University of the Philippines College of Law | LocGov | D2021

Topic Part I. Introduction: History and Basic Concepts > Local governments, administrative regions, autonomous
regions
Case Name Bagabuyo vs COMELEC
Case No. & Date G.R. No. 176970. December 8, 2008
Ponente Brion, J.
Petitioners ROGELIO Z. BAGABUYO
Respondents COMELEC

Summary (recit- RA 9371 was passed, increasing Cagayan de Oro’s legislative district from one to two. Petitioner filed the
friendly) petition to nullify the said law, arguing that the law divides the City of Cagayan de Oro as a local government
unit, and does not merely provide for the City’s legislative apportionment, therefore a plebiscite is required
as per Art X Sec 10 of the Consti. However, the Court ruled that RA 9371 is merely a legislative
reapportionment. Cagayan de Oro City politically remains a single unit and its administration is not divided
along territorial lines. Its territory remains completely whole and intact; there is only the addition of another
legislative district and the delineation of the city into two districts for purposes of representation in the
House of Representatives. Thus, Article X, Section 10 of the Constitution does not come into play and no
plebiscite is necessary to validly apportion Cagayan de Oro City into two districts.
Doctrine/s  Legislative apportionment is defined by Black’s Law Dictionary as the determination of the number
of representatives which a State, county or other subdivision may send to a legislative body. It is the
allocation of seats in a legislative body in proportion to the population; the drawing of voting district
lines so as to equalize population and voting power among the districts.
 A municipality has been defined as “a body politic and corporate constituted by the incorporation of
the inhabitants of a city or town for the purpose of local government thereof.”
 No plebiscite is required under legislative apportionment, only in division of LGUs
 A legislative apportionment does not mean, and does not even imply, a division of a local
government unit where the apportionment takes place.
 The local government units are political and corporate units. They are the territorial and political
subdivisions of the state. They possess legal personality on the authority of the Constitution and by
action of the Legislature. The Constitution defines them as entities that Congress can, by law, create,
divide, abolish, merge; or whose boundaries can be altered based on standards again established by
both the Constitution and the Legislature.

RELEVANT FACTS

Passage of RA 9371
On October 10, 2006, Cagayan de Oro’s then Congressman Constantino G. Jaraula filed and sponsored House Bill No. 5859: “An Act
Providing for the Apportionment of the Lone Legislative District of the City of Cagayan De Oro.” This law eventually became Republic
Act (R.A.) No. 9371. It increased Cagayan de Oro’s legislative district from one to two. On March 13, 2007, the COMELEC en Banc
promulgated Resolution No. 78376 implementing R.A. No. 9371.
 For the election of May 2007, CDO’s voters would be classified as belonging to either the first or the second district,
depending on their place of residence. The constituents of each district would elect their own representative to Congress as
well as eight members of the Sangguniang Panglungsod.

Present petition
Petitioner Bagabuyo filed the present petition against the COMELEC on March 27, 2007. In asking for the nullification of the law and
IRR, the petitioner argued;
1. That R.A. No. 9371 converts and divides the City of Cagayan de Oro as a local government unit , and does not merely
provide for the City’s legislative apportionment.
2. CDO City’s reapportionment under R.A. No. 9371 falls within the meaning of creation, division, merger, abolition or
substantial alteration of boundaries of cities under Section 10, Article X of the Constitution;
3. that the COMELEC cannot implement R.A. No. 9371 without providing for the rules, regulations and guidelines for the
conduct of a plebiscite, which is indispensable for the division or conversion of a local government unit.
4. the creation, division, merger, abolition or substantial alteration of boundaries of local government units involve a common
denominator—the material change in the political and economic rights of the local government units directly affected, as
well as of the people therein;
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5. a voter’s sovereign power to decide on who should be elected as the entire city’s Congressman was arbitrarily reduced by
at least one half because the questioned law and resolution only allowed him to vote and be voted for in the district
designated by the COMELEC

He prayed for the issuance of an order directing the respondents to cease and desist from implementing R.A. No. 9371 and
COMELEC Resolution No. 7837, and to revert instead to COMELEC Resolution No. 7801 which provided for a single legislative district
for Cagayan de Oro.
 The TRO/WPI was denied, thus the May 14 National and Local Elections proceeded according to the said law.

Respondent’s argument:
1) R.A. No. 9371 merely increased the representation of Cagayan de Oro City in the House of Representatives and Sangguniang
Panglungsod pursuant to Section 5, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution;
2) the criteria established under Section 10, Article X of the 1987 Constitution only apply when there is a creation, division, merger,
abolition or substantial alteration of boundaries of a province, city, municipality, or barangay; which does not take place in this
case
3) R.A. No. 9371 did not bring about any change in Cagayan de Oro’s territory, population and income classification; hence, no
plebiscite is required.

