64 League of Cities v. COMELEC

EN BANC
[G.R. No. 176951. August 24, 2010.]

(League of Cities of the Philippines v. Commission on Elections, G.R. Nos.
176951, 177499 & 178056 (Resolution), [August 24, 2010], 643 PHIL 202-231)
CARPIO, J ||
Facts:
In the 11th Congress, 57 bills seeking the conversion of municipalities into component
cities were filed before the House of Representatives. However, Congress did not act on
the 24 out of the 57 municipalities. In the 12th Congress, R.A. No. 9009 was enacted
revising the Local Government Code (LGC) by increasing the income requirement to
qualify for conversion into a city from ₱20 million annual income to ₱100 million locally
generated income. In the 13th Congress, 16 of the 24 municipalities filed their individual
cityhood bills. Each of the cityhood bills contained a common provision exempting the
particular municipality from the ₱100 million income requirement imposed by R.A. No.
9009. These cityhood bills lapsed into law on various dates after President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo failed to sign them.
Petitioners filed to declare the Cityhood Laws unconstitutional for violation of Section 10,
Article X of the 1987 Constitution, as well as for violation of the equal protection clause.
Petitioners also pointed that the wholesale conversion of municipalities into cities will
reduce the share of existing cities in the Internal Revenue Allotment(IRA) because more
cities will share the same amount of internal revenue set aside for all cities under Section
285 of the Local Government Code.
The Issues
The petitions raise the following fundamental issues:
1. Whether the Cityhood Laws violate Section 10, Article X of the Constitution; and
2. Whether the Cityhood Laws violate the equal protection clause.
The Ruling of the Court
We grant the petitions.
The Cityhood Laws violate Sections 6 and 10, Article X of the Constitution, and are
thus unconstitutional.
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.
Principle
A .Violation of Section 10, Article X of the Constitution
Section 10, Article X of the 1987 Constitution provides:
No province, city, municipality, or barangay shall be created, divided,
merged, abolished or its boundary substantially altered, except in accordance
with the criteria established in the local government code and subject to
approval by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite in the political units directly
affected. (Emphasis supplied) aTIAES
The Constitution is clear. The creation of local government units must follow
the criteria established in the Local Government Code and not in any other law.
There is only one Local Government Code. 1 The Constitution requires Congress to
stipulate in the Local Government Code all the criteria necessary for the creation of a
city, including the conversion of a municipality into a city. Congress cannot write such
criteria in any other law, like the Cityhood Laws.
The clear intent of the Constitution is to insure that the creation of cities and
other political units must follow the same uniform, non-discriminatory criteria
found solely in the Local Government Code. Any derogation or deviation from the
criteria prescribed in the Local Government Code violates Section 10, Article
X of theConstitution.
RA 9009 amended Section 450 of the Local Government Code to increase the
income requirement from P20 million to P100 million for the creation of a city. This
took effect on 30 June 2001. Hence, from that moment the Local Government
Code required that any municipality desiring to become a city must satisfy the
P100 million income requirement. Section 450 of the Local Government Code, as
amended by RA 9009, does not contain any exemption from this income requirement.
In enacting RA 9009, Congress did not grant any exemption to respondent
municipalities, even though their cityhood bills were pending in Congress when
Congress passed RA 9009. The Cityhood Laws, all enacted after the effectivity of RA
9009, explicitly exempt respondent municipalities from the increased income
requirement in Section 450 of the Local Government Code, as amended by RA
9009. Such exemption clearly violates Section 10, Article
X of the Constitution and is thus patently unconstitutional. To be valid, such
exemption must be written in the Local Government Code and not in any other
law, including the Cityhood Laws.
RA 9009 is not a law different from the Local Government Code. Section
1 of RA 9009 pertinently provides: "Section 450 of Republic Act No. 7160,
otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991, is hereby amended to
read as follows: . . . ." RA 9009 amended Section 450 of the Local Government
Code. RA 9009, by amending Section 450 of the Local Government Code,
embodies the new and prevailing Section 450 of the Local Government Code.
Considering the Legislature's primary intent to curtail "the mad rush of municipalities
wanting to be converted into cities," RA 9009 increased the income requirement for
the creation ofcities. To repeat, RA 9009 is not a law different from the Local
Government Code, as it expressly amended Section 450 of the Local Government
Code.
Moreover, where the law does not make an exemption, the Court should not
create one. 2
||| (League of Cities of the Philippines v. Commission on Elections, G.R. Nos. 176951,
177499 & 178056 (Resolution), [August 24, 2010], 643 PHIL 202-231)

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EN BANC

[G.R. No. 176951. August 24, 2010.]

The petitions raise the following fundamental issues:

2. Whether the Cityhood Laws violate the equal protection clause.

The Ruling of the Court

We grant the petitions.

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