EN BANC

[G.R. No. 108399. July 31, 1997]

RAFAEL M. ALUNAN III, in his capacity as Secretary of the

Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the BOARD OF
ELECTION SUPERVISORS composed of Atty. RUBEN M. RAMIREZ,
Atty. RAFAELITO GARAYBLAS, and Atty. ENRIQUE C. ROA,
GUILLERMINA RUSTIA, in her capacity as Director of the Barangay
Bureau, City Treasurer Atty. ANTONIO ACEBEDO, Budget Officer
EUFEMIA DOMINGUEZ, all of the City Government of
Manila, Petitioners, v. ROBERT MIRASOL, NORMAN T. SANGUYA,
ROBERT DE JOYA, ARNEL R. LORENZO, MARY GRACE ARIAS, RAQUEL
L. DOMINGUEZ, LOURDES ASENCIO, FERDINAND ROXAS, MA.
ALBERTINA RICAFORT,and BALAIS M. LOURICH, and the
HONORABLE WILFREDO D. REYES,Presiding Judge of the Regional
Trial Court, Branch 36, Metro Manila, Respondents.

DECISION

MENDOZA, J.:

This is a petition for review on certiorari of the decision dated January 19,
1993 of the Regional Trial Court of Manila (Branch 36),1nullifying an order of
the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), which in effect
cancelled the general elections for the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) slated on
December 4, 1992 in the City of Manila, on the ground that the elections
previously held on May 26, 1990 served the purpose of the first elections for
the SK under the Local Government Code of 1991 (R.A. No. 7160).

Section 423 of the Code provides for a SK in every barangay, to be composed

of a chairman, seven (7) members, a secretary, and a treasurer. Section
532(a) provides that the first elections for the SK shall be held thirty (30) days
after the next local elections. The Code took effect on January 1, 1992.

The first local elections under the Code were held on May 11, 1992.
Accordingly, on August 27, 1992, the Commission on Elections issued
Resolution No. 2499, providing guidelines for the holding of the general
elections for the SK on September 30, 1992. The guidelines placed the SK
elections under the direct control and supervision of the DILG, with the
technical assistance of the COMELEC.2 After two postponements, the elections
were finally scheduled on December 4, 1992.
Accordingly, registration in the six districts of Manila was conducted. A total
of 152,363 youngsters, aged 15 to 21 years old, registered, 15,749 of them
filing certificates of candidacies. The City Council passed the necessary
appropriations for the elections.

On September 18, 1992, however, the DILG, through then Secretary Rafael
M. Alunan III, issued a letter-resolution exempting the City of Manila from
holding elections for the SK on the ground that the elections previously held
on May 26, 1990 were to be considered the first under the newly-enacted
Local Government Code. The DILG acted on a letter of Joshue R. Santiago,
acting president of the KB City Federation of Manila and a member of City
Council of Manila, which called attention to the fact that in the City of Manila
elections for the Kabataang Barangay (the precursor of the Sangguniang
Kabataan) had previously been held on May 26, 1990. In its resolution, the
DILG stated:

[A] close examination of... RA 7160 would readily reveal the intention of the
legislature to exempt from the forthcoming Sangguniang Kabataan elections
those kabataang barangay chapters which may have conducted their elections
within the period of January 1, 1988 and January 1, 1992 under BP 337.
Manifestly the term of office of those elected KB officials have been
correspondingly extended to coincide with the term of office of those who may
be elected under RA 7160.

On November 27, 1992 private respondents, claiming to represent the 24,000

members of the Katipunan ng Kabataan, filed a petition for certiorari and
mandamus in the RTC of Manila to set aside the resolution of the DILG. They
argued that petitioner Secretary of Interior and Local Government had no
power to amend the resolutions of the COMELEC calling for general elections
for SKs and that the DILG resolution in question denied them the equal
protection of the laws.