ISSUE AND RATIO DECIDENDI

Issue Ratio
1) (IMPT!!!) Does R.A. ***the Court first extensively discussed the concepts difference between Legislative districts and Local
No. 9371 merely Govts, then proceeded to discuss how it applies to the contested law***
provide for the
legislative 1) Apportionment of Legislative districts vs Division of Local Governments
reapportionment of Petitioner’s argument essentially proceeds from a misunderstanding of the constitutional concepts of
Cagayan de Oro City, apportionment of legislative districts and division of local government units.
or does it involve the  Legislative apportionment is defined by Black’s Law Dictionary as the determination of the
division and number of representatives which a State, county or other subdivision may send to a
conversion of a local legislative body. It is the allocation of seats in a legislative body in proportion to the
government unit? – population; the drawing of voting district lines so as to equalize population and voting
Legislative power among the districts.
reapportionment o Reapportionment, on the other hand, is the realignment or change in legislative
only, thus no districts brought about by changes in population and mandated by the
plebiscite constitutional requirement of equality of representation.
 Separately from the above, are the local government units that the Constitution itself
classified into provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays. In its strict and proper sense,
a municipality has been defined as “a body politic and corporate constituted by the
incorporation of the inhabitants of a city or town for the purpose of local government
thereof.”

Article VI Sec 5 (Legislative Article X, Section 10 (Division etc of boundary

apportionment) of LGUs)
Subject Lays down the rules on legislative Covers the creation, division, merger,
apportionment abolition or alteration of boundary of local
government units, i.e., of provinces, cities,
municipalities, and barangays
Similarity Under both provisions, the authority to act has been vested in the Legislature.
Concern The concern is political In contrast, this provision expressly speaks of
representation and the means to how local government units may be “created,
make a legislative district sufficiently divided, merged, abolished, or its boundary
represented so that the people can substantially altered.” Its concern is the
be effectively heard. Emphasis is commencement, the termination, and the
given to the number of people modification of local government units’
represented; the uniform and corporate existence and territorial coverage;
progressive ratio to be observed and it speaks of two specific standards that
among the representative districts; must be observed in implementing this
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and accessibility and commonality of concern, namely:

interests in terms of each district  the criteria established in the local
being, as far as practicable, government code
continuous, compact and adjacent  and the approval by a majority of
territory. the votes cast in a plebiscite in the
political units directly affected.
In terms of the people represented,
every city with at least 250,000 Under the Local Government Code, the
people and every province criteria of income, population and land area
(irrespective of population) is are specified as verifiable indicators of
entitled to one representative. viability and capacity to provide services. The
division or merger of existing units must
comply with the same requirements (since a
new local government unit will come into
being), provided that a division shall not
reduce the income, population, or land area
of the unit affected to less than the minimum
requirement prescribed in the Code.
Plebiscite Not required Plebiscite is expressly required by Consti and
requirement LGC.

History on the plebiscite requirement: Historically, it can be seen that the holding of a plebiscite was
never a requirement in legislative apportionment or reapportionment in the past Constitutions and laws
under American rule. After it became constitutionally entrenched, a plebiscite was also always
identified with the creation, division, merger, abolition and alteration of boundaries of local
government units, never with the concept of legislative apportionment.

Nature of Local Government and Legislative Districts.

The legislative district under Article VI, Section 5 is not a political subdivision through which functions
of government are carried out.
 It can more appropriately be described as a representative unit that may or may not encompass
the whole of a city or a province, but unlike the latter, it is not a corporate unit.
 Not being a corporate unit, a district does not act for and in behalf of the people comprising
the district; it merely delineates the areas occupied by the people who will choose a
representative in their national affairs.
 Unlike a province, which has a governor; a city or a municipality, which has a mayor; and a
barangay, which has a punong barangay, a district does not have its own chief executive. The
role of the congressman that it elects is to ensure that the voice of the people of the district is
heard in Congress, not to oversee the affairs of the legislative district. Not being a corporate
unit also signifies that it has no legal personality that must be created or dissolved and has no
capacity to act. Hence, there is no need for any plebiscite in the creation, dissolution or any
other similar action on a legislative district.

