ChanRobles Virtual law Library








 

PHILIPPINE SUPREME COURT DECISIONS






GO TO FULL LIST OF DECISIONS and RESOLUTIONS

chanrobles.com - PHILIPPINE SUPREME COURT DECISIONS - ON-LINE

cralaw_scdecisions_separator.NHAD



EN BANC


 

Read full text of:

MAIN DECISION

Carpio, J., see concurring opinion.
Puno, J., see concurring and dissenting opinion.
Panganiban, J., see separate opinion.
Vitug, J., see separate opinion.
Azcuna, J., see separate (concurring) opinion.

ATTY. ROMULO B. MACALINTAL,
                Petitioner,

G.R. No. 157013
July 10, 2003

-versus-


 

COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, HON. ALBERTO ROMULO,
IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS EXECUTIVE SECRETARY,
AND HON. EMILIA T. BONCODIN, SECRETARY OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF BUDGET AND MANAGEMENT,
                             Respondents.
 
 

CONCURRING AND DISSENTING OPINION

PUNO, J.:chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary


With all due respect, I would like to offer my humble views on the constitutional issues presented by the petitioner, viz:chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary

A.      Does Section 5(d) of Rep. Act No. 9189 allowing the registration of voters who are immigrants or permanent residents in other countries by their mere act of executing an affidavit expressing their intention to return to the Philippines, violate the residency requirement in Section 1 of Article IV of the Constitution?

B.      Does Section 18. 5 of the same law empowering the COMELEC to proclaim the winning candidates for national offices and party-list representatives including the President and the Vice-President violate the constitutional mandate under Section 4, Article VII of the Constitution that the winning candidates for President and Vice-President shall be proclaimed as winners by Congress?chanrobles virtual law library

C.      May Congress, through the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee created in Section 25 of Rep. Act No. 9189, exercise the power to review, revise, amend, and approve the Implementing Rules and Regulations that the Commission on Elections shall promulgate without violating the independence of the COMELEC under Section 1, Article IX-A of the Constitution?

To start off, let me stress the significance of the case at bar. Rep. Act No. 9189,[1] otherwise known as "The Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003" is a historic attempt to translate to reality a long awaited dream: the enfranchisement of millions of overseas Filipinos. Undoubtedly, the efforts of Congress to give flesh to Section 2, Article V of the 1987 Constitution mandating it to devise "a system for absentee voting for qualified Filipinos abroad," deserves the highest commendation. However, Rep. Act No. 9189 poses far reaching constitutional issues that merit more than an invocation of abstract legal principles or a simplistic construction of the Constitution. For one, the petition affects the value of the right of suffrage, a right that is the cornerstone of our democratic government. It is the responsibility of this Court to strike a balance between the need to expand the right of suffrage in favor of those who cannot exercise it and the need to prevent the dilution of the right of suffrage of those already exercising it. For another, the petition compels this Court to define the extent and the limits of Congress’ oversight powers or legislative veto over "subordinate legislations" or the rules and regulations promulgated by administrative agencies of government. Undoubtedly, this oversight power is indispensable for Congress to discharge its broad power to legislate. Thus, it again behooves this Court to draw the precise parameters of the oversight power sought to be exercised by Congress to preserve the delicate balance of powers allocated to the different branches of our government in the Constitution.

Prescinding from these premises, let me discuss the issues in seriatim.cralaw:red

A.

Does Section 5 (d) of Rep. Act No. 9189 violate Section 1, Article V of the 1987 Constitution?

Petitioner submits that section 5, par. (d) of Rep. Act No. 9189 is unconstitutional for it allows immigrants or permanent residents of foreign countries to vote for President, Vice-President, Senators, and party-list representatives by mere execution of an affidavit stating that: (a) he shall resume actual, physical, permanent residence in the Philippines not later than three (3) years from approval of his registration; and (b) that he has not applied for citizenship in another country, viz:chanrobles virtual law library

Sec. 5. Disqualifications.- The following shall be disqualified from voting under this Act.cralaw:red

(d) An immigrant or a permanent resident who is recognized as such in the host country, unless he/she executes, upon registration, an affidavit prepared for the purpose by the Commission declaring that he/she shall resume actual physical permanent residence in the Philippines not later than three (3) years from approval of his/her registration under this Act. Such affidavit shall also state that he/she has not applied for citizenship in another country. Failure to return shall be cause for the removal of the name of the immigrant or permanent resident from the National Registry of Absentee Voters and his/her permanent disqualification to vote in absentia. (Emphasis ours)

Petitioner also contends that section 2, Article V of the 1987 Constitution[2] limits the authority of Congress to provide a system for absentee voting to those Filipinos who are temporarily absent in the Philippines but otherwise satisfy the requirements under section 1 thereof, including the one year residence in the Philippines and six months residence in the place where they propose to vote.[3]

