GR L 73155; (July, 1986) (Digest)
G.R. No. 73155 July 11, 1986
PATRICIO TAN, ET AL., petitioners, vs. THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS AND THE PROVINCIAL TREASURER OF NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, respondents.
FACTS
The petitioners, residents of Negros Occidental, sought to prohibit the COMELEC from conducting a plebiscite scheduled for January 3, 1986, pursuant to Batas Pambansa Blg. 885, which created the new Province of Negros del Norte from several cities and municipalities in the northern part of Negros Occidental. They contended the law was unconstitutional for violating Article XI, Section 3 of the 1973 Constitution and Section 197 of the Local Government Code. The constitutional provision mandated that the creation of a province required approval in a plebiscite by the majority of votes in the “unit or units affected.” Despite the petition, the plebiscite proceeded as scheduled but was confined only to voters within the territory of the proposed new province. Consequently, the petitioners filed a supplemental pleading, acknowledging the plebiscite had been held but arguing its fundamental illegality. They prayed for the Court to nullify the plebiscite, prohibit the proclamation of its results, and order a new plebiscite involving all qualified voters of the entire existing Province of Negros Occidental.
ISSUE
Whether Batas Pambansa Blg. 885 is unconstitutional for limiting the plebiscite to only the areas of the proposed new province, thereby excluding the voters of the remaining areas of the mother province of Negros Occidental.
RULING
The Supreme Court declared Batas Pambansa Blg. 885 unconstitutional and void. The legal logic centers on the proper interpretation of the phrase “unit or units affected” under Article XI, Section 3 of the 1973 Constitution. The Court held that the creation of a new province from an existing one constitutes a division and a substantial alteration of the boundary of the original province. Therefore, the “unit affected” is the entire existing province from which territory is taken, not merely the seceding areas. To limit the plebiscite to only the voters within the proposed new province grossly contravenes the constitutional mandate and the principle of majority rule, as it allows a minority segment to decide upon the dismemberment of the whole political unit against the will of the majority. The entire electorate of Negros Occidental had a substantive interest in the integrity and resources of their province. Consequently, the plebiscite held on January 3, 1986, was a patent legal nullity. The Court rejected the argument of fait accompli, emphasizing that the invalidity of the law rendered all implementing acts—the plebiscite, the proclamation of the new province, and the appointment of its officials—equally void. The Court ordered the restoration of the territorial integrity of Negros Occidental.