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Borja, Jr. vs. Commission on Elections
*
G.R. No. 133495. September 3, 1998.

BENJAMIN U. BORJA, JR., petitioner, vs. COMMISSION

ON ELECTIONS and JOSE T. CAPCO, JR., respondents.

Constitutional Law; Election Law; Suffrage; Term Limits;

Political Dynasties; To prevent the establishment of political
dynasties is not the only policy embodied in Article X, 8 of the
Constitutionthe other policy is that of enhancing the freedom of
choice of the people.To prevent the establishment of political
dynasties is not the only policy embodied in the constitutional
provision in question. The other policy is that of enhancing the
freedom of choice of the people. To consider, therefore, only stay in
office regardless of how the official concerned came to that office
whether by election or by succession by operation of lawwould
be to disregard one of the purposes of the constitutional provision
in question.

Same; Same; Same; Same; Same; Statutory Construction; A

consideration of the historical background of Art. X, 8 of the
Constitution reveals that the members of the Constitutional
Commission were as much concerned with preserving the freedom
of choice of the people as they were with preventing the
monopolization of political power.A consideration of the
historical background of Art. X, 8 of the Constitution reveals that
the members of the Constitutional Commission were as much
concerned with preserving the freedom of

_______________

* EN BANC.

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Borja, Jr. vs. Commission on Elections

choice of the people as they were with preventing the

monopolization of political power. Indeed, they rejected a proposal
put forth by Commissioner Edmundo F. Garcia that after serving
three consecutive terms or nine years there should be no further
reelection for local and legislative officials. Instead, they adopted
the alternative proposal of Commissioner Christian Monsod that
such officials be simply barred from running for the same position
in the succeeding election following the expiration of the third
consecutive term. Monsod warned against prescreening
candidates [from] whom the people will choose as a result of the
proposed absolute disqualification, considering that the draft
constitution contained provisions recognizing peoples power.

Same; Same; Same; Same; Same; A fundamental tenet of

representative democracy is that the people should be allowed to
choose those whom they please to govern them.Indeed, a
fundamental tenet of representative democracy is that the people
should be allowed to choose those whom they please to govern
them. To bar the election of a local official because he has already
served three terms, although the first as a result of succession by
operation of law rather than election, would therefore be to violate
this principle.

Same; Same; Same; Same; Statutory Construction; Not only

historical examination but textual analysis as well supports the
ruling of the COMELEC that Art. X, 8 contemplates service by
local officials for three consecutive terms as a result of election.
Not only historical examination but textual analysis as well
supports the ruling of the COMELEC that Art. X, 8 contemplates
service by local officials for three consecutive terms as a result of
election. The first sentence speaks of the term of office of elective
local officials and bars such official[s] from serving for more
than three consecutive terms. The second sentence, in explaining
when an elective local official may be deemed to have served his
full term of office, states that voluntary renunciation of the office
for any length of time shall not be considered as an interruption
in the continuity of his service for the full term for which he was
elected. The term served must therefore be one for which [the
official concerned] was elected. The purpose of this provision is to
prevent a circumvention of the limitation on the number of terms
an elective local official may serve. Conversely, if he is not serving
a term for which he was elected because he is simply continuing
the service of the official he succeeds, such official cannot be
considered to have fully served the

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Borja, Jr. vs. Commission on Elections

term notwithstanding his voluntary renunciation of office prior to

its expiration.

Same; Same; Same; Same; Municipal Corporations; Local

Government Units; There is a difference between the case of a vice
mayor and that of a member of the House of Representatives who
succeeds another who dies, resigns, becomes incapacitated, or is
removed from officethe vicemayor succeeds to the mayorship by
operation of law while the Representative is elected to fill the
vacancy.There is a difference, however, between the case of a
vicemayor and that of a member of the House of Representatives
who succeeds another who dies, resigns, becomes incapacitated, or
is removed from office. The vicemayor succeeds to the mayorship
by operation of law. On the other hand, the Representative is
elected to fill the vacancy. In a real sense, therefore, such
Representative serves a term for which he was elected. As the
purpose of the constitutional provision is to limit the right to be
elected and to serve in Congress, his service of the unexpired term
is rightly counted as his first term. Rather than refute what we
believe to be the intendment of Art. X, 8 with regard to elective
local officials, the case of a Representative who succeeds another
confirms the theory.

