G.R. No. 177597 - Sema vs. Commission on Elections

Case Summary (G.R. No. 177597)

Factual Background

The Ordinance appended to the 1987 Constitution originally placed Cotabato City within the first legislative district of the Province of Maguindanao, but Cotabato City did not join the ARMM after the 1989 plebiscite and remained in Region XII. On 28 August 2006 the ARMM Regional Assembly enacted MMA Act 201 creating the Province of Shariff Kabunsuan from eight municipalities of Maguindanao’s first district; three additional municipalities were later formed, bringing the total to eleven. The newly created province was ratified in a plebiscite on 29 October 2006. MMA Act 201 contained a proviso that “except as may be provided by national law, the existing legislative district, which includes Cotabato as a part thereof, shall remain.”

COMELEC Action and Local Responses

Cotabato City’s Sangguniang Panlungsod requested clarification from the COMELEC on 6 February 2007. The COMELEC’s Law Department recommended maintaining the status quo pending a national law, and COMELEC adopted that view in Resolution No. 07-0407 dated 6 March 2007. Separately, COMELEC promulgated Minute Resolution No. 7845 on 29 March 2007 stating that Maguindanao’s first legislative district was composed only of Cotabato City due to MMA Act 201. On 10 May 2007 the COMELEC issued Resolution No. 7902 amending its earlier minute to designate the district as “Shariff Kabunsuan Province with Cotabato City (formerly First District of Maguindanao with Cotabato City).”

Procedural History

In G.R. No. 177597 petitioner Sema, a candidate for representative of the district so designated, sought certiorari, prohibition, and mandamus to annul COMELEC Resolution No. 7902 and to exclude Cotabato City votes from canvassing. In G.R. No. 178628 petitioner Marquez sought declaratory relief and writs compelling COMELEC to hold a special election. The COMELEC, through the Office of the Solicitor General, defended Resolution No. 7902 as a temporary measure pending congressional action but also initially questioned the proper remedy. The cases were consolidated by the Court, the parties briefed, and oral argument was heard on 27 November 2007. The Court required memoranda on the constitutionality of Section 19, Article VI of RA 9054 and whether a province created by the ARMM Regional Assembly is entitled to representation in the House of Representatives without a national law.

Issues Presented

The consolidated petitions raised preliminary questions whether the writs of certiorari, prohibition, and mandamus were proper remedies and whether Dilangalen’s proclamation mooted the petitions. On the merits the principal issues were whether Section 19, Article VI of RA 9054 validly delegated to the ARMM Regional Assembly the power to create provinces and cities, and if so whether a province created under that provision is entitled ipso facto to a congressional representative without enactment of a national law. The petitions also directly challenged the validity of COMELEC Resolution No. 7902 maintaining the status quo for the first legislative district of Maguindanao.

Parties’ Contentions

Petitioner Sema argued that a province created under the Constitution is entitled to a representative by operation of Section 5, Article VI and the Ordinance appended to the Constitution and that COMELEC had no authority to treat Cotabato City as part of the same district or to reconfigure the district without congressional action. The COMELEC initially defended Resolution No. 7902 as an administrative, temporary measure pending congressional action and questioned the proper procedural remedy, but later in compliance asserted that Section 5, Article VI is self-executing and that a new province created by the ARMM Regional Assembly is entitled to representation ipso facto. Respondent Dilangalen contended that COMELEC did not reapportion or create a district but merely renamed the existing district, that only Congress can reapportion legislative districts, and that Cotabato City’s population did not meet the 250,000 threshold under Section 5(3), Article VI for a city to form a district.

Preliminary Rulings on Remedies and Mootness

The Court held that the writ of prohibition is an appropriate remedy to test the constitutionality of election laws, rules, and regulations, and therefore declined to dismiss the petition for lack of a proper remedy. The Court also rejected the contention that Dilangalen’s proclamation mooted the petitions because the controversy involved the validity of a regulation and the ARMM’s power to create provinces, which have recurring and prospective consequences beyond the single proclamation.

Ruling of the Court

The petitions lacked merit on their substantive challenges. The Court declared Section 19, Article VI of RA 9054 unconstitutional insofar as it granted to the ARMM Regional Assembly the power to create provinces and cities. The Court ruled that MMA Act 201 creating the Province of Shariff Kabunsuan was void. The Court upheld COMELEC Resolution No. 7902 as valid.