Citing our ruling in Caasi v. Court of Appeals,[4] the petitioner avers that a Filipino who is an acknowledged immigrant or permanent resident of a foreign country does not possess the necessary residence requirements as he is deemed to have already abandoned his domicile in the Philippines. He alleges that the challenged provision amends or alters the residence requirements by granting "conditional" residence qualification to an immigrant or permanent resident or through the execution of an affidavit.[5]

The majority, thru our esteemed colleague, Madam Justice Martinez, rules that section 2, Article V of the 1987 Constitution mandating Congress to devise a system for overseas absentee voting operates as an exception to the residence requirements as the members of the Constitutional Commission manifested a clear intent "to enfranchise as much as possible all Filipino citizens abroad who have not abandoned their domicile of origin," viz:[6]

By the doctrine of necessary implication in statutory construction, which may be applied in construing constitutional provisions, the strategic location of Section 2 indicates that the Constitutional Commission provided for an exception to the actual residency requirement of Section 1 with respect to qualified Filipinos abroad. The same Commission has in effect declared that qualified Filipinos who are not in the Philippines may be allowed to vote even though they do not satisfy residency requirement in Section 1, Article V of the Constitution.[7]  (Emphases ours)

The majority further holds that if actual physical residence in the Philippines is required,  "there is no sense for the framers of the Constitution to mandate Congress to establish a system for absentee voting."[8]

The majority affirms our ruling in Caasi v. Court of Appeals[9] that an immigrant or permanent resident of a foreign country is deemed to have relinquished his residence in his country of origin. However, it rules that this presumption is overturned by the execution of the affidavit required under the challenged provision of Rep. Act No. 9189. Allegedly, the affidavit is an explicit expression that an immigrant or permanent resident has not relinquished his domicile in the Philippines, to wit:chanrobles virtual law library

Contrary to the claim of petitioner, the execution of the affidavit itself is not the enabling or enfranchising act. The affidavit required in Section 5(d) is not only proof of the intention of the immigrant or permanent resident to go back and resume residence in the Philippines, but more significantly, it serves as an explicit expression that he had not in fact abandoned his domicile of origin. Thus, it is not correct to say that the execution of the affidavit under Section 5(d) violates the Constitution that proscribes "provisional registration or a promise by a voter to perform a condition to be qualified to vote in a political exercise."

To repeat, the affidavit is required of immigrants and permanent residents abroad because by their status in their host countries, they are presumed to have relinquished their intent to return to this country; thus, without the affidavit, the presumption of abandonment of Philippine domicile shall remain.[10] (Emphases ours)

The majority further rules that "the act of the immigrant or permanent resident in executing an affidavit pursuant to section 5(d) may be considered as an express waiver of his status as an immigrant or permanent resident." Thus, the majority concludes that section 5(d) of Rep. Act No. 9189 is not unconstitutional.cralaw:red

With all due respect, I disagree with the majority. But before discussing the reasons for my dissent, let me put the issue in its proper historical perspective.cralaw:red

Suffrage is an attribute of citizenship[11] and is ancillary to the principle of republicanism enshrined in section 1, Article II of the 1987 Constitution.[12] The right of suffrage, however, is not absolute. No political system in the whole world has literally practiced "universal" suffrage, even among its citizens.[13] The scarlet history of the right of suffrage shows that restrictions have always been imposed on its exercise.chanrobles virtual law library

In England, for instance, suffrage originated as a political privilege granted to land owners by the monarchs.[14] The grant arose from the theory that in the formation of the state, the people agreed to surrender to the King all political sovereignty. In return, the King extended suffrage to the freeholders as a vested right. The origin and character of suffrage in England is chronicled by Chief Justice Holt in Ashby v. White, et al.,[15] viz:chanrobles virtual law library

The election of knights belongs to the freeholders of the counties, and it is an original right vested in and inseparable from the freehold, and can be no more severed from the freehold than the freehold itself can be taken away. Before the statute of 8 Hen. 6, ch. 7, any man that had a freehold, though never so small, had a right of voting; but by that statute the right of election is confined to such persons as have lands or tenements to the yearly value of forty shillings at least, because, as the statute says, of the tumults and disorders which happened at elections by the excessive and outrageous number of electors; but still the right of election is an original incident to and inseparable from freehold. As for citizens and burgesses, they depend on the same rights as the knights of shires differ only as to the tenure; but the right and manner of their election is on the same foundation.[16]

The economic theory of suffrage is also evident in the early history of the United States. The 1787 U.S. Constitution, as originally adopted, did not expressly provide the right to vote.[17] The States were left to determine who should have the right to vote in national as well as local elections. Most States restricted the right of suffrage to white males over twenty-one years of age with a certain amount of property.[18] Other States also required religious,[19] literacy, and moral qualifications.[20]

Some legal scholars, however, contend that the right of suffrage is presumed from the provision of the Constitution guaranteeing each state a "republican form of government."[21] Veering away from the economic theory of suffrage prevalent in England, these scholars argue that in forming the state, the people did not give up all their sovereign powers but merely delegated the exercise of these powers to some chosen representatives. The right of suffrage is one of these delegated powers, viz:chanrobles virtual law library

The people, in their original sovereign character are the fountainhead of governmental authority, and all the powers necessary to be exercised in the continued administration of a representative government originated and are delegated by exertion of their sovereign will. These propositions, founded on necessity, and illustrated by long continued practice, have become the received doctrines of the American people. The people, in clothing a citizen with the elective franchise for the purpose of securing a consistent and perpetual administration of the government they ordain, charge him with the performance of a duty in the nature of a public trust, and in that respect constitute him a representative of the whole people. This duty requires that the privilege thus bestowed should be exercised, not exclusively for the benefit of the citizen or class of citizens professing it, but in good faith and with an intelligent zeal for the general benefit and welfare of the State.[22]chanrobles virtual law library

As a privilege delegated by the people, a citizen acquires no indefeasible right to the continuous exercise or enjoyment of the right of suffrage. "The people of the State, in the exercise of their sovereign power, may disqualify, suspend or entirely withdraw it from any citizen or class of them, providing always that representation of the people, the essential characteristics of a republican government, be not disregarded or abandoned."[23]

Following the shift in its theoretical basis, the right of suffrage was extended to broader classes of citizens.  In 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment was enacted prohibiting the federal government and the states from discriminating on the basis of "race, color or previous conditions of servitude." In 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified providing that the right of citizens to vote "shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." In 1964, the Twenty-fourth Amendment was adopted providing that the right of any citizen to vote for President, Vice-President or members of Congress "shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax." In 1971, the Twenty-sixth Amendment was passed providing that the right of any citizen eighteen years or older to vote "shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age."

In our jurisdiction, the right of suffrage has evolved from a mere statutory right to a constitutional right. Our first election law was Act No. 1582, which took effect on January 15, 1907. We had no elections during the Spanish occupation of the country.
 

Like its foreign counterparts, the qualifications for the exercise of the right of suffrage set in Section 14 of Act No. 1582 were elitist and gender-biased. The right of suffrage was limited to male citizens twenty-three years of age or over with legal residence for a period of six months immediately preceding the election in the municipality in which they exercise the right of suffrage. Women were not allowed to vote for they were regarded as mere extensions of the personality of their husbands or fathers, and that they were not fit to participate in the affairs of government.[24] But even then, not all male citizens were deemed to possess significant interests in election and the ability to make intelligent choices. Thus, only those falling under any of the following three classes were allowed to vote: (a) those who, prior to the August 13, 1898, held office of municipal captain, governadorcillo, alcalde, lieutenant, cabeza de barangay, or member of any ayuntamiento; (b) those who own real property with the value of five hundred pesos or who annually pay thirty pesos or more of the established taxes; or (c) those who speak, read and write English or Spanish.cralaw:red

But apart from possessing the necessary qualifications, a voter must not suffer from any disqualification. We elaborated the reasons for setting disqualifications for the exercise of the right of suffrage in People v. Corral,[25] viz:chanroblesvirtuallawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

The modern conception of suffrage is that voting is a function of government. The right to vote is not a natural right but it is a right created by law. Suffrage is a privilege granted by the State to such persons or classes as are most likely to exercise it for the public good. In the early stages of the evolution of the representative system of government, the exercise of the right of suffrage was limited to a small portion of the inhabitants. But with the spread of democratic ideas, the enjoyment of the franchise in the modern states has come to embrace the mass of the adult male population. For reasons of public policy, certain classes of persons are excluded from the franchise. Among the generally excluded classes are minors, idiots, paupers, and convicts.cralaw:red

The right of the State to deprive persons of the right of suffrage by reason of their having been convicted of crime, is beyond question. "The manifest purpose of such restrictions upon this right is to preserve the purity of elections. The presumption is that one rendered infamous by conviction of felony, or other base offenses indicative of moral turpitude, is unfit to exercise the privilege of suffrage or to hold office. The exclusion must for this reason be adjudged a mere disqualification, imposed for protection and not for punishment, the withholding of a privilege and not the denial of a personal right."[26]

On November 9, 1933, the Philippine Legislature enacted Act No. 4122 extending the right of suffrage to Filipino women starting January 1, 1935. However, before they could exercise their new right, the 1935 Constitution was adopted, once again, limiting the right of suffrage to male citizens, viz:chanrobles virtual law library

