United States v. Ang Tang Ho | Johns, J. (1922) Keywords: FACTS The Philippine Legislature passed Act No.

. 2868, which authorized the Governor-General, for any cause, or conditions resulting in an extraordinary rise in the price of palay, rice or corn, to issue and promulgate, with the consent of the Council of State, temporary rules and emergency measures for carring out the purposes of the Act. Governor-General issued Executive Order No. 53, fixing the price at which rice should be sold at Php0.63 per ganta. A complaint was filed against Ang Tang Ho for the violation of EO No. 53, for having sold to one Pedro Trinidad 1 ganta of rice for Php0.80. TC: found Ang Tang Ho guilty and sentenced to 5 months imprisonment and to pay Php500.

ISSUE/HELD WoN Act No. 2868 delegates legilative power to the GovernorGeneral, in authorizing the him to fix the price at which price should be sold.YES. Act No. 2868 was an undue delegation of legisltive power to the Governor-General. Ang Tang Ho argues that the lower court erred in finiding that EO No.53 was of any fore and effect, as the basis of the offense charged. RATIO The Legislature cannot delegate the power to enact any law. By the Organic Law, legislative power is vested solely in the Legislature, and such power to make laws cannot be delegated to the Governor-General or anyone else. There are two possible interpretations of Act No. 2868: o If the Act is a law within itself and does nothing more than to authorize the Governor-General to make rules and regulations to carry the law into effect, then the Act is VALID. o However, if the Act within itself is not a law nor does it define a crime, and some legislative act remains to be done to make it a law or a crime, and the doing of such act is vested in the Governor-General, then the Act is a delegation of legislative power and is UNCONSTITUTIONAL and VOID. The law must be complete in all its terms and provisions when it leaves the legislative and nothing must be left to the judgment of the appointees or delegates of the legislature.

Although the legislature cannot delegate its power to make a law, it can make a law to delegate a power to determine some fact or state of things upon which the law makes or intends to make, its own action to depend. However, this is not the case in Act No. 2868 in authorizing the Governor-General for any cause, or conditions resulting in an extraordinary rise in the price of palay, rice or corn, to issue and promulgate, with the consent of the Council of State, temporary rules and emergency measures for carring out the purposes of the Act. o The Legislature itself does NOT in any manner specify or define any basis for the order, and has left it to the sole discretion of the Governor-General to determine what is a cause, what is an extraordinary rise in the price or rice, and what is a temporary rule or emergency measure, including the conditions to fix the price, without regard to grade or quality, and how long it should be enforce and when it should be extended. Therefore, it was the violation of the proclamation of the Governor-General which constituted the crime, and not the law itself; as without such proclamation, it would not have been a crime to sell the rice at whatever price the seller pleased (even at P0.80 per ganta)

DISPOSITIVE Act No. 2868 in so far as it authorizes the Governor-General in his discretion to issue a proclamation, fixing the price of rice and make the sale in violation of the proclamation a crime, is a delegation of legislative power in violation of the Organic Law, and is thus, unconstitutional and void.