Legal Basis and Reasoning

The Court began from Section 10, Article X of the 1987 Constitution, which requires that creation of provinces, cities, municipalities, or barangays comply with the Local Government Code and be approved in a plebiscite. The Court recognized that Congress may delegate certain local-creation powers to local legislative bodies for municipalities and barangays, but held that creation of provinces and cities inherently involves the power to create legislative districts because Section 5, Article VI and the Ordinance appended to the Constitution guarantee that “each province shall have at least one representative.” The Court read Section 5, Article VI as vesting exclusively in Congress the power to increase the membership of the House of Representatives and to reapportion legislative districts, and it relied on prior decisions concluding that reapportionment and the creation of legislative districts are laws of national character that only Congress can enact. The ARMM Regional Assembly, by contrast, lacked legislative power over national elections under Section 3, Article IV of RA 9054, and a regional assembly cannot create an office that is national in character such as a district representative. The Court distinguished Felwa v. Salas on the ground that Felwa involved provinces created by an act of Congress, whereas Shariff Kabunsuan was created by a regional law. The Court observed that allowing a regional body to create provinces with concomitant congressional representation would permit an inferior legislative body to alter the composition of the national legislature and could permit circumvention of the population, income, and territorial requisites in Section 461 of RA 7160. Consequently, Section 19’s grant to the ARMM Regional Assembly of authority to create provinces and cities conflicted with the Constitution and was void to that extent. Because the creation of Shariff Kabunsuan lacked the power to create a corresponding legislative distri

Case Syllabus (G.R. No. 177597)

Parties and Procedural Posture

Bai Sandra S. A. Sema filed G.R. No. 177597 seeking certiorari, prohibition, and mandamus to annul COMELEC Resolution No. 7902 and to exclude Cotabato City votes from the canvass for representative of the district in question.
Perfecto F. Marquez filed G.R. No. 178628 seeking declaratory relief and writs of prohibition and mandamus to compel COMELEC to conduct a special election for representative of the First District of Maguindanao with Cotabato City.
Commission on Elections defended Resolution No. 7902 through the Office of the Solicitor General and initially adopted divergent positions in the litigation.
Didagen P. Dilangalen intervened as private respondent and was proclaimed representative of the district contested in the 14 May 2007 elections.
The Court consolidated G.R. Nos. 177597 and 178628 for resolution of common constitutional and administrative questions.

Key Factual Allegations

The 1987 Constitution Ordinance assigned Cotabato City to the first legislative district of Maguindanao together with eight municipalities.
Cotabato City voted against inclusion in the ARMM in 1989 and remained part of Region XII, not of the ARMM.
The ARMM Regional Assembly enacted Muslim Mindanao Autonomy Act No. 201 (MMA Act 201) on 28 August 2006 creating the Province of Shariff Kabunsuan from eight municipalities of Maguindanao’s first district, and later three new municipalities were carved out raising its municipalities to eleven.
The creation of Shariff Kabunsuan was ratified by plebiscite on 29 October 2006.
COMELEC first issued Resolution No. 07-0407 on 6 March 2007 maintaining the status quo pending enactment of appropriate national law, then issued Resolution No. 7845 on 29 March 2007 and finally promulgated Resolution No. 7902 on 10 May 2007 renaming the district as “Shariff Kabunsuan Province with Cotabato City (formerly First District of Maguindanao with Cotabato City).”
Sema ran as candidate for Representative of “Shariff Kabunsuan with Cotabato City” in the 14 May 2007 elections and Dilangalen was proclaimed the winner on 1 June 2007.
Cotabato City had a population of 163,849 as of the 2000 census, which is below the 250,000 threshold in Section 5 (3), Article VI of the Constitution.

Statutory Framework

Section 19, Article VI of R.A. 9054 delegated to the ARMM Regional Assembly the power to create, divide, merge, abolish or substantially alter provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays subject to criteria in Republic Act No. 7160 (Local Government Code of 1991) and plebiscite approval.
Section 5, Article VI of the Constitution prescribes the composition of the House of Representatives, the reapportionment duty of Congress, and the entitlement of each province or city of specified population to at least one representative.
Section 3 of the Ordinance appended to the 1987 Constitution provides that any province created thereafter shall be entitled in the immediately following election to at least one Member, subject to adjustment by COMELEC.
MMA Act 201 contained a proviso that “Except as may be provided by national law, the existing legislative district, which includes Cotabato as a part thereof, shall remain.”
COMELEC Resolutions No. 07-0407, No. 7845, and No. 7902 addressed the status of Cotabato City and the composition and name of the relevant legislative district for the 2007 elections.

Issues Presented

Whether the writs of Certiorari, Prohibition, and Mandamus were proper remedies to test the constitutionality of COMELEC Resolution No. 7902 and related election acts.
Whether the proclamation of Dilangalen mooted Sema’s petition.
Whether Section 19, Article VI of R.A. 9054, delegating to the ARMM Regional Assembly the power to create provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays, is constitutional.
Whether a province created by the ARMM Regional Assembly pursuant to Section 19, Article VI of R.A. 9054 is entitled to one representative in the House of Representatives without a national law creating a legislative district.
Whether COMELEC Resolution No. 7902 validly maintained the status quo of Maguindanao’s first legislative district as “Shariff Kabunsuan Province with Cotabato City.”

Contentions of the Parties

Sema argued that Shariff Kabunsuan was entitled ipso facto to one representative under Section 5 (3), Article VI and the Ordin