Case Digest (G.R. No. L-29684)
Facts:
Araceli Malag v. Ramon de los Cientos, G.R. No. L-29684, March 28, 1969, Supreme Court En Banc, Reyes, J., writing for the Court. Petitioner Araceli Malag was the duly elected mayor of Magsaysay, Davao. In early June 1968, barrio captain Delfin Gilledo filed sworn charges of serious misconduct against Mayor Malag with the Provincial Board of Davao. Respondent Ramon de los Cientos, acting in his capacity as Provincial Governor, required Mayor Malag to answer the charges and on July 3, 1968 issued an order of preventive suspension; he directed respondent Vice‑Mayor Wilfredo Coong to assume the mayoral functions.Mayor Malag refused to yield the office and filed a petition for prohibition with the Court of First Instance of Davao, where she obtained a writ of preliminary injunction restraining enforcement of the governor’s suspension. After hearing, however, the trial court concluded the suspension was valid; on September 10, 1968 the Court of First Instance granted the governor’s motion to dismiss and dissolved the injunction. Mayor Malag sought relief from the Supreme Court by appealing the CFI’s decision.
The Supreme Court noted that on January 31, 1969 it had decided Sarcos v. Governor Castillo, L‑29755, holding that, by virtue of the Decentralization Act of 1967 (Republic Act No. 5185), the power of preventive suspension of municipal officials was removed from the Provincial Governor and lodged in the Provincial Board. Applying that ruling here, the Court found the governor’s preventive suspension order invalid. Respondents urged mootness, claiming a Provinc...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Is the controversy moot because the Provincial Board had found Mayor Malag guilty of the charges?
- Did the Provincial Governor have authority to issue a preventive suspension of the municipal mayor after the effectivity of the Decentralization Act (Repub...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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