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In the 1980s, the City of Manila passed an ordinance prohibiting barbershops from offering massage services if the massage services shall be done in an adjacent/separate room. Tomas Velasco and other barbershop operators questioned the constitutionality of the ordinance.
ISSUE: Whether or not the ordinance is a valid exercise of police power by a local government unit?
HELD: Yes. Firstly, the remedy (declaratory relief) availed of by Velasco et al. was improper.
Secondly, the ordinance is a valid exercise of police power. In enacting the measure, the City of Manila was (1) seeking to regulate barbershops and (2) to forestall possible immorality which might grow out of the construction of separate rooms for massage of customers. The ordinance is in keeping with the General Welfare Clause.
Local governments are in a better position to assess what is best for their constituents. This is the significance of the general welfare clause which delegates in statutory form the police power to a municipality.
