De Guia v. Hon. Commission on Elections concur.

May 6, 1992 | Bellosillo, J. | Departure from Literal Interpretation

RATIO:
PETITIONER: MANUEL T. DE GUIA, in his capacity as Councilor of the
Municipality of Parañaque, Metro Manila 1. The incorrect wording of RA 7166 gives leeway for varied interpretations;
RESPONDENTS: HON. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS hence, the Court seeks to deconstruct the statute based on its purpose
and intention in order to clarify ambiguities.
SUMMARY: RA 7166 was passed, which caused additional districts to be
formed. The law was viewed by De Guia to effectively change how the 1992 Following the procedure provided by said Section 3 of the law to different
election will happen, and he asserts that based on the statute, all members of the classes, it is found that:
different Sanggunians should be elected at large.
 provinces and cities with more than 1 legislative district shall
DOCTRINE: Departure from literal interpretation – The ambiguity of the law elect by district
due to its wording gives way for the Court to interpret laws based on legislative  provindence with only 1 legislative district that have been
intention. apportioned another legislative district shall follow election by
district
 13 municipalities in Metro Manila follow election by district
under regular elections
 Only Sangguniang Panlungsod of the single-district cities
and the Sangguniang Bayan of the municipalities outside
FACTS:
Metro Manila will be elected at large on May 11, 1992.
1. Congress passed RA 7166, which was signed on November 26, 1991. The
said law amends how members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan,
Sangguniang Panlungsod, and Sangguniang Bayan are elected.
2. De Guia is an elected member of the Sangguniang Bayan of Parañaque
since 1988. He claims that the Paragraph C under Sec. 3 of RA 7166 will
disrupt the election of Sangguniang Bayan members as it was not explicitly
stated. As per Paragraph D of same law, it is assumed that their election
would also occur on May 11, 1992.
3. COMELEC argues that only elective members shall be voted upon during
May 11, 1992. De Guia asserts that all members should be elected at this
time.

ISSUE/s:
1. WoN all members of different Sanggunian should be elected at large – NO

RULING:

WHEREFORE, finding no abuse of discretion, much less grave, on the part of

respondent, and for lack of merit, the instant petition is DISMISSED. No costs.

SO ORDERED.

Narvasa, C.J., Melencio-Herrera, Gutierrez, Jr., Cruz, Paras, Feliciano, Padilla,

Bidin, Griño-Aquino, Medialdea, Regalado, Davide, Jr., Romero and Nocon, JJ.,