SALAYSAY VS. CASTRO98 PHIL 264, G.R. NO. L-966931 JANUARY certificates of candidacy.

To enable many local officials to

1956MONTEMAYOR, J.
Key takeaway or doctrine to remember:
It is a settled rule of statutory construction that an exception or a
provision must be strictly construed specially when considered in
an attempt to ascertain the legislative intent.
continue in office, the legislature amended Commonwealth Act
No. 666 by replacing the phrase “for which he has been lastly
elected” with the phrase “which he is actually holding”. It cannot
thus be said that a vice mayor merely acting as mayor because of
the disability of the latter comes under the provision and
exception as he acts as mayor only in a temporary, provisional
capacity.

Summary:

Salaysay, the Vice-Mayor elected currently the acting Mayor of

San Juan del Monte upon his filling of candidacy to run as Mayor,
brought this action of Prohibition with preliminary injunction
against the respondents and to order Respondents to desist and
refrain from molesting, interfering or injunction against the
respondents and to order Respondents to desist and refrain from
molesting, interfering or in any way preventing Petitioner from
performing his duties as acting Municipal Mayor and prohibiting
Sto. Domingo from performing or attempting to perform any of
those powers and duties belonging to Petitioner.

FACTS: Engracio Santos is the duly-elected Municipal Mayor and

petitioner Nicanor Salaysay is the duly-elected Vice Mayor of San
Juan del Monte, Rizal. On September 1955, Santos was held under
suspension due to administrative charges. Salaysay then had to
act as mayor in accordance with Section 2195 of the Revised
Administrative Code. Shortly thereafter, he filed his certificate of
candidacy as mayor. In view of filing for candidacy, the Office of
the President designated Sto. Domingo acting municipal vice
mayor to replace petitioner pursuant to Section27 of the Revised
Election Code which provides that any elective provincial,
municipal or city official running for an office, other than the one
he is currently holding, shall be considered resigned from his
office from the moment of the filing of his certificate of candidacy.
Petitioner refused to turn over the office to Sto. Domingo and
brought the instant action of prohibition with preliminary
injunction against Castro, Pascual, and Sto. Domingo to declare
invalid, illegal and unauthorized the designation of Sto. Domingo
as acting Vice-Mayor.

ISSUES: Whether a vice mayor who temporarily took over the

functions of the mayor following the latter’s suspension from
office, be deemed automatically resigned as actin

g mayor upon filing his certificate of candidacy for mayor.

RULING: In interpreting the phrase “actually holding” in a

provision which states that “any elective provincial, municipal, or
city official running for an office, other than the one which he is
actually holding, shall be considered resigned from his office from
the moment of filing his certificate of candidacy”, the
Courtexamined the legislative history of the provision in
order to ascertain the legislative intent. It noted that it was
Commonwealth Act No. 666 which originally provided for
virtually the same provision. Since the rule of hold-over was not in
force when said law was still effective, President Roxas appointed
many local officials to continue in office even after filing their