Navarro vs.

Ermita
FACTS:
RA 9355 was enacted into law on October 2, 2006. The COMELEC conducted
the mandatory plebiscite and was approved by majority of the people from both the
mother province of Surigao Del Norte and the proposed province of Dinagat Islands.
The President approved the interim provincial officials and elected their new set of
officials in the 2007 elections.
Petitioners Navarro challenged the constitutionality of RA 9355 on the grounds
that it did not meet the criteria set under Section 461 of the LGC since it only has a land
area of 802.12 sq. km. and a population of only 106,951. Under the LGC, the criteria for
the creation of provinces are income of at least P20 million and either a contiguous
territory of at least 2,000 sq. km or a population of not less than 250,000.
The Court granted the petition holding that RA 9355 is unconstitutional for failure
to comply with the requirements on population and land area in the creation of a
province under the LGC. Consequently, it declared the proclamation of Dinagat and the
election of its officials as null and void and likewise declared void the provision on
Article 9(2) of the LGC-IRR for unduly expanding the law.
Art. 9(2) of the IRR provides for an exemption of the land area requirement if the
province is composed of at least one or more islands, which was not provided under
Sec. 461 of the LGC. The Republic and Dinagat appealed the SC Decision but the SC
denied the motions and issued an order for Entry of Judgment on October 5, 2010.
However, movant-intervenors (election winners in the 2010 elections for the
province of Dinagat) filed a motion to intervene on June 18, 2010. They allege that their
elections would necessarily be annulled since the province will revert to its previous
status as part of the 1st legislative district of Surigao and another special election will be
conducted. They posed three main arguments to challenge the resolution of the Court
(which denied the motion for reconsideration by the Republic and Dinagat): (1) RA 9355
operates as an act of Congress amending Sec. 461 of the LGC, (2) the exemption from
territorial contiguity includes the exemption from the application of the land area
requirement, and (3) the Operative Fact Doctrine is applicable in the case.
ISSUES:
Whether or not Art. 9(2) of the IRR-LGC is void for inserting an exemption for
land area requirement which is not found in the express letter of the LGC.
Whether or not Dinagat meets the criteria set for creation of a province under the
LGC.
RULING:
(1) The Court ruled in the negative. The central policy considerations in creation of
LGUs are economic viability, efficient administration, and capability to deliver
basic services. The primordial criterion in the creation of LGUs is economic
viability. Sec. 442 and 450 provides that the land area requirement can be
dispensed with if the municipality (442) or city (450) is composed of one or more
islands. However, the exemption is inadvertently omitted in Sec. 461 for the
creation of provinces.

The Court held that it would be absurd to apply the exemption only to cities and
municipalities but not to provinces and ruled that in contiguity and minimum land
area requirements should be liberally construed in order to achieve the desired
results. A strict construction would only defeat the purpose of local autonomy and
decentralization as enshrined in the Constitution.

Hence, the inclusion of the exemption in Art. 9(2) of the IRR-LGC was merely
intended to correct the congressional oversight in Sec. 461 of the LGC to reflect
the true legislative intent.

(2) The Court ruled in the affirmative. Since Dinagat is composed of islands and Art.
9(2) of the LGC-IRR providing for the exemption from the land area requirement
is valid, Dinagat is a valid and constitutional province since it met the
indispensable income requirement. At the time of its creation, its income is P82
million which is four times the minimum requirement. Hence, its creation is
consistent with the policy considerations of economic viability and capability to
provide basic services to its constituents.