PEOPLE v.

QUE PO LAY
G.R. No. L-6791/December 24,1965

SUMMARY.Que Po Lay was convicted of failure to sell foreign currency as required by Central Bank Circular No. 20. Upon
appeal, QPL raised the fact that the CBC No. 20, a circular that provided penal provisions, was not published at the time he
allegedly violated it. SC acquitted him for failure of such circular with a penal provision to be published.

DOCTRINE.

Publication and Effectivity: statutes passed by Congress or laws in general take effect 15 days after their publication in the
Official Gazette, absent a stipulation to the contrary.

Penal Regulations: Before the public is bound by its contents, especially its penal provisions, a law, regulation or circular
must first be published and the people officially and specifically informed of said contents and its penalties.

FACTS.
 Que Po Lay (QPL) was convicted of failure to sell US dollars, US checks and US money orders amounting to $7,000
to Central Bank’s agents, violating Central Bank Circular No. 20 (CBC No. 20; which was issued in 1949, but
published on November 1951) in connection with section 34 of RA 265 1 (An Act Establishing the Central Bank of the
Philippines and Defining its Powers).
 QPL was sentenced
a. 6 months of imprisonment;
b. P1,000 fine with subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency;
c. Pay the costs.
 Now, he is appealing to SC.

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ISSUE with HOLDING

1. WON CBC No. 20 needed to be published to be binding and effective, pursuant to CA No. 638 and 2930 – NO.

Petitioner: CBC No. 20 was not published in the Official Gazette, which was required by Commonwealth Act No. 638
and Act 2930, before he committed the act. Therefore, CBC No. 20 had no force and effect since it is an order or notice
of general applicability.

Respondent represented through the OSG: CA No. 638 and 2930 didn’t require such publication for the
implementation of a law to have force and effect.

1
 SC: All that CA No. 638 and 2930 provided was to enumerate and make a list of what should be published in the
Official Gazette in order to provide guidance for the branches of the government and of the Bureau of Printing.
However, several legislations, such as section 11 of the Revised Administrative Code and Article 2 of the NCC, require
statutes passed by Congress or laws in general take effect 15 days after their publication in the Official Gazette, absent
a stipulation to the contrary.

Given that CBC No. 20 was not a statute passed by Congress or a law, it should have the force and effect of law, but
since CBC No. 20 prescribes a penalty for its violation, it should be published before becoming effective. This is
because the public should be officially and specifically informed of the contents and penalties of a law, regulation, or
circular by publishing it. CBC No. 20 was issued in 1949, but it was published only on November 1951, 3 months after
the conviction of QPL’s violation. Based on these, QPL cannot be held liable for CBC No. 20’s violation because it was
not binding at the time he allegedly violated it.

2. WON questioning of the non-publication of the Circular for the first time on appeal is proper – YES, in this
case.

OSG: Petitioner cannot bring up the issue on non-publication of the CBC No. 20 for the first time on appeal to SC.

SC: The general rule is that one may raise on appeal any question of law or fact that has been raised in the court below
and which is within the issues made by the parties in their pleadings. However, the question of non-publication is
fundamental because it goes into the jurisdiction of the trial court who tries a case wherein there was no violation to
speak of if the circular is found to be violated. Jurisdiction may be raised at any stage of the proceeding regardless if it
was raised in the court below or not.

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DECISION.
Reverse the decision appealed from; acquit the appellant.

Proceedings upon violation of laws and regulations.— Whenever any person or entity willfully violates this Act or any
order, instruction, rule or regulation legally issued by the Monetary Board, the person or persons responsible for such
violation shall be punished by a fine of not more than twenty thousand pesos and by imprisonment of not more than five
years.

Whenever a banking institution persists in violating its charter or by-laws or any law, or orders, instructions, rules or
regulations legally issued by the Monetary Board, or whenever a banking institution persists in carrying on its business in
an unlawful or unsafe manner, the Board shall, by the Solicitor General, and without prejudice to the penalties provided in
the preceding paragraph of this section, file a petition in the Court of First Instance praying the assistance of the court to
compel the banking institution to discontinue the violations or practices objected to in the petition of the Board. The
Monetary Board may, with the approval of the court, take such action as the court may deem necessary compel the
banking institution complained against to discontinue the violations or practices set forth in the Boards petition, and, if
necessary, the Board may, under order of the court, direct the Superintendent of Banks to liquidate the business of the
institution.