GR L 24476; (September, 1969) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-24476 September 30, 1969
Patricio G. Dumlao, Provincial Governor of Nueva Vizcaya, petitioner, vs. Hon. Ramon A. Diaz, Executive Secretary, Antonio A. Torres, Assistant Solicitor General and Belen F. Calderon, Vice-Governor of Nueva Vizcaya, respondents.
FACTS
Petitioner Patricio G. Dumlao, the Provincial Governor of Nueva Vizcaya, filed a petition for writs of prohibition and mandamus on April 23, 1965. He challenged the validity of a letter dated April 13, 1965, from then Executive Secretary Ramon A. Diaz, which transmitted the President’s order suspending him from office. The order directed him to turn over his office to Vice-Governor Belen F. Calderon due to an administrative charge filed against him on March 19, 1964. Petitioner contended that Article VII, Section 10(1) of the Philippine Constitution limited the President’s authority to suspend and remove provincial officials under Section 2078 of the Revised Administrative Code. He further argued that the suspension order was without factual basis and was arbitrary and oppressive. He also sought a preliminary injunction to stop the enforcement of the suspension order and to enjoin Assistant Solicitor General Antonio A. Torres from continuing the investigation of the administrative charges. The Solicitor General filed an Answer on April 28, 1965. After hearings and motions, including an urgent motion for a restraining order granted by the Court on May 17, 1965, the parties were to submit memoranda by September 28, 1965, but neither party filed them.
ISSUE
Whether the petition challenging the preventive suspension of petitioner from his office as Provincial Governor has become moot and academic.
RULING
The Supreme Court dismissed the petition as moot and academic. The Court noted the parties’ loss of interest, evidenced by their failure to file the required memoranda. The petition became moot due to the change in administration following the November 1965 national elections and the expiration of petitioner’s four-year term as Provincial Governor on December 31, 1967. The Court took judicial notice that petitioner was re-elected to the same office in the November 1967 local elections. Furthermore, the principal legal issue regarding the application of Section 2078 of the Revised Administrative Code was rendered academic by the enactment of Republic Act No. 5185 (the Decentralization Act of 1967) on September 12, 1967. The dismissal was without pronouncement as to costs.