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Arenas Vs San Carlos City
Arenas Vs San Carlos City
Arenas Vs San Carlos City
Facts:
-This is a petition for certiorari to review the decision of the
Court of First Instance of Pangasinan at San Carlos City,
Branch X, dismissing the petition for mandamus in Civil Case
No. SCC-182.
-In January 1971, Isidro G. Arenas, a City Judge of San Carlos
City (Pangasinan), instituted against the City of San Carlos
(Pangasinan), City Council of San Carlos City and the Mayor,
Vice-Mayor, City Councilors and City Treasurer of San Carlos
City, a petition for mandamus in the Court of First Instance of
Pangasinan.
-The petition alleged that the petitioner, Isidro G. Arenas, is the
incumbent City Judge of San Carlos City (Pangasinan, that the
respondent City of San Carlos, from the time of its creation in
1966 up to the present, has been classified as a third class
city; that Republic Act No. 5967 which became effective on
June 21, 1969 provides that the basic salaries of city judges of
second and third class cities shall be P18,000.00 per annum;
that the petitioner was then actually receiving a monthly salary
of P1,000.00 of which P350.00 was the share of the national
government and P650.00 is the share of the city government,
which salary was P500.00 below the basic monthly salary of a
City Judge of a third class city; that under Republic Act No.
5967, the difference between the salary actually being received
by a City Judge and the basic salary established in said act
shall be paid by the city government; that from June 21, 1969
up to the filing of the petition on January 21, 1971, the
petitioner was entitled to a salary differential of P9,500.00 with
the respondent City of San Carlos (Pangasinan); that the
petitioner had repeatedly requested the respondents to enact
the necessary budget and to pay him the said differential but
the respondents, without any justification, whatsoever, refused
and still refuse to do the same; that it is the clear duty of the
respondent to enact the necessary budget providing for the
payment of the salary of the petitioner as provided for in
Republic Act No. 5967; that petitioner has no other plain,
adequate and speedy remedy except the present action for
mandamus; and that because of the refusal of the respondent
to comply with their obligation as provided in Republic Act No.
5967, the petitioner was forced to engage the services of a
lawyer to file this action for which he was to pay the sum of
P2,000.00 as attorney's
fees.
-In their answer dated February 10, 1971, the respondents
admitted and denied the allegations in the petition and alleged
that Republic Act No. 5967 further provides, among other
things, that the salary of the city judge shall at least be one
hundred pesos per month less than that of a city mayor; that
the city judge receives an annual salary of P12,000.00 which is
P100.00 per month less than the salary being received by the
city mayor which is P13,200.00 yearly; that assuming the
existence of a salary difference, in view of the provision of
Republic Act No. 5967, that the payment of the salary
difference shall be subject to the implementation of the
respective city government, which is discretionary on the part
of the city government as to whether it would or would not
implement the payment of the salary difference, and in view of
the financial difficulties of the city which has a big overdraft, the
payment of the salary difference of the city judge cannot be
made; and that the petitioner should pay his lawyer and should
not charge the attorney's fees to the respondents who have not
violated any rights of the petitioner. 3
The Court of First Instance of San Carlos City (Pangasinan),
Branch X, rendered its decision dated May 31, 1971 dismissing
the petition, without pronouncement as to costs.
The pertinent portion of Section 7, Republic Act No. 5967
reads:
The record shows that when Republic Act No. 5967 took effect
on June 21, 1969, San Carlos City (Pangasinan) was a third
class city; that the petitioner as city judge received an annual
salary of P12,000.00; and that the city mayor of San Carlos
City received an annual salary of P13,200.00 which was
exactly P100.00 a month more than the salary of the city judge.