G.R. No. L-7784 April 13, 1955
NICOLAS ADANTE, petitioner, vs. CANDIDO DAGPIN, respondent.

FACTS

On November 28, 1951, respondent Candido Dagpin was appointed Mayor of New Piñan, Zamboanga del Norte by President Elpidio Quirino. He qualified and assumed office. On July 23, 1953, President Quirino removed Dagpin without apparent legal reason and appointed petitioner Nicolas Adante in his place. Dagpin filed a quo warranto proceeding (G.R. No. L-6995) challenging Adante’s appointment. While that case was pending, President Ramon Magsaysay assumed office and appointed Dagpin as Municipal Mayor of New Piñan, vice Adante. Dagpin, having been reinstated, moved for the dismissal of his own quo warranto case against Adante on the ground that it had become academic. After the dismissal, Adante filed the present petition for quo warranto against Dagpin, challenging Magsaysay’s appointment.

ISSUE

Whether petitioner Nicolas Adante has a valid cause of action in his quo warranto petition to oust respondent Candido Dagpin from the position of Mayor.

RULING

The petition is dismissed. The Court ruled that Adante has no legal right or title to the position of Mayor of New Piñan. His 1953 appointment, which ousted the incumbent Dagpin without just cause, was illegal and void. A petitioner in a quo warranto proceeding must prove he is entitled to the position allegedly usurped. Since Adante lacked a valid title to the office, he had no cause of action. The doctrine that an appointive mayor holds office until a successor is chosen in the next election, unless removed for cause, could not be invoked by Adante because his own appointment was invalid from the outset. Costs were imposed against the petitioner.