On November 27, 1992, the trial court, through Executive Judge, now
COMELEC Chairman, Bernardo P. Pardo, issued an injunction, ordering
petitioners to desist from implementing the order of the respondent Secretary
dated September 18, 1992,... until further orders of the Court. On the same
day, he ordered petitioners to perform the specified pre-election activities in
order to implement Resolution No. 2499 dated August 27, 1992 of the
Commission on Elections providing for the holding of a general election of the
Sangguniang Kabataan on December 4, 1992 simultaneously in every
barangay throughout the country.

The case was subsequently reraffled to Branch 36 of the same court. On

January 19, 1993, the new judge, Hon. Wilfredo D. Reyes, rendered a
decision, holding that (1) the DILG had no power to exempt the City of Manila
from holding SK elections on December 4, 1992 because under Art. IX, C, 2(1)
of the Constitution the power to enforce and administer all laws and
regulations relative to the conduct of an election, plebiscite, initiative,
referendum, and recall is vested solely in the COMELEC; (2) the COMELEC had
already in effect determined that there had been no previous elections for KB
by calling for general elections for SK officers in every barangay without
exception; and (3) the exemption of the City of Manila was violative of the
equal protection clause of the Constitution because, according to the DILGs
records, in 5,000 barangays KB elections were held between January 1, 1988
and January 1, 1992 but only in the City of Manila, where there were 897
barangays, was there no elections held on December 4, 1992.

Petitioners sought this review on certiorari. They insist that the City of Manila,
having already conducted elections for the KB on May 26, 1990, was exempted
from holding elections on December 4, 1992. In support of their contention,
they cite 532(d) of the Local Government Code of 1991, which provides that:

All seats reserved for the pederasyon ng mga sangguniang kabataan in the
different sanggunians shall be deemed vacant until such time that the
sangguniang kabataan chairmen shall have been elected and the respective
pederasyon presidents have been selected: Provided,That, elections for the
kabataang barangay conducted under Batas Pambansa Blg. 337 at any time
between January 1, 1988 and January 1, 1992 shall be considered as the first
elections provided for in this Code. The term of office of the kabataang
barangay officials elected within the said period shall be extended
correspondingly to coincide with the term of office of those elected under this
Code.(emphasis added)

They maintain that the Secretary of the DILG had authority to determine
whether the City of Manila came within the exception clause of 532(d) so as
to be exempt from holding the elections on December 4, 1992.

The preliminary question is whether the holding of the second elections on

May 13, 19963 rendered this case moot and academic. There are two
questions raised in this case. The first is whether the Secretary of Interior and
Local Government can exempt a local government unit from holding elections
for SK officers on December 4, 1992 and the second is whether the COMELEC
can provide that the Department of Interior and Local Government shall have
direct control and supervision over the election of sangguniang kabataan with
the technical assistance by the Commission on Elections.

We hold that this case is not moot and that it is in fact necessary to decide
the issues raised by the parties. For one thing, doubt may be cast on the
validity of the acts of those elected in the May 26, 1990 KB elections in Manila
because this Court enjoined the enforcement of the decision of the trial court
and these officers continued in office until May 13, 1996. For another, this
case comes within the rule that courts will decide a question otherwise moot
and academic if it is capable of repetition, yet evading review. 4 For the
question whether the COMELEC can validly vest in the DILG the control and
supervision of SK elections is likely to arise in connection with every SK
election and yet the question may not be decided before the date of such
elections.

In the Southern Pacific Terminal case, where the rule was first articulated,
appellants were ordered by the Interstate Commerce Commission to cease
and desist from granting a shipper what the ICC perceived to be preferences
and advantages with respect to wharfage charges. The cease and desist order
was for a period of about two years, from September 1, 1908 (subsequently
extended to November 15), but the U.S. Supreme Court had not been able to
hand down its decision by the time the cease and desist order expired. The
case was decided only on February 20, 1911, more than two years after the
order had expired. Hence, it was contended that the case had thereby become
moot and the appeal should be dismissed. In rejecting this contention, the
Court held:

The question involved in the orders of the Interstate Commerce Commission

are usually continuing (as are manifestly those in the case at bar), and these
considerations ought not to be, as they might be, defeated, by short-term
orders, capable of repetition, yet evading review, and at one time the
government, and at another time the carriers, have their rights determined
by the Commission without a chance of redress.5chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary

