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    Navarro Vs Ermita 2010

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    Nasrifah Langco
    This case involves the validity of the creation of Dinagat Islands as a new province. The Supreme Court ruled the creation was invalid for failing to meet the population and land area requirements under the Local Government Code. Specifically, based on official census data, Dinagat Islands had a population of only 106,951 people and a land area of only 802.12 square kilometers, below the 250,000 population and 2,000 square kilometer land area thresholds. While a special census conducted later reported a higher population, it was not certified by the national statistics office as required. Therefore, the Court found the creation of Dinagat Islands as a new province to be invalid.

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    Navarro Vs Ermita 2010

    Uploaded by

    Nasrifah Langco
    48 views3 pages
    This case involves the validity of the creation of Dinagat Islands as a new province. The Supreme Court ruled the creation was invalid for failing to meet the population and land area requirements under the Local Government Code. Specifically, based on official census data, Dinagat Islands had a population of only 106,951 people and a land area of only 802.12 square kilometers, below the 250,000 population and 2,000 square kilometer land area thresholds. While a special census conducted later reported a higher population, it was not certified by the national statistics office as required. Therefore, the Court found the creation of Dinagat Islands as a new province to be invalid.

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    Navarro vs Ermita 2010

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    This case involves the validity of the creation of Dinagat Islands as a new province. The Supreme Court ruled the creation was invalid for failing to meet the population and land area requirements under the Local Government Code. Specifically, based on official census data, Dinagat Islands had a population of only 106,951 people and a land area of only 802.12 square kilometers, below the 250,000 population and 2,000 square kilometer land area thresholds. While a special census conducted later reported a higher population, it was not certified by the national statistics office as required. Therefore, the Court found the creation of Dinagat Islands as a new province to be invalid.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    48 views3 pages

    Navarro Vs Ermita 2010

    Uploaded by

    Nasrifah Langco
    This case involves the validity of the creation of Dinagat Islands as a new province. The Supreme Court ruled the creation was invalid for failing to meet the population and land area requirements under the Local Government Code. Specifically, based on official census data, Dinagat Islands had a population of only 106,951 people and a land area of only 802.12 square kilometers, below the 250,000 population and 2,000 square kilometer land area thresholds. While a special census conducted later reported a higher population, it was not certified by the national statistics office as required. Therefore, the Court found the creation of Dinagat Islands as a new province to be invalid.

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    Navarro vs. Ermita G.R No. 180050.

    February 10,
    2010

    Facts:

    On April 3, 2002, the Office of the President, through its Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal
    Affairs, advised the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of the Province of Surigao del Norte of the
    deficient population in the proposed Province of Dinagat Islands

    Consequently, Prov. Gov't. of Surigao del Norte conducted a special census with the assistance
    of the NSo District Census Coordinator to determine the population of Dinagat. The census yield
    371,576 inhabitants. NSO, however, did not certify the result of the special census.

    Bureau of Local Government Finance certified that the average annual income of Dinagat was
    82M . The land area is 802.12 sqkm.

    Later, Congress passed the bill for the creation of the Province of Dinagat which was approved
    by then President GMA. Then a plebiscite was ratified and approved by the majority.
    Consequently, new set of provincial officials took their oath of office following their
    appointment by PGMA, another set were then elected in the election later.

    Petitioners aver that they are taxpayers and residents of the Province of Surigao del Norte, they
    are Vice-gov and members of the provincial board. They allege that the creation of the Dinagat
    Islands as a new province is an illegal act of Congress and unjustly deprives the people of
    Surigao del Norte a large chunk of its territory, IRA and rich resources from the area.

    They also claim that the creation is not valid because it failed to comply with the population and
    land area requirement.

    ISSUE: WON there is valid creation of the Province of Dinagat?

    Ruling: There is no valid creation of the said province.


    SEC. 461. Requisites for Creation. -- (a) A province may be created if it has an average annual
    income, as certified by the Department of Finance, of not less than Twenty million pesos
    (P20,000,000.00) based on 1991 constant prices and either of the following requisites:

    (i) a contiguous territory of at least two thousand (2,000) square kilometers, as certified by the
    Lands Management Bureau; or

    (ii) a population of not less than two hundred fifty thousand (250,000) inhabitants as certified by
    the National Statistics Office:
    Provided, That, the creation thereof shall not reduce the land area, population, and income of the
    original unit or units at the time of said creation to less than the minimum requirements
    prescribed herein.

    (b) The territory need not be contiguous if it comprises two (2) or more islands or is separated by
    a chartered city or cities which do not contribute to the income of the province.

    (c) The average annual income shall include the income accruing to the general fund, exclusive
    of special funds, trust funds, transfers, and non-recurring income.

    The requirements for the creation of a province contained in Sec. 461 of the Local Government
    Code are clear, plain and unambiguous, and its literal application does not result in absurdity or
    injustice. Hence, the provision in Art. 9(2) of the IRR exempting a proposed province composed
    of one or more islands from the land-area requirement cannot be considered an executive
    construction of the criteria prescribed by the Local Government Code. It is an extraneous
    provision not intended by the Local Government Code and, therefore, is null and void.

    R.A. No. 9355 expressly states that the Province of Dinagat Islands "contains an approximate
    land area of eighty thousand two hundred twelve hectares (80,212 has.) or 802.12 sq. km., more
    or less, including Hibuson Island and approximately forty-seven (47) islets x x x."33 R.A. No.
    9355, therefore, failed to comply with the land area requirement of 2,000 square kilometers.

    The Province of Dinagat Islands also failed to comply with the population requirement of not
    less than 250,000 inhabitants as certified by the NSO. Based on the 2000 Census of Population
    conducted by the NSO, the population of the Province of Dinagat Islands as of May 1, 2000 was
    only 106,951.

    Although the Provincial Government of Surigao del Norte conducted a special census of
    population in Dinagat Islands in 2003, which yielded a population count of 371,000, the result
    was not certified by the NSO as required by the Local Government Code.34 Moreover,
    respondents failed to prove that with the population count of 371,000, the population of the
    original unit (mother Province of Surigao del Norte) would not be reduced to less than the
    minimum requirement prescribed by law at the time of the creation of the new province.

    Petitioners contend that the creation of the Province of Dinagat Islands is an act of
    gerrymandering on the ground that House Bill No. 884 excluded Siargao Island, with a
    population of 118,534 inhabitants, from the new province for complete political dominance by
    Congresswoman Glenda Ecleo-Villaroman. This is unsubstantiated.

    "Gerrymandering" is a term employed to describe an apportionment of representative districts so


    contrived as to give an unfair advantage to the party in power. Fr. Joaquin G. Bernas, a member
    of the 1986 Constitutional Commission, defined "gerrymandering" as the formation of one
    legislative district out of separate territories for the purpose of favoring a candidate or a party.
    The Constitution proscribes gerrymandering, as it mandates each legislative district to comprise,
    as far as practicable, a contiguous, compact and adjacent territory.
    As stated by the Office of the Solicitor General, the Province of Dinagat Islands consists of one
    island and about 47 islets closely situated together, without the inclusion of separate territories. It
    is an unsubstantiated allegation that the province was created to favor Congresswoman Glenda
    Ecleo-Villaroman.

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