G.R. No. L-38025 August 20, 1979
DANTE O. CASIBANG, petitioner, vs. HON. NARCISO A. AQUINO, Judge of the Court of First Instance of Pangasinan, Branch XIV, and REMEGIO P. YU, respondents.

FACTS

Respondent Remegio P. Yu was proclaimed the elected Mayor of Rosales, Pangasinan, following the 1971 local elections. Petitioner Dante O. Casibang, his rival, filed a timely election protest on November 24, 1971, alleging various election irregularities. The Court of First Instance, presided by respondent Judge Narciso A. Aquino, took cognizance of the protest. While the proceedings were ongoing, significant national events transpired: President Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law on September 21, 1972, and the 1973 Constitution was ratified on January 17, 1973.
After petitioner had completed the presentation of his evidence, respondent Yu moved to dismiss the election protest on October 10, 1973. He argued that the ratification of the 1973 Constitution, which introduced a parliamentary form of government, rendered the protest a political question and divested the trial court of jurisdiction. Yu contended that local elective officials, including mayors, no longer had a fixed term and served at the pleasure of the appointing power under the new constitutional order. Petitioner opposed, asserting that the transitory provisions of the new Constitution preserved the court’s jurisdiction over pending cases and that the office of municipal mayor had not been automatically abolished.

ISSUE

Whether the ratification of the 1973 Constitution divested the Court of First Instance of its jurisdiction over a pending election protest for municipal mayor, thereby rendering the case a political question.

RULING

The Supreme Court ruled that the trial court retained jurisdiction and ordered it to proceed with the election protest. The Court held that the case did not involve a political question. A political question refers to matters which, under the Constitution, are to be decided by the people in their sovereign capacity, or by the legislative or executive branch to which full discretionary authority has been delegated. The issue of who was the duly elected mayor in the 1971 elections remained a justiciable controversy determinable by judicial standards of evidence and law.
The Court explained that the transitory provisions of the 1973 Constitution, particularly Sections 7 and 8 of Article XVII, explicitly provided that all courts existing at the time of ratification shall continue to exercise their jurisdiction until otherwise provided by law. Furthermore, Section 9 of the same Article stated that all officials shall continue in office until otherwise provided. These provisions indicated no intent to automatically abolish existing offices or oust courts of jurisdiction over pending cases. The power of the National Assembly to enact a future local government code under Section 2, Article XI, was prospective and did not affect pending judicial determinations. Therefore, the trial court’s dismissal order was set aside for having been issued with grave abuse of discretion.