Same; Same; Same; Same; Same; Same; Presidency; The Vice

President is elected primarily to succeed the President in the event
of the latters death, permanent disability, removal, or resignation
in running for VicePresident, he may thus be said to also seek
the Presidency.There is another reason why the VicePresident
who succeeds to the Presidency and serves in that office for more
than four years is ineligible for election as President. The Vice
President is elected primarily to succeed the President in the
event of the latters death, permanent disability, removal, or
resignation. While he may be appointed to the cabinet, his
becoming so is entirely dependent on the good graces of the
President. In running for VicePresident, he may thus be said to
also seek the Presidency. For their part, the electors likewise
choose as VicePresident the candidate who they think can fill the
Presidency in the event it becomes vacant. Hence, service in the
Presidency for more than four years may rightly be considered as
service for a full term.

Same; Same; Same; Same; Same; Same; It is not enough that

an individual has served three consecutive terms in an elective
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local officehe must also have been elected to the same position for
the

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Borja, Jr. vs. Commission on Elections

same number of times before the disqualification can apply.To

recapitulate, the term limit for elective local officials must be
taken to refer to the right to be elected as well as the right to serve
in the same elective position. Consequently, it is not enough that
an individual has served three consecutive terms in an elective
local office, he must also have been elected to the same position for
the same number of times before the disqualification can apply.

SPECIAL CIVIL ACTION in the Supreme Court.

Certiorari.

The facts are stated in the opinion of the Court.

Gramata, Fonacier & Comia Law Firm for petitioner.
Romulo Makalintal for private respondent.
Rosendo T. Capco collaborating counsel for private
respondent.

MENDOZA, J.:

This case presents for determination the scope of the

constitutional provision barring elective local officials, with
the exception of barangay officials, from serving more than
three consecutive terms. In particular, the question is
whether a vicemayor who succeeds to the office of mayor
by operation of law and serves the remainder of the term is
considered to have served a term in that office for the
purpose of the threeterm limit.
Private respondent Jose T. Capco, Jr. was elected vice
mayor of Pateros on January 18, 1988 for a term ending
June 30, 1992. On September 2, 1989, he became mayor, by
operation of law, upon the death of the incumbent, Cesar
Borja. On May 11, 1992, he ran and was elected mayor for
a term of three years which ended on June 30, 1995. On
May 8, 1995, he was reelected mayor
1
for another term of
three years ending June 30, 1998.

_______________

1 Rollo, pp. 56, 124125.

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On March 27, 1998, private respondent Capco filed a

certificate of candidacy for mayor of Pateros relative to the
May 11, 1998 elections. Petitioner Benjamin U. Borja, Jr.,
who was also a candidate for mayor, sought Capcos
disqualification on the theory that the latter would have
already served as mayor for three consecutive terms by
June 30, 1998 and would therefore be ineligible to serve for
another term after that.
On April 30, 1998, the Second Division of the
Commission on Elections ruled in favor of petitioner and
declared private respondent Capco disqualified2
from
running for reelection as mayor of Pateros. However, on
motion of private respondent, the COMELEC en banc,
voting 52, reversed the decision and declared Capco3
eligible to run for mayor in the May 11, 1998 elections.
The majority stated in its decision:

In both the Constitution and the Local Government Code, the

threeterm limitation refers to the term of office for which the
local official was elected. It made no reference to succession to an
office to which he was not elected. In the case before the
Commission, respondent Capco was not elected to the position of
Mayor in the January 18, 1988 local elections. He succeeded to
such office by operation of law and served for the unexpired term
of his predecessor. Consequently, such succession into office is not
counted as one (1) term for purposes of the computation of the
threeterm limitation under the Constitution and the Local
Government Code.