In Roe v. Wade,6 petitioner, a pregnant woman, brought suit in 1970

challenging anti-abortion statutes of Texas and Georgia on the ground that
she had a constitutional right to terminate her pregnancy at least within the
first trimester. The case was not decided until 1973 when she was no longer
pregnant. But the U.S. Supreme Court refused to dismiss the case as moot.
It was explained: [W]hen, as here, pregnancy is a significant fact in the
litigation, the normal 266-day human gestation period is so short that the
pregnancy will come to term before the usual appellate process is complete.
If that termination makes a case moot, pregnancy litigation seldom will
survive. Our laws should not be that rigid. Pregnancy provides a classic
justification for a conclusion of nonmootness. It truly could be capable of
repetition, yet evading review.7chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary

We thus reach the merits of the questions raised in this case. The first question
is whether then DILG Secretary Rafael M. Alunan III had authority to
determine whether under 532(d) of the Local Government Code, the City of
Manila was required to hold its first elections for SK. As already stated,
petitioners sustain the affirmative side of the proposition. On the other hand,
respondents argue that this is a power which Art.IX,C, 2(1) of the Constitution
vests in the COMELEC. Respondents further argue that, by mandating that
elections for the SK be held on December 4, 1992 in every barangay, the
COMELEC in effect determined that there had been no elections for the KB
previously held in the City of Manila.

We find the petition to be meritorious.

First. As already stated, by 4 of Resolution No. 2499, the COMELEC placed the
SK elections under the direct control and supervision of the DILG. Contrary to
respondents contention, this did not contravene Art. IX, C, 2(1) of the
Constitution which provides that the COMELEC shall have the power to enforce
and administer all laws and regulations relative to the conduct of an election,
plebiscite, initiative, referendum, and recall. Elections for SK officers are not
subject to the supervision of the COMELEC in the same way that, as we have
recently held, contests involving elections of SK officials do not fall within the
jurisdiction of the COMELEC. In Mercado v. Board of Election Supervisors,8 it
was contended that

COMELEC Resolution No. 2499 is null and void because: (a) it

prescribes a separate set of rules for the election of the SK Chairman
different from and inconsistent with that set forth in the Omnibus
Election Code, thereby contravening Section 2, Article 1 of the said
Code which explicitly provides that it shall govern all elections of
public officers; and, (b) it constitutes a total, absolute, and complete
abdication by the COMELEC of its constitutionally and statutorily
mandated duty to enforce and administer all election laws as provided
for in Section 2(1), Article IX-C of the Constitution; Section 52, Article
VIII of the Omnibus Election Code; and Section 2, Chapter 1, Subtitle
C, Title 1, Book V of the 1987 Administrative
Code.9chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary

Rejecting this contention, this Court, through Justice Davide, held:

Section 252 of the Omnibus Election Code and that portion of paragraph (2),
Section 2, Article IX-C of the Constitution on the COMELECs exclusive
appellate jurisdiction over contests involving elective barangay officials refer
to the elective barangay officials under the pertinent laws in force at the time
the Omnibus Election Code was enacted and upon the ratification of the
Constitution. That law was B.P. Blg. 337, otherwise known as the Local
Government Code, and the elective barangay officials referred to were the
punong barangay and the six sangguniang bayan members. They were to be
elected by those qualified to exercise the right of suffrage. They are also the
same officers referred to by the provisions of the Omnibus Election Code of
the Philippines on election of barangay officials. Metropolitan and municipal
trial courts had exclusive original jurisdiction over contests relating to their
election. The decisions of these courts were appealable to the Regional Trial
Courts.

....

