Ámbito de aplicación de la Consulta previa

ALCANTARA, and VLADIMIR ALARIQUE T. CABIGAO v. ALFREDO S. LIM, in his capacity as mayor of the City of Manila

G.R. No. 187836, November 25, 2014, PEREZ, J.

There is truly no such thing as “the will of Manila” insofar as the general welfare of the people is concerned.

Facts:

The present case is a sequel of the Social Justice Society v. Atienza, Jr.

(2008). During the incumbency of former Mayor Alfredo S. Lim (Mayor Lim), who succeeded Mayor Atienza, the Sangguniang Panlungsod enacted Ordinance No. 8187 which repealed Ordinance No. 8027, thus allowing, once again, the operation of the oil companies in the Pandacan area.

Issue:

Whether or not Ordinance No. 8187 is valid and constitutional.

Ruling:

No. Notwithstanding that the conditions with respect to the operations of the oil depots existing prior to the enactment of Ordinance No. 8027 do not substantially differ to this day, as would later be discussed, the position of the Sangguniang Panlungsod on the matter has thrice changed, largely depending on the new composition of the council and/or political affiliations.

The foregoing, thus, shows that its determination of the “general welfare” of the city does not after all gear towards the protection of the people in its true sense and meaning, but is, one way or another, dependent on the personal preference of the members who sit in the council as to which particular sector among its constituents it wishes to favor. Now that the City of Manila, through the mayor and the city councilors, has changed its view on the matter, favoring the city’s economic related benefits, through the continued stay of the oil terminals, over the protection of the very lives and safety of its constituents, it is imperative for this Court to make a final determination on the basis of the facts on the table as to which specific right of the inhabitants of Manila should prevail. For, in this present controversy, history reveals that there is truly no such thing as “the will of Manila” insofar as the general welfare of the people is concerned.

If in sacrilege, in free translation of Angara by Justice Laurel, we say when the judiciary mediates we do not in reality nullify or invalidate an act of the Manila Sangguniang Panlungsod, but only asserts the solemn and sacred obligation assigned to the Court by the Constitution to determine conflicting claims of authority under the Constitution and to establish for the parties in an actual controversy the rights which that instrument secures and guarantees to them.

In a later case (Social Justice Society v. Lim, G.R. No. 187836, March 10, 2015), the Supreme Court denied the oil companies’ motion for reconsideration, ruling in this wise: “There are overwhelming reasons stated in the Decision to support the Court’s pronouncement that the very nature of depots has no place in a densely populated area, among others, the very history of the Pandacan terminals where flames spread over the entire City of Manila when fuel storage dumps were set on fire in December 194114 and the other incident of explosion, which were both considered in G.R. No.

156052.”

SENATOR HEHERSON T. ALVAREZ, et. al. v. HON. TEOFISTO T.

GUINGONA, JR., in his capacity as Executive Secretary, et. al.

G.R. No. 118303. January 31, 1996, HERMOSISIMA, JR.,

The IRAs regularly and automatically accrue to the local treasury without need of any further action on the part of the local government unit.

Facts:

Petitioners assail the validity of Republic Act No. 7720, entitled, An Act Converting the Municipality of Santiago, Isabela into an Independent Component City to be known as the City of Santiago claiming that Santiago could not qualify into a component city because its average annual income for the last two (2) consecutive years based on 1991 constant prices falls below the required annual income of Twenty Million Pesos (P20,000,000.00).

They contend that in the computation of the average annual income of Santiago, the IRAs should be excluded. The certification issued by the Bureau of Local Government Finance of the Department of Finance, which indicates Santiagos average annual income to be P20,974,581.97, is allegedly not accurate as the Internal Revenue Allotments were not excluded from the computation. Petitioners asseverate that the IRAs are not actually income but transfers and! or budgetary aid from the national government and that they fluctuate, increase or decrease, depending on factors like population, land and equal sharing.

Issue:

Whether or not annual income of a local government unit includes IRAs.

Ruling:

Yes. The funds generated from local taxes, IRAs and national wealth utilization proceeds accrue to the general fund of the local government and are used to finance its operations subject to specified modes of spending the same as provided for in the Local Government Code and its implementing rules and regulations. For instance, not less than twenty percent (20%) of the IRAs must be set aside for local development projects. As such, for purposes of budget preparation, which budget should reflect the estimates of the income of the local government unit, among others, the IRAs and the share in the national wealth utilization proceeds are considered items of income. This is as it should be, since income is defined in the Local Government Code to be all revenues and receipts collected or received forming the gross accretions of funds of the local government unit.

