People vs Que Po Lay (94 Phil 640)

People vs Que Po Lay (94 Phil 640)Facts : Appellant, Que Po Lay, was in possession of foreign exchange consisting of U.S. dollar checks and U.S. money orders amounting to about $7,000 failed to sell the same to the Central Bank through its agents within one day following the receipt of such foreign exchange as required by Circular No. 20. The circular was issued in the year 1949 and was not published until November 1951. Que Po Lay, was charged by the Court of First Instance of Manila to suffer six months imprisonment, to pay a fine of P1,000 with subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency, and to pay the costs.Issue : Whether or not circular no. 20 effective when Que Po Lay was convicted three months before circular 20 was published?

Held : The publication of circular no. 20 should be published before coming to effective which Que Po Lay violated before its publication. The public must be informed of said contents and its penalties before the force and effect to take place. Hence violation of Que Po Lay in the said circular no. is null or void.