Title
Montejo vs. Commission on Elections
Case
G.R. No. 118702
Decision Date
Mar 16, 1995
Petitioner challenged COMELEC's redistricting resolution, arguing it violated equality of representation. SC ruled COMELEC exceeded authority; redistricting is Congress's sole prerogative.

Case Summary (G.R. No. 195956)

Legislative Districts of Leyte Prior to Resolution No. 2736

Leyte province, including Tacloban and Ormoc cities, was divided into five legislative districts. The First District included Tacloban and seven municipalities including Tolosa; the Second District comprised thirteen municipalities; the Third District covered a wider area including eight municipalities that later became Biliran sub-province; the Fourth District included Ormoc City and its adjacent municipalities; and the Fifth district had nine municipalities.

Conversion of Biliran from Sub-Province to Regular Province

Biliran, originally a sub-province created by Republic Act No. 2141 (1959), was converted into a regular province pursuant to Section 462 of the Local Government Code, effective January 1, 1992. The conversion was ratified by plebiscite on May 11, 1992. As a result, eight municipalities that composed the Third District became part of the new province of Biliran, reducing the Third District of Leyte to five municipalities and thereby creating population imbalance across the districts.

COMELEC’s Resolution No. 2736 and Redistricting Actions

To address the imbalance caused by Biliran’s conversion, COMELEC held consultations and subsequently issued Resolution No. 2736 on December 29, 1994. This resolution transferred the municipality of Capoocan from the Second District and Palompon from the Fourth District to the Third District. The First and Fifth District compositions, including the inclusion of Tolosa in the First District, remained unchanged. These transfers aimed to equalize population distribution, but petitioner challenged this adjustment, asserting violation of the principle of equal representation.

Petitioner’s Motion and COMELEC’s Response

Montejo filed a motion for reconsideration, highlighting voter population disparities between the First and Second Districts and urging the transfer of Tolosa municipality from the First to the Second District to minimize voter inequality. Intervenor Apostol opposed this, and COMELEC denied the motion, defending that its resolution caused the least disruption and complied with constitutional requirements on contiguous, compact, and adjacent territories.

Constitutional Basis and Power to Redistrict

The critical legal inquiry involved the constitutional authority of COMELEC to effectuate redistricting by transferring municipalities between legislative districts. The 1987 Philippine Constitution, specifically the Ordinance appended to it, empowered COMELEC only to make “minor adjustments” to reapportionment initially established. The Constitutional Commission extensively debated this issue, ultimately assigning to Congress the primary power to reapportion districts, with COMELEC’s role limited to minor corrections such as adding omitted municipalities but not transferring municipalities across districts.

Debates of the 1986 Constitutional Commission on Apportionment Power

During the Constitutional Commission deliberations, various proposals were considered regarding who should exercise the power to apportion legislative districts. While some suggested COMELEC should have this power, the majority favored the Commission itself or Congress undertaking reapportionment to avoid partisan gerrymandering. The Commission voted overwhelmingly that reapportionment is to be done by Congress within three years after census returns. The Ordinance appended to the Constitution thus gave COMELEC only the power for minor adjustments, excluding any substantial redistricting involving transferring municipalities between districts.

Distinction Between Minor Adjustments and Substantive Changes

“Minor adjustments” as defined and discussed during the Commission's sessions refer to limited corrections, such as including a previously omitted municipality within its proper district or correcting a municipality’s name. Substantive changes, such as transferring a municipality from one district to another or changing the number of seats apportioned per district, were expressly excluded from COMELEC’s authority. Section 3 of the Ordinance allowed COMELEC only to adjust the number of members allotted to a province upon its creation or population increase, not to reallocate municipalities themselves.

Unauthorized Exercise of Legislative Power by COMELEC

The Court found that by transferring Capoocan and Palompon municipalities to the Third District, COMELEC overstepped its constitutional authority, committing grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction. Such actions constituted an exercise of legislative power—a power constitutionally vested only in Congress—and were therefore void.

Remedy and Separation of Powers

Although the resultant imbalance following Biliran’s provincial conversion could raise constitutional concerns regarding voter equality, the Court emphasized that redistricting is a legislative function. Petitioner’s appropriate recourse is with Congress, which the Constitution specifically charges with reapportionment every three years following the census. The Court itself may strike down unconstitutional reapportionments but has no power to perform reapportionment or mandate COMELEC to adjust districts beyond its constitutionally permitted s

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