AMORES V.

HRET & VILLANUEVA

G.R. No. 189600 June 29, 2010

FACTS:
There was a Petition for certiorari challenging the assumption of
office of Emmanuel Joel Villanueva (Joel Villanueva) as the youth
sector Representative of Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption
(CIBAC) in the House of Representatives.

Petitioner, Milagros Amores, argues that Villanueva was already

31 years old at the time of filing of nomination, thus, beyond the
age limit of 30 years which was the imposed by RA 7941 or the
Party-List System Act, for "youth sector" representatives.
Villanueva's change of affiliation from Youth Sector to OFWs and
their families was also not effected during the six months prior to
elections. Respondent HRET counters that RA 7941 age
requirement only applied only to those nominated as such during
the first three congressional terms after the ratification of the
Constitution or until 1998, unless a sectoral party is thereafter
registered exclusively as representing the youth sector, which
CIBAC, a multi-sectoral organization, is not.

ISSUE: Whether Sections 9 and 15 of RA No. 7941 apply to private

respondent.

RULING:
Yes, Sections 9 and 15 of RA 7941 apply Villanueva.

The Court finds that private respondent was not qualified to be

a nominee of either the youth sector or the overseas Filipino
workers and their families sector in the May, 2007 elections. The
records disclose that private respondent was already more than 30
years of age in May, 2007, it being stipulated that he was born in
August, 1975. Moreover, he did not change his sectoral affiliation
at least six months before May, 2007, public respondent itself
having found that he shifted to CIBAC’s overseas Filipino workers
and their families sector only on March 17, 2007.

As the law states in unequivocal terms that a nominee of the

youth sector must at least be twenty-five (25) but not more
than thirty (30) years of age on the day of the election, so it
must be that a candidate who is more than 30 on election day is not
qualified to be a youth sector nominee. Since this mandate is
contained in RA No. 7941, the Party-List System Act, it covers ALL
youth sector nominees vying for party-list representative seats.
 Moreover, it is clear is that the wording of Section 15 covers
changes in both political party and sectoral affiliation. And the
latter may occur within the same party since multi-sectoral party-
list organizations are qualified to participate in the Philippine
party-list system. Hence, a nominee who changes his sectoral
affiliation within the same party will only be eligible for nomination
under the new sectoral affiliation if the change has been effected at
least six months before the elections. Again, since the statute is
clear and free from ambiguity, it must be given its literal meaning
and applied without attempted interpretation. This is the plain
meaning rule or verba legis, as expressed in the maxim index animi
sermo or speech is the index of intention.

That private respondent is the first nominee of CIBAC, whose

victory was later upheld, is of no moment. A party-list
organization’s ranking of its nominees is a mere indication of
preference, their qualifications according to law are a different
matter.