The Supreme Court (SC) temporarily stopped Tuesday the implementation of a Commission on Elections (Comelec) resolution ordering Bulacan Governor Joselito “Jon-jon” Mendoza to vacate his office in favor of former Agrarian Reform Secretary Roberto “Obet” Pagdanganan.

At the same time, the SC ruled as final its decision declaring as unconstitutional the law creating a separate legislative district for Malolos, the capital city of Bulacan, for failing to meet the minimum population requirement of 250,000 for a city to have its own representative in Congress.

In a press conference, Court Administrator and SC Spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said the High Court issued a status quo ante order in the Bulacan governorship issue, which is effective for one week or until March 16.

He said the order would restore the prevailing condition prior to the filing of Mendoza’s petition questioning the Comelec resolution.

“The case will be taken up again by the Court on Tuesday. The Court will then exert all efforts to decide the case on the merits,” Marquez said.

“The order means that for the time being, it is still Governor Mendoza who will continue as governor,” he added.

Mendoza sought a status quo ante order from the High Court to prevent bloodshed in the provincial capitol amid rising tension and stand-off between his supporters and that of Pagdanganan.

In his original petition filed last month, Mendoza asked the SC to nullify the February 8 resolution of Comelec en banc denying his appeal on an earlier decision declaring Pagdanganan as the rightful winner of the gubernatorial contest in Bulacan in 2007.

Mendoza was unseated after a recount showed that Pagdanganan received 342,295 votes compared to the 337,974 ballots cast in his favor, a margin of 4,321 votes.

In May 2007, the Provincial Board of Canvassers proclaimed Mendoza as the duly elected governor of Bulacan with 364,566 votes as against Pagdanganan’s 348,834 votes, or a margin of 15,732 votes.

The Comelec has annulled Mendoza’s proclamation and ordered him “to immediately vacate the position as governor of Bulacan, cease and desist from discharging the functions thereof and peacefully turnover the position to Pagdanganan.”

Mendoza, however, insisted in his petition that the evidence were manipulated while the protest was ongoing, thus the reversal of the count.

He also argued that the poll body arbitrarily invalidated 20,096 votes he got without any legal and factual basis while only 616 votes were deducted from Pagdanganan.

Out of this 20,096, almost 9,160 ballots were invalidated on the ground that these ballots, in pairs or in groups were written by one person, he said.

In the Malolos case, Marquez said the SC denied with finality the motion for reconsideration filed by the Malolos city government.

Voting 7-6, the High Court ruled in January that Republic Act (RA) 9591 creating a congressional district for Malolos City violated Section 5(3), Article VI of the 1987 Constitution and Section 3 of the Ordinance appended to the Charter, which provide for the 250,000 threshold.

In a decision penned by Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, the court held that there was no official record that the population of the city will be at least 250,000 prior to the upcoming May 10 elections.

“There is no showing in the present case that the City of Malolos has attained or will attain a population of 250,000, whether actual or projected, before the 10 May 2010 elections,” the SC said.

Carpio’s ruling was supported by Chief Justice Reynato Puno and Associate Justices Conchita Carpio Morales, Arturo Brion, Mariano del Castillo, Martin Villarama Jr. and Jose Perez.

Associate Justices Renato Corona, Antonio Eduardo Nachura, Teresita Leonardo de Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin and Roberto Abad dissented. Associate Justice Presbiterio Velasco Jr. inhibited from the case while Associate Justice Jose Mendoza was on leave.

Court records showed that on May 1, 2009, RA 9591 lapsed into law, amending the Malolos City Charter by creating a separate legislative district for the city. Prior to this, the city was part of Bulacan’s first legislative district, along with the towns of Hagonoy, Calumpit, Pulilan, Bulacan, and Paombong.