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Ramir Pablico vs Alejandro Villapando

RAMIR R. PABLICO, petitioner, vs. ALEJANDRO A. VILLAPANDO, respondent.

G.R. No. 147870 | 2002-07-31

D E C I S I O N

YNARES-SANTIAGO, J.:

May local legislative bodies and/or the Office of the President, on appeal, validly impose the penalty of dismissal from service on erring elective local officials?

This purely legal issue was posed in connection with a dispute over the mayoralty seat of San Vicente, Palawan. Considering that the term of the contested office expired on June 30, 2001,[1] the present case may be dismissed for having become moot and academic.[2] Nonetheless, we resolved to pass upon the above-stated issue concerning the application of certain provisions of the Local Government Code of 1991.

The undisputed facts are as...