bc. sa TCR € ECEIV' 97 MAY Z019 NAMEPOSITION, RECORDS SECTION Ci Republic ofthe Philippines “=== =! DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT DILG-NAPOLCOM Center, EDSA comer Quezon Avenue, West Triangle, Quezon City hit: wen. dlg.com ph HON. ROMULO O. HERNANDEZ O7 Hay garg San; Panlalawigan Membe rrounceofcamannessur PALG OPINION NO. £1 g agi Dear SP Member Hernandez: This pertains to your letter dated 23 January 2019, requesting for this Department's opinion on the herein quoted query, viz: “What political party that must nominate the SP Member who will be appointed in the last vacancy in the SP considering that the permanent vacancy was created by the resignation of the Vice- Governor, also a sanggunian member, and the position of senior SP Member who will also become vacant because of my elevation to the next higher position? Will it be the Liberal Party or my party which 4s the Nacionalista Party?” Per your letter, the elective position of Vice-Governor in the Provincial Government of Camarines Sur will become vacant effective 1 March 2019 due to resignation of your third-termer Vice-Governor Fortunato C. Pefia, a member of the Liberal Party. A letter of resignation was already forwarded and received by the Office of the President. You are an incumbent senior SP Member who belongs to the Nacionalista Party and will then succeed the Vice-Governor post by operation of law. You also believe that a Vice Governor is also a member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Hence, your herein query. Foremost, Section 45(b) of Republic Act No. 7160, otherwise known as the “Local Government Code” (LGC) provides that only the nominee of the political party under which the sanggunian member concerned had been elected and whose elevation to the Position next higher in rank created the last vacancy in the sanggunian shall be appointed. The appointee shall come from the same political party as that of the sanggunian member who caused the vacancy and shall serve the unexpired term of the vacant office. ‘The above-mentioned provision of the LGC was bolstered in the landmark case of Navarro vs. Court of Appeals, where, the Supreme Court ruled and has explained that in case of death of the Mayor, the “ast vacancy’ mentioned in Section 45(b) in relation to No. 141307, 28 March 2001paragraph (c) of the Local Government Code of 1991 is neither the vacancy caused by the elevation of the Vice Mayor to the Office of the Mayor nor the vacancy left by the last ranking sanggunian member when he was elevated to the 7 ranking position, but rather it is that vacancy caused by the elevation of the 1* ranking sanggunian member to the next higher rank, i.e. the Vice Mayor, by reason of succession. The Supreme Court ratiocinated that the reason behind the right given to a political party to nominate a replacement where a permanent vacancy occurs in the sanggunian is to maintain the party representation as willed by the people in the election. This Department believes that in electoral democracy, conscientious people may choose candidates not only because of their personal attributes and qualifications but also because of their political party affiliation. Accordingly, in the Navarro case, the political party nomination should be issued by the political party of the 1* ranking sanggunian member because he was the one who caused the last vacancy in the sanggunian due to his elevation to the position of Vice-Governor?, Applying the foregoing, your elevation to the position of Vice-Governor gave way to the last vacancy. In short, you have caused the vacancy. Hence in this case, Section 45(b) of the LGC governs. Considering that you run under a political party, that is, the Nacionalista Party, then the appointee to the 8" ranking position should also belong to Nacionalista Party. As to your contention that a Vice-Governor is also a member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, the Supreme Court in the case of Javier and Piccio III vs, Gadiao, et.aP has ruled that: “The Vice Governor, as the Presiding Officer, shall be considered a part of the SP for purposes of ascertaining if a quorum exists. In determining the number which constitutes as the majority vote, the Vice Governor is excluded. The Vice Governor's right to vote is merely contingent and arises only when there is a tie to break.” (Underscoring ours) Hence, the vice-governor is considered part of the SP for purposes of ascertaining if there is @ quorum but excluded in determining the majority vote. We hope we have enlightened you on the matter. Very truly yours, By Authority of the Secretary: MARIVEI/C. SACENDONCILLO, CESO IIL Undersecretary CC: Atty. Anthony C. Nuyda Regional Director DILG-Region V 1390 r * DILG Legal Opinion No. 44, S.2015, 9 November 2015 "GR. No, 185369, 3 August 2016