Case Digest: League of Cities of the Philippines v. Commission on Elections, 571 SCRA 263, November 18, 2008.
Corporation Law | Special Law, GOCC
Section 16, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution explicitly prohibits the creation or establishment of private corporations through special laws except government-owned and controlled corporations.
- Petitioners League of Cities of the Philippines, City of Iloilo, City of Calbayog, and Jerry P. Treñas assails the constitutionality of the Cityhood Laws and enjoining the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and respondent municipalities from conducting plebiscites pursuant to the Cityhood Laws.
- During the 11th and 12th Congresses, bills were passed converting numerous municipalities into cities.
- R.A. No. 9009, enacted in the 12th Congress, increased the income requirement for municipal conversion into cities to curb unchecked conversions.
- Sixteen municipalities filed individual cityhood bills, seeking exemption from the income requirement of R.A. No. 9009. The cityhood bills lapsed into law without the President's signature.
- The Cityhood Laws direct the COMELEC to hold plebiscites to determine whether the voters in each respondent municipality approve of the conversion of their municipality into a city.
The 11th Congress' Intent was not Written into the Local Government Code.
True, members of Congress discussed exempting respondent municipalities from RA 9009, as shown by the various deliberations on the matter during the 11th Congress. However, Congress did not write this intended exemption into law. Congress could have easily included such exemption in RA 9009 but Congress did not. This is fatal to the cause of respondent municipalities because such exemption must appear in RA 9009 as an amendment to Section 450 of the Local Government Code. The Constitution requires that the criteria for the conversion of a municipality into a city, including any exemption from such criteria, must all be written in the Local Government Code. Congress cannot prescribe such criteria or exemption from such criteria in any other law. In short, Congress cannot create a city through a law that does not comply with the criteria or exemption found in the Local Government Code.
Section 10 of Article X is similar to Section 16, Article XII of the Constitution prohibiting Congress from creating private corporations except by a general law. Section 16 of Article XII provides:
The Congress shall not, except by general law, provide for the formation, organization, or regulation of private corporations. Government-owned or controlled corporations may be created or established by special charters in the interest of the common good and subject to the test of economic viability.
Thus, Congress must prescribe all the criteria for the "formation, organization, or regulation" of private corporations in a general law applicable to all without discrimination. Congress cannot create a private corporation through a special law or charter.
Comments
Post a Comment