Allan Paguia vs Office of the President

G.R. No. 176273

FACTS:

Petitioner Paguia as a citizen and taxpayer filed an action for the writ of
certiorari to invalidate President Arroyo’s nomination of former Chief Justice
Hilario Davide, Jr. as Permanent Representative to the United Nations for violation
of Section 23 of Republic Act No. 7157 because it is provided by the said law that
65 years of age is the mandatory retirement age of all officers and employees of the
Department of Foreign Affairs and that Hilario Davide Jr. was already 70 years old
at that time. To have legal standing, therefore, a suitor must show that he has
sustained or will sustain a "direct injury" as a result of a government action, or
have a "material interest in the issue affected by the challenged official act

ISSUE:

Whether petitioner lack the capacity to file the petition and whether it is
already moot and academic.

DECISION:

Petitioner’s suspension from the practice of law bars him from performing
any activity in or outside of the court which requires the application of the law,
knowledge and experience about it. Also, a supervening event, that is, Hilario
Davide, Jr. resigned from his post at the United Nations on April 2010, renders the
petition moot and academic.