Supreme Court voids province of Dinagat Islands

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has nullified a law creating the province of Dinagat Islands for violation of the minimum requirements for population and land area under the Local Government Code (LGC).

The SC, in a 30-page decision penned by Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta, ruled that Republic Act 9355 is null and void since Dinagat Islands does not meet the requirements for land area of 2,000 square kilometers and population of at least 250,000 to become a province.

It was found that Dinagat only has an approximate land area of 802.12 square kilometers and a population of only 106,951, as of May 2000.

By a vote of 9-6, SC justices also nullified the election of Dinagat officials and the provision in Article 9 (2) of the rules and regulations implementing the LGC, stating that the land area requirement “shall not apply where the proposed province is composed of one or more islands.”

The SC said this provision did not fill in any detail in accordance with a known standard provided for by the law. Instead, the implementing rules added an exemption to the standard or criteria prescribed by the LGC in the creation of a province as regards the land area requirement, an exemption of which is not found in the law.

“The Constitution clearly mandates that the creation of local government units must follow the criteria established in the Local Government Code. Any derogation of or deviation from the criteria prescribed in the Local Government Code violates Sec. 10, Art. X of the Constitution,” the SC said.

The case stemmed from the taxpayers’ suit filed by Surigao del Norte residents Rodolfo Navarro, Victor Bernal, and Rene Medina who argued that the creation of Dinagat Islands as a new province was an illegal act of Congress and unjustly deprived the people of Surigao del Norte a large chunk of their territory, internal revenue allotment, and rich resources.

Dinagat Islands is one of the three main island groups comprising Surigao del Norte. The other two are the mainland and Surigao City, and Siargao Island and Bucas Grande.