Case Digest (G.R. No. 73155)
Facts:
Patricio Tan et al. v. The Commission on Elections and the Provincial Treasurer of Negros Occidental, G.R. No. 73155, July 11, 1986, the Supreme Court En Banc, Alampay, J., writing for the Court. Petitioners (residents of Negros Occidental) sought a writ of prohibition to stop respondents the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and the Provincial Treasurer of Negros Occidental from conducting a plebiscite mandated by Batas Pambansa Blg. 885 (the Act creating the Province of Negros del Norte), approved December 3, 1985 and scheduling the plebiscite for January 3, 1986.The challenged statute separated three cities and eight municipalities from Negros Occidental to form Negros del Norte, appointed Cadiz as the seat, and provided that the plebiscite “shall be conducted in the proposed new province which are the areas affected.” Petitioners alleged that the statute contravened Article XI, Section 3 of the Constitution (requiring plebiscite “in the unit or units affected”) and failed to satisfy the requisites in Section 197 of the Local Government Code (minimum territory, population and income for creation of a province).
Because the Court was in holiday recess, petitioners filed a supplemental pleading after the plebiscite (held January 3, 1986) seeking a writ prohibiting COMELEC from proclaiming results and a writ of mandamus requiring a new plebiscite involving all voters of the entire Province of Negros Occidental; they also sought to enjoin release of local funds. Former Senator Ambrosio Padilla was allowed to appear as amicus curiae. The Court required respondents’ comment; on January 14, 1986 the Office of the Solicitor General filed a Comment defending the statute’s validity, invoking precedent (notably Governor Zosimo Paredes v. Executive Secretary, G.R. No. 55628, March 2, 1984) and asserting that the plebiscite results (164,734 yes; 30,400 no) produced a fait accompli by proclamation and appointments to the new province.
The parties agreed that the Provincial Treasurer had not disbursed funds for the plebiscite and that Parliamentary Bill No. 3644 (the draft) specified an area of 285,656 hectares (approx. 2,856.56 sq. km), whereas the enacted Batas Pambansa Blg. 885 declared the new province’s territory as 4,019.95 sq. km. Petitioners produced a Provincial Treasurer certification totaling component land areas that, when aggregated and adjusted for Don Salvador Benedicto and portions taken from M...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Is the petition rendered moot and academic by the holding of the plebiscite and proclamation of Negros del Norte?
- Did Batas Pambansa Blg. 885 violate Article XI, Section 3 of the Constitution by limiting the plebiscite to the territory of the proposed new province rather than to the “unit or units affected”?
- Did the proposed Province of Negros del Norte satisfy the territorial requirement of Section 197 of the Local Government Code (minimum of 3,500 square kilometers)?
- If the plebiscite was void, should the Court compel COMELEC to hold a new plebiscite including all qua...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
- (Pro-only)
Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)