Municipality of San Narciso, Quezon vs. Hon. Antonio V. Mendez, Sr.

G.R. No. 103702

December 6, 1994

FACTS:

On August 20, 1959, President Carlos P. Garcia, issued Executive Order No. 353 creating the municipal
district of San Andres, Quezon, pursuant to the Sections 68 and 2630 of the Revised Administrative Code.
Subsequently, the municipal district of San Andres was later officially recognized to have gained the status
of a fifth class municipality. On June 5, 1989, the Municipality of San Narciso filed a petition for quo
warranto with the Regional Trial Court against the officials of the Municipality of San Andres, which sought
the declaration of nullity of Executive Order No. 353 and prayed that the local officials of the Municipality
of San Andres be permanently ordered to refrain from performing their duties and functions. It was
argued that E.O. 353, a presidential act, was a clear usurpation of the inherent powers of the legislature.
On December 2, 1991, the lower court finally dismissed the petition for lack of cause of action on what it
felt was a matter that belonged to the State, adding that whatever defects were present in the creation
of municipal districts by the President pursuant to executive orders were cured by the enactment of RA
7160, otherwise known as Local Government Code of 1991. This prompted the Municipality of San Narciso
to file a petition for review on certiorari.

ISSUE:

Whether or not the Municipality of San Andres is a de facto municipal corporation.

RULING:

When the inquiry is focused on the legal existence of a body politic, the action is reserved to the State in
a proceeding for quo warranto or any other credit proceeding. A quo warranto proceeding assailing the
lawful authority of a political subdivision must, with greatest imperativeness, be timely raised. Public
interest demands it. Granting the Executive Order No. 353 was a complete nullity for being the result of
an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power, the peculiar circumstances obtaining in this case
hardly could offer a choice other than to consider the Municipality of San Andres to have at least attained
a status closely approximating that of a de facto municipal corporation.

Finally, equally significant is Section 442(d) of the Local Government Code which states that municipal
districts organized pursuant to presidential issuances or executive orders and which have the irrespective
sets of elective municipal officials holding office at the time of the effectivity of this Code shall henceforth
be considered as regular municipalities. The power to create political subdivisions is a function of the
legislature. And Congress did just that when it incorporated Section 442(d) in the Code. Curative laws, in
essence, are retrospective. They are aimed at giving validity to acts done that would have been invalid
under existing laws. All considered, the de jure status of the Municipality of San Andres in the province
of Quezon must now be conceded.