Griño vs. COMELEC

A petition challenging the disenfranchisement of sub-province voters from voting for the original province's officials becomes moot and academic when the plebiscite approves the sub-province's conversion into a regular province, because the converted territory ceases to be part of the original province and its voters no longer have any legal basis to elect the original province's officials.

The Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), a duly registered and accredited political party, fielded Simplicio Griño as its official candidate for governor of Iloilo. Co-petitioner Arturo Gadian was a registered voter of Buenavista, one of three municipalities (Buenavista, Jordan, and Nueva Valencia) comprising the sub-province of Guimaras, with a combined voting population of approximately fifty thousand. These three municipalities formed part of the second legislative district of Iloilo, the remaining municipalities of which were Pavia, Leganes, Sta. Barbara, New Lucena, Zarraga, Alimodian, Leon, and San Miguel. In prior elections, Guimaras voters had been allowed to vote for the provincial officials of the entire province of Iloilo. On January 1, 1992, the 1991 Local Government Code (R.A. 7160) took effect, whose Section 462 mandated the conversion of existing sub-provinces into regular provinces upon plebiscite approval and directed that the plebiscite be held simultaneously with the national elections following the Code's effectivity.

The sub-province of Guimaras, composed of the municipalities of Buenavista, Jordan, and Nueva Valencia, had a combined voting population of approximately fifty thousand and formed part of the second legislative district of Iloilo. In previous elections, voters from these municipalities had been allowed to vote for the provincial officials of the entire province of Iloilo. On January 1, 1992, the 1991 Local Government Code (R.A. 7160) took effect, and Section 462 thereof called for the conversion of existing sub-provinces into regular provinces upon approval by a majority of votes cast in a plebiscite to be held in the sub-provinces and the original provinces directly affected, to be conducted simultaneously with the national elections following the Code's effectivity.

The first national elections after the Code's effectivity were the May 11, 1992 elections, held simultaneously with local elections. Pursuant to Section 462, the Comelec conducted a plebiscite for the conversion of Guimaras into a regular province on the same date. On April 15, 1992, the Comelec issued Resolution No. 2410, providing the rules and regulations governing the plebiscite. Section 3 thereof stated that all registered voters of Iloilo, except Iloilo City, and of the sub-province of Guimaras, who were qualified to vote for provincial officials in the May 11, 1992 elections, were qualified to vote in the plebiscite. The ballots used in the three municipalities of Guimaras and the entire province of Iloilo were provided with appropriate spaces at the bottom for the plebiscite question.

Petitioners observed, however, that the ballots distributed by the Comelec for use in the three municipalities of Guimaras did not contain any space or provision for the election of the governor, vice-governor, and members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan representing the second district of Iloilo, of which the sub-province of Guimaras was a part. On May 13, 1992, two days after the election, petitioners filed the instant petition for certiorari, alleging that the Comelec acted without jurisdiction and with grave abuse of discretion in disallowing Guimaras voters from voting for Iloilo provincial officials. Petitioners further argued that R.A. 7160 did not specifically provide that sub-province voters would no longer be allowed to vote for provincial officials who, in case of a negative plebiscite vote, would continue to represent the sub-province, and that the Comelec failed to inform candidates and voters of such disenfranchisement.

On May 14, 1992, the Court issued a temporary restraining order enjoining the Comelec and the Provincial Board of Canvassers of Iloilo from canvassing and proclaiming the results of the election for governor, vice-governor, and members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Iloilo. The Court lifted the restraining order on June 17, 1992. Perla Zulueta, claiming to be the official candidate of the Nacionalista Party for governor of Iloilo and allegedly ranked number two behind frontrunner Arthur Defensor, filed a motion for leave to intervene on June 22, 1992, which the Court admitted. Other candidates for Sangguniang Panlalawigan members from the first, third, fourth, and fifth districts of Iloilo likewise sought to intervene but were denied on July 9, 1992, as they were not directly affected by the principal issue. The petitioners subsequently amended their petition to include Evelyn C. Jiz, another candidate for member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of the second district of Iloilo.

In the plebiscite conducted simultaneously with the May 11, 1992 elections, the voters of the sub-province of Guimaras overwhelmingly voted for the conversion of Guimaras into a regular province, with 283,224 "Yes" votes against 42,524 "No" votes. The President had, according to newspaper reports, already appointed a governor for the newly created province of Guimaras, as contemplated by Section 462. Guimaras thus became a regular province, politically independent from Iloilo.

• Jurisdiction and Grave Abuse of Discretion: Petitioners alleged that the Comelec acted without jurisdiction and with grave abuse of discretion when it disallowed the voters of the sub-province of Guimaras from voting for the governor and vice-governor of Iloilo and the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan representing the second district of Iloilo.
• Statutory Silence on Disenfranchisement: Petitioners argued that R.A. 7160, while providing for the creation of sub-provinces into full-fledged provinces, did not specifically provide that voters of the sub-province would no longer be allowed to vote for the provincial officials who, in case of a negative plebiscite vote, would continue to represent the sub-province.
• Lack of Notice: Petitioners further alleged that the Comelec failed to inform the candidates and voters of such disenfranchisement.

• Validity of Comelec's Disallowance: Whether the Comelec acted without jurisdiction or with grave abuse of discretion in disallowing the voters of the sub-province of Guimaras from voting for the governor, vice-governor, and members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of the second district of Iloilo in the May 11, 1992 elections.
• Mootness: Whether the petition has been rendered moot and academic by the result of the plebiscite approving the conversion of Guimaras into a regular province.