Accordingly, private respondent was voted for in the

elections. He received 16,558 votes against petitioners
7,773 votes and was proclaimed elected by the Municipal
Board of Canvassers.
This is a petition for certiorari brought to set aside the
resolution, dated May 7, 1998, of the COMELEC and to
seek a declaration that private respondent is disqualified to
serve another term as mayor of Pateros, Metro Manila.
Petitioner contends that private respondent Capcos
service as mayor from September 2, 1989 to June 30, 1992
should be

_______________

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2 Id., pp. 6371.
3 Id., pp. 3032.

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Borja, Jr. vs. Commission on Elections

considered as service for one full term, and since he

thereafter served from 1992 to 1998 two more terms as
mayor, he should be considered to have served three
consecutive terms within the contemplation of Art. X, 8 of
the Constitution and 43(b) of the Local Government Code.
Petitioner stresses the fact that, upon the death of Mayor
Cesar Borja on September 2, 1989, private respondent
became the mayor and thereafter served the remainder of
the term. Petitioner argues that it is irrelevant that private
respondent became mayor by succession because the
purpose of the constitutional provision in limiting the
number of terms elective local officials may serve is to
prevent a monopolization of political power.
This contention will not bear analysis. Article X, 8 of
the Constitution provides:

SEC. 8. The term of office of elective local officials, except

barangay officials, which shall be determined by law, shall be
three years and no such official shall serve for more than three
consecutive terms. Voluntary renunciation of the office for any
length of time shall not be considered as an interruption in the
continuity of his service for the full term for which he was elected.

This provision is restated in 43(b) of the Local

Government Code (R.A. No. 7160):

SEC. 43. Term of Office.. . .

(b) No local elective official shall serve for more than three (3)
consecutive terms in the same position. Voluntary renunciation of
the office for any length of time shall not be considered as an
interruption in the continuity of service for the full term for which
the elective official concerned was elected . . . .

First, to prevent the establishment of political dynasties is

not the only policy embodied in the constitutional provision
in question. The other policy is that of enhancing the
freedom of choice of the people. To consider, therefore, only
stay in office regardless of how the official concerned came
to that officewhether by election or by succession by
operation of law

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would be to disregard one of the purposes of the

constitutional provision in question.
Thus, a consideration of the historical background of
Art. X, 8 of the Constitution reveals that the members of
the Constitutional Commission were as much concerned
with preserving the freedom of choice of the people as they
were with preventing the monopolization of political power.
Indeed, they rejected a proposal put forth by Commissioner
Edmundo F. Garcia that after serving three consecutive
terms or nine years there should be no further reelection
for local and legislative officials. Instead, they adopted the
alternative proposal of Commissioner Christian Monsod
that such officials be simply barred from running for the
same position in the succeeding election 4
following the
expiration of the third consecutive term. Monsod warned
against prescreening candidates [from] whom the people
will choose as a result of the proposed absolute
disqualification, considering that the draft constitution
5
contained provisions recognizing peoples power.
Commissioner Blas F. Ople, who supported the Monsod
proposal, said:

The principle involved is really whether this Commission shall

impose a temporary or a perpetual disqualification on those who
have served their terms in accordance with the limits on
consecutive service as decided by the Constitutional Commission.
I would be very wary about this Commission exercising a sort of
omnipotent power in order to disqualify those who will already
have served their terms from perpetuating themselves in office. I
think the Commission achieves its purpose in establishing
safeguards against the excessive accumulation of power as a
result of consecutive terms. We do put a cap on consecutive
servicein the case of the President, six years; in the case of the
VicePresident, unlimited; and in the case of the Senators, one
reelection. In the case of the Members of Congress, both from the
legislative districts and from the party list and sectoral
representation, this is now under discussion and later on the

_______________

4 2 RECORD OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COMMISSION 236243 (Session of

July 25, 1986) (hereafter cited as RECORD).
5 Id., at 236.