The local government units, on the other hand, are political and corporate units.
 They are the territorial and political subdivisions of the state. They possess legal personality
on the authority of the Constitution and by action of the Legislature. The Constitution defines
them as entities that Congress can, by law, create, divide, abolish, merge; or whose boundaries
can be altered based on standards again established by both the Constitution and the
Legislature.
 A local government unit’s corporate existence begins upon the election and qualification of
its chief executive and a majority of the members of its Sanggunian.
 As a political subdivision, a local government unit is an “instrumentality of the state in carrying
out the functions of government.” As a corporate entity with a distinct and separate juridical
personality from the State, it exercises special functions for the sole benefit of its constituents.
It acts as “an agency of the community in the administration of local affairs” and the mediums
through which the people act in their corporate capacity on local concerns.
 In light of these roles, the Constitution saw it fit to expressly secure the consent of the people
affected by the creation, division, merger, abolition or alteration of boundaries of local
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government units through a plebiscite.

These considerations clearly show the distinctions between a legislative apportionment or

reapportionment and the division of a local government unit. Historically and by its intrinsic nature, a
legislative apportionment does not mean, and does not even imply , a division of a local government
unit where the apportionment takes place. Thus, the plebiscite requirement OLNY applies to the
division of a province, city, municipality or barangay under the Local Government Code.

As applied in this case for R.A. No. 9371

R.A. No. 9371 is, on its face, purely and simply a reapportionment legislation passed in accordance with
the authority granted to Congress under Article VI, Section 5(4) of the Constitution. No division of
Cagayan de Oro City as a political and corporate entity takes place or is mandated. Cagayan de Oro City
politically remains a single unit and its administration is not divided along territorial lines. Its territory
remains completely whole and intact; there is only the addition of another legislative district and the
delineation of the city into two districts for purposes of representation in the House of
Representatives. Thus, Article X, Section 10 of the Constitution does not come into play and no
plebiscite is necessary to validly apportion Cagayan de Oro City into two districts.

Admittedly, the legislative reapportionment carries effects beyond the creation of another congressional
district in the city by providing, as reflected in COMELEC Resolution No. 7837, for additional
Sangguniang Panglunsod seats to be voted for along the lines of the congressional apportionment
made.
 However, this does not have the effect of dividing the City of Cagayan de Oro into two
political and corporate units and territories. Rather than divide the city either territorially or as
a corporate entity, the effect is merely to enhance voter representation by giving each city
voter more and greater say, both in Congress and in the Sangguniang Panglunsod.
 To illustrate this effect, before the reapportionment, Cagayan de Oro had only one
congressman and 12 city council members citywide for its population of approximately
500,000. By having two legislative districts, each of them with one congressman, Cagayan de
Oro now effectively has two congressmen, each one representing 250,000 of the city’s
population. In terms of services for city residents, this easily means better access to their
congressman since each one now services only 250,000 constituents as against the 500,000 he
used to represent.
 The same goes true for the Sangguniang Panglungsod with its ranks increased from 12 to 16
since each legislative district now has 8 councilors. In representation terms, the fewer
constituents represented translate to a greater voice for each individual city resident in
Congress and in the Sanggunian. The City, for its part, now has twice the number of
congressmen speaking for it and voting in the halls of Congress.

2) Does R.A. No. 9371 The petitioner argues that the distribution of the legislative districts is unequal. District 1 has only 93,719
violate the equality of registered voters while District 2 has 127,071. District 1 is composed mostly of rural barangays while
representation District 2 is composed mostly of urban barangays. Thus, R.A. No. 9371 violates the principle of equality
doctrine? - NO of representation.

A. The law clearly provides that the basis for districting shall be the number of the inhabitants of a city or
a province, not the number of registered voters therein. The Constitution, however, does not require
mathematical exactitude or rigid equality as a standard in gauging equality of representation. In fact, for
cities, all it asks is that “each city with a population of at least two hundred fifty thousand shall have one
representative,” while ensuring representation for every province regardless of the size of its population.

To ensure quality representation through commonality of interests and ease of access by the
representative to the constituents, all that the Constitution requires is that every legislative district
should comprise, as far as practicable, contiguous, compact, and adjacent territory. Thus, the
Constitution leaves the local government units as they are found and does not require their division,
merger or transfer to satisfy the numerical standard it imposes. Its requirements are satisfied despite
some numerical disparity if the units are contiguous, compact and adjacent as far as practicable.

B. The petitioner’s contention that there is a resulting inequality in the division of Cagayan de Oro City
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into two districts because the barangays in the first district are mostly rural barangays while the second
district is mostly urban, is largely unsubstantiated. But even if backed up by proper proof, we cannot
question the division on the basis of the difference in the barangays’ levels of development or
developmental focus as these are not part of the constitutional standards for legislative apportionment
or reapportionment.

DISPOSITIVE: WHEREFORE, we hereby DISMISS the petition for lack of merit. Costs against the petitioner.