Title
Bagabuyo vs. Commission on Elections
Case
G.R. No. 176970
Decision Date
Dec 8, 2008
Congressman Jaraula filed a bill to split Cagayan de Oro into two legislative districts, enacted as R.A. No. 9371. Petitioner Bagabuyo challenged its constitutionality, arguing a plebiscite was required. The Supreme Court ruled no plebiscite was needed, as it was legislative reapportionment, not a division of local government, and dismissed the petition.
nullify
legislative district
plebiscite
A

Case Summary (G.R. No. 176970)

Factual Background

On October 10, 2006, Congressman Constantino G. Jaraula filed House Bill No. 5859 to apportion the lone legislative district of Cagayan de Oro City into two districts; that legislation later became R.A. No. 9371. Section 1 of R.A. No. 9371 specified the barangays comprising the first and second legislative districts and stated that the apportionment would commence in the next national elections after the Act’s effectivity. The COMELEC en banc promulgated Resolution No. 7837 on March 13, 2007 to implement R.A. No. 9371. Petitioner filed a petition for certiorari, prohibition, and mandamus under Rule 65 challenging the implementation of R.A. No. 9371 and COMELEC Resolution No. 7837 on constitutional grounds.

Petition and Reliefs Sought

The petitioner prayed for nullification of R.A. No. 9371 and COMELEC Resolution No. 7837 on the ground that the law effecting apportionment converted and divided Cagayan de Oro City as a local government unit without a plebiscite as required by the Constitution. He sought writs of certiorari, prohibition and mandamus, and sought injunctive relief to prevent the COMELEC from implementing the resolution and to revert to COMELEC Resolution No. 7801, which provided for a single legislative district.

Respondent’s Position

The COMELEC, through the Office of the Solicitor General, argued that the petition improperly bypassed the hierarchy of courts but acknowledged that original jurisdiction lies in the Supreme Court for certain petitions. COMELEC maintained that R.A. No. 9371 merely increased representation pursuant to Article VI, Section 5 of the 1987 Constitution and that the plebiscite requirement of Article X, Section 10 applies only to the creation, division, merger, abolition, or substantial alteration of boundaries of a local government unit, none of which occurred. COMELEC also argued that R.A. No. 9371 did not change Cagayan de Oro City’s territory, population, or income classification and thus did not trigger the plebiscite requirement.

Petitioner’s Reply

The petitioner argued that the Supreme Court could properly exercise original jurisdiction under the Court’s precedents when compelling reasons exist, such as when statutes of national import are assailed. He contended that R.A. No. 9371 effected a division or conversion of the City as a local government unit and therefore required compliance with Article X, Section 10 including a plebiscite. He asserted that the law materially altered political and economic rights of residents by restricting voters to their respective districts and that public funds were disbursed without prior approval by the sovereign electorate.

Issues Presented

The Court framed the issues as: (1) whether the petitioner violated the principle of hierarchy of courts such that the petition should be dismissed; (2) whether R.A. No. 9371 is merely a legislative reapportionment or whether it involves the division and conversion of a local government unit; and (3) whether R.A. No. 9371 violates the constitutional doctrine of equality of representation.

The Hierarchy of Courts Principle

The Court acknowledged that original jurisdiction over petitions for certiorari, prohibition, mandamus, quo warranto and habeas corpus is vested in the Supreme Court but is shared with the Court of Appeals and the regional trial courts. It reiterated the principle that recourse should ordinarily be made first to the lower courts exercising concurrent jurisdiction. The Court explained that exceptions exist when special and important reasons are shown, and that challenges to the validity of statutes enacted by the national legislature and actions against the COMELEC en banc are among the matters meriting direct review. Because the petition sought to annul a legislative enactment and to review a COMELEC en banc resolution, the Court declined to dismiss the petition on hierarchy grounds and exercised its original jurisdiction.

Distinction Between Apportionment and Division of Local Government Units

The Court explained that legislative apportionment and reapportionment concern the allocation of representation among legislative districts and are aimed at equalizing population and voting power among districts pursuant to Article VI, Section 5. By contrast, the creation, division, merger, abolition, or substantial alteration of boundaries of local government units relates to their corporate existence and territorial coverage and is governed by Article X, Section 10 with implementing standards in the Local Government Code. The Court emphasized that a legislative district is a representative unit without corporate personality, whereas a local government unit is a political and corporate entity with a chief executive and sanggunian, and that the latter’s modification triggers the plebiscite requirement.

Historical and Doctrinal Analysis of the Plebiscite Requirement

The Court traced the historical development of legislative apportionment in the Philippines and noted that, historically, no plebiscite was required for apportionment or reapportionment. It observed that the plebiscite requirement was constitutionally entrenched in 1973 for actions affecting local government units and that jurisprudence has consistently associated plebiscites with creations, divisions, conversions, mergers and boundary alterations of municipal corporations, cities, provinces and barangays, not with legislative districting. The Court therefore reaffirmed the doctrinal distinction that apportionment under Article VI, Section 5 does not require a plebiscite, while actions covered by Article X, Section 10 do.

Application to R.A. No. 9371 and COMELEC Resolution No. 7837

The Court examined the operative language of R.A. No. 9371, particularly Section 1, and concluded that the statute simply apportioned the lone legislative district of Cagayan de Oro into two districts to commence in the next national elections after the Act’s effectivity. The Court found that R.A. No. 9371 did not divide Cagayan de Oro City as a political and corporate entity, did not alter its territorial integrity, and did not mandate a separate corporate existence or administration for any territorial subdivision. The COMELEC resolution implemented the congressional apportionment and provided for additional Sangguniang Panglungsod seats in reliance on previously enacted law, specifically R.A. No. 6636, but the Court held that the resulting increase in local legislative representation did not convert the City into two corporate units.

Equality of Representation Challenge

The petitioner asserted that the apportionment produced unequal districts because one district had fewer registered voters and was largely rural while the other was largely urban. The Court clarified that the basis for apportionment under Article VI, Section 5 is the number of inhabitants, not the number of registered voters, citing its earlier decision in Herrera v. COMELEC. The Court took judicial notice of the August 2007 census figures showing population disparities between the two districts but reiterated that the Constitution does not demand mathematical exactitude. The constitutional stan

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