“What sets a nuisance per se apart from one per accidens is its characteristic of being a direct menace to public health or safety”
(Part 1)
“Nuisance has been considered to be ‘so comprehensive that it has been applied to almost all ways which have interfered with the rights of the citizens, either in person, property, the enjoyment of his property, or his comfort.’ A nuisance may either be public or private” (Spouses Pablo Calimlim, et al. v. Efren G. Goño and Rafaelita R. Goño, G.R. 272053, Jan. 14, 2025).
“A public nuisance ‘affects a community or neighborhood or any considerable number of persons, although the extent of the annoyance, danger or damage upon individuals may be unequal.’ [It is also] public when it interferes with the exercise of public right by directly encroaching on public property or by causing a common injury” (Op. cit.).
Simply said, “[i]t is an unreasonable interference with the right common to the general public. Outside such definition, the nuisance is considered a private nuisance which ‘violates only private rights and produces damages to but one or a few persons’” (Op. cit.).
Nuisance may further be classified, in relation to remedies available against it, as follows: “(a) a nuisance per se, when it affects the immediate safety of persons and property, which may be summarily abated under the undefined law of necessity; or, (b) a nuisance per accidens, which… may not be summarily abated without judicial intervention” (Op. cit.).
In the case of Spouses Pablo Calimlim, et al. v. Efren G. Goño and Rafaelita R. Goño, spouses Goño filed a complaint for abatement of nuisance, easement, and injunction against spouses Calimlim.
The former are the owners and operators of Villa Alexandra Beach Resort and Restaurant (Villa Alexandra) situated in Lian, Batangas.
“On the other hand, spouses Calimlim operated informal structures and rest houses along the shore of Matabungkay Beach [with] video machines, videoke sets, and billiard tables [together] with assortment of sari-sari stores and carinderias [serving] tourists.”
Due to said activities, spouses Goño, claimed discomfort and inconvenience to their resort and restaurant guests causing the latter not to return to Villa Alexandra or to transfer to another establishment.
According to spouses Goño, “the structures constructed by spouses Calimlim obstructed the view of Villa Alexandra on the shore of Matabungkay Beach. These structures stood on a piece of land declared as a tourist zone and maritime reserve of the sea under Proclamation No. 1801 dated November 10, 1978” (Op. cit.).
“Spouses Goño learned that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) denied spouses Calimlim’s application for a foreshore lease.
“Further, the former discovered that “spouses Calimlim did not secure the necessary permits, e.g., building permit, business permit, sanitary permit, and mayor’s permit, from the proper authorities for their business; nor did [they] issue the corresponding official receipts or pay taxes on their business.”
“Spouses Calimlim ‘s operations [also] produced excessive noise, offensive odor, and made the water coming from their toilets seep into the ground and in the open dining area of Villa Alexandra.
“Spouses Calimlim also failed to dispose of human excrement in a sanitary manner but in a way that is nauseating and repulsive to the guests of Villa Alexandra.”
“In Municipality of Binan, Laguna v. Holiday Hills Stock & Breeding Farm Corp., the [Supreme] Court agreed that the large hog farm located near residential subdivisions was a public nuisance and nuisance per se that may be abated by the local government.”
“What sets a nuisance per se apart from one per accidens is its characteristic of being a direct menace to public health or safety” (cited in Op. cit.).
“Our own jurisprudence,… guides us with examples of nuisances per se: houses constructed on public streets without governmental authority, waterways or esteros that obstruct the free use by the public of the said streets, or a barbershop occupying a portion of the sidewalk of the poblacion ‘s main thoroughfare” (Op. cit.).
