NSO certification is proof of population

Talisay City is accusing Cebu City of harping on the issue that Talisay had not met the minimum population requirement of 150,000, the number needed for the conversion of a town into a city.

In a 15-page opposition to Cebu City's Motion for Reconsideration to the decision junking its petition to nullify Talisay's charter, Talisay maintained that the "letter-certification" signed by National Statistics Office Administrator Tomas Africa is as good as a formal certification.

"The petitioner easily forgets that if what he would require from Administrator Africa is to state these figures in a formal certification, the figures mentioned by him in that letter certification of 14 January 2000 would be the same," the opposition read.

Cebu City, represented by Mayor Tomas Osmeña, argued that Talisay had not met the minimum population requirement of 150,000.

It discounted Africa's estimate, basing on housing and some projections on population, of the city's projected population of 150, 238 as of February 1, 2000, arguing that his letter was not a certification.

And that for "lack of credible argument" of Osmeña in his attempt to invalidate the cityhood of Talisay, Talisay City lawyers believed that the petitioner has "resorted to engage in semantics." In 2000, Talisay became a component city after Republic Act 8979 was approved by both the Congress and then by the Senate.

Talisay, in this opposition, has also cited the Enrolled Bill Doctrine, which states that "the text of the act as passed and approved is deemed importing absolute verity and is binding on the courts."

The enrolled bill was passed by the Congress, authenticated by the Speaker and the Senate President, and approved by the President thus making it "conclusive not only of its provisions but also of its due enactment," contended Talisay City.

"By these acts of both the legislative and executive departments in their respective sphere of authority as prescribed by our Constitution, our court would find itself uncomfortable if not fearful to tread upon the exclusive authority of the other co-equal departments of our government declaring RA 8979 invalid on the supposition that the House of Representatives and the Senate had been miscreant in determining the qualifications of the Municipality of Talisay to convert into a component city," read the city's opposition. - Liv G. Campo