38 Aldaba v.

COMELEC
G.R. No. 188078 (2010)
J. Carpio / Tita K

Subject Matter: General power and attributes; popoulation

Summary:
RA 9591 lapsed into a law. It amended Malolos Charter by creating a separate legislative district for the said city. The
legislative bills filed for RA 9591 were based on an undated certification issued by a Regional Director Miranda of the
NSO stating that the projected population of Malolos will be 254,030 by the year 2010. Petitioners are assailing its
constitutionality, arguing that it failed to meet the minimum population threshold of 250,000 for a city to merit
representation in Congress. The SC declared RA 9591 unconstitutional. It held that the Certification of Regional Director
Miranda relied upon by the legislative bills was INVALID because Director Miranda has no basis and no authority to issue
the Certification. The requirements under Section 6 of E.O. 135 were not complied with and that based on a growth rate
of 3.78%, the population of Malolos will grow to only 248,365 as of 1 August 2010.
Doctrines:
The 1987 Constitution requires that for a city to have a legislative district, the city must have “a population of at least
two hundred fifty thousand.

A city whose population has increased to 250,000 is entitled to have a legislative district only in the “immediately
following election” after the attainment of the 250,000 population.

First, certifications on demographic projections can be issued only if such projections are declared official by the
National Statistics Coordination Board. Second, certifications based on demographic projections can be issued only by
the NSO Administrator or his designated certifying officer. Third, intercensal population projections must be as of the
middle of every year.

Parties:
VICTORINO B. ALDABA, CARLO JOLETTE S. FAJARDO, JULIO G. MORADA, and
Petitioner MINERVA ALDABA MORADA - taxpayers, registered voters, and residents of
Malolos City
Respondent COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS
Facts:
This is an original action for Prohibition to declare unconstitutional Republic Act No. 9591 (RA 9591), creating a
legislative district for the city of Malolos, Bulacan, for violating the minimum population requirement for the creation of
a legislative district in a city.
 Bulacan was previously represented in Congress by four legislative districts. The first legislative district
comprised of Malolos City and other municipalities.
 On May 1, 2009, RA 9591 lapsed into law, which amended Malolos’ City Charter by creating a separate
legislative district for the said city.
 At the time the legislative bills for RA 9591 were filed in Congress in 2007, the population of Malolos was only
223,069. However, the bills relied on an undated certification issued by a Regional Director of the NSO that the
projected population of Malolos will be 254,030 by the year 2010, using the population growth rate of 3.78
between 1995 to 2000.
Arguments:

Petitioners argue that RA 9591 is unconstitutional for failing to meet the minimum population threshold of 250,000 for a
city to merit representation in Congress, as per Section 5(3), Article VI of the 1987 Constitution and Section 3 of the
Ordinance appended to the 1987 Constitution.

Issue:WON RA 9591 is unconstitutional. (YES.)

Ratio:

YES– RA 9591 violates Section 5(3), Article VI of the 1987 Constitution and Section 3 of the Ordinance appended to the
1987 Constitution.

 Section 5(3), Article VI of the 1987 Constitution requires that for a city to have a legislative district, the city must
have “a population of at least two hundred fifty thousand.”
o The legislative bill cites the undated Certification of Regional Director Alberto N. Miranda of Region III of
the NSO as authority that the population of the City of Malolos “will be 254,030 by the year 2010.”
o This certification, which is based on demographic projections, is without legal effect because Regional
Director Miranda has no basis and no authority to issue the Certification.
 Pursuant to Section 61 of E.O. 135: First, certifications on demographic projections can be issued only if such
projections are declared official by the National Statistics Coordination Board. Second, certifications based on
demographic projections can be issued only by the NSO Administrator or his designated certifying officer.
Third, intercensal population projections must be as of the middle of every year.
o All these requirements are absent in the present case.
o The Certification of Regional Director Miranda does not state that the demographic projections he
certified have been declared official by the NSCB. It was not shown that the Certification of Regional
Director Miranda is based on demographic projections declared official by the NSCB. The Certification,
which states that the population of Malolos “will be 254,030 by the year 2010,” violates the
requirement that intercensal demographic projections shall be “as of the middle of every year.”
o In addition, there is no showing that Regional Director Miranda has been designated by the NSO
Administrator as a certifying officer for demographic projections in Region III. In the absence of such
official designation, only the certification of the NSO Administrator can be given credence by this Court.

o
Also, the 2007 Census places the population of Malolos at 223,069 as of 1 August 2007. Based on a
growth rate of 3.78%, the population of Malolos will grow to only 248,365 as of 1 August 2010. Even if
the growth rate is compounded yearly, the population of Malolos of 223,069 as of 1 August 2007 will
grow to only 249,333 as of 1 August 2010.
 Section 3 of the Ordinance appended to the 1987 Constitution provides:
“Any province that may be created, or any city whose population may hereafter increase to more than two
hundred fifty thousand shall be entitled in the immediately following election…”
 Therefore, a city that has attained a population of 250,000 is entitled to a legislative district only in the
“immediately following election.” In short, a city must first attain the 250,000 population, and thereafter, in the
immediately following election, such city shall have a district representative.

1 “SECTION 6. Guidelines on the Issuance of Certification of Population sizes Pursuant to Section 7, 386, 442, 450, 452, and 461 of the New Local
Government Code.
(a) The National Statistics Office shall issue certification on data that it has collected and processed as well as on statistics that it has estimated.
(b) For census years, certification on population size will be based on actual population census counts; while for the intercensal years, the
certification will be made on the basis of a set of demographic projections or estimates declared official by the National Statistical Coordination
Board (NSCB).
(c) Certification of population census counts will be made as of the census reference date, such as May 1, 1990, while those of intercensal
population estimates will be as of middle of every year.
(d) Certification of population size based on projections may specify the range within which the true count is deemed likely to fall. The range will
correspond to the official low and high population
projections.

(e) The smallest geographic area for which a certification on population size may be issued will
be the barangay for census population counts, and the city or municipality for intercensal estimates. If an LGU wants to conduct its own population
census, during off–census years, approval must be sought from the NSCB and the conduct must be under the technical supervision of NSO from
planning to data processing.
(f) Certifications of population size based on published census results shall be issued by the Provincial Census Officers or by the Regional Census
Officers. Certifications based on projections or estimates, however, will be issued by the NSO Administrator or his designated certifying officer.”
 o There is no showing in the present case that the City of Malolos has attained or will attain a population
of 250,000, whether actual or projected, before the 10 May 2010 elections.

Wherefore, we GRANT the petition. We DECLARE Republic Act No. 9591 UNCONSTITUTIONAL for being violative of
Section 5(3), Article VI of the 1987 Constitution and Section 3 of the Ordinance appended to the 1987 Constitution.

ABAD, J., Dissenting Opinion:

For a city to merit one representative it should have a population of at least 250,000. A province, however, is entitled to
one representative no matter what its population size. In this case, the basis of House Bill 3696 is the certification of the
NSO that the projected population of the City of Malolos by 2010, the coming election year, will be 254,030.

Section 5(3), Article VI of the Constitution. It states that “each legislative district shall comprise, as far as practicable,
contiguous, compact and adjacent territory.” It should be noted, however, that this rule is qualified by the phrase “as far
as practicable.” Hence, the fact that the creation of a legislative district for Malolos would separate the town of Bulacan
from the rest of the towns comprising the first district, would not militate against the constitutionality of R.A. 9716.

A city can aspire to have one representative who will represent its interest in Congress.