Sanciangco vs. Rono

GR No. L-68709 July 19, 1985

Facts:

Sanciangco was elected Barangay Captain of Barangay Sta. Cruz, Ozamiz City in the May 1982 elections. Later, he was elected President of the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) of Ozamiz City by the Board of Directors of ABC, and as president, he was appointed by the President of the Philippines as a member of the City's Sangguniang Panlungsod. Sanciangco filed his Certificate of Candidacy for the May 1984 Batasan pambansa elections for Misamis Occidental under the banner of the Mindanao Alliance, he was not successful.

Sanciangco informed Vice-Mayor Fuentes, the Presiding Officer of the Sangguniance Panlungsod, that he was resuming his duties as member of that body. The matter was elevated to respondent Minister of Local Government Jose A. Rono who ruled that since petitioner is an appointive official, he is deemed to have resigned from his appointive position upon the filing of his Certificate of Candidacy.

Issue:

Whether an appointive member of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, who ran for the position of Mambabatas Pambansa in the May 14, 1984 elections, should be considered as resigned or on forced leave of absence upon the filing of his Certificate of Candidacy

Held:

Sanciangco is deemed to have resigned from his position.

Section 13(2) of BP 697 states that upon filing a certificate of candidacy, governors, mayors, and members of various sanggunians or barangay officials shal be considered on forced leave of absence from office. Section 13(1) refers to people holding public appointive positions, who shall cease to hold office upon the filing of his certificate of candidacy. There is no question that Sanciangco holds a public appointive position. Since Sanciangco is unquestionably an appointive member of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Ozamiz City, he is deemed to have ipso facto ceased to be such member when he filed his certificate of candidacy for the May 14, 1984 Batasan elections. He cannot be deemed to be removed from office without due process of law since it was of his own choice that he ran for a seat in the Batasan Pambansa. The consequence that followed his unsuccessful attempt at the elections arose from law. Although he ceased to be an appointive member of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, he remains an elective Barangay Captain from which position he may be considered as having been on "forced leave of absence." He also continues as President of the Association of Barangay Councils but will need a reappointment by the President, as member of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Ozamiz City as the law speaks of "members who may be appointed by the President."

Separate Opinion (Teehankee):

He has correctly submitted that the law makes no distinction between elective or appointive sanggunian members. He should also have been deemed to have been on forced leave of absence and not forced resigned from the Sanggunian. The basic position of barangay captain and ABC president held by him are essentially elective. He cannot fall under Section 13(l) of the Act which refers to purely appointive officials, including active officers and members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and officials and employees of government-owned and controlled corporations, under the statutory construction rule of noscitur a sociis.