MLNDC2A I8AkkA CCMLLLC kCMAN

94-95 (won in Recall); 95-94; 98-01; 01(questioned)

Roman's election as governor oI Bataan on May 14, 2001 allegedly being contrary to Art. X,
8 oI the Constitution, which provides that:
The term oI oIIice oI elective local oIIicials, except barangay oIIicials, which shall be
determined by law, shall be three years and no such oIIicial shall serve Ior more than three
consecutive terms. Voluntary renunciation oI the oIIice Ior any length oI time shall not be
considered as an interruption in the continuity oI his service Ior the Iull term Ior which he was
elected.
AIter due deliberation, the Court voted 8 to 7 to DISMISS the petition:
ConsLlLuLlon envlslons a conLlnuous and an unlnLerrupLed servlce for Lhree full Lerms before Lhe
proscrlpLlon applles1herefore noL belng a full Lerm a recall Lerm should noL be counLed or used as a
basls for Lhe dlsquallflcaLlon wheLher served prlor (as ln Lhls case) or subsequenL (as ln Lhe 5octotes
case) Lo Lhe nlneyear full LhreeLerm llmlL
perlod from !une 28 1994 Lo !une 30 1993 durlng whlch respondenL Leonardo 8 8oman served as
governor of 8aLaan by vlrLue of a recall elecLlon held ln 1993 should noL be counLed Slnce on May 14
2001 respondenL had prevlously served as governor of 8aLaan for only Lwo consecuLlve Lerms (1993
1998 and 19982001) hls elecLlon on LhaL day was acLually only hls Lhlrd Lerm for Lhe same poslLlon
a recall Lerm should noL be consldered as one full Lerm because a conLrary lnLerpreLaLlon would ln
effecL cuL shorL Lhe elecLed offlclals servlce Lo less Lhan nlne years and shorLchange hls consLlLuenLs
1he deslre Lo prevenL monopoly of pollLlcal power should be balanced agalnsL Lhe need Lo uphold Lhe
voLers obvlous preference
ulSSLn1 a recall Lerm consLlLuLes one Lerm and LhaL LoLally Lo lgnore a recall Lerm ln deLermlnlng Lhe
LhreeLerm llmlL would allow local offlclals Lo serve for more Lhan nlne consecuLlve years conLrary Lo Lhe
manlfesL lnLenL of Lhe framers of Lhe ConsLlLuLlon
CSMLNA (Cebu Gov) v CCMLLLC
consLlLuLlonallLy of 8epubllc AcL 7036 An AcL rovldlng for Lhe naLlonal and Local LlecLlons ln 1992
ave Lhe Way for Synchronlzed and SlmulLaneous LlecLlons 8eglnnlng 1993
vlolaLes Lhe mandaLe of Lhe ConsLlLuLlon for Lhe holdlng of synchronlzed naLlonal and local elecLlons on
Lhe second Monday of May 1992
by holdlng local elecLlons nov 1992 Lhus offlclals shall hold over beyond !une 30 1992 whlch ln
effecL shorLens Lhe Lerm or Lenure of offlce of local offlclals Lo be elecLed'
Article XVIII, Sections 2 and 5 (Transitory Provisions) oI the 1987 Constitution, which
reads
Sec. 2. The Senators, Members oI the House oI Representatives and the local oIIicials Iirst
elected under this Constitution shall serve until noon of June 30, 1992.
Sec. 5. The six-year term oI the incumbent President and Vice President elected in the
February 7, 1986 election is, for purposes of synchroni:ation of elections, hereby extended
to noon of June 30, 1992.The Iirst regular elections Ior President and Vice-President under
this Constitution shall be held on the second Monday oI May, 1992.
LvldenL LhaL Lerms of offlce of SenaLors Members of Lhe Pouse of 8epresenLaLlves Lhe local offlclals
Lhe resldenL and Lhe vlceresldenL have been synchronlzed Lo end on Lhe same hour daLe and year
noon of !une 30 1992 1haL Lhe elecLlon for SenaLors Members of Lhe Pouse of 8epresenLaLlves and
Lhe local offlclals (under Sec 2 ArL xvlll) wlll have Lo be synchronlzed wlLh Lhe elecLlon for resldenL
and vlce resldenL
8epubllc AcL 7036 provldes for Lwo (2) separaLe elecLlons ln 1992 clearly vlolaLlve of Lhe ConsLlLuLlon
because lL provldes for Lhe holdlng of a desynchronlzed elecLlon
CLher vlolaLlons
Constitution which provides that the local oIIicial Iirst elected under the Constitution shall serve
until noon oI June 30, 1992. But under Sec. 3 oI RA 7056, these incumbent local oIIicials shall
hold over beyond June 30, 1992 and shall serve until their successors shall have been duly
elected and qualiIied;
Section 8, Article X oI the Constitution which provides that:The term oI oIIice oI elective local
oIIicials, except barangay oIIicials which shall be determined by law shall be three years and no
such oIIicial shall serve Ior more than three consecutive terms. Those to be elected will be
serving Ior only two years and seven months, that is, Irom November 30, 1992 to June 30, 1995,
not three years as provided Ior by the Constitution.
Section 9, Article IX oI the Constitution provides that: Unless otherwise Iixed by the
Commission in special cases, the election period shall commence ninety days beIore the day oI
election and shall end thirty days thereaIter. RA 7056 provides Ior a diIIerent campaign period
AGUS1IN 8 DCCLNA peLlLloner
versus
1nL SANGGUNIANG ANLALAWIGAN CI LAS1LkN SAMAk GCVLkNCk LU1GAkDC 8 8Ak8C VICL
GCVLkNCk CAMILC A CAMLNICk1L 8CAkD MLM8LkS MAkCCS ALIDC NCNA1C GLkNA ISMALL
knC MAkCLLINC C LI8ANAN NICCLAS IMLN1LL GLNLkCSC U and A11 SCCkA1LS 8 ALAk
Luls 8 CaplLo who had been elecLed Lo and was servlng as a member of Lhe Sanggunlang anlalawlgan
of LasLern Samar (SLS) dled ln offlce uocena was appolnLed Lo succeed hlm
The appointment was issued on November 19, 1990,

