G.R. No. 103702 December 6, 1994
MUNICIPALITY OF SAN NARCISO, QUEZON, et al., petitioners, vs. HON. ANTONIO V. MENDEZ, SR., et al., respondents.

FACTS

In 1959, President Carlos P. Garcia issued Executive Order No. 353, creating the municipal district of San Andres, Quezon, by segregating several barrios from the Municipality of San Narciso. This issuance was made pursuant to a request from the San Narciso municipal council. In 1965, President Diosdado Macapagal issued Executive Order No. 174, recognizing San Andres as a fifth-class municipality effective 1963. Decades later, in 1989, San Narciso filed a petition for quo warranto before the Regional Trial Court, seeking to nullify EO 353. It argued that under the doctrine in Pelaez v. Auditor General, the President had no legislative power to create municipalities, rendering EO 353 void ab initio. Consequently, the officials of San Andres allegedly unlawfully held office.
San Andres moved to dismiss the petition, arguing, inter alia, that San Narciso was estopped from questioning the creation it had originally requested, that San Andres had acquired a de facto existence, and that the State, through the Solicitor General, was the proper party to institute quo warranto proceedings. While the case was pending, Republic Act No. 7160, the Local Government Code of 1991, took effect. San Andres filed a new motion to dismiss, citing Section 442(d) of the Code, which provides that municipalities existing at the Code’s effectivity shall continue to exist. The trial court dismissed the petition, ruling that any defects in the creation of municipal districts by presidential issuances were cured by the new Local Government Code.

ISSUE

Whether the petition for quo warranto filed by the Municipality of San Narciso is the proper remedy to challenge the creation of the Municipality of San Andres and the right of its officials to hold office.

RULING

The Supreme Court dismissed the petition and affirmed the trial court’s dismissal, but on different grounds. The Court held that a quo warranto proceeding is a prerogative writ demanding by what authority one holds a public office or franchise. As a rule, it must be instituted by the State through the Solicitor General. A private person or a municipality may bring such an action only if claiming the contested office for themselves. Here, the Municipality of San Narciso does not claim the offices held by the officials of San Andres for itself or its own officials. Its objective is to question the very corporate existence of San Andres. This is not a proper subject of a quo warranto suit initiated by another municipality. The State is the real party in interest in questioning the lawful existence of a public corporation. Therefore, San Narciso lacked the legal personality to file the petition, resulting in a lack of cause of action. The Court found it unnecessary to rule on the curative effect of the Local Government Code, as the petition was fundamentally infirm from the outset due to the improper party bringing the action.