G.R. No. 28275, January 10, 1928
BONIFACIO NICOLAS, plaintiff-appellee, vs. SEVERINO ALBERTO, defendant-appellant.

FACTS

Bonifacio Nicolas was appointed Justice of the Peace of Angat, Bulacan, in 1920 with the advice and consent of the Philippine Senate. Severino Alberto was similarly appointed Justice of the Peace of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, in 1918. Following an administrative complaint against Nicolas that was dismissed with a reprimand, the Acting Governor-General, citing “public interest” and purporting to act under Section 206 of the Administrative Code (as amended by Act No. 2768), issued orders on July 2, 1927, transferring Nicolas to San Jose del Monte and Alberto to Angat. These transfer orders were issued without the advice and consent of the Philippine Senate. Nicolas protested and refused to accept the transfer, while Alberto complied and assumed the office in Angat. Nicolas filed a quo warranto action to reclaim his office.

ISSUE

May the Governor-General, acting alone, transfer a justice of the peace from one municipality to another without the advice and consent of the Philippine Senate?

RULING

No. The Supreme Court, through Justice Malcolm, held that the power to transfer a justice of the peace from one municipality to another is essentially an exercise of the appointing power. Since the original appointment of a justice of the peace requires the advice and consent of the Philippine Senate under the Administrative Code, a transfer that effectively assigns the judge to a new office (a different municipality) likewise requires Senate confirmation. The proviso added by Act No. 2768 to Section 206 of the Administrative Code, which states that “a justice of the peace of one municipality may be transferred to another” if public interest requires it, does not specify who may effect the transfer. The Court ruled that the only constitutionally permissible interpretation is that the transfer must be made by the same authority that makes the appointmentthe Governor-General with the consent of the Senate. Therefore, the transfer orders issued without Senate confirmation were invalid. Bonifacio Nicolas was declared entitled to the office of Justice of the Peace of Angat, Bulacan.

Note: The decision includes a dissenting opinion which argues that the legislature, by rejecting a proposed amendment that would have explicitly required Senate confirmation for transfers, intentionally omitted such a requirement from the final law, and the Court should not read it into the statute.