The IRAs are items of income because they form part of the gross accretion of the funds of the local government unit. The IRAs regularly and automatically accrue to the local treasury without need of any further action on the part of the local government unit. They thus constitute income which

the local government can invariably rely upon as the source of much needed funds.

AURELIO M. UMALI v. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, JULIUS CESAR V.

VERGARA, and THE CITY GOVERNMENT OF CABANATUAN G.R. No. 203974, April 22, 2014, VELASCO, JR., J.

The Court treats the phrase "by the qualified voters therein" in Sec.

453 under the Local Government Code to mean the qualified voters not only in the city proposed to be converted to an HUC but also the voters of the political units directly affected by such conversion in order to harmonize Sec.

453 with Sec. 10, Art. X of the Constitution.

Facts:

The Sangguniang Panglungsod of Cabanatuan City passed a resolution requesting the President to declare the conversion of Cabanatuan City from a component city of the province of Nueva Ecija into a highly urbanized city (HUC). Acceding to the request, the President issued a Presidential Proclamation proclaiming the City of Cabanatuan as an HUC subject to ratification in a plebiscite by the qualified voters therein, as provided for in Section 453 of the Local Government Code of 1991. Comelec issued a proclamation resolving that registered residents of Cabanatuan City should participate in the said plebiscite.

The governor of Nueva Ecija filed a motion for reconsideration maintaining that the qualified voters of the province should be included in the said plebiscite. The phrase "qualified voters therein" used in Sec. 453 of the LGC should then be interpreted to refer to the qualified voters of the units directly affected by the conversion and not just those in the component city proposed to be upgraded.

Issue:

Whether or not only the qualified registered voters of Cabanatuan City can participate in the plebiscite called for the conversion of Cabanatuan City from a component city into an HUC.

Ruling:

No. While conversion to an HUC is not explicitly provided in Sec. 10, Art.

X of the Constitution we nevertheless observe that the conversion of a component city into an HUC is substantial alteration of boundaries. Creation, division, merger, abolition or substantial alteration of boundaries of local government units involve a common denominator—material change in the political and economic rights of the local government units directly affected as well as the people therein. It is precisely for this reason that the Constitution requires the approval of the people “in the political units directly affected.” The entire province of Nueva Ecija will be directly affected by Cabanatuan City’s conversion. As a consequence, all the qualified registered

voters of Nueva Ecija should then be allowed to participate in the plebiscite called for that purpose.

RODOLFO G. NAVARRO, VICTOR F. BERNAL, and RENE O. MEDINA v.

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY EDUARDO ERMITA, representing the President of the Philippines; Senate of the Philippines, represented

by the SENATE PRESIDENT, et. al.

G.R. No. 180050, April 12, 2011, NACHURA, J.

The exemption from the land area requirement of local government units composed of one or more islands, as expressly stated under Sections 442 and 450 of the LGC.

Facts:

The President of the Republic approved into law Republic Act No. 9355 (An Act Creating the Province of Dinagat Islands). After complying with the required plebiscite, the President appointed the interim set of provincial officials who took their oath of office on January 26, 2007. Later, during the May 14, 2007 synchronized elections, the Dinagatnons elected their new set of provincial officials who assumed office on July 1, 2007. The former political leaders of Surigao del Norte, filed before this Court a petition for certiorari and prohibition challenging the constitutionality of R.A. No. 9355 arguing that Dinagat failed to comply with the required land area based on Section 10, Article X of the Constitution and of Section 461 of the LGC.

Issue:

Whether or not RA 9355 is valid and constitutional.

Ruling:

Yes. The exemption from the land area requirement of local government units composed of one or more islands, as expressly stated under Sections 442 and 450 of the LGC, with respect to the creation of municipalities and cities, but inadvertently omitted from Section 461 with respect to the creation of provinces. Hence, the void or missing detail was filled in by the Oversight Committee in the LGC-IRR. With the formulation of the LGC-IRR, which amounted to both executive and legislative construction of the LGC, the many details to implement the LGC had already been put in place, which Congress understood to be impractical and not too urgent to immediately translate into direct amendments to the LGC. But Congress, recognizing the capacity and viability of Dinagat to become a full-fledged province, enacted R.A. No. 9355, following the exemption from the land area requirement, which, with respect to the creation of provinces, can only be found as an express provision in the LGC-IRR. In effect, pursuant to its plenary legislative powers, Congress breathed flesh and blood into that exemption in Article 9(2) of the LGC-IRR and transformed it into law when it enacted R.A. No. 9355 creating the Island Province of Dinagat.

ARNOLD D. VICENCIO VS. HON. REYNALDO A. VILLAR AND HON.