‘Cityhood of Naga, Carcar, Bogo final’

THE cityhood status of 16 local government units (LGUs) in the country, including Naga, Carcar and Bogo in Cebu, was deemed official, constitutional and final by the Supreme Court.

Following a series of rulings for and against their city status, the High Tribunal issued an entry of judgment in favor of the 16 LGUs.

This last step marks with finality an end to the legal battle between them and the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP).

“The flip-flopping has stopped. That (entry of judgment) puts a closure to everything,” said Rep. Eduardo Gullas of Cebu’s 1st district in a press conference at the University of the Visayas main campus yesterday.

Gullas, one of the authors of the cityhood laws, said the 16 LGUs will ask the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to release the remaining Internal Revenue Allotments (IRA) owed to them as cities.

“This (ruling on the constitutionality of the cityhood laws) will spur development. It will mean better basic services,” Gullas said.

He said the 16 cities want to receive their respective IRAs counted from the time their cityhood bids were approved during the conduct of plebiscites.

They received their IRAs as cities in 2007, 2008 and from Jan. to April in 2009.

At the time their cityhood status was considered by the Supreme Court constitutional.

When the ruling was reversed, their IRAs were reduced to the municipal level.

Gullas said the IRAs of these cities should be adjusted accordingly by the budget department.

“The charter of the cities has been uninterruptibly constitutional. The charter is constitutional from the beginning. We will ask for the payment of IRAs of the 16 cities,” he said.

The 16 cities will submit a letter to Budget Secretary Francisco Abad for this purpose.

In Cebu, Carcar was formally declared a city on July 7, 2007, with Naga on Sept. 5, 2007; and Bogo City on June 16, 2007.

In a ruling promulgated last June 28, the SC en banc denied the second motion for reconsideration filed by the League of Cities in the Philippines (LCP), which opposed the cityhood laws of the 16 localities.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin, the High Court said the pleading filed by the league was “really a second motion for reconsideration” that cannot be entertained.

Gullas said the issues raised in the pleading was identical in an earlier motion filed by league.

“The court has firmly held that a second motion for reconsideration is a prohibited pleading, and only for extraordinarily persuasive reasons and only after an express leave is obtained may a second motion for reconsideration be entertained,” the SC said.

The league said the High Court earlier entertained and granted the second motion for reconsideration filed by the 16 cities.

But the SC said their rulings should not be interpreted in the same manner.

“The court en banc itself unanimously declared that the respondents’ (16 cities) second motion for reconsideration was no longer a prohibited pleading,” the High Court said.

Gullas said the issue should be put to rest especially that the SC ruled that “no further pleadings shall be entertained.”

On Nov. 18, 2008, the High Court nullified the cityhood laws of the 16 LGUs, citing a violation in the Constitution.

The decision became final after the SC denied its first motion for reconsideration.

It also denied the second appeal with a vote of 6-6. On May 21, 2009, the High Court said it would no longer allow any pleadings that concerns the case.

The town mayors, however, urged the High Court to resolve the second motion for reconsideration that led to a reversal of its November 2008 decision and declared the 16 laws constitutional in a decision dated December 2009.

The league filed a motion for reconsideration asking the High Court to declare the cityhood bid of the 16 towns unconstitutional. The league’s plea was granted last August 2010.

But the 16 town mayors then contested the August 2010 ruling, which was then reversed by the High Court last February.

The LCP filed yet another motion for reconsideration that will be deliberated by the High Court on Tuesday.

Covered by the ruling are Carcar, Bogo and Naga in Cebu; Baybay in Leyte; Catbalogan in Samar; Tandag in Surigao del Sur; Borongan in Eastern Samar; Tayabas in Quezon province; Lamitan in Basilan; Tabuk in Kalinga; Bayugan in Agusan del Sur; Batac in Ilocos Norte; Mati in Davao Oriental; Guihulngan in Negros Oriental; Cabadbaran in Agusan del Norte; and El Salvador in Misamis Oriental. Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol