Camid V Office of Pres.
Camid V Office of Pres.
Camid V Office of Pres.
FACTS:
The present petition has its roots in the decision of the case Pelaez v. Auditor General in 1965.
HELD:
(1) No. Andong is not entitled to recognition as de facto municipal corporation. The Municipality of Andong never existed as EO
N0. 107 establishing Andong was declared void ab initio (from inception) by the court in the case of Pelaez v. Auditor General.
Further, the Pelaez case was never reversed by the court but was rather affirmed in many cases. Finally, No subsequent legislation
has been passed since 1965 creating a Municipality of Andong. Given these facts, there is hardly any reason to elaborate why
Andong does not exist as a duly constituted municipality.
Ratio:
There are eminent differences between the case of Andong and the cases of San Andres (case relied upon by petitioner) which
was recognized as de facto municipal corporation.
In the case of San Andres the court has since held that where a municipality created as such by executive order is later impliedly
recognized and its acts are accorded legal validity, its creation can no longer be questioned. However, the case of Sinacaban ruled
that there was no valid creation of a municipal corporation, although it was similarly created under an executive fiat like San
Andres because, unlike Sinacaban, San Andres has the following factors:
(1) the fact that for nearly 30 years the validity of the creation of the municipality had never been challenged;
(2) the fact that no quo warranto suit was filed to question the validity of the executive order creating such municipality; and
(3) the fact that the municipality was later classified as a fifth class municipality, organized as part of a municipal circuit court, and
considered part of a legislative district in the Constitution apportioning the seats in the House of Representatives.
Above all, it was held that whatever doubt there might be as to the de jure character of the municipality must be deemed to have
been put to rest by the Local Government Code of 1991 (R. A. No. 7160), 442(d) of which provides that "municipal districts
organized pursuant to presidential issuances or executive orders and which have their respective sets of elective officials holding
office at the time of the effectivity of this Code shall henceforth be considered as regular municipalities."