G1A. ALDABA VS.

COMELEC
G.R. 188078| January 25, 2010 | CARPIO, J.
CARLA | Topic: Legislative > Organization
Case Summary: This case is an original action for Prohibition to declare unconstitutional, R.A. 9591 which creates a legislative
district for the City of Malolos, Bulacan. Allegedly, the R.A. violates the minimum population requirement for the creation of a
legislative district in a city. SC ruled that the R.A. 9591 is 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 on the grounds that, as required by the 1987
Constitution, a city must have at least 250,000 population.

Doctrine: Article VI Sec 5 (3). Each legislative district shall comprise, as far as practicable, contiguous, compact and adjacent
territory. Each city with a population of at least two hundred fifty thousand, or each province, shall have at least one
representative.

Petitioner: VICTORINO B. ALDABA, CARLO JOLETTE S. FAJARDO, JULIO G. MORADA, and MINERVA ALDABA MORADA,

Respondent: COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS

Facts:
This case is an original action for Prohibition to declare unconstitutional, R.A. 9591 which creates a legislative district for the City of
Malolos, Bulacan. Allegedly, the R.A. violates the minimum population requirement for the creation of a legislative district in a city.
Before the May 1, 2009, the province of Bulacan was represented in Congress through 4 legislative districts. Before the passage of the
Act through House Bill 3162 (later converted to House Bill 3693) and Senate Bill 1986, Malolos City had a population of 223,069 in
2007.

House Bill 3693 cites the undated Certification, as requested to be issued to Mayor Domingo (then Mayor of Malolos), by Region III
Director Miranda of NSO that the population of Malolos will be as projected, 254,030 by the year 2010. 

Petitioners contended that R.A. 9591 is unconstitutional for failing to meet the minimum population threshold of 250,000 for a city
to merit representative in Congress.

Issue/s:
(i) Whether or not R.A. 9591, “An act creating a legislative district for the City of Malolos, Bulacan” is unconstitutional as petitioned
(ii) Whether or not the City of Malolos has at least 250,000 actual or projected

Holding:
Supreme Court ruled that the R.A. 9591 is 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 on the grounds that, as required by the 1987 Constitution, a city
must have at least 250,000 population. In relation with this, Regional Director Miranda issued a Certification which is based on the
demographic projections, was declared without legal effect because the Regional Director has no basis and no authority to issue the
Certification based on the following statements supported by Section 6 of E.O. 135 as signed by President Fidel V. Ramos, which
provides:

a) The certification on demographic projection can be issued only if such are declared official by the National Statistics
Coordination Board. In this case, it was not stated whether the document have been declared official by the NSCB.

b) The certification can be issued only by the NSO Administrator or his designated certifying officer, in which case, the
Regional Director of Central Luzon NSO is unauthorized.

c) The population projection must be as of the middle of the year, which in this case, the Certification issued by Director
Miranda was undated.

Hence, the Certification is void on its face because based on its own growth rate assumption, the population of Malolos will be less than
250,000 in the year 2010. In addition, intercensal demographic projections cannot be made for the entire year. In any event, 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.

Ruling:
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.

Relevant Provisions:

Section 6 of Executive Order No. 1358 dated 6 November 1993 issued by President Fidel V. Ramos provides:
SECTION 6. Guidelines on the Issuance of Certification of Population sizes Pursuant to Section 7, 386, 442, 450, 452, and 461 of the
New Local Government Code.

(a) The National Statistics Office shall issue certification on data that it has collected and processed as well as on statistics
that it has estimated.

(b) For census years, certification on population size will be based on actual population census counts; while for the
intercensal years, the certification will be made on the basis of a set of demographic projections or estimates declared official
by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).

(c) Certification of population census counts will be made as of the census reference date, such as May 1, 1990, while those of
intercensal population estimates will be as of middle of every year.

(d) Certification of population size based on projections may specify the range within which the true count is deemed likely to
fall. The range will correspond to the official low and high population projections.

(e) The smallest geographic area for which a certification on population size may be issued will be the barangay for census
population counts, and the city or municipality for intercensal estimates. If an LGU wants to conduct its own population census,
during off–census years, approval must be sought from the NSCB and the conduct must be under the technical supervision of
NSO from planning to data processing.

(f) Certifications of population size based on published census results shall be issued by the Provincial Census Officers or by
the Regional Census Officers. Certifications based on projections or estimates, however, will be issued by the NSO
Administrator or his designated certifying officer.