CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Even before the Lower House impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona, the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) had already decided to file early next year impeachment cases not only against him but also against all seven justices appointed to the Supreme Court by ex-Pres. Arroyo.
“We were just waiting for the effectivity of the release of IRA ( Internal Revenue Allotments) next year before filing impeachment cases against them,” said LCP president Oscar Rodriguez, who is mayor of this city.
He said he is prepared to testify before the Senate impeachment tribunal “as a matter of duty to call the attention of the people” on the “serious lapses” of the high court on the cityhood issue.
Rodriguez said the LCP’s plan to file the impeachment cases early next year has been overtaken by the House’s impeachment of Corona. The LCP, he said, would be supportive of the impeachment trial in the Senate, but stressed his group would not drag detained former Pres. Arroyo into the issue.
The LCP has been critical of the Supreme Court’s “flip-flopping” decisions on the cityhood of 16 municipalities despite their lack of income worth P100 million as required by law.
The issue was among the eight grounds considered by the House in impeaching the Chief Justice.
Rodriquez noted that because of the Supreme Court’s final verdict to grant cityhood to the 16 municipalities, the IRA shares of the old LCP members would be reduced by P8 billion. He also noted that his city’s IRA alone would be shaved of some P48 million.
The last computation for IRA shares done every three years and the last one, done in 2009 when national income was low, would take effect in 2012 with the 16 new cities partaking of the allocation, Rodriguez explained.
“Aggravating the situation is the fact that in 2009, national income was low so that the computation for IRA shares was also reduced by five percent,” he noted.
Rodriguez said the Supreme Court’s verdict to allow the 16 municipalities to become cities was “a betrayal of public trust” in the “flip-flopping” decisions of the high court on the issue. “Altogether, we had filed nine motions for reconsideration on the case.”
“The faith of the nation in the judicial system is at stake. Now, there’s question on the immutability of decisions of the high court,” he added.
Last July, the Supreme Court ordered its Clerk of Court to issue an entry of judgment on the cityhood case of 16 municipalities, sealing with finality the constitutionality of 16 Cityhood Laws.
Rodriguez recalled that in November, 2008, the Supreme Court declared that the 16 towns were not exempted from the new P100-million income requirement, and could not be considered cities.
It affirmed this decision in May 2009 with 6-5 votes.
In December, 2009, the high court reversed itself with 6-4 votes, saying the towns were exempted from the new income requirement.
The LCP filed a motion for reconsideration, which the SC granted in August 24, 2010, and the Supreme Court reinstated its original decision that the towns should remain municipalities.
On February 2011, the Supreme Court en banc again reversed to its ruling in December 2009 by again declaring the validity of the 16 towns as cities, again prompting the LCP to file last March 8 another motion for reconsideration on the issue.
The LCP motion was however “denied with finality” by the high court in its resolution dated April 12, 2011. In the resolution, the SC reiterated that the 16 Cityhood Laws were not violative of the Constitution and the Local Government Code (LGC).
An eight-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin, said the Supreme Court could not entertain the “second motion for reconsideration” of the LCP as per Section 2, Rule 51 of the Rules of Court which stated that “no second motion of reconsideration of a judgment or final resolution by the same party shall be entertained.”
Declared as constitutional were Republic Act (RA) nos. 9389 (Baybay City in Leyte), 9390 (Bogo City in Cebu), 9391 (Catbalogan City in Samar), 9392 (Tandag City in Surigao del Sur), 9393 (Lamitan City in Basilan), 9394 (Borongan City in Samar), 9398 (Tayabas City in Quezon), 9404 (Tabuk City in Kalinga), 9405 (Bayugan City in Agusan del Sur), 9407 (Batac City in Ilocos Norte),
9408 (Mati City in Davao Oriental), 9409 (Guihulngan City in Negros Oriental), 9434 (Cabadbaran City in Agusan del Norte), 9435 (El Salvador City in Misamis Oriental), 9436 (Carcar City in Cebu), and 9491 (Naga City in Cebu).
