G.R. No. 115844 , August 15, 1997
Dissenting Opinion, Davide, Jr., J.

FACTS

The main case involved the validity of provisions in the Constitution and By-Laws of the Liga ng mga Barangay and its Revised Implementing Rules and Guidelines, which created additional elective positions, namely Executive Vice-President, First, Second, and Third Vice-Presidents, and an Auditor, for both local chapters and the national liga. The ponencia upheld the creation of these positions, finding authority in the Barangay National Assembly’s act of adopting the said Constitution and By-Laws. The dissenting opinion isolates the ultimate legal issue: whether the Barangay Assembly, rather than the Board of Directors as specified by law, possessed the power to create these additional positions.
The governing law is Section 493 of the Local Government Code of 1991 (LGC). It explicitly states that the liga at various levels shall directly elect only a president, a vice-president, and five members of the board of directors. Crucially, it provides that “The board shall appoint its secretary and treasurer and create such other positions as it may deem necessary for the management of the chapter.” The Implementing Rules (Article 211(f)) reiterated this organizational structure and grant of power to the Board of Directors.

ISSUE

Whether the Barangay National Assembly, through the Liga’s Constitution and By-Laws, validly created the additional elective positions of Executive Vice-President, First, Second, and Third Vice-Presidents, and Auditor, or whether this power resides exclusively in the Board of Directors as per Section 493 of the LGC.

RULING

The dissenting opinion votes to declare the creation of the additional positions void for lack of legislative authority. The legal logic is grounded on a strict and literal interpretation of Section 493 of the LGC. The law is unequivocal: only three sets of officers are to be directly elected. The power to “create such other positions as it may deem necessary for the management of the chapter” is expressly vested in the Board of Directors, not in the Barangay Assembly or any other body. Therefore, the Assembly’s act of creating these positions in the Constitution and By-Laws constitutes an ultra vires act, as it arrogates a power specifically granted by statute to a different entity.
Furthermore, applying the rule of ejusdem generis, the “other positions” which the Board may create must be of the same appointive character as the secretary and treasurer, whose appointment directly precedes this grant of power in the statutory text. The contested positions, being elective, fall outside this category. The power granted is limited to creating appointive positions necessary for day-to-day management, not additional elective offices for policy formulation. Consequently, Sections 1 and 2 of Article III of the Implementing Rules and Guidelines and Sections 1 and 2 of Article VI of the Liga Constitution, insofar as they create these specific elective positions, are invalid for contravening the clear mandate of Section 493 of the LGC.