Case Digest (G.R. No. 94115)
Facts:
Rodolfo E. Aguinaldo, G.R. No. 94115, August 21, 1992, Supreme Court En Banc, Nocon, J., writing for the Court — petitioner — filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition with preliminary mandatory injunction and/or restraining order assailing a March 19, 1990 decision of the Secretary of the Department of Local Government (respondent Secretary) in Adm. Case No. P-10437-89 dismissing him as Governor of Cagayan on the ground that the Secretary’s power to remove local officials under B.P. Blg. 337 had been repealed by the 1987 Constitution.Petitioner had been elected Governor on January 17, 1988 and took his oath around March 1988. After the December 1989 coup attempt was suppressed, the Secretary sent petitioner a telegram and letter dated December 4, 1989 requiring him to show cause within forty-eight hours why he should not be suspended or removed for disloyalty to the Republic. On December 7, 1989 mayors Veronico Agatep, Manuel Mamba and Orlino Agatep filed a sworn complaint charging petitioner with disloyalty and culpable violation of the Constitution; petitioner was required to file a verified answer.
Petitioner’s reply, a letter dated December 29, 1989 and received by the Department on January 5, 1990, denied active participation in the coup but admitted sympathy for the rebels’ cause. The Secretary treated that reply as petitioner’s answer and suspended him for sixty days pending investigation. At the administrative hearing complainants presented testimonial and documentary evidence; petitioner presented no evidence and did not cross-examine witnesses but moved for the Secretary’s inhibition, which was denied. The Secretary found petitioner guilty and removed him; Melvin Vargas, then Vice-Governor, was installed as Acting Governor.
Petitioner advanced three principal grounds for relief: (1) that the Secretary’s removal power under Sec. 60, Ch. IV, B.P. Blg. 337 was repealed by the 1987 Constitution; (2) that, lacking that power, the Secretary could not validly install Vargas as Governor; and (3) that charges involving disloyalty (akin to rebellion under the Revised Penal Code) required proof beyond reasonable doubt, not merely a preponderance or substantial evidence.
While this petition was pending, petitioner ran for reelection as Governor in the May 11, 1992 polls. Three separate petitions for his disqualification, premised on the Secretary’s March 19, 1990 resolution, prompted a May 9, 1992 resolution of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) disqualifying him. Petitioner sought relief in this Court by certiorari in G.R. Nos. 105128-30 (Rodolfo E. Aguinaldo v. Comelec, et al.). This Court issued a temporary restraining order on May 14, 1992 enjoining COMELEC from enforcing its May 9 resolution pending resolution of the disqualification case, and on June 9, 1992 granted the petition and annulled COMELEC’s May...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Is the controversy moot or academic by reason of petitioner’s reelection and proclamation as Governor?
- Was the Secretary’s power to suspend or remove elective local officials under B.P. Blg. 337 repealed by the 1987 Constitution?
- If the Secretary validly removed petitioner, could the Secretary validly install the Vice-Governor as Governor under B.P. Blg. 337?
- Does an administrative proceeding to remove an elective local official for disloyalty require proof beyond reasonable doubt because the conduct is...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
- (Pro-only)
Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)