US v. TAN PIACO

4/27/2021 US v.
TAN PIACO
40 Phil. 853
[ G.R. No. 15122, March 10, 1920 ]
THE UNITED STATES, PLAINTIFF AND APPELLEE, VS. TAN PIACO, VENTURA
ESTUYA, PEDRO HOMERES, MAXIMINO GALSA AND EMILIO LEOPANDO,
DEFENDANTS. TAN PIACO, APPELLANT.
DECISION
JOHNSON, J.:
Said defendants were charged with a violation of the Public Utility Law (Act No. 2307
as amended by Acts Nos. 2362 and 2694), in that they were operating a public utility
without permission from the Public Utility Commissioner.
Upon the complaint presented each of said defendants were arrested and brought to
trial. After hearing the evidence the Honorable Cayetano Lukban, judge, found that
the evidence was insufficient to support the charges against Ventura Estuya, Pedro
Homeres, Maximino Galsa and Emilio Leopando, and absolved them from all liability
under the complaint and discharged them from the custody of the law. The lower
court found the defendant Tan Piaco guilty of the crime charged in the complaint and
sentence him to pay a fine of P100, and, in case of insolvency, to suffer subsidiary
imprisonment, and to pay one-fifth part of the costs. From that sentence Tan Piaco
appealed to this court.
The facts proved during the trial of the cause may be stated as follows:
The appellant rented two automobile trucks and was using them upon the highways of
the Province of Leyte for the purpose of carrying some passengers and freight; that he
carried passengers and freight under a special contract in each case; that he had not
held himself out to carry all passengers and all freight for all persons who might offer
passengers and freight.
The Attorney-General, in a carefully prepared brief, says: "The question is whether the
appellant, under the above facts, was a public utility under the foregoing definitions,"
and was therefore subject to the control and regulation of the Public Utility
Commission. "We have not found anything in the evidence showing that the appellant
operated the trucks in question for public use. These trucks, so far as indicated by the
evidence and as far as the appellant is concerned, furnished service under special
agreements to carry particular persons and property. * * * For all that we can
deduce from the evidence, these passengers, or the owners of the freight, may have
controlled the whole vehicles 'both as to contents, direction, and time of use,' which
facts, under all the circumstances of the case, would, in our opinion, take away the
defendant's business from the provisions of the Public Utility Act."
In support of the conclusion of the Attorney-General, he cites the case of Terminal

Taxicab Co. vs. Kutz (241 U. S., 252). In that case the Terminal Taxicab Co. furnished
https://lawyerly.ph/juris/view/c1677# 1/3
4/27/2021 US v. TAN PIACO
automobiles from its central garage on special orders and did not hold itself out to
accommodate any and all persons. The plaintiff reserved to itself the right to refuse
service. The Supreme Court of the United States, speaking through Mr. Justice
Holmes, said: "The bargains made by the plaintiff are individual, and however much
they may tend towards uniformity in price, probably have not the mechanical fixity of
charges that attend the use of taxicabs from the stations to the hotels. The court is of
the opinion that that part of the business is not to be regarded as a public utility. It is
true that all business, and, for the matter of that, every life in all its details, has a
public aspect, some bearing upon the welfare of the country in which it is passed." The
court held that by virtue of the fact that said company did not hold itself out to serve
any and all persons, it was not a public utility and was not subject to the jurisdiction of
the public utility commission.
Upon the facts adduced during the trial of the cause, and for the foregoing reasons,
the Attorney-General recommends that the sentence of the lower court be revoked
and that the appellant be absolved from all liability under the complaint.
Section 14 of Act No. 2307, as amended by section 9 of Act No. 2694, provides that:
"The Public Utility Commission or Commissioners shall have general supervision and
regulation of, jurisdiction and control over, all public utilities. * * * The term public
utility is hereby defined to include every individual, copartnership, association,
corporation or joint stock company, etc., etc., that now or hereafter may own, operate,
manage, or control any common carrier, railroad, street railway, etc., engaged in the
transportation of passengers, cargo, etc., etc., for public use."
Under the provisions of said section, two things are necessary: (a) The individual,
copartnership, etc., etc., must be a public utility; and (b) the business in which such
individual, copartnership, etc., etc., is engaged must be for public use. So long as the
individual or copartnership, etc., etc., is engaged in a purely private enterprise,
without attempting to render service to all who may apply, he can in no sense be
considered a public utility, for public use.
"Public use" means the same as "use by the public." The essential feature of the public
use is that it is not confined to privileged individuals, but is open to the indefinite
public. It is this indefinite or unrestricted quality that gives it its public character. In
determining whether a use is public, we must look not only to the character of the
business to be done, but also to the proposed mode of doing it. If the use is merely
optional with the owners, or the public benefit is merely incidental, it is not a public
use, authorizing the exercise of the jurisdiction of the public utility commission. There
must be, in general, a right which the law compels the owner to give to the general
public. It is not enough that the general prosperity of the public is promoted. Public
use is not synonymous with public interest. The true criterion by which to judge of the
character of the use is whether the public may enjoy it by right or only by permission.
For all of the foregoing reasons, we agree with the Attorney-General that the appellant
was not operating a public utility, for public use, and was not, therefore, subject to the
jurisdiction of the Public Utility Commission.
4/27/2021 US v. TAN PIACO
Therefore, the sentence of the lower court is hereby revoked, and it is hereby ordered
and decreed that the complaint be dismissed and that the defendant be absolved from
all liability under the same, and that he be discharged from the custody of the law,
without any finding as to costs. So ordered.
Arellano, C. J., Torres, Araullo, Street, Malcolm, and Avanceña, JJ., concur.

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4/27/2021 US v.

[ G.R. No. 15122, March 10, 1920 ]

In support of the conclusion of the Attorney-General, he cites the case of Terminal

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