ROBERTO A. MIGUEL, PETITIONER, VS. COURT OF APPEALS AND BONIFACIO M. RILLON, RESPONDENTS.

Miguel versus Court of Appeals and Rillon

The Case

This is a petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45 of the Revised Rules of Court, brought by Roberto Miguel against the Court of Appeals and Bonifacio Rillon. Miguel asks the Supreme Court to set aside the decision of the Court of Appeals which upheld the election of Rillon as president of the Quezon City chapter of the Liga ng mga Barangay. The case matters because it fixes the rule on when the first elections of Liga chapter officers may lawfully be held, and it shows how a rule issued by the Oversight Committee fills a gap left by the Local Government Code of 1991 without amending it.

Procedural History

Miguel filed an action for damages with a prayer for preliminary injunction before the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City, Branch 106, against Rillon and seventeen other barangay captains, based on alleged usurpation of authority and misconduct in office. The trial court issued a temporary restraining order, and later a writ of preliminary injunction ordering Rillon and his co-defendants to cease and desist from assuming the positions to which they claimed to have been elected.

To stop the trial court from hearing the case, Rillon filed with the Supreme Court a petition for quo warranto and prohibition with preliminary injunction. The Supreme Court referred the petition to the Court of Appeals, which gave it due course, declared the April 2, 1993 election valid, declared Rillon the duly elected president of the Liga chapter, enjoined Miguel from continuing to represent the Quezon City barangays in the City Council, ordered the City Council to accept Rillon as ex officio member, and enjoined the trial court from continuing to hear the civil case.

Miguel then came to the Supreme Court by petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45, with a prayer for preliminary injunction or a temporary restraining order. The Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order on the allegation that Rillon was trying to enforce the decision despite the timely appeal.

Facts

On November 3, 1989, Miguel was elected President of the Katipunang Panlungsod ng mga Barangay ng Quezon City, an association created under the old Local Government Code. As president, he automatically became the sectoral representative of the barangays to the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Quezon City. His term was for two years, or until November 3, 1991.

On January 1, 1992, the Local Government Code of 1991 took effect. It created the Liga ng mga Barangay, which took the place of the Pambansang Katipunan ng mga Barangay, and it provided that the president of the Liga chapter in a city is an ex officio member of the Sanggunian. Under the Rules and Regulations Implementing the Code, the incumbent presidents of the associations of barangay councils elected under the old Code shall continue to act as presidents of the corresponding Liga chapters pending the election of the presidents under the 1991 Code. Miguel therefore continued to perform his duties as president of the Liga chapter and to sit as ex officio member of the Sangguniang Panlungsod.

On April 2, 1993, Miguel received a notice of a general assembly issued by an Ad-Hoc Committee of barangay captains and officials, scheduled that same day at a restaurant in Quezon City. Miguel wrote to the Barangay Operations Center objecting that the Board of Directors of the Liga chapter had not created the Ad-Hoc Committee and had not authorized it to call the meeting. The Ad-Hoc Committee proceeded anyway and elected a new set of directors and officers with Rillon as president, purportedly under the old constitution and by-laws of the Katipunan. The Board of Directors of the Liga chapter then adopted a resolution declaring the proceedings of that meeting null and void. Rillon took his oath of office and informed the Sangguniang Panlungsod of his election. When he tried to attend a regular session, the presiding officer ordered him to leave the session hall.

Issues

• Whether or not the election held by the Ad-Hoc Committee on April 2, 1993, which elected Rillon as president of the Liga chapter, is valid.
• Whether or not the rule requiring the prior adoption and ratification of a uniform constitution and by-laws before Liga chapter elections may be held is valid and consistent with the Local Government Code of 1991.
• Whether or not that rule may be given retroactive effect, and whether or not candidates for election as Liga chapter presidents have a vested right to be governed by the old constitution and by-laws.

Applicable Provisions

Article 210, subsection (f), paragraph (1) of Rule XXIX of the Rules and Regulations Implementing the Local Government Code of 1991 provides:

Pending election of the presidents of the municipal, city, provincial, and metropolitan chapters of the Liga, the incumbent presidents of the association of the barangay councils in the municipality, city, province and Metropolitan Manila shall continue to act as presidents of the corresponding liga chapters.