by Secretary Luis T. Santos oI the

Department oI Local Government
Docena then Look hls oaLh of offlce before Speaker 8amon v MlLra of Lhe Pouse of 8epresenLaLlves on
november 22 1990
2
and assumed offlce as member of Lhe SLS
1hen Alar was appolnLed also by SecreLary Luls 1 SanLos Lo Lhe poslLlon already occupled by uocena
SLS passed 8esoluLlon no 73
S
recognlzlng Alar raLher Lhan uocena as Lhe leglLlmaLe successor of Lhe
laLe 8oard Member CaplLo
SLS was ln effecL reversed by SecreLary SanLos when he addressed a recall leLLer Lo Alar 1hls acLlon
was afflrmed ln a llrsL lndorsemenL daLed !anuary 4 1991 slgned by Pead LxecuLlve AsslsLanL ArLuro v
Agundo of Lhe ueparLmenL of Local CovernmenL
1he reacLlon of Lhe SLS was Lo pass 8esoluLlon no 1 daLed !anuary 8 1991
8
where lL relLeraLed lLs
prevlous recognlLlon of Alar and declared LhaL Lhe recall order lssued by SecreLary SanLos daLed
uecember 19 1990 recalllng Lhe appolnLmenL of ALLy Alar has no legal basls ln facL and ln law and
lssued Lo flL hls whlmslcal caprlclous and wlshywashy deslres Lo Lhe deLrlmenL of decency and due
process of law
SecreLary SanLos lssued on lebruary 20 1991 anoLher recall order Lhls Llme addressed Lo uocena
oppoloteJ by took ootb A oppoloteJ by 5l5 tecoqolzeJ A tecolleJ A 5l5 stlll
tecoqolzeJ A tecolleJ
uocena Lhen came Lo Lhls CourL ln a peLlLlon for mooJomos Lo compel Lhe respondenLs Lo recognlze and
admlL hlm as a lawfully appolnLed member of Lhe Sanggunlang anlalawlgan of LasLern Samar
Section 50 oI the Local Government Code reading as Iollows: Sec. 50. !ermanent Jacancies in
Local Sanggunians. In case oI permanent vacancy in the sangguniang panlalawigan,
sangguniang panlungsod, sangguniang bayan, or sangguniang barangay, the President oI the
Philippines, upon recommendation oI the Minister oI Local Government, shall appoint a
qualiIied person to Iill the vacancy in the sangguniang panlalawigan and the sangguniang
panlungsod; the governor, in the case oI sangguniang bayan members; or the city or municipal
mayor, in the case oI sangguniang barangay members. Except Ior the sangguniang barangay, the
appointee shall come from the political party of the sanggunian member who caused the
vacancy, and shall serve the unexpired term oI the vacant oIIice.
boLh uocena and CaplLo ran for Lhe provlnclal board ln Lhe 1988 elecLlons under Lhe banner of Lakas ng
8ansa LaLer Lhey boLh [olned Lhe Laban ng uemokraLlkong lllplno under Lhe leadershlp of Speaker
MlLra who admlnlsLered Lhe oaLh of offlce Lo hlm when he was appolnLed Lo Lhe SLS on november 19
1990 uocena argues LhaL he has a preferenLlal rlghL Lo Lhe dlspuLed offlce even on equlLable grounds
because he placed nlnLh ln Lhe elecLlon nexL Lo CaplLo compared Lo Alar who dld noL even run for Lhe
offlce
lrom Lhe Lenor of Lhe appolnLmenL exLended Lo uocena on november 19 1990 Lhere ls no quesLlon
LhaL lL was lnLended Lo be petmooeot Lo flll Lhe permanenL vacancy caused by CaplLos deaLh As such lL
was Lo be valld for Lhe unexplred porLlon of Lhe Lerm of Lhe deceased member 1he sald appolnLmenL
had been accepLed by uocena who had ln facL already assumed offlce as member of Lhe SLS as per
cerLlflcaLlon of Lhe rovlnclal SecreLary

