MANILA – Affirming that its creation was unconstitutional and illegal, the Supreme Court (SC) ruled with finality the abolition of a new province in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
In a resolution, the SC said it found no compelling reason nor substantial arguments to justify and overturn its earlier decision abolishing the province of Shariff Kabunsuan in ARMM.
Earlier, the High Court ruled that only Congress can create provinces or reformat the geographical composition of congressional districts in the Philippines.
In 2005, the 24-member ARMM Regional Assembly approved the creation of Shariff Kabunsuan which was carved out of 11 towns from the first congressional district of Maguindanao province.
If the SC did not rule on the case, Shariff Kabunsuan would have been the sixth component province in ARMM and the 80th in the country.
With the High Court decision, however, ARMM would revert back to having five component provinces, composed of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi as well as the cities of Marawi and Lamitan.
The case arose when a rival of Congressman Didagen Dilangalen questioned his election in the May 2007 polls to represent Cotabato City and Shariff Kabunsuan in the House of Representatives.
The rival argued that Dilangalen could not represent Shariff Kabunsuan because he had established his legal residence in Cotabato City and, as such, could no longer act as the congressman of the new province which has, in effect, become a new congressional district.
In response, Dilangalen questioned the legality of the creation of Shariff Kabunsuan in a petition he filed before the Supreme Court, stressing that only Congress, not the ARMM Regional Assembly, is empowered by the Constitution to create a new province.
With the SC ruling, legal experts said Dilangalen will retain his position as elected congressman of Cotabato City and the first congressional district of Maguindanao from which Shariff Kabunsuan was created. But Ibrahim Ibay, who has been acting as governor since 2007, and the other employees expressed dismay over the High Court ruling.
Since its creation, records showed that the new province has a total of close to 800 employees, consisting of 490 regulars and more than 250 contractual and casual employees.
“We are in disarray, we do not know what to do with 800 provincial employees,” Ibay said in a statement he issued in response to the SC decision. “Practically, we are jobless and unemployed.”
But as law-abiding citizens, Ibay pointed out that they recognize the power of the Supreme Court over the case and that there is no way but to accept its ruling.
Nevertheless, officials of Maguindanao, led by Governor Andal Ampatuan, said they are to meet with Ibay and other representatives of the abolished province to find ways to help the affected workers cushion the impact of the SC decision.
Sources, who requested anonymity, disclosed that it was Ampatuan himself who pushed for the creation of Shariff Kabunsuan. His son, Zaldy Ampatuan, is the incumbent governor of ARMM.
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