DOJ Opinion No. 039, s. 1982

DOJ OPINION NO. 039 , s. 1982 March 16, 1982 The Commandant Philippine Coast Guard 25th Street, Port Area Manila Sir : This refers to your request for opinion on whether or not it may still be legally feasible at this time for the Philippine Coast Guard to reactivate the Board of Visitors created under Section 2 of Republic Act No. 5173 in view of the abolition of said Board by express provision of Section 3 of Presidential Decree No. 601 and in the light of the "command's understanding that P.D. No. 601 was held in abeyance due to many difficulties concerning its implementation", including, among others, objections from other agencies as well as the AFP. Subject to the extended discussion hereinafter given, it is the view of this Ministry that the Board of visitors may no longer be validly reactivated for the reason that Republic Act No. 5175 (the Coast Guard Law) which had then authorized its creation, must be deemed to have been superseded by P.D. No. 601 (the Revised Coast Guard Law) notwithstanding the alleged non-implementation of the latter. The cited provisions of R.A. No. 5173 and P.D. No. 601 provide, respectively, as follows: Section 2 of R.A. No. 5173 SEC. 2. Board of Visitors . A board of Visitors is created which shall have visitorial and policy making powers to be composed of the Flag Officer-in-Command of the Philippine Navy, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs, the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration, the President of the Filipino Shipowners Association, and the Commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard who will act as ex-officio member." Section 3, P.D. No. 601 "SEC. 3. Abolition of Board of visitors . The Board of Visitors provided under Section 2 of RA 5173 is abolished." There is no doubt that the legislative intent was to abolish the Board of Visitors as provided under Section 3 of P.D. No. 601. The doubt, it appears, is whether Section 2 of R.A. No. 5173 providing for the creation of the Board of Visitors may still be considered effective pending the implementation of P.D. No. 601. Our view is that Section 2 of R.A. No. 5173 is no longer effective. P.D. No. 601 is a revision of R.A. No. 5173, the former being a substantial restatement of the latter with additional new provisions intended to improve the administration and to strengthen the enforcement of the Coast Guard Law. It has been held that the effect of the revision of a prior law by a subsequent law is to repeal and displace such prior law, it being deemed to be the clear legislative intent in such a case to substitute the old law with the new law (People v. Gould, 345 Ill. 288; Wood v. Roach, 125 Cal. App. 631 cited in Sutherland, Statutes and Statutory Construction, Vol. 1, p. 478). Thus, when P.D. No. 601 became law on December 9, 1974, R.A. No. 5173 had ceased to become operative. The reactivation of the Board of Visitors, which is a creation of R.A. No. 5173, would presuppose that R.A. No. 5173 may still be deemed existing and applicable. Considering, however, that said act had already been supplanted by P.D. No. 601, which expressly abolished the Board of Visitors, reactivation of the same becomes legally unfeasible there being no longer any statutory basis for its continued existence. LexLib Furthermore, the non-implementation of P.D. No. 601, even if true, would not have the effect of reviving R.A. No. 5173. For all legal intents and purposes, P.D. No. 601 is the existing Coast Guard Law and if there is any deficiency in said law or if there is any difficulty in its implementation, the remedy pertains to the legislature which is the body with authority to revise, repeal or suspend its provisions. In view of all the foregoing, this Ministry hereby reiterates its negative view hereinabove expressed. Very truly yours, (SGD.) RICARDO C. PUNO Minister of Justice