The defendant, Juanito Solon, was convicted and fined for having violated Cebu City Ordinance No. 241 which required drivers of vehicle-drawing animals to properly dispose of the waste discharged by the animals while travelling on roads. He challenged this conviction arguing that the Ordinance was invalid, because it violated the constitutional prohibition against discriminatory legislation seeing as it only applied to owners of vehicle-drawing animals rather than to all owners of animals.

The Supreme Court held that limited application of a statute did not necessarily violate the constitutional guarantee of equal protection, if the limitation was based on reasonable rather than arbitrary criteria. Ordinance No. 241 served the purpose of promoting the health and well-being of residents by eliminating animal waste in public spaces and the number of vehicle-drawing animals was significantly higher than other animals so that they posed a greater health concern. Therefore, the Ordinance’s limitation was based on reasonable criteria and was thus held not to violate the equal protection clause of the Constitution.