Same political influence and pressure

Under existing laws and rules, officials of government cooperatives shall be considered automatically resigned if he holds an elective position higher than a Barangay captain or councilor. Does this prohibition apply to coop official who occupies an elective position only in an ex-oficio capacity? This is the issue resolved in this case De Villa.

De Villa was an elected member of the Board of Directors (Bd.) of an electric cooperative (ANECO) for a term of three years from 2001 to 2003. His term was later on extended until 2006 in view of the redistricting of the area he represented.

In 2002 while still in the ANECO Bd., De Villa was elected Barangay Chairman of his Barangay. Thereafter he was also elected as President of Liga ng mga Barangay of his municipality. By virtue of his position he sat as ex-oficio member of the Sangguniang Bayan.

On December 10, 2002, on the query of the General Manager of ANECO, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) Director for Coop Operations came out with an opinion that De Villa could no longer serve as ANECO Bd. Member because he was considered automatically resigned from said position when he took his oath as Liga President.

De Villa questioned this opinion and asked for reconsideration. He argued that he was not a regular member of the Sangguniang Bayan because he was not duly elected thereto but occupied the position only in an ex-oficio capacity by reason of his being President of the Liga.

But the NEA Director did not reconsider his opinion. So, De Villa filed a petition for certiorari before the RTC with a prayer for preliminary injunction against NEA and ANECO. On December 2, 2003, the RTC issued a temporary restraining order enjoining NEA and ANECO from disqualifying De Villa as member of ANECO Bd. to allow him to continue attending Bd. Meetings and grant him all back benefits. Subsequently the RTC issued a Writ of Preliminary Injunction and eventually ruled in favor of De Villa making the Injunction permanent. Was the RTC correct?

No. De Villa can no longer continue as a member of the ANECO Bd. after becoming an ex-oficio member of the Sangguniang Bayan. All coop officials and employees who are subsequently elected to the post of the Municipal Chapter of the Liga ng mga Barangay, after having won in the barangay elections, shall be considered automatically resigned upon taking his oath of office as Liga President.

Although the disqualification mandated by law (PD 269) pertains to elective officers of the government, except Barangay Chairmen and councilors, the same is equally applicable to an appointed member of an office higher than the Barangay Chairman or councilor like a member of the Sangguniang Bayan which is an elective office. The provision should be construed to refer to a person appointed to an elective position above the level of a Barangay Captain. The purpose of the disqualification is to prevent incumbents of elective offices from exerting political influence and pressure on the management of the affairs of the cooperative. This purpose cannot be fully achieved if one who is appointed to an elective office is not made subject to the same disqualification.

A person appointed to an elective office can exercise all powers and prerogatives attached to said office. He can wield as much pressure and influence on an electric cooperative, as an elected member thereof. Consequently when De Villa was designated as ex-oficio member of the Sangguniang Bayan, he became ineligible and was thereby disqualified as member of the ANECO Bd. (National Electrification Administration vs. Villanueva, G.R. 168203, March 9, 2010).

By the time this decision came out De Villa has already served his full term as Board member of ANECO which expired in 2006.

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