[Pelaez vs Auditor General] (1965)
to carry into effect the law creating said municipalities —
[J.Concepcion]
TOPIC Creation of Local Government Units
SUMMARY (optional for relatively long cases)
DOCTRINE The creation of municipalities, is not an
administrative function, but one which is
essentially and eminently legislative in
character.
I. FACTS
President Macapagal created 33 new municipalities by
virtue of sec. 68 of the Revised Admin Code via various
EO’s. In this case, VP Emmanuel Pelaez filed a petition
for prohibition and injunction against the Auditor General
from passing in audit funds used for the EO’s creating
the municipalities.
Pelaez argues that sec. 68 of the RAC has been
repealed by RA 2370 and the EO’s are undue delegation
of legislative power.
The Auditor General argues that the petition by Pelaez is
immature and that the mayors of the new municipalities
must be impleaded in the petition.
The argument of Pelaez stems from the fact the RA
2370 places the power to create barrios in the legislature
through a law or to the provincial board upon petition of
a majority of voters in the areas affected and with the
recommendation of municipal councils where the
proposed barrios will be created.
Following the train of thought of Pelaez, if the President
cannot even create a barrio, it therefore has no power to
create an even larger political subdivision such as a
municipality.
II. ISSUE
WON the President has the power to create
municipalities by virtue of an EO? NO
III. RATIONALE
The power to fix such common boundary, in order to
avoid or settle conflicts of jurisdiction between adjoining
municipalities, may partake of an administrative nature
— involving, as it does, the adoption of means and ways
the authority to create municipal corporations is
essentially legislative in nature. In the language of
other courts, it is "strictly a legislative function".
Although Congress may delegate to another branch of
the government the power to fill in the details in the
execution, enforcement or administration of a law, it is
essential, to forestall a violation of the principle of
separation of powers, that said law: (a) be complete in
itself — it must set forth therein the policy to be
executed, carried out or implemented by the
delegate —and (b) fix a standard — the limits of
which are sufficiently determinate or determinable —
to which the delegate must conform in the
performance of his functions.
Section 68 of the Revised Administrative Code does not
meet these well settled requirements for a valid
delegation of the power to fix the details in the
enforcement of a law.
The creation of municipalities, is not an
administrative function, but one which is essentially
and eminently legislative in character. The question
whether or not "public interest" demands the
exercise of such power is not one of fact. It is
"purely a legislative question or a political question.
IV. DISPOSITIVE
WHEREFORE the Executive Orders in question are
hereby declared null and void ab initio and the
respondent permanently restrained from passing in audit
any expenditure of public funds in implementation of said
Executive Orders or any disbursement by the
municipalities above referred to. It is so ordered.