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Case Digest 4 - Alaba v. Comelec

The Supreme Court ruled that R.A. 9591, which established a separate legislative district for Malolos City in Bulacan, is unconstitutional. The Constitution requires that a city have a population of at least 250,000 to be entitled to its own legislative district. However, Malolos City's actual population in 2009 was less than 250,000. Further, the population projection certificate relied upon in passing the law was issued without proper authority and did not meet requirements for such certificates. Therefore, R.A. 9591 violated the population requirement for a city to have its own legislative district under the Constitution.

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ADRIAN JOSEPH ADRIANO
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35 views

Case Digest 4 - Alaba v. Comelec

The Supreme Court ruled that R.A. 9591, which established a separate legislative district for Malolos City in Bulacan, is unconstitutional. The Constitution requires that a city have a population of at least 250,000 to be entitled to its own legislative district. However, Malolos City's actual population in 2009 was less than 250,000. Further, the population projection certificate relied upon in passing the law was issued without proper authority and did not meet requirements for such certificates. Therefore, R.A. 9591 violated the population requirement for a city to have its own legislative district under the Constitution.

Uploaded by

ADRIAN JOSEPH ADRIANO
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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GR. No.

188078 January 25, 2010

I
VICTORINO B. ALDABA, CARLO JOLETTE S. FAJARDO, JULIO G. MORADA, and MINERVA ALDABA
MORADA, petitioner vs. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, respondents.
GR. No. 188078 January 25, 2010

Carpio, J.

II SYLLABUS TOPIC

Composition, Qualifications and Term of Office

II RELEVANT FACTS
I

Prior to May 1, 2009, the province of Bulacan was divided into four legislative districts. The
first legislative district included the city of Malolos and the towns of Hagonoy, Calumpit, Pulilan, Bulacan,
and Paombong. On May 1, 2009, RA 9591 was enacted, amending Malolos City's charter by establishing a
distinct legislative district for the city. When the legislative bills for RA 9591 were introduced in
Congress in 2007, specifically House Bill No. 3162 (later renumbered as House Bill No. 3693) and Senate
Bill No. 1986, the population of Malolos City was 223,069. Although there is a dispute regarding Malolos
City's exact population on May 1, 2009, it is not contested that House Bill No. 3693 relied on an undated
certification issued by a Regional Director of the National Statistics Office (NSO), which projected that
"the Municipality of Malolos' population would reach 254,030 by the year 2010, based on a population
growth rate of 3.78% from 1995 to 2000."

The petitioners, who are taxpayers, registered voters, and residents of Malolos City, filed this petition,
arguing that RA 9591 is unconstitutional because it does not meet the minimum population requirement
of 250,000 for a city to be entitled to representation in Congress, as stipulated in Section 5(3) of Article
VI of the 1987 Constitution and Section 3 of the Ordinance attached to the 1987 Constitution.

IV ISSUE

Whether or not R.A. 9591, “Á n act creating a legislative district for the City of Malolos, Bulacan” is
unconstitutional.

V RULING AND VERDICT

Yes, It was declared by the Supreme Court that the R.A. 9591 isunconstitutional for being
violative of Section 5 (3), Article VI of the 1987 Constitution and Section 3 of the Ordinance appended to the 1987
Constitution on the grounds that, as required by the 1987 Constitution, a city must have at least 250,000
population. In relation with this, Regional Director Miranda issued a Certification which is based on the
demographic projections, was declared without legal effect because the Regional Director has no basis and no
authority to issue the Certification based on the following statements supported by Section 6 of E.O. 135 as signed
by President Fidel V. Ramos, which provides:

The certification on demographic projection can be issued only if such are declared official by the Nat’l Statistics
Coordination Board. In this case, it was not stated whether the document have been declared official by the NSCB.

The certification can be issued only by the NSO Administrator or his designated certifying officer, in which case,
the Regional Director of Central Luzon NSO is unauthorized.

The population projection must be as of the middle of the year, which in this case, the Certification issued by
Director Miranda was undated.
It was also computed that the correct figures using the growth rate, even if compounded, the Malolos population
of 223,069 as of August 1, 2007 will grow to only 249,333 as of August 1, 2010.

It was emphasized that the 1935 Constitution, that this Court ruled that the aim of legislative reappointment is to
equalize the population and voting power among districts.

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