Case Digest (G.R. No. 180050)
Facts:
Rodolfo G. Navarro, Victor F. Bernal, and Rene O. Medina v. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, et al., G.R. No. 180050, May 12, 2010, the Supreme Court En Banc, Peralta, J., writing for the Court.Petitioners challenged the constitutionality of Republic Act No. 9355 (An Act Creating the Province of Dinagat Islands). RA 9355 was enacted on October 2, 2006, following congressional approval in August 2006 and a plebiscite held on December 3, 2006; provincial officials were appointed and later elected in 2007. The statute created a province composed of several islands whose aggregate land area RA 9355 states to be approximately 802.12 square kilometers. The Bureau of Local Government Finance certified the average annual income requirement was met; respondents relied on a local special census (2003) that purportedly showed a population above 250,000, and on the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Local Government Code, Article 9(2), to dispense with the land area requirement for island provinces.
Petitioners initially filed a certiorari/prohibition petition (G.R. No. 175158) which was dismissed on technical grounds; they later filed the petition that led to the Court’s February 10, 2010 Decision declaring RA 9355 unconstitutional for failure to comply with Section 461 of the Local Government Code (R.A. No. 7160). The Court held that the NSO-certified population as of the relevant census was below 250,000 and that the statute itself acknowledged an area of only 802.12 sq. km., short of the 2,000-sq.-km. requirement; further, the Court found the IRR provision stating that “the land area requirement shall not apply where the proposed province is composed of one (1) or more islands” to be null and void for conflicting with Section 461.
Two motions for reconsideration were filed: one by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) on behalf of public respondents, and one by Governor Geraldine Ecleo Villaroman (representing Dinagat Islands). They argued (1) RA 9355 complied with the Local Government Code and the IRR merely interpreted Section 461; (2) the creation of LGUs is a legislative power that carries a presumption of validity; and (3) the operative-fact doctrine and precedents such as League of Cities of the Philippines v. COMELEC should sustain the province because a fait accompli exists. The Court resolved the motions by denying them in a May 12, 2010 Resolution, reiterating that Section 461’s contiguity and land ...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Should the Motions for Reconsideration of the Court’s February 10, 2010 Decision be granted?
- Did R.A. No. 9355 comply with the population requirement of Section 461 of the Local Government Code as certified by the National Statistics Office (NSO)?
- Did R.A. No. 9355 comply with the territorial (land area) requirement of Section 461 of the Local Government Code?
- Is the exemption in Article 9(2) of the IRR—that “the land area requirement shall not apply where the proposed province is composed of one (1) or more islands”—a valid interpretation consistent with Section 461?
- Does the operative-fact doctrine or the presumption of constitutionality bar judicial invalidation of R...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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