Republic of the Philippines
SUPREME COURT
Manila
EN BANC
G.R. No. L-47743 April 14, 1941
THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee,
vs.
BIÑAN TRANSPORTATION CO., INC., defendant-appellant.
Juan Nabong for appellant.
Office of the Solicitor-General Ozaeta and Acting Assistant Attorney Torres for appellee.
MORAN, J.:
This is an action for the recovery from defendant, Biñan Transportation Co., Inc., of the sum of P742.50, representing the second installment of the registration fees for the year 1937 and the corresponding surcharge of 50 per cent thereon, for 4 trucks belonging to said defendant. Defendant claims exemption from the payment of this amount or the ground that the trucks in question were withdrawn from operation for the second semester of the year, the certificates of public convenience for two trucks having been cancelled by the Public Service Commission, and the two others having been voluntarily withdrawn from operation by reason of unserviceability.
In an analogous case involving the same provision of law and substantially identical facts, we held:
Under the law, "no motor vehicle shall be used or operated on, or upon any public highway in the Philippines unless the same is properly registered for the current year" [sec. 5 (a) Act No. 3992 as amended], and that, except for tourists and those who seek registration for the first time during the second or any subsequent quarter of any calendar year who are authorized to pay their registration fees for a fraction of such year, an annual registration fee is required. [Sec. 8, idem.]. Registration is a condition precedent to the lawful operation of any motor vehicle for any current year. The liability of the defendant to registration of its motor trucks and accordingly to the payment of the registration fees, attaches from the moment it operated them, that is, from January 1 of 1935, 1936, and 1937, respectively. The mere fact that the law authorizes actual payment until the last working day of February in no way affects that liability, except as a mere deferment in its fulfillment and to supply a basis for a declaration of delinquency thereunder. (Commonwealth vs. Pasay Transportation Co., Inc., G.R. No. 46592, June 27, 1940.)
It may be added that, as the registration fee required by law is annual, authority to pay the same in two installments is obviously intended only for the convenience of public utility operators and not as a ground for exemption in the event of subsequent withdrawal of any vehicle from operation for the year for which the fee is required to be paid.
Judgment is affirmed, with costs against appellant.
Imperial, Diaz, Laurel, and Horrilleno, JJ., concur.
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