G.R. No.
L-45459
March 13, 1937
GREGORIO AGLIPAY, petitioner,
vs.
JUAN RUIZ, respondent.
FACTS:
The petitioner, Mons. Gregorio Aglipay, Supreme Head of the Philippine
Independent Church, seeks to prevent respondent Director of Posts from issuing
and selling postage stamps commemorative of the Thirty-third International
Eucharistic Congress.
This, after the respondent announced in the dailies of Manila that he would order
the issues of postage stamps commemorating the celebration in the City of Manila of
the Thirty-third international Eucharistic Congress, organized by the Roman
Catholic Church.
Further, respondent was able to carry out said proposal to fruition under the
provisions of Act No. 4052 of the Philippine Legislature, that is, “AN ACT
APPROPRIATING THE SUM OF SIXTY THOUSAND PESOS AND MAKING THE SAME
AVAILABLE OUT OF ANY FUNDS IN THE INSULAR TREASURY NOT OTHERWISE
APPROPRIATED FOR THE COST OF PLATES AND PRINTING OF POSTAGE STAMPS
WITH NEW DESIGNS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.”
Finally, respondent has started selling said commemorative postage stamps when
petitioner questioned the constitutionality of respondent’s act, saying that the
issuing and selling of postage stamps commemorative of the Thirty-third
International Eucharistic Congress is violative of the provisions of section 23,
subsection 3, Article VI, of the Constitution of the Philippines, which provides as
follows: “No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, or used,
directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church,
denomination, secretarian, institution, or system of religion, or for the use, benefit,
or support of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary
as such, except when such priest, preacher, minister, or dignitary is assigned to the
armed forces or to any penal institution, orphanage, or leprosarium.”
ISSUE/S:
Whether issuing and selling of postage stamps commemorative of the Thirty-third
International Eucharistic Congress is violative of the Constitution.
RULING:
The Supreme Court ruled in the negative, saying, that there has been no
constitutional infraction in the case at bar, as Act No. 4052 grants the Director of
Posts, with the approval of the Secretary of Public Works and Communications,
discretion to misuse postage stamps with new designs “as often as may be deemed
advantageous to the Government”, adding that Act No. 4052 contemplates no
religious purpose in view.
In the present case, the Court added, the issuance of the postage stamps in question
by the Director of Posts and the Secretary of Public Works and Communications was
not inspired by any sectarian denomination, saying that the stamps were not issued
and sold for the benefit of the Roman Catholic Church nor were money derived from
the sale of the stamps given to that church.
Finally, the Court found out that the only purpose in issuing and selling the stamps
was “to advertise the Philippines and attract more tourist to this country” and that
what is emphasized is not the Eucharistic Congress itself but Manila, the capital of
the Philippines, as the seat of that congress. It is obvious, the Court added, that while
the issuance and sale of the stamps in question may be said to be inseparably linked
with an event of a religious character, the resulting propaganda, if any, received by
the Roman Catholic Church, was not the aim and purpose of the Government.
