Aldaba v. Comelec| G.R No. 188078 | January 25, 2010 | Carpio, J.

Nature: Original action for Prohibition to declare unconstitutional RA 9591

Petitioners: Victorino Aldaba, Carlo Jolette Fajardo, Julio Morada, and Minerva Morada
Respondents: Commission on Elections
TOPIC: Creation and Conversion > Population
SUMMARY: Congress passed RA 9591, creating a separate legislative district for the city of
Malolos, Bulacan in time for the May 2010 elections. Petitioners, (taxpayers, registered voters,
and residents of Malolos) assail the constitutionality of RA 9159 for failing to meet the
minimum population threshold of 250,000 for a city to merit representation in Congress.
Congress used an undated Certification of Regional Director Alberto Miranda, who didn’t have
basis nor authority to issue the Certification, in justifying RA 9591. Respondents claim that
reliance on this certificate is non-justiciable. But the SC held that district apportionment
laws are subject to review by the courts. Petition was GRANTED and RA 9591 was
declared UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

Rule: a city whose population has increased to 250,000 is entitled to have a

legislative district only in the immediately following election after the attainment
of the 250,000 population. Certifications on demographic projections can be issued only if
such projections are declared official by the National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB),
and only by the NSO Administrator or his designated certifying officer.

FACTS
 RA 9591 lapsed into law on May 1, 2009, creating a separate legislative district for the city of Malolos in
Bulacan.
 Petitioners (taxpayers, registered voters, and residents of Malolos) assail the constitutionality of RA 9159 for
failing to meet the minimum population threshold of 250,000 for a city to merit representation in Congress.
 Respondent, thru the SolGen, contends that the Congress’ use of projected population is non-justiciable as it
involves a determination on the wisdom of the standard adopted by the legislature to determine compliance
with a constitutional requirement.

ISSUE: WON RA 9591 can be declared unconstitutional? – YES

WON Malolos has a population of 250k for the purpose of creating a legislative district in time
for the 2010 May election? – NO

 Congress, in passing RA 9591, relied on an undated Certification of Regional Director Alberto Miranda of Region
III of the National Statistics Office. This Certification used demographic projections, and states that:
 the population of Malolos as of May 1, 2000 is 175,291;
 the population growth rate is 3.78% per year; and
 Malolos’ population with be 254,030 by 2010.
 But, this Certification is without legal effect because RD Miranda has no basis and no authority to
issue it.
 Certification is void on it’s face because from the data it presented, the population by 2010 will
only be 241,550.
 Section 6, Executive Order No. 135 provided for the Guidelines on the Issuance of Certification of Population
sizes.
 Certifications on demographic projections can be issued only if such projections are declared official by
the National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB).  It doesn’t state that the projections have been
declared official by the NSCB.
 Certifications based on demographic projections can be issued only by the NSO Administrator or his
designated certifying officer.  There is no showing that RD Miranda has been designated by the NSO
Administrator as a certifying officer.
 Intercensal population projections (such as this) must be as of the middle of every year. [intercensal =
between census]
 [See notes for summary of rules]
 A city whose population has increased to 250,000 is entitled to have a legislative district only in the immediately
following election after the attainment of the 250,000 population.
 No showing that Malolos will attain a population of 250k before the May 10, 2010 elections.
 Even using the August 2007 population of Malolos and compounding the growth rate every year,
the population will grow only to 249,333 as of August 1, 2010.
 Any population projection forming the basis for the creation of a legislative district must be based on an official
and credible source. NSO has no published population projections for individual municipalities or cities but only
for entire regions and provinces.
 SolGen: Congress’ choice of means to comply with the population requirement in the creation of a legislative
district is non-justiciable
 SC: Questions calling for judicial determination of compliance with constitutional standards by other
branches of the government are fundamentally justiciable. The resolution of such questions falls within
the checking function of this Court under the 1987 Constitution to determine whether there has been a
grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of any branch or
instrumentality of the Government.
 SC: District apportionment laws are subject to review by the courts. Compliance with constitutional
standards on the creation of legislative districts is important because the aim of legislative
apportionment is to equalize population and voting power among districts.

DISPOSITION: WHEREFORE, we GRANT the petition. We DECLARE Republic Act No. 9591
UNCONSTITUTIONAL for being violative of Section 5(3), Article VI of the 1987 Constitution
and Section 3 of the Ordinance appended to the 1987 Constitution.

NOTES:

Resolution dated March 15, 2010

 Comelec maintains that Congress’ reliance to the Certification, as well as other source, is non-justiciable.
 If laws creating legislative districts are unquestionably within the ambit of this Courts judicial review power, then
there is more reason to hold justiciable subsidiary questions impacting on their constitutionality.
 Mere impact of the suit upon the political situation does not render it political instead of judicial.
 The population indicators Congress used to measure Malolos City’s compliance with the constitutional limitation
are unreliable and non-authoritative. None of them qualifies as authoritative population indicator under EO 135.
 The 2007 Census of Population PMS 3 Progress Enumeration Report merely contains preliminary data on
the population census of Bulacan which were subsequently adjusted to reflect actual population.
 Certification of the City of Malolos Water District: EO 135 excludes from its ambit certifications from a
public utility gathered incidentally in the course of pursuing its business. To elevate the water districts so-
called population census to the level of credibility NSO certifications enjoy is to render useless the
existence of NSO.
 Certification of the Liga ng Barangay: not authoritative because the Liga ng Barangay is not authorized to
conduct population census. The non-NSO entities EO 135 authorizes to conduct population census are
local government units (that is, province, city, municipality or barangay) subject to the prior approval of
the NSCB and under the technical supervision of the NSO.
 By presenting these alternative population indicators with their widely divergent population
figures, the COMELEC unwittingly highlighted the danger of relying on non-NSO authorized
certifications.
 SolGen: the 2007 census for Malolos City was sloped to make it appear that come Year 2010, the population
count for Malolos would still fall short of the constitutional requirement.
 This an unbecoming attack of the processes of the government’s census authority has no place in our
judicial system. Absent convincing proof of so-called data sloping, the NSO enjoys the presumption of the
regularity in the performance of its functions.
 To take our Malolos from the former First Legislative District of Bulacan will leave the town of Bulacan isolated
from the rest of the geographic mass of that district. This contravenes the requirement in Section 5(3), Article VI
of the Constitution that each legislative district shall comprise, as far as practicable, contiguous, compact, and
adjacent territory.
 The practicable alternative for Congress was to include the municipality of Bulacan in Malolos Citys legislative
district. Although unorthodox, the resulting contiguous and compact district fulfills the constitutional
requirements of geographic unity and population floor, ensuring efficient representation of the minimum mass of
constituents.
 That the statue will improve the present set-up, as claimed, is no excuse to approve a transgression of
constitutional limitations.
 DENIED WITH FINALITY.

Section 6, Executive Order No. 135 provided for the Guidelines on the Issuance of Certification of Population sizes

Census Years Intercensal Population Estimates

Certification Based on actual population counts Made on the basis of a set of demographic
projections or estimates declared official
(NSCB).
Census reference May 1, 1990 As of the middle of every year
Smallest geographic are Barangay City or municipality
for which a certification
may be issued*
Issued by Provincial Census Officers or by the NSO Administrator or his designated
Regional Census Officers certifying officer
* For off-census years, approval must be sought from the NSCB and the conduct must be under the technical
supervision of NSO.