Local execs to appeal SC ruling voiding cityhood laws

TACLOBAN CITY – Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone yesterday confirmed that he would lead local officials and file a motion for reconsideration before the Supreme Court (SC) that recently junked the conversion to cities of 16 towns in various parts of the country.

The SC said the declaration of cityhood for the 16 municipalities was unconstitutional since they failed to meet requirements to become cities, including having an annual income of at least P100 million.

Evardone said the SC ruling is just a temporary setback and he expressed optimism that the justices will take into consideration the welfare and interest of the people not only in Borongan, Eastern Samar but those in the 15 other new cities.

“The new cities have already unleashed new developments and opportunities for our people which should be continued,” Evardone said.

Aside from Borongan, the SC ruling affected Baybay, Leyte; Bogo, Carcar, and Naga, all in Cebu province; Catbalogan, Samar; Tandag, Surigao del Sur; Tayabas, Quezon; Lamitan, Basilan; Tabuk, Kalinga; Bayugan, Agusan del Sur; Batac, Ilocos Norte; Mati, Davao Oriental; Guihulngan, Negros Oriental; Cabadbaran, Agusan del Norte; and El Salvador, Misamis Oriental.

Mayors Coefredo Uy and Michael Cari of Catbalogan and Baybay, respectively, have also expressed disappointment over the SC decision, saying it would hamper their development efforts.

“We have been on the process of implementing different projects as a new city,” Uy said.

If the cityhood of their towns is nullified, the two mayors said it would mean a reduction of their shares of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).

Cari said the voiding of their cityhood would affect their efforts to attract more investors.

“If we will be reverted back to being a municipality, we will have minimal facilities to provide to our investors,” he said.

In Cebu, meanwhile, first district Rep. ­Eduardo Gullas, who authored the cityhood bills for Naga and Carcar, said he is confident that the SC would reverse its decision nullifying the city status of the two places.

Citing several SC rulings, Gullas said he believes the decision would still be reversed.

The SC ruled that Naga and Carcar, along with Bogo, which recently became cities, did not meet the requisites for cityhood.

Quoting the SC ruling on the Mariano vs Comelec case (242 SCRA), Gullas said the tribunal “can’t substitute the wisdom of Congress.”

The ponente of this case, he said, was former chief justice Hilario Davide Jr. when he was still associate justice.

In Beltran vs. the Secretary of Health, Gullas said the SC also ruled that it “can’t inquire into the wisdom of Congress in its lawful exercise of its power to pass laws.”

In the Tanada vs. Angara case decided on May 2, 1997, the SC said it “can’t review the wisdom of Congress and the executive (the president).”

Gullas, a practicing lawyer, said he is set to file separate motions for reconsideration for Naga and Carcar when he receives a copy of the SC decision.

The Cebuano lawmaker admitted that he did not see it coming.

It was the League of the Cities of the Philippines (LCP) which filed the petition asking the SC to annul the cityhood of the 16 towns, arguing that they did not meet the new income requirement to become such.

Republic Act 9009 amended the income requirement from P20 million to P100 million.

But according to Carcar Mayor Patrick Barcenas, congressmen agreed that all cityhood bills filed during the 11th Congress would be spared from this amendment.

“(The decision is) not final; the moment we file the motion for reconsideration, that decision is deemed to be held in abeyance,” he said.

In a 24-page decision penned by Justice Antonio Carpio, the SC said the 16 cityhood laws violated Sections 6 and 10 of Article X of the Constitution.

Bogo became a city in June 2007, while Carcar and Naga attained similar status in July and August last year, respectively.   – With Liv Campo/Freeman News Service