Former Supreme Court Associate Justice Dante Tinga said on Tuesday he will petition the Supreme Court to strike down the Taguig City ordinance raising the number of councilors in Taguig and Pateros to 12.

The ordinance sparked a late-night confrontation between Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Miguel Zubiri at the Senate recently.

In a statement, Tinga said he plans to file the petition next week. He explained that both the city ordinance and the Comelec resolution that upheld it violated the Constitution and the city charter of Taguig.

“The city ordinance and the Comelec resolution approving it are unconstitutional because neither body has the power to legislate the matter,” Tinga said. “Only Congress has that power. In fact, the current number of councilors is clearly outlined in the city charter of Taguig, which is an act of Congress.”

Tinga said Senate Concurrent Resolution 23, which Zubiri had accused Cayetano of railroading, “does not have the force and effect of law” since it did not go through the proper legislative process, including its passage on three readings.

DAILY TRIBUNE asked if those responsible for approving the city ordinance would be held accountable, specifically Senator Alan Cayetano, the Taguig City Council, and the Comelec chairman, along with the commission en banc. However, the paper had not received a response by press time.

On 16 September, the Taguig Sangguniang Panlungsod passed Ordinance 144 transferring 10 EMBO (Enlisted Men’s Barrio) barangays, which had previously been under Makati City, to the two districts of Taguig and Pateros and increased the number of councilors from eight to 12 in each congressional and councilor district.

Later, Cayetano introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 23 with similar provisions, triggering Zubiri’s objection.

Zubiri said the resolution was not on the day’s Senate agenda and that it was too late to discuss it.

The two senators almost came to blows in the ensuing heated argument before cooler heads prevailed.

They later patched things up, and Zubiri relented and withdrew his objection, saying the resolution did not have the force of law anyway. The resolution passed just before the Senate adjourned late at night. A video of the confrontation on the Senate floor later went viral on mainstream and social media.

The next day, the Commission on Elections en banc upheld the ordinance in Resolution 111069.

The House of Representatives concurred with the Senate resolution on the same day.

Tinga is a long-time resident and former congressman of Taguig. A law professor and dean, he served as senior associate justice of the Supreme Court and, until recently, was chairman of the Development Bank of the Philippines.

The transfer of the 10 EMBO barangays to the two districts of Taguig and Pateros was an offshoot of the 2021 Supreme Court decision that settled the territorial dispute between Taguig and Makati over the areas covered by the Fort Bonifacio Military Reservation. The decision confirmed with finality that the barangays legally and historically belonged to Taguig City.

Tinga said the increase in the number of councilors from eight to 12 requires a law.