Manila Motor Company Essay

In whitethorn 1954, Manila Motor Company filed in the Municipal administration of Manila a complaint to recover from Manuel T. Flores the amount of P1,047.98 as personal chattel mortgage installments which fell due in September 1941. Defendant pleaded prescription(prenominal)chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary 1941 to 1954. The complaint was dismissed. On appeal, the Court of First Instance saw differently, sustaining complainants contention that the moratorium laws had interrupted the running of the prescriptive period, and that deducting the time during which verbalize laws were in exertion three years and eight months 1 the ten-year name had not yet elapsed when complainant sued for collection in May 1954. Wherefore said court ordered the return of the case to the municipal judge for trial on the merits. Defendant appealed.IssueWhether or not the moratorium laws did not have the effect of suspending the period of limitations, because they were unconstitutional, as declared by thi s court in Rutter vs. Esteban, 49 Off.HeldIn Montilla vs. Pacific Commercial SC held that the moratorium laws suspended the period of prescription. That was rendered after the Rutter-Esteban decision. It should be stated however, in directness to Appellant, that the Montilla decision came down after he had submitted his brief. And in answer to his main contention, the following portion is quoted from a resolution of this Court. Rutter vs. Esteban (93 Phil., 68) may be construed to opine that at the time of the decision the Moratorium law could no longer be validly applied because of the prevailing circumstances. At any rate, although the general principle is that an unconstitutional statuteconfers no right, creates no office, affords no protection and justifies no acts performed under it. (11 Am. Jur., pp. 828, 829.) There are several instances wherein courts, out of equity, have relaxed its operation (cf. notes in Cooleys Constitutional Limitations 8th ed., p. 383 and Notes 53 A. L. R., 273) or restricted its effects since the actual existence of a statute prior to such(prenominal) declaration is an operative fact, and may have consequences which cannot justly be unattended (Chicot County vs. Baster, 308 U. S., 371) and a realistic approach is eroding the general doctrine (Warring vs. Colpoys, 136 Am. truth Rep., 1025, 1030). Judgment affirmed, without costs.