MONTEJO v COMELEC

March 16, 1995

242 SCRA 415

Facts:
Leyte originally had 5 districts. Biliran, located in the 3rd district of
Leyte, was made into a regular province (approved by majority of the votes cast
in a plebiscite on May 11, 1992). As a consequence of the conversion, 8
municipalities of the 3rd district composed the province of Biliran, reducing the
3rd district to five municipalities with a total population of 145, 067 (as per 1990
census). To remedy this, COMELEC promulgated Resolution No. 2736 which
transferred the municipality of Capooccan of the 2nd district and the
municipality of Palompon of the 4th district to the 3rd district of Leyte.
Reacting to the said resolution, Petitioner Cirilo Roy Montejo,
representing the 1st district of Leyte, filed a motion for reconsideration calling
the attention of COMELEC, among others, to the inequitable distribution of
inhabitants and voters between the First and Second Districts (1st district had
178, 688 voters while 2nd district had 156,462 voters). He proposed that Tolosa
with 7, 700 registered voters be transferred to 2nd district. (Motion was denied
by COMELEC because 1. the adjustment proposed in Res. 2736 involved the least
disruption of the territorial composition of each district and 2. Said adjustment
complied the constitutional requirement that each legislative district shall
comprise, as far as practicable, contiguous, compact and adjacent territory.
Petitioner then pleads to this court for the annulment of Section 1 of
Resolution No. 2736 promulgated by the COMELEC on the ground that it violates
the principle of equality in representation (that as much as practicable, one
mans vote in a congressional election is to be worth as much as anothers). And
in order to remedy the alleged inequity, he also seeks to transfer the
municipality of Tolosa from his district to the Second District of the province.

Issue/s:
WoN COMELEC has jurisdiction to promulgate Resolution No. 2736. NO.

Ratio:

1. COMELEC relies on the Ordinance Appended to the 1987 Constitution as its

source of power of redistricting which is traditionally regarded as part of the
power to make laws.
Among the problems during that the 1987 Constitutional Commission
had to resolve was whether how the apportionment of the legislative
districts be made. They had three choices1. Allow President Cory to do
the apportionment, 2. Empower COMELEC to make the apportionment, 3.
Let the Commission exercise the power by way of an Ordinance appended
to the Constitution,
It was the 3rd one that they chose. The Committee on the Legislative
completed the work of reapportionment using the basis of the
thoroughly studied recommendation of the COMELEC that was made
available to the Constitutional Commission at that time.
 However, the apportionment will only apply to the first election. The
authority to make reapportionments after that will be given to the
Congress.
o Art IX, Sec. 2(c) states that within 3 years following the return of
the Census, the Congress shall make the necessary
reapportionments.

2. Section 2 of Ordinance states that COMELEC is empowered to make minor

adjustments of the reapportionment therein made.
A review of the deliberations during the Constitutional Convention
reveals that minor adjustments actually meant that no change in the
allocations per district be done. It was limited to the following
corrections:
o For instance, they forgot to include one of the municipalities in
between, which is still in the territory of one assigned district
o Or if there may be an error in the correct name of a particular
municipality.
It actually doesnt give COMELEC the authority to transfer municipalities
from one legislative district to another, as this is a substantive correction.

Held:

COMELEC has committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack

of jurisdiction when it promulgated Section 1 of Resolution No. 2736.

Section 1 of Resolution 2736 is annulled and set aside.

Court dont have the authority to make the reapportionment as petitioner would
want it to, by directing COMELEC to transfer municipality of Tolosa. It may only
strike down an unconstitutional reapportionment.