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policy concerning local officials will be taken up by the Committee

on Local Governments. The principle remains the same. I think
we want to prevent future situations where, as a result of
continuous service and frequent reelections, officials from the
President down to the municipal mayor tend to develop a
proprietary interest in their positions and to accumulate those
powers and perquisites that permit them to stay on indefinitely or
to transfer these posts to members of their families in a
subsequent election. I think that is taken care of because we put a
gap on the continuity or the unbroken service of all of these
officials. But where we now decide to put these prospective
servants of the people or politicians, if we want to use the coarser
term, under a perpetual disqualification, I have a feeling that we
are taking away too much from the people, whereas we should be
giving as much to the people as we can in terms of their own
6
freedom of choice . . . .

Other commissioners went on record against perpetually

disqualifying elective officials who have served a certain
number of terms as this would deny the right of the people
to choose. As Commissioner Yusup R. Abubakar asked,
why should we arrogate 7
unto ourselves the right to decide
what the people want?
Commissioner Felicitas S. Aquino spoke in the same
vein when she called on her colleagues to allow the people
to exercise their own sense of proportion and [rely] on their
8
own strength to curtail power when it overreaches itself.
Commissioner Teodoro C. Bacani stressed: Why should
we not leave [perpetual disqualification after serving a
number of terms] to the premise accepted by practically
everybody here that our people are politically mature?
Should we use this assumption only when it is convenient
for us, and not when it may also lead to a freedom of choice
for the people9 and for politicians who may aspire to serve
them longer?

_______________

6 Id., at 239240.
7 Id., at 242.
8 Id., at 242.
9 Id., at 243.

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Two ideas thus emerge from a consideration of the

proceedings of the Constitutional Commission. The first is
the notion of service of term, derived from the concern about
the accumulation of power as a result of a prolonged stay in
office. The second is the idea of election, derived from the
concern that the right of the people to choose those whom
they wish to govern them be preserved.
It is likewise noteworthy that, in discussing term limits,
the drafters of the Constitution did so on the assumption
that the officials concerned were serving by reason of
election. This is clear from the following exchange in the
Constitutional Commission concerning term limits, now
embodied in Art. VI, 4 and 7 of the Constitution, for
members of Congress:

MR. GASCON. I would like to ask a question with regard

to the issue after the second term. We will allow the
Senator to rest for a period of time before he can run
again?
MR. DAVIDE. That is correct.
MR. GASCON. And the question that we left behind before
if the Gentlemen will rememberwas: How long will
that period of rest be? Will it be one election which is
three years or one term which is six years?
MR. DAVIDE. If the Gentlemen will remember,
Commissioner Rodrigo expressed the view that during
the election following the expiration of the first 12 years,
whether such election will be on the third year or on the
sixth year thereafter, this particular member of the
Senate can run. So, it is not really a period of
hibernation
10
for six years. That was the Committees
stand.

Indeed, a fundamental tenet of representative democracy is

that the people should be allowed
11
to choose those whom
they please to govern them. To bar the election of a local
official because he has already served three terms,
although the first

_______________

10 Id., 590 (August 7, 1986).

11 U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779, 131 L.Ed.2d 881
(1995).

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as a result of succession by operation of law rather than

election, would therefore be to violate this principle.
Second, not only historical examination but textual
analysis as well supports the ruling of the COMELEC that
Art. X, 8 contemplates service by local officials for three
consecutive terms as a result of election. The first sentence
speaks of the term of office of elective local officials and
bars such official[s] from serving for more than three
consecutive terms. The second sentence, in explaining
when an elective local official may be deemed to have
served his full term of office, states that voluntary
renunciation of the office for any length of time shall not be
considered as an interruption in the continuity of his
service for the full term for which he was elected. The term
served must therefore be one for which [the official
concerned] was elected. The purpose of this provision is to
prevent a circumvention of the limitation on the number of
terms an elective local official may serve. Conversely, if he
is not serving a term for which he was elected because he is
simply continuing the service of the official he succeeds,
such official cannot be considered to have fully served the
term notwithstanding his voluntary renunciation of office
prior to its expiration.
Reference is made to Commissioner Bernas comment on
Art. VI, 7, which similarly bars members of the House of
Representatives from serving for more than three terms.
Commissioner Bernas states that if one is elected
Representative to serve the unexpired term of another, that
unexpired term, no matter how short, will be considered
one term for the purpose 12
of computing the number of
successive terms allowed.
This is actually based on the opinion expressed by
Commissioner Davide in answer to a query of
Commissioner Suarez: For example, a special election is
called for a Senator, and the Senator newly elected would
have to serve the unexpired portion of the term. Would that
mean that serving the unex

_______________

12 JOAQUIN BERNAS, THE 1987 CONSTITUTION 637 (1996).

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pired portion of the term is already considered one term?

