borromeo vs mariano facts: Borromeo was appointed and commissioned as Judge of the Twenty-fourth Judicial District, He duly qualified

and took possession of the office . Later on he was appointed Judge of the Twenty-first Judicial District, and Fermin Mariano was appointed Judge of the Twenty-fourth Judicial District. Judge Borromeo has consistently refused to accept appointment to the Twenty-first Judicial District. Thereby a Quo Warranto proceedings have been instituted in the SC en banc to determine the right of the plaintiff and of the defendant to the office of Judge of the Court of First Instance of the Twentyfourth Judicial District. Issue: Who has the right to the office of Judge of the Court of First Instance of the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District. held: It is our holding that the plaintiff Andres Borromeo is lawfully entitled to the possession of the office of Judge of the Court of First Instance of the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District. It is our judgment that the defendant Fermin Mariano shall be ousted from the office of Judge of the Twenty fourth Judicial District, and the plaintiff placed in possession of the same. based on the ff. reasons 1. there is no power in these Islands which can compel a man to accept the office. If, therefore, anyone could refuse appointment as a judge of first instance to a particular district, when once appointment to this district is accepted, he has exactly the same right to refuse an appointment to another district. No other person could be placed in the position of this Judge of First Instance since another rule of public officers is, that an appointment may not be made to an office which is not vacant.

2. In our judgment, the language of the proviso to section 155 of the Administrative Code, interpreted with reference to the law of public officers, does not empower the Governor-General to force upon the judge of one district an appointment to another district against his will, thereby removing him from his district.

3. judges of first instance are removable only through a fixed procedure. Moreover, impeachment proceedings, as conducted by the Supreme Court, may be in the nature of jurisdiction, conferred upon the Supreme Court by ratification of the Congress of the United States,

4. the SC opinion IS that the reasonable force of the language used in the proviso to Section 155 of the Administrative Code taken in connection with the whole of the Judiciary Law, and the accepted canons of interpretation, and the principles of the law of public officers, that a Judge of First Instance may be made a judge of another district only with his consent.