is misplaced.
Demonstrably, the specific acts and omissions cited in the Circular are within the contemplation of the B.P. Blg. 33,
as amended. The DOE, in issuing the Circular, merely filled up the details and the manner through which B.P. Blg.
33, as amended may be carried out. Nothing extraneous was provided in the Circular that could result in its
invalidity.
On the fourth, fifth and sixth grounds, respondent avers that the penalties imposed in the Circular exceeded the
ceiling prescribed by B.P. Blg. 33, as amended. Respondent contends that the Circular, in providing penalties on a
per cylinder basis, is no longer regulatory, but already confiscatory in nature.
Respondent’s position is untenable. The Circular is not confiscatory in providing penalties on a per cylinder
1 a v v p h i 1
basis. Those penalties do not exceed the ceiling prescribed in Section 4 of B.P. Blg. 33, as amended, which Page: 1 of 2
penalizes "any person who commits any act [t]herein prohibited." Thus, violation on a per cylinder basis falls within
Respondent’s position is untenable. The Circular is not confiscatory in providing penalties on a per cylinder
1 a v v p h i 1
basis. Those penalties do not exceed the ceiling prescribed in Section 4 of B.P. Blg. 33, as amended, which
penalizes "any person who commits any act [t]herein prohibited." Thus, violation on a per cylinder basis falls within
the phrase "any act" as mandated in Section 4. To provide the same penalty for one who violates a prohibited act
in B.P. Blg. 33, as amended, regardless of the number of cylinders involved would result in an indiscriminate,
oppressive and impractical operation of B.P. Blg. 33, as amended. The equal protection clause demands that "all
persons subject to such legislation shall be treated alike, under like circumstances and conditions, both in the
privileges conferred and in the liabilities imposed."
All other arguments of respondent having been passed upon in our June 26, 2006 Decision, we uphold the validity
of DOE Circular No. 200006010 sought to implement B.P. Blg. 33, as amended.
WHEREFORE, the Motion for Reconsideration by respondent is hereby DENIED with definite finality. No further
pleadings will be entertained.
SO ORDERED.
LEONARDO A. QUISUMBING
Associate Justice
WE CONCUR:
ANTONIO T. CARPIO
Associate Justice
CONCHITA CARPIO MORALES DANTE O. TINGA
Associate Justice Associate Justice
PRESBITERO J. VELASCO, JR.
Associate Justice
A T T E S T A T I O N
I attest that the conclusions in the above Resolution had been reached in consultation before the case was
assigned to the writer of the opinion of the Court’s Division.
LEONARDO A. QUISUMBING
Associate Justice
Chairperson
C E R T I F I C A T I O N
Pursuant to Section 13, Article VIII of the Constitution, and the Division Chairperson’s Attestation, I certify that the
conclusions in the above Resolution had been reached in consultation before the case was assigned to the writer
of the opinion of the Court’s Division.
REYNATO S. PUNO
Chief Justice
Footnotes
1 Rollo, pp. 553584.
2 Id. at 542552.
3 Id. at 554, 563, 567, 569, 575, 577, 580.
4 Perez v. LPG Refillers Association of the Philippines, Inc., G.R. No. 159149, June 26, 2006, 492 SCRA
638, 649650.
5 See Estrada v. Sandiganbayan, G.R. No. 148560, November 19, 2001, 369 SCRA 394, 435.
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