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Sunday, June 25, 2006
Talisay asks CA to uphold its status as city
Talisay officials have asked the Court of Appeals (CA) to stand pat on the ruling that it is indeed a city, and oppose Cebu City’s motion for reconsideration.
The 15-page opposition, signed by City Legal Officer Aurora Econg, reiterated two major points:
* Talisay City has met the minimum requirement of 150,000 population; and
* The petitioner, represented by Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeńa, does not possess the locus standi (the right to appear in court) to question the validity of RA 8979, the law creating the City of Talisay.
The Talisay City Government called on the appellate court to deny the petitioner’s motion for reconsideration, for lack of merit.
On the first issue, Talisay City said that no less than National Statistics Office (NSO) Administrator Tomas Africa issued a certification pegging Talisay’s population at 150,238 as of Feb. 1, 2000.
Grilled
The NSO certification was made one basis for the committee on local government to approve House Bill 7695 of Rep. Eduardo “Eddiegul” Gullas (Cebu, 1st district), converting the municipality of Talisay into a component city.
Gullas eventually served as the city’s first mayor.
Moreover, the committee grilled Africa on his report when he appeared in one of the committee hearings in the lower House.
“A personal testimony by a resource person...is invariably given more weight to a written certification from the same resource person,” the opposition read.
Talisay reiterated that while it failed to meet the required land area of 100 square kilometers, it has met the required 150,000 population.
It cited Section 450 of the code, which calls for “either” the land area or population requirement, not both.
Enrolled bill
Talisay City said the petitioner’s move of assailing the validity of RA 8979 also runs counter to the “enrolled bill doctrine.”
“Under the principle of the enrolled bill, the text of the act as passed and approved is deemed importing absolute verity and is binding on the courts,” it said.
“The respect due to co-equal and independent department requires the judicial department to act upon that assurance, and to accept as having passed the assembly, all bills duly authenticated,” it added.
In questioning its conversion into a city, Talisay said the petitioner should have been an elected public officer, actual resident or registered voter in the locality.
“For this reason, it is correct for this honorable court that the petitioner has not pointed out by what manner is he aggrieved by the conversion of the municipality of Talisay to a component city,” the filed opposition added.
Last month, the CA upheld the cityhood of Talisay, saying that RA 8979 has no “constitutional or statutory infirmities.”
The appellate court disagreed with the petitioner’s contention that Cebu City’s revenue stands to2 firms fight over software suffer from the enactment of RA 8979.
It described the petitioner’s move as a belated action that has been overtaken by subsequent events, like the reclassification of Talisay from a fifth-class to a fourth-class city on July 29, 2005.
Talisay City clinched the new status after posting an income of more than P160 million from 2000 to 2003. (GC)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 25, 2006 issue)
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