G.R. No. L-68159. March 18, 1985
HOMOBONO A. ADAZA, Petitioner, vs. FERNANDO PACANA, JR., Respondent.

FACTS

Petitioner Homobono A. Adaza was the elected Governor of Misamis Oriental, and respondent Fernando Pacana, Jr. was the elected Vice-Governor, both serving terms from March 3, 1980, to March 3, 1986. Both filed certificates of candidacy for the May 14, 1984, Batasan Pambansa elections. Adaza won and took his oath as Mambabatas Pambansa (MP) on July 19, 1984, while Pacana lost. Adaza continued to claim the governorship, arguing his local term had not expired. On July 23, 1984, Pacana took his oath as Governor before President Ferdinand Marcos, asserting the governorship was vacated by Adaza’s election as MP and that he, as Vice-Governor, rightfully succeeded. Adaza filed this petition for prohibition, seeking to exclude Pacana from the office.
Adaza contended he could simultaneously hold the offices of Governor and MP, citing parliamentary systems abroad. He also argued that Pacana, by filing his certificate of candidacy for the Batasan, had effectively abandoned or resigned from the vice-governorship, rendering him a private citizen ineligible to succeed to the governorship after his electoral loss.

ISSUE

The issues are: (1) Whether a provincial governor elected as MP can hold both offices simultaneously; and (2) Whether a vice-governor who lost in the Batasan elections can continue serving as vice-governor and succeed to a vacant governorship.

RULING

The Supreme Court dismissed the petition. On the first issue, the Court held that Adaza could not simultaneously serve as Governor and MP. Section 10, Article VIII of the 1973 Constitution explicitly prohibited a member of the Batasan Pambansa from holding any other government office during tenure, with the sole exceptions of Prime Minister or Cabinet Member. This constitutional incompatibility is absolute. By taking his oath and discharging duties as an MP, Adaza vacated the office of Governor. His invocation of foreign parliamentary practice is irrelevant, as the sovereign will expressed in the Philippine Constitution controls.
On the second issue, the Court ruled that Pacana did not abandon his vice-governorship. Batas Pambansa Blg. 697, governing the 1984 elections, provided in Section 132 that local officials, including members of the Sanggunian, are considered on forced leave upon filing a certificate of candidacy. The legislative record confirms that a Vice-Governor, being an ex-officio member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan under the Local Government Code, is covered by this provision. Thus, Pacana’s candidacy only placed him on leave; his loss meant he could legally reassume his vice-governorship. Consequently, upon the permanent vacancy in the governorship created by Adaza’s election as MP, Pacana rightfully succeeded as Governor under Section 204(2)(a) of the Local Government Code.