In the light of the foregoing, it is indisputable that contests involving elections

of SK (formerly KB) officials do not fall within Section 252 of the Omnibus
Election Code and paragraph 2, Section 2, Article IX-C of the Constitution and
that no law in effect prior to the ratification of the Constitution had made the
SK chairman an elective barangay official. His being an ex-officio member of
the sangguniang barangay does not make him one for the law specifically
provides who are its elective members, viz., the punong barangay and the
seven regular sangguniang barangay members who are elected at large by
those who are qualified to exercise the right of suffrage under Article V of the
Constitution and who are duly registered voters of the
barangay.10chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary

The choice of the DILG for the task in question was appropriate and was in
line with the legislative policy evident in several statutes. Thus, P.D. No. 684
(April 15, 1975), in creating Kabataang Barangays in every barangay
throughout the country, provided in 6 that the Secretary of Local Government
and Community Development shall promulgate such rules and regulations as
may be deemed necessary to effectively implement the provisions of this
Decree. Again, in 1985 Proclamation No. 2421 of the President of the
Philippines, in calling for the general elections of the Kabataang Barangay on
July 13-14, 1985, tasked the then Ministry of Local Government, the Ministry
of Education, Culture and Sports, and the Commission on Elections to assist
the Kabataang Barangay in the conduct of the elections. On the other hand,
in a Memorandum Circular dated March 7, 1988, President Corazon C. Aquino
directed the Secretary of Local Government to issue the necessary rules and
regulations for effecting the representation of the Kabataang Barangay,
among other sectors, in the legislative bodies of the local government units.

The role of the COMELEC in the 1992 elections for SK officers was by no means
inconsequential. DILG supervision was to be exercised within the framework
of detailed and comprehensive rules embodied in Resolution No. 2499 of the
COMELEC. What was left to the DILG to perform was the enforcement of the
rules.
Second. It is contended that, in its resolution in question, the COMELEC did
not name the barangays which, because they had conducted kabataang
barangay elections between January 1, 1988 and January 1, 1992, were not
included in the SK elections to be held on December 4, 1992. That these
barangays were precisely to be determined by the DILG is, however, fairly
inferable from the authority given to the DILG to supervise the conduct of the
elections. Since 532(d) provided for kabataang barangay officials whose term
of office was extended beyond 1992, the authority to supervise the conduct
of elections in that year must necessarily be deemed to include the authority
to determine which kabataang barangay would not be included in the 1992
elections.

The authority granted was nothing more than the ascertainment of a fact,
namely, whether between January 1, 1988 and January 1, 1992 elections had
been held in a given kabataang barangay. If elections had been conducted,
then no new elections had to be held on December 4, 1992 since by virtue of
532(d) the term of office of the kabataang barangay officials so elected was
extended correspondingly to coincide with the term of office of those elected
under [the Local Government Code of 1991]. In doing this, the Secretary of
Interior and Local Government was to act merely as the agent of the legislative
department, to determine and declare the event upon which its expressed will
was to take effect.11 There was no undue delegation of legislative power but
only of the discretion as to the execution of a law. That this is constitutionally
permissible is the teaching of our cases.12chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary

Third. Respondents claim, however, that the May 26, 1990 KB elections in
Manila were void because (a) they were called at the instance of then Mayor
Gemiliano C. Lopez who did not have authority to do so and (b) it was not
held under COMELEC supervision.

The 1990 elections for the Kabataang Barangay were called by then Manila
Mayor Gemiliano C. Lopez, Jr., who in his Executive Order No. 21 dated April
25, 1990 stated:

WHEREAS, the Kabataang Barangay as an organization provided for under

Batas Pambansa Bilang 337, has been practically dormant since the advent of
the present national administration;

WHEREAS, there is an urgent need to involve the youth in the affairs and
undertakings of the government to ensure the participation of all sectors of
our population in the task of nation building;

WHEREAS, the last elections for the Kabataang Barangay officers were held in
November 1985 yet, which is over their three years term of office;
WHEREAS, most of the present crop of KB officers are way past the age limit
provided for under the law;

....

The elections were actually held on May 26, 1990 in the 897 barangays of
Manila. Later, on June 30, 1990, KB City Federation elections were conducted.

It was precisely to foreclose any question regarding the validity of KB elections

held in the aftermath of the EDSA revolution and upon the effectivity of the
new Local Government Code that the exception clause of 532(d) was inserted.
The proceedings of the Bicameral Conference Committee which drafted the
Code show the following:13chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary

CHAIRMAN DE PEDRO: Isa-cite na lang ko ano iyong title o chapter o section,

ha!