So, half a term, which is actually the correct statement,
plus one term would disqualify the Senator concerned from
running? Is that the meaning of this provision on
disqualification, Madam President? Commissioner Davide
said: Yes, because we speak of term, and if there is a
special election, he will serve only for the unexpired portion
of that particular term plus one more term for the Senator
and two 13
more terms for the Members of the Lower
House.
There is a difference, however, between the case of a
vicemayor and that of a member of the House of
Representatives who succeeds another who dies, resigns,
becomes incapacitated, or is removed from office. The 14vice
mayor succeeds to the mayorship by operation of law. On
the other15
hand, the Representative is elected to fill the
vacancy. In a real sense, therefore, such Representative
serves a term for which he was elected. As the purpose of
the constitutional provision is to limit the right to be
elected and to serve in Congress, his service of the
unexpired term is rightly counted as his first term. Rather
than refute what we believe to be the intendment of Art. X,
8 with regard to elective local officials, the case of a
Representative who succeeds another confirms the theory.
Petitioner also cites Art. VII, 4 of the Constitution
which provides for succession of the VicePresident to the
Presidency in case of vacancy in that office. After stating
that The President shall not be eligible for any reelection,
this provision says that No person who has succeeded as
President and has served as such for more than four years
shall be qualified for election to the same office at any
time. Petitioner contends that, by analogy, the vicemayor
should likewise be considered to have served a full term as
mayor if he succeeds to the latters office and serves for the
remainder of the term.

_______________

13 2 RECORD 592 (Session of August 7, 1986).

14 LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE of 1991, R.A. No. 7160, 44(a).
15 Art. VI, 8.

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The framers of the Constitution included such a provision

because, without it, the VicePresident, who simply steps
into the Presidency by succession, would be qualified to run
for President even if he has occupied that office for more
than four years. The absence of a similar provision in Art.
X, 8 on elective local officials throws in bold relief the
difference between the two cases. It underscores the
constitutional intent to cover only the terms of office to
which one may have been elected for purposes of the three
term limit on local elective officials, disregarding for this
purpose service by automatic succession.
There is another reason why the VicePresident who
succeeds to the Presidency and serves in that office for
more than four years is ineligible for election as President.
The VicePresident is elected primarily to succeed the
President in the event of the latters death, permanent
disability, removal, or resignation. While he may be
appointed to the cabinet, his becoming so is entirely
dependent on the good graces of the President. In running
for VicePresident, he may thus be said to also seek the
Presidency. For their part, the electors likewise choose as
VicePresident the candidate who they think can fill the
Presidency in the event it becomes vacant. Hence, service
in the Presidency for more than four years may rightly be
considered as service for a full term.
This is not so in the case of the vicemayor. Under the
Local Government Code, he is the presiding officer of the
sanggunian and he appoints all officials and employees of
such local assembly. He has distinct powers and functions,
succession to mayorship 16
in the event of vacancy therein
being only one of them. It cannot be said of him, as much
as of the VicePresident in the event of a vacancy in the
Presidency, that, in running for vicemayor, he also seeks
the mayorship. His assumption of the mayorship in the
event of vacancy is more a matter of chance than of design.
Hence, his service in that office should not be counted in
the application of any term limit.

