business and will be prosecuted as principal if, with knowledge of the business, its
purpose and effect, he consciously contributes his efforts to its conduct and
promotion, however slight his contribution may be. …
[28]
By its rulings, the Court thereby affirmed the validity of the assailed penal and
procedural provisions of Rep. Act No. 8042, including the imposable penalties
therefor. Until the Court, by final judgment, declares that the said provisions are
unconstitutional, the enforcement of the said provisions cannot be enjoined.
The RTC Committed Grave Abuse
of Its Discretion Amounting to
Excess or Lack of Jurisdiction in
Issuing the Assailed Order and the
Writ of Preliminary Injunction
The matter of whether to issue a writ of preliminary injunction or not is addressed to
the sound discretion of the trial court. However, if the court commits grave abuse of its
discretion in issuing the said writ amounting to excess or lack of jurisdiction, the same
may be nullified via a writ of certiorari and prohibition.
In Social Security Commission v. Judge Bayona,[29] we ruled that a law is presumed
constitutional until otherwise declared by judicial interpretation. The suspension of the
operation of the law is a matter of extreme delicacy because it is an interference with
the official acts not only of the duly elected representatives of the people but also of the
highest magistrate of the land.
In Younger v. Harris, Jr.,[30] the Supreme Court of the United States emphasized,
thus:
Federal injunctions against state criminal statutes, either in their entirety or with
respect to their separate and distinct prohibitions, are not to be granted as a matter of
course, even if such statutes are unconstitutional. No citizen or member of the
community is immune from prosecution, in good faith, for his alleged criminal
acts. The imminence of such a prosecution even though alleged to be unauthorized
and, hence, unlawful is not alone ground for relief in equity which exerts its
extraordinary powers only to prevent irreparable injury to the plaintiff who seeks its
aid. 752 Beal v. Missouri Pacific Railroad Corp., 312 U.S. 45, 49, 61 S.Ct. 418, 420,
85 L.Ed. 577.
And similarly, in Douglas, supra, we made clear, after reaffirming this rule, that:
“It does not appear from the record that petitioners have been threatened with any
injury other than that incidental to every criminal proceeding brought lawfully and in
good faith …” 319 U.S., at 164, 63 S.Ct., at 881.
[31]
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