• Validity of Comelec's Disallowance: The Comelec acted under a mistaken presumption that under Section 462, the President would appoint provincial officials regardless of the plebiscite outcome; the law, in case of a negative vote, only provides for appointment of sub-provincial officials, implying that the sub-province would continue to be represented by the elected officials of the original province.
• Mootness: Yes. The petition was dismissed as moot and academic, the plebiscite having overwhelmingly approved the conversion of Guimaras into a regular province, thereby severing it from Iloilo and eliminating any legal basis for a special election for Iloilo provincial officials in the Guimaras municipalities.

• Validity of Comelec's Disallowance: The Court examined Section 462 of the 1991 Local Government Code and found it incomplete and inadequate to govern all eventualities. The provision fully addresses the scenario where the plebiscite approves the conversion: the President appoints the governor, vice-governor, and Sangguniang Panlalawigan members of the new province. However, the law is silent on whether sub-province voters may still vote for the original province's officials in the election held simultaneously with the plebiscite. In case of a negative vote, the law provides only that incumbent elected officials of the sub-province shall continue in office until June 30, 1992, and that vacancies shall be filled by presidential appointment. The lawmakers failed to foresee that a negative vote would mean the sub-province continues as part of the original province, whose officials would be elected at large by all registered voters including those of the sub-province. The Comelec was under a mistaken presumption that the President would appoint provincial officials regardless of the plebiscite result, when the law provides for such appointment only in case of an affirmative vote. Nevertheless, the Court declined to undo what the Comelec had done, deeming it more relevant to deal with the facts actually obtaining.

• Mootness: The plebiscite resulted in an overwhelming "Yes" vote of 283,224 against 42,524 "No" votes. Pursuant to the third paragraph of Section 462, the President appointed the governor, vice-governor, and Sangguniang Panlalawigan members of the newly created province of Guimaras. Guimaras thus became a regular province, politically independent from Iloilo. Because the sub-province no longer existed as part of Iloilo, there was no legal basis for calling a special election in the municipalities of Buenavista, Jordan, and Nueva Valencia for the purpose of electing the governor and vice-governor of Iloilo and the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of its second district. The question of whether Guimaras voters should have been allowed to vote for Iloilo provincial officials was therefore devoid of practical consequence, and the petition was dismissed as moot and academic.

• Moot and Academic Doctrine — A case becomes moot and academic when the supervening event renders the issue presented no longer live or susceptible of judicial determination, such that a court's ruling would have no practical legal effect. In this case, the plebiscite's approval of Guimaras's conversion into a regular province eliminated the legal relationship between Guimaras and Iloilo that formed the basis of the petition, rendering any ruling on the Comelec's disallowance of no practical consequence.

• Statutory Construction — Casus Omissus — While the Court did not formally invoke the doctrine by name, it identified a gap in Section 462 of R.A. 7160: the lawmakers failed to provide for the eventuality of a negative plebiscite vote, specifically whether sub-province voters could still vote for the original province's officials. The Court read the provision to imply that in case of a negative vote, the sub-province continues as part of the original province and its voters remain entitled to vote for the original province's officials elected at large, since the law's appointment provisions applied only to sub-provincial officials, not to provincial officials of the original province.

• "The makers of the law however, failed to foresee that in the event the negative vote prevails naturally, the sub-province shall continue to be a part of the original province and continue to be represented by the provincial officials of the original province." — This passage identifies the legislative gap in Section 462 of R.A. 7160, articulating the Court's reading that a negative plebiscite vote would preserve the sub-province's integration within the original province and its voters' right to elect provincial officials.

• "The Commission on Elections, being the agency directed to conduct the plebiscite decided not to let the voters of Guimaras vote for the provincial officials. The Commission was under mistaken presumption that under Section 462 of the 1991 Local Government Code, whether or not the conversion of Guimaras into a regular province is ratified by the people in a plebiscite, the President will fill up the positions of provincial officials through appointment until their successors shall have been elected and qualified." — This passage states the Court's finding that the Comelec misinterpreted Section 462, erroneously assuming presidential appointment of provincial officials would occur regardless of the plebiscite outcome, when the law contemplated such appointment only upon an affirmative vote.

• "There is no more legal basis for the calling of a special election for the municipalities of Buenavista, Jordan and Nueva Valencia for the purpose of electing the governor and vice-governor of Iloilo and the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of the second district thereof." — This is the dispositive rationale for the dismissal: the conversion of Guimaras into a regular province severed its political ties with Iloilo, eliminating any basis for its voters to elect Iloilo provincial officials.

• Section 462, Republic Act No. 7160 (1991 Local Government Code) — This provision governed the conversion of existing sub-provinces into regular provinces upon plebiscite approval. The Court found it incomplete for failing to address the contingency of a negative plebiscite vote, specifically the question of whether sub-province voters could still vote for the original province's officials in the simultaneous election. The provision's third paragraph, governing an affirmative vote, was applied to confirm that the President appoints the governor, vice-governor, and Sangguniang Panlalawigan members of the newly created province, which is what transpired after the plebiscite approved Guimaras's conversion.

• Section 536, Republic Act No. 7160 — Cited as the provision establishing the effectivity date of the 1991 Local Government Code on January 1, 1992.

• Rule 65, Rules of Court — The procedural vehicle for the petition, assailing the Comelec's act for being without jurisdiction or with grave abuse of discretion.

Narvasa, C.J., Gutierrez, Jr., Cruz, Padilla, Regalado, Davide, Jr., Romero, Nocon, Jr., and Bellosillo, JJ., concurred. Feliciano, J., was on official leave. Griño-Aquino, Melo, and Campos, Jr., JJ., took no part.