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Navarro v. Executive Secretary
Navarro v. Executive Secretary
composed of one (1) or more islands for being beyond the ambit of Article 461 of the
LGC, inasmuch as such exemption is not expressly provided in the law.
May 12, 2010 - The Republic, represented by the Office of the Solicitor General, and
Dinagat filed their respective MRs but were DENIED.
June 29, 2010 - The Republic and Dinagat both filed their respective motions for leave of
court to admit their second motions for reconsideration, accompanied by their second
motions for reconsideration. These motions were eventually noted without action by the
SC.
June 18, 2010 - Meanwhile, the movants-intervenors filed a Motion for Leave to
Intervene and to File and to Admit Intervenors MR of the Resolution dated May 12,
2010, alleging that the COMELEC issued Resolution No. 8790, relevant to this case and
that election to their respective offices would necessarily be annulled since Dinagat
Islands will revert to its previous status as part of the First Legislative District of Surigao
del Norte and a special election will have to be conducted for governor, vice governor,
and House of Representatives member and Sangguniang Panlalawigan member for the
First Legislative District of Surigao del Norte.
Moreover, as residents of Surigao del Norte and as public servants representing the
interests of their constituents, they have a clear and strong interest in the outcome of this
case inasmuch as the reversion of Dinagat as part of the First Legislative District of
Surigao del Norte will affect the latter province such that: (1) the whole administrative
setup of the province will have to be restructured (2) the services of many employees
will have to be terminated (3) contracts will have to be invalidated and (4) projects and
other developments will have to be discontinued. They claim that their rights cannot be
adequately pursued and protected in any other proceeding since their rights would be
foreclosed if the May 12, 2010 Resolution would attain finality.
July 20, 2010 - the SC DENIED the Motion for Leave to Intervene and to File and to
Admit Intervenors MR on the ground that the allowance or disallowance of a motion to
intervene is addressed to the sound discretion of the Court, and that the appropriate time
to file the said motion was before and not after the resolution of this case.
September 7, 2010 Movants-intervenors filed a MR citing several rulings of the Court,
allowing intervention as an exception to Section 2, Rule 19 of the Rules of Court that it
should be filed at any time before legal interest in this case was not yet existent. They
averred that prior to the May 10, 2010 elections, they were unaware of the proceedings
in this case. Even for the sake of argument that they had notice of the pendency of the
case, they pointed out that prior to the said elections, Sol T. Matugas was a simple
resident of Surigao del Norte, Arturo Carlos A. Egay, Jr. was a member of the
Sangguniang Panlalawigan of the Second District of Surigao del Norte, and Mamerto D.
Galanida was the Municipal Mayor of Socorro, Surigao del Norte, and that, pursuant to
COMELEC Resolution No. 8790, it was only after they were elected as Governor of
Surigao del Norte, Vice Governor of Surigao del Norte and Sangguniang Panlalawigan
Member of the First District of Surigao del Norte, respectively, that they became
possessed with legal interest in this controversy.
October 5, 2010 - the SC issued an order for Entry of Judgment, stating that the decision
in this case had become final and executory on May 18, 2010. Hence, the above motion.
ISSUE: Whether the creation of the Province of Dinagat complied with the requirements of the
law.
RULING:
YES. The land area, while considered as an indicator of viability of a local government unit, is
not conclusive in showing that Dinagat cannot become a province, taking into account its
average annual income of P82,696,433.23 at the time of its creation, as certified by the Bureau
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ROMASANTA, GALILEE J.
Civil Procedure Case Digest
2nd Year John Wesley School of Law and Governance
of Local Government Finance, which is four times more than the minimum requirement of
P20,000,000.00 for the creation of a province. The delivery of basic services to its constituents
has been proven possible and sustainable. Rather than looking at the results of the plebiscite
and the May 10, 2010 elections as mere fait accompli circumstances which cannot operate in
favor of Dinagats existence as a province, they must be seen from the perspective that Dinagat
is ready and capable of becoming a province. The SC should not be instrumental in stunting
such capacity.
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