CASE DIGEST: Gonzaga v. De David L-14858, Dec. 29, 1960

CASE DIGEST: MARIANO S. GONZAGA, petitioner and appellee, v. AUGUSTO CE DAVID, as Registrar of the Motor Vehicles Office of Cagayan, respondent and Appellant. [G.R. No. L-14858. December 29, 1960.]

FACTS: August 31 was the usual last day for payment of registration fees but it was declared a special public holiday by Presidential Proclamation. Now then under the law, the last day for said payment was the last working day in August (ordinarily August 31) but because of the holiday, the last working day in August for the Motor Vehicles Office was on August 30.

ISSUE: May the fees still be paid without penalty on Sep. 1?

HELD: Yes. Since August 31 was declared a holiday, payment could still be made on the next day, under Sec. 31 of the Revised Adm. Code. The “last working day in August’’ for the general public in paying fees is NOT necessarily the same as the “last working day in August’’ for employees in the Motor Vehicles Office.

MOTOR VEHICLE LAW; PAYMENT OF REGISTRATION FEES; MEANING OF TERM "LAST WORKING DAY" WHERE PAYMENT IS MADE BY POSTAL MONEY ORDER. — The last working day of August contemplated in section 8(1) of the Revised Motor Vehicle Law (Act 3992), as amended, until which payment of the second installment for registration fees may be made, should not necessarily mean the last working day for the Motor Vehicles Office. Under section 6(b) of the Act, providing for payment of the fees by mail, the date of cancellation of the postal stamps of the envelope containing the remittance is considered the date of application. Consequently, where the manner of payment falls under the said section, the law, in recognizing the date of cancellation as the date of application, impliedly permits remittances or payments within the last day of August that the Post Office may still effect cancellation, regardless of whether or not the Motor Vehicles Office, pursuant to Republic Act No. 1880, has office on the said last day.