lor all legal lnLenLs and purposes Lhe uocena's appolnLmenL

had already become compleLe and enforceable aL Lhe Llme lL was supposed Lo have been superseded
by Lhe appolnLmenL ln favor of Alar
uocenas appolnLmenL havlng been lssued and accepLed earller and Lhe uocena havlng already
assumed offlce he could noL LhereafLer be [usL recalled and replaced Lo accommodaLe Alar 1he
appolnLmenL was permanenL ln naLure and for Lhe unexplred porLlon of Lhe CaplLo's Lerm uocena had
already acqulred securlLy of Lenure ln Lhe poslLlon and could be removed Lherefrom only for any of Lhe
causes and conformably Lo Lhe procedure prescrlbed by Lhe Local CovernmenL Code
2
1hese
requlremenLs could noL be clrcumvenLed by Lhe slmple process of recalllng hls appolnLmenL
Lhe recognlLlon and admlsslon of Lhe uocena ls a mlnlsLerlal duLy SLS have no auLhorlLy for Lhe
dlscreLlon Lo revlew and lf Lhey so declde re[ecL Lhe SecreLarys appolnLmenL laced wlLh a sLrlcLly legal
quesLlon Lhey had no rlghL and compeLence Lo resolve lL ln Lhelr dlscreLlon WhaL Lhey should have
done was reserve Lhelr [udgmenL on Lhe maLLer leavlng lL Lo Lhe courLs of [usLlce Lo declde whlch of Lhe
confllcLlng clalms should be upheld As a local leglslaLlve body sub[ecL Lo Lhe general supervlslon of Lhe
resldenL of Lhe hlllpplnes Lhe SLS had no dlscreLlon Lo rule on Lhe valldlLy of Lhe declslons of Lhe
SecreLary of Local CovernmenL acLlng as her alLer ego
DL kAMA v CA
de Rama wrote a CSC seeking the recall of the appointments of fourteen (14) municipal employees. on
the allegation that the appointments of the said employees were "midnight appointments of the former
mayor

in violation of Article V, Section 15 of the 1987
Constitution, which provides that two months immediately before
the next presidential elections and up to the end of his term, a
President or Acting President shall not make appointments, except
temporary appointments to executive positions when continued
vacancies therein will prejudice public service or endanger public
safety.

an appointment accepted by the appointee cannot be
withdrawn or revoked by the appointing authority and shall
remain in force and in effect until disapproved by the
Commission.

DAVID v COMELEC
Contending that their term is five years, petitioners ask this Court to order the cancellation of the
scheduled barangay election this coming May 12, 1997 and to reset it to the second Monday of
May, 1999.

Clear Legislative Intentand Design to Limit Term to Three Years
RA 7160, the term of office of barangay officials was fixed at "three (3) years which shall begin
after the regular election of barangay officials on the second Monday of May 1994.

Three-Year Term Not Repugnant, to Constitution
Art10 Sec. 8. The term of office of elective local officials, except barangay officiaIs, which shaII be
determined by Iaw, shall be three years, and no such official shall serve for more than three consecutive
terms. Voluntary renunciation of the office for any length of time shall not be considered as an interruption
in the continuity of his service for the full term for which he was elected.

Constitution did not expressly prohibit Congress from fixing any term of office for barangay
officials. (can be 3 yrs)

!etitioners Estopped From Challenging Their Three-Year Terms
they were elected under 7610


RAMOS v CA

Ramos et al sued municipality to have ordinances declared null. Municipality was represented
by pvt atty Romanillos and prov'l atty regalado. (collaborating counsels)

Ramos et al questioned romanillos's personality to appear, but only after proceedings had
started. n the end romanillos withdraw and Regalado adopted the proceedings undertaken by
Romanillos.