SC: SJDM entitled to 2 seats in Bulacan prov’l board
The Supreme Court has ordered the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to allot two seats for the lone legislative district of San Jose del Monte (SJDM) in Bulacan’s provincial board or Sangguniang Panlalawigan.
In a 15-page decision promulgated on June 13, 2023, but made public only on Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that San Jose del Monte was entitled to have a separate representation in the provincial board, as the law has also provided its citizens the right to have their own representative in the House of Representatives.
The case stemmed from the urgent petition for mandamus with prayer for preliminary mandatory injunction filed by San Jose del Monte Rep. Florida Robes after Comelec denied her request to clarify Republic Act No. 11546, which reapportioned Bulacan province into six legislative districts, including the lone district of San Jose del Monte.
The Comelec subsequently issued Resolution No. 10707 detailing the rules and regulations to implement the law.
The resolution stated that although the City of San Jose del Monte is a lone legislative district, its qualified voters “shall continue to vote for members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan in the fourth legislative district of Bulacan.”
In seeking clarification from the Comelec, Robes said that since RA 11546 increased the number of legislative districts in the Bulacan to seven, then all districts should be allocated with two members each in the provincial board.
The Comelec ruled that San Jose del Monte was ineligible to have its separate representation in the provincial board, saying that RA 11546 “remarkably eliminated and not mentioned” the lone legislative district.
Legislative history
In ruling on the petition, the Supreme Court tackled the legislative history of RA 11546 and found that it was the “intention of the legislators to reapportion the province of Bulacan into seven legislative districts, including the lone legislative district of San Jose del Monte,” despite it not being explicitly mentioned in the law.
The high court cited the deliberations of the House committee on local government which showed that Congress “never intended” to leave out San Jose Del Monte.
“In fact, throughout the law’s legislative history, the lawmakers were consistent in including the lone legislative district of San Jose del Monte in the list of the province of Bulacan’s legislative districts,” the Supreme Court said in the decision penned by Associate Justice Japar Dimaampao.
The Supreme Court said the Comelec veered away from the provisions of the Local Government Code when it recognized the representation of San Jose del Monte in the lower house, but concurrently dismissed its “consequential significance” in determining the lone legislative district’s entitlement for seats in the provincial board.
“This erroneous interpretation would effectively deny the lone legislative district of San Jose del Monte of its status as a full-fledged legislative district for purposes of entitling it to two seats in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan,” the high court said.