_______________

16 R.A. No. 7160, 445 (1991).

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To recapitulate, the term limit for elective local officials

must be taken to refer to the right to be elected as well as
the right to serve in the same elective position.
Consequently, it is not enough that an individual has
served three consecutive terms in an elective local office, he
must also have been elected to the same position for the
same number of times before the disqualification can apply.
This point can be made clearer by considering the following
cases or situations:

Case No. 1. Suppose A is a vicemayor who becomes mayor by

reason of the death of the incumbent. Six months before the next
election, he resigns and is twice elected thereafter. Can he run
again for mayor in the next election?
Yes, because although he has already first served as mayor by
succession and subsequently resigned from office before the full
term expired, he has not actually served three full terms in all for
the purpose of applying the term limit. Under Art. X, 8,
voluntary renunciation of the office is not considered as an
interruption in the continuity of his service for the full term only
if the term is one for which he was elected. Since A is only
completing the service of the term for which the deceased and not
he was elected, A cannot be considered to have completed one
term. His resignation constitutes an interruption of the full term.
Case No. 2. Suppose B is elected mayor and, during his first
term, he is twice suspended for misconduct for a total of 1 year. If
he is twice reelected after that, can he run for one more term in
the next election?
Yes, because he has served only two full terms successively.

In both cases, the mayor is entitled to run for reelection

because the two conditions for the application of the
disqualification provisions have not concurred, namely,
that the local official concerned has been elected three
consecutive times and that he has fully served three
consecutive terms. In the first case, even if the local official
is considered to have served three full terms
notwithstanding his resignation before the end of the first
term, the fact remains that he has not been elected three
times. In the second case, the local official has been elected
three consecutive times, but he has not fully served three
consecutive terms.

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Case No. 3. The case of vicemayor C who becomes mayor by

succession involves a total failure of the two conditions to concur
for the purpose of applying Art. X, 8. Suppose he is twice elected
after that term, is he qualified to run again in the next election?
Yes, because he was not elected to the office of mayor in the
first term but simply found himself thrust into it by operation of
law. Neither had he served the full term because he only
continued the service, interrupted by the death, of the deceased
mayor.

To consider C in the third case to have served the first term

in full and therefore ineligible to run a third time for
reelection would be not only to falsify reality but also to
unduly restrict the right of the people to choose whom they
wish to govern them. If the vicemayor turns out to be a
bad mayor, the people can remedy the situation by simply
not reelecting him for another term. But if, on the other
hand, he proves to be a good mayor, there will be no way
the people can return him to office (even if it is just the
third time he is standing for reelection) if his service of the
first term is counted as one for the purpose of applying the
term limit.
To consider C as eligible for reelection would be in
accord with the understanding of the Constitutional
Commission that while the people should be protected from
the evils that a monopoly of political power may bring
about, care should be taken that their freedom of choice is
not unduly curtailed.
WHEREFORE, the petition is DISMISSED.
SO ORDERED.

Narvasa (C.J.), Davide, Jr., Romero, Bellosillo,

Melo, Puno, Vitug, Kapunan, Panganiban, Martinez,
Quisumbing and Purisima, JJ., concur.
Regalado, J., On official leave.

Petition dismissed.

Notes .Statutes providing for election contests are to

be liberally construed to the end that the will of the people
in the

171

VOL. 295, SEPTEMBER 7, 1998 171

Samahang Manggagawa sa Top Form Manufacturing
United Workers of the Philippines (SWTFMUWP) vs.
NLRC

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9/22/2017 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 295 new

choice of public officers may not be defeated by mere

technical objections. (Pahilan vs. Tabalba, 230 SCRA 205
[1994])
A possible exception to the rule that a second placer may
not be declared the winning candidate is predicated on the
concurrence of two assumptions, namely: (1) the one who
obtained the highest number of votes is disqualified, and
(2) the electorate is fully aware in fact and in law of a
candidates disqualification so as to bring such awareness
within the realm of notoriety but would nonetheless cast
their votes in favor of the ineligible candidate. (Grego vs.
Commission on Elections, 274 SCRA 481 [1997])
Suffrage is the means by which the people express their
sovereign judgmentits free exercise must be protected
especially against the purchasing power of the peso.
(Nolasco vs. Commission on Elections, 275 SCRA 762
[1997])

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