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Reversion of El Salvador, Misamis Oriental from cityhood to municipality is a “political question” – Baculio

November 23, 2008

By Lizanilla J. Amarga

Senators, congressmen, mayors and their legal counsels yesterday met to map out their grounds for their motion for reconsideration on the Supreme Court’s decision to demote 16 cities back to mere municipalities including El Salvador , Misamis Oriental.

Former Second District of Misamis Oriental Cong. Augusto Baculio, Jr. said the meeting was even attended by the senate president and house speaker together with topnotch lawyers all over the country.

He disclosed that one of the arguments that they are considering to present to the Supreme Court is that the passage of the laws converting all 16 municipalities into cities is covered under the “political question doctrine” and as such puts it beyond the judicial review powers of the court.

According to Baculio, the bill passed through both legislative and executive branches of government from the House of Representatives to the Senate where there are representatives from the over 1,000 cities who could have blocked the bill.

He pointed out that the Congress-approved bill was then not vetoed by the President within the allowed period of time when she could have done so.

He added that the people of El Salvador together with those in the 15 towns that were converted into cities also held plebiscites where they affirmed their respective charters.

“There is regularity,” Baculio told Gold Star Daily yesterday.

However, he declined to elaborate citing how they do not want their legal grounds to be on hand ahead of time to the other adverse parties.

In the case of Tañada vs. Cuenco (100 Phil 101), Baculio quoted how the Supreme Court held that a political question refers to a question of policy or to issues which, under the Constitution, are to be decided by the people in their sovereign capacity or in regard to which full discretionary authority has been delegated to the legislative or executive branch of government.

He said the High Tribunal further said that such political questions are generally concerned with issues dependent upon the wisdom, not the legality of a particular measure.

“Political question is so far one of our best arguments,” the congressman said.

Still, Baculio debunked claims that the law converting El Salvador from a municipality to a component city of Misamis Oriental was half-baked or was approved due to some horse-trading in Congress and at the Office of the President.

He said he had worked for the passage of such a legislative measure almost throughout his career as the congressman of the Second District of Misamis Oriental.

“Cityhood of El Salvador was first filed in 1999 and refilled in 2001 and 2004. In 11th, 12th and 13th Congress. Became one of the 16 cities due to the timely filing,” he said.

Meanwhile, Atty. Anthony Carlo Almirante, the son of El Salvador City mayor Emelita Almirante, said his mother and the mayors of the 15 other cities have yet to be officially served with copies of the Supreme Court decision.

However, he added that there is now a growing consensus that each of the affected city will file their own separate motion for reconsideration at the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court declared the City Hood laws as unconstitutional based on seven grounds:

First, applying the P100 million income requirement in RA 9009 to the present case is a prospective, not a retroactive application, because RA 9009 took effect in 2001 while the cityhood bills became law more than five years later.

Second, the Constitution requires that Congress shall prescribe all the criteria for the creation of a city in the Local Government Code and not in any other law, including the Cityhood Laws.

Third, the Cityhood Laws violate Section 6, Article X of the Constitution because they prevent a fair and just distribution of the national taxes to local government units.

Fourth, the criteria prescribed in Section 450 of the Local Government Code, as amended by RA 9009, for converting a municipality into a city are clear, plain and unambiguous, needing no resort to any statutory construction.

Fifth, the intent of members of the 11th Congress to exempt certain municipalities from the coverage of RA 9009 remained an intent and was never written into Section 450 of the Local Government Code.

Sixth, the deliberations of the 11th or 12th Congress on unapproved bills or resolutions are not extrinsic aids in interpreting a law passed in the 13th Congress.

Seventh, even if the exemption in the Cityhood Laws were written in Section 450 of the Local Government Code, the exemption would still be unconstitutional for violation of the equal protection clause.

Written by admin · Filed Under Misamis Oriental 

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One Response to “Reversion of El Salvador, Misamis Oriental from cityhood to municipality is a “political question” – Baculio”

  1. El-Salvador » Travel.Travel » El Salvador on November 23rd, 2008 1:15 pm

    [...] By Lizanilla J. Amarga Senators, congressmen, mayors and their …Still, Baculio debunked claims that the law converting El Salvador from a municipality to a component city of Misamis Oriental was half-baked or was approved due to some horse-trading in Congress and at the Office of the President. [...]

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