By Leonardo Micua

 

QUESTION. Were laws violated when Councilor Alvin Coquia, who was on a vacation leave in the United States, registered his presence during the regular session of the Sangguniang Panlungsod on November 21?

It is an indisputable fact that Coquia was in the U.S. when he joined the session via the Zoom platform but obviously his presence was precipitated by the request of his six colleagues in the majority who cannot muster a quorum without him.

However, his joining the session virtually immediately raised concerns about outright violations of the civil service rules and other relevant laws, including the Local Government Code

Coquia, a veteran legislator, knew very well he was on vacation and his absence was charged to his leave credits, and therefore, he knew that registering his presence via the Zoom platform would be irregular and totally unprecedented. But he did it just the same, raising incriminating questions whether he violated the rules and regulations set forth by the Civil Service Commission.

His sudden appearance via Zoom was, of course, defended by his colleagues in the majority. They maintained that Coquia’s presence by Zoom in the session was in accord with their newly amended Internal Rules and Procedures, which they just manifested during a session  a few weeks ago.

However, we were not born yesterday not to know that mere House Rules cannot make the majority bloc so powerful that it can overrule the Civil Service Code, in particular, and other well-established parliamentary rules, including laws passed by Congress, and the Local Government Code.

This is an issue that the minority group should seriously consider seeking the opinion of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and to file a Court suit with Coquia as respondent for him to realize that he was led to a quick sand or a mouse trap by his majority colleagues.

This could be the very serious mistake that the minority bloc may have long been waiting for – to file a test case to challenge the validity of the majority’s original and amended  House Rules.

Let’s see them prove that Coquia who was on vacation in the United States, is privileged to engage in any official function  in the Philippines and in Dagupan, in particular, where he is a councilor.

Here’s how Minority Floor Leader Michael Fernandez viewed the issue about Councilor Coquia‘s irregular “attendance” in a regular SP session while on a vacation in a foreign land.

He cited the case of Mayor Belen Fernandez who handed her position to Vice Mayor Bryan Kua when she and her delegation went on an official travel to the United States from November 19 to 3.  The mayor turned over her position to her vice mayor because she knew she cannot perform her official function while in the U.S.

In stark contrast, Councilor Alvin Coquia participated in the November 21 Sanggunian Session who was himself on a separate vacation in the United States from November 16 to 29.

He pointed out that if Councilor Alvin was still at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at the time he appeared on Zoom and joined his six colleagues who attended the session physically, that would have been perfectly legal. But he was already vacationing in the U.S. when clicked on the Zoom November 21 session of the Sangguniang Panlungsod.

Hence, the proceedings in that session can be considered ultra vires because without him, there would have been no quorum as the majority lacked one councilor to muster a quorum.

But members of the  SP majority maintained that the participation of Coquia in the session by Zoom is valid because this was allowed by the  newly amended House Rules of the Sanggunian, which is Vice Mayor Kua seeks to challenge in court.

Maintaining that an elective official on vacation in a foreign land is prohibited by the Local Government Code and the Civil Service Code from performing his official function at the same time, Fernandez asked: “ Is the SP House Rules higher than the laws of the land?”#

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