8/10/2019 Carlos Superdrug Corp., Vs Dswd g.r. No. 166494

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CARLOS SUPERDRUG CORP., vs DSWD G.R. No. 166494

Facts:

Petitionersare domestic corporations and proprietors operating drugstores in the Philippines.

Public respondents, on the other hand, include the (DSWD), the (DOH), the (DOF), (DOJ), and the (DILG)

which have been specifically tasked to monitor the drugstores compliance with the law; promulgate

the implementing rules and regulations for the effective implementation of the law; and prosecute and

revoke the licenses of erring drugstore establishments.

Petitioners assail the constitutionality of Section 4(a) of RA 9257, otherwise known as the Expanded

Senior Citizens Act of 2003. Section 4(a) of RA 9257 grants twenty percent (20%) discount

as privileges for the Senior Citizens.

Petitioners assail the constitutionality of Section 4(a) of the Expanded Senior Citizens Act based on the

following grounds:

The law is confiscatory because it infringes Art. III, Sec. 9 of the Constitutionwhich provides

that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation;

It violates the equal protection clause (Art. III, Sec. 1)enshrined in our Constitution which states

that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, norshall any person be denied of the equal protection of the laws;and

The 20% discount on medicines violates the constitutional guarantee in Article XIII, Section 11

that makes essential goods, health and other social services available to all people at affordable

cost.

Petitioner contends that said law is unconstitutional because it constitutes deprivation of private

property. The law failed to provide a scheme whereby drugstores will be justly compensated for the

discount.

Issue:Whether or notRA 9257is unconstitutional

Held: Petition is dismissed. The law is a legitimate exercise of police power which, similar to the power

of eminent domain, has general welfare for its object.

8/10/2019 Carlos Superdrug Corp., Vs Dswd g.r. No. 166494

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The Senior Citizens Act was enacted primarily to maximize the contribution of senior citizens to

nation-building, and to grant benefits and privileges to them for their improvement and well-

being as the State considers them an integral part of our society. As a form of reimbursement,

the law provides that business establishments extending the twenty percent discount to senior

citizens may claim the discount as a tax deduction.

Accordingly, it has been described as the most essential, insistent and the least limitable of

powers, extending as it does to all the great public needs. It is the power vested in the

legislature by the constitution to make, ordain, and establish all manner of wholesome and

reasonable laws, statutes, and ordinances, either with penalties or without, not repugnant

to the constitution, as they shall judge to be for the good and welfare of the commonwealth,

and of the subjects of the same.

For this reason, when the conditions so demand as determined by the legislature, property

rights must bow to the primacy of police power because property rights, though sheltered by

due process, must yield to general welfare.