HON. LINA:...

Page 436, lines 13 to 14 delete within eighteen months prior to December 31,
1990, and in lieu thereof, insert from 1988 up to the effectivity of the Code.
The rationale....

CHAIRMAN DE PEDRO: How should it be read?

HON. LINA: It will read as follows: Provided however, that the Local
Government Units which have conducted elections for the Kabataang
Barangay as provided for, in Batas Pambansa Bilang 337, up to the
effectivity....

CHAIRMAN DE PEDRO: So, any deletion from the word within, ha, up to....

HON. LINA: Remove the words, the phrase, within eighteen months prior to
December 31, 1990, and insert from 1988 up to the effectivity of this Code.

CHAIRMAN DE PEDRO: From?

HON. LINA: From 1988 up to the effectivity of this Code. Kasi meron nang
mga election, eh, na ginawa, eh. There are five thousand barangays, based
on the record of the DILG, out of forty thousand, imagine that, na nag-conduct
na ng election nila based on the KB Constitution and By-Laws, and theyre
sitting already, now if we do not recognize that, mag[ka]karoon sila ng
question.
CHAIRMAN DE PEDRO: Accepted, Mr. Chairman.

Section 532(d) may thus be deemed to be a curative law. Curative laws, which
in essence are retrospective in effect, are enacted to validate acts done which
otherwise would be invalid under existing laws, by considering them as having
complied with the existing laws. Such laws are recognized in this
jurisdiction.14chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary

Fourth. It is finally contended that the exemption of the barangays of the City
of Manila from the requirement to hold elections for SK officers on December
4, 1992 would deny the youth voters in those barangays of the equal
protection of laws. Respondents claim that only in the barangays in the City
of Manila, which then numbered 897, were elections for SK not held in 1992
on the ground that between January 1, 1988 and January 1, 1992 there had
already been SK elections held, when, according to petitioners own evidence,
during that period, SK elections had actually been conducted in 5,000
barangays.

Whether this claim is true cannot be ascertained from the records of this case.
Merely showing that there were 5,000 barangays which similarly held KB
elections between January 1, 1988 and January 1, 1992 does not prove that
despite that fact these same barangays were permitted to hold elections on
December 4, 1992. For one thing, according to the Manila Bulletin issue of
November 18, 1992 (p. 9), 568 barangays in the Province of Bulacan did not
have SK elections on December 4, 1992 either, because they already had
elections between January 1, 1988 and January 1, 1992. For another, even
assuming that only barangays in Manila were not permitted to hold SK
elections on December 4, 1992 while the rest of the 5,000 barangays were
allowed even if KB elections had already been held there before, this fact does
not give the youth voters in the 897 Manila barangays ground for complaint
because what the other barangays did was contrary to law. There is no
discrimination here.

In People v. Vera15 this Court struck down the Probation Law because it
permitted unequal application of its benefits by making its applicability depend
on the decision of provincial governments to appropriate or not to appropriate
funds for the salaries of probation officers, with the result that those not
disposed to allow the benefits of probations to be enjoyed by their inhabitants
could simply omit to provide for the salaries of probation officers. The
difference between that case and the one at bar lies in the fact that what youth
voters in the other barangays might have been allowed was not a right which
was denied to youth voters in Manila. If those barangays were not entitled to
have SK elections on December 4, 1992 but nevertheless were allowed to
have such elections, that fact did not mean those in Manila should similarly
have been allowed to conduct elections on December 4, 1992 because the fact
was that they already had their own, just two years before on May 26, 1990.
Respondents equal protection argument violates the dictum that one wrong
does not make another wrong right.

WHEREFORE, the decision of the Regional Trial Court of Manila, Branch 36 is

REVERSED and the case filed against petitioner by private respondents is
DISMISSED.

SO ORDERED.

Padilla, Regalado, Davide, Jr., Romero, Bellosillo, Melo, Puno, Vitug,

Kapunan, Francisco, Hermosisima, Jr., and Panganiban, JJ., concur.

Narvasa, C.J., and Torres, Jr., J., on leave.