Aboitiz Shipping V. City of Cebu, G.R. NO.

14526, March 21, 1965

FACTS: Ordinance No. 207 was passed by the Municipal Board of Cebu, requiring the shipping concerns
whose vessels dock at the public wharves of piers located in said city but owned by the National
Government to pay for wharfage. Aboitiz Shipping Corporation paid the wharfage charges under protest. The
petitioner questioned the validity of the said ordinance contending that the said ordinance could not have
been enacted because the right to collect wharfage in question belongs to the National Government.
Respondent on the other hand cited Sec 17 (w) of the Charter of Cebu which gives the Municipal Board the
power xxx To fix the charges to be paid by all watercrafts landing at or using public wharves, docks, levees,
or landing places. They further contest that the legislature made no distinction between those owned by the
National Government and those owned by the City of Cebu. Hence, this petition.
ISSUE: Whether or not under its charter, the City of Cebu may provide by ordinance for the collection of
wharfage from shipping concerns whose vessels dock at the public wharves of piers located in said city but
owned by the National Government.
HELD: The City of Cebu may not provide by ordinance for the collection of wharfage from shipping concerns
whose vessels dock at the public wharves of piers located in said city but owned by the National
Government because Sec 17 (w) of the Charter of Cebu as cited by the respondent in consonance with its
preceding section, would refer only to those public wharves or landing places owned by the City of Cebu and
not to those owned by the National Government under the exclusive supervision of the Bureau of Customs,
according to section 1142 of the Revised Administrative Code. Legislative intent must be ascertained from a
consideration of the statute as a whole and not of an isolated part or a particular provision alone. This is a
cardinal rule of statutory construction.