This is the provision that kept Miguel in office as president of the Liga chapter pending a valid election.

Article 210, subsection (g), paragraph (3) of Rule XXIX provides:

Election of the first set of officers of the national liga and local chapters shall be held in accordance with the duly adopted constitution and by-laws within six (6) months from ratification by the barangay national assembly.

This is the provision that the Court applied in holding the April 2, 1993 election invalid, because no constitution and by-laws had yet been adopted and ratified.

Section 507 of the Local Government Code of 1991 provides:

Constitution and By-laws of the liga and the leagues. - All other matters not herein otherwise provided for effecting the internal organization of the leagues of local government units shall be governed by their respective constitution and by-laws, which are hereby made suppletory to the provision of this Chapter: Provided, that said constitution and by-laws should always conform to the provisions of the Constitution and existing laws.

The Court used this provision to answer Rillon's argument that the Code contemplates more than one constitution and by-laws, noting that it deals with all the leagues of local government units while the rule refers only to the Liga ng mga Barangay.

Ruling

On the first issue, the Court held that the April 2, 1993 meeting and the elections conducted in it were invalid. Under the Rules and Regulations, the election of the first set of officers of the national and local chapters of the Liga cannot be held unless a constitution and by-laws for the Liga is first adopted and ratified by the barangay national assembly. No such constitution and by-laws had been drafted and ratified when the Ad-Hoc Committee met. The Court also relied on the opinions of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, which held that until the constitution and by-laws of the national Liga had been adopted and ratified, there could be no legal basis for holding elections for a Liga chapter, and that the incumbent president should continue as ex officio member of the Sanggunian. The Court treated these issuances as executive construction entitled to great weight and respect.

On the second issue, the Court held that there is neither any conflict between the rule and the 1991 Code nor any violation by the rule of the standards set by the law. The authority given to the Oversight Committee was to adopt the appropriate rules and regulations necessary for the efficient and effective administration of the provisions of the Code. One of the problems it addressed was the need for an orderly transfer of powers and functions from the old associations of barangays to the Liga chapters, and it is to attain this objective that the rules required that the elections be conducted under a uniform constitution and by-laws. The Court noted that there are more than 1,600 chapters of the Liga, and that the alternative to a uniform constitution and by-laws is chaos.

On the third issue, the Court held that the questioned rule operates prospectively, applying to elections to be held after the adoption of the uniform constitution and by-laws. The candidates for election as presidents of the Liga chapters have no vested right to demand that their election be governed by the constitution and by-laws under the old Local Government Code. The Court also noted that the apprehension of delay was allayed when the Liga ng mga Barangay held its First National Congress and General Assembly in December 1993 and ratified its Constitution and By-laws.

Doctrine

First, the election of the first set of officers of the national Liga and its local chapters cannot be validly held unless a uniform constitution and by-laws has first been adopted and ratified by the barangay national assembly. Any election held before that condition is met is invalid, and the incumbent president of the association of barangay councils continues to act as president of the corresponding Liga chapter and as ex officio member of the Sanggunian.

Second, a rule issued by the Oversight Committee to fill a gap in the Local Government Code of 1991 does not amend or modify the law where it merely supplies the details needed for the orderly transfer of powers from the old associations to the Liga chapters. Such a rule is a valid exercise of delegated authority and is entitled to great weight and respect as executive construction.

Third, such a rule operates prospectively, and candidates for election as Liga chapter presidents have no vested right to demand that their election be governed by the old constitution and by-laws.

Disposition

The Supreme Court granted the petition and reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals, with no pronouncement as to costs.

Remember This

Memorize this line: no valid Liga chapter election may be held until a uniform constitution and by-laws is first adopted and ratified, and until then the incumbent president continues in office as ex officio member of the Sanggunian. Examiners like to use this case on the validity of administrative rules that fill gaps in a statute, and on the rule that a validly issued implementing regulation is entitled to great weight and respect.