Suffrage may be exercised by male citizens of the Philippines not otherwise disqualified by law, who are twenty-one years of age or over and are able to read and write, and who shall have resided in the Philippines for one year and in the municipality wherein they propose to vote for at least six months preceding the election. The National Assembly shall extend the right of suffrage to women, if in a plebiscite which shall be held for that purpose within two years after the adoption of this Constitution, not less than three hundred thousand women possessing the necessary qualifications shall vote affirmatively on the question.cralaw:red

During the deliberations of the Constitutional Convention, it was conceded that Filipino women were capable of exercising the right of suffrage. Their right, however, was opposed on the following grounds: (1) there was no popular demand for suffrage by Filipino women themselves; (2) woman suffrage would only disrupt family unity; and (3) it would plunge women into the quagmire of politics, dragging them from the pedestal of honor in which they had theretofore been placed.[27 Thus, in its report to the President of the Convention on September 24, 1934, the Committee on Suffrage said:chanrobles virtual law library

The committee refrains from stating in this report the reasons on which it bases its decision to withdraw the right of suffrage from the women and will merely say that the principal idea in the minds of the members not in favor of extending suffrage to women was that the sweet womanliness of the Philippine women should be projected from political strife and passion in order that sweet home may not lose any of its sweetness.[28]

The proponents of woman suffrage in reply argued that it would be unfair to deprive Filipino women of the right of suffrage already granted to them by the legislature without giving them the chance to prove whether they deserved it or not. They also submitted that the right would make them more interested in the management of the affairs of government and that "it was necessary as a matter of justice to extend the frontiers of our democracy to our women who had labored hard side by side with our men for the progress and development of the country."[29] In a last ditch attempt to save the cause of woman suffrage, women leaders distributed a petition to individual delegates that reads:chanrobles virtual law library

We, the undersigned, duly elected representatives of women who believe in the justice and wisdom of the enfranchisement of the Filipino women, protest most solemnly against women being deprived of the vote in the Constitution of the Commonwealth and against any change in the existent Law, No. 4112, passed by the Ninth Philippine Legislature on November ninth, 1933, and signed by Governor-General Frank Murphy on December seventh, 1934.cralaw:red

We call the attention of the Constitutional Assembly and the Legislature to the plea for liberty made before the Congress and the President of United States for thirty-seven years by the Filipinos; a plea based on the fact that we are a liberty-loving people equipped and capable of self-government. Such government cannot exist "half-slave and half-free." The women of this Christian land, serene in the knowledge that in peace or war they have never failed their men or their country, in this crucial hour of the realization of the sacrifice and devotion of the years, insist upon their political recognition and their share in the triumph of the cause of liberty.chanrobles virtual law library

It is not a matter of plebiscite nor specific numbers. It is a right earned, deserved and therefore claimed. It is not a matter of sex. In a democratic government all qualified citizens, men and women alike, can and should make their valuable contribution in deciding what their community will undertake to do through its government, by what means, and through what officials.cralaw:red

Under the law women suffer penalties, are summoned before the courts by law- laws they have had no voice in making- and pay taxes. "Taxation without representation is tyranny" and more so in 1934 than in 1776.cralaw:red

So confident of the unalterable righteousness of this cause, to you, gentlemen of the Constitutional Assembly, we appeal for justice believing and knowing that our cause is a just one, and that our rights have been won thru years of sacrifice, devotion and service to our common cause- the cause of men and women alike- the welfare and progress of our native land- the Philippines.[30]

In the end, a compromise was reached limiting the right of suffrage to male citizens and leaving the issue of women suffrage for the women to decide. In the plebiscite held on April 30, 1937, more than three hundred thousand women voted for woman suffrage. Thenceforth, Filipino women were allowed to vote, thus, paving the way for women participation in the government.cralaw:red

To broaden the mass base of voters, the 1935 Constitution lowered the age requirement from 23 years to 21 years. The literacy requirement was also relaxed. It is to be noted that from the opening days of the Convention, there was a prevalent sentiment among the delegates to bar illiterates from exercising the right of suffrage. It was proposed that only those who can read and write English, Spanish, or other local dialects should be allowed to vote. This proposal was defeated for the drafters felt that while the ability to read and write was necessary,[31] the specification of any language or dialect would be discriminatory against the Mohammedans:chanrobles virtual law library

It is discriminatory against a respectable minority of the population of the Philippines. It would serve to discriminate against the Mohammedan population of the Philippines for which I am one of the humble representatives. It is the opinion of this Convention, I think, to emancipate, to enfranchise our backward elements, especially the Mohammedan population. And you would like to curtail that right and that privilege by inserting a provision that only those who can read and write either English, Spanish, or any of the local dialects shall be allowed to vote. This amendment would preclude the Mohammedans because their Arabic writing is not included under local dialects. Because when you say, local dialects, you refer to the dialect and not to the system of writing. The system of writing is either Arabic or Roman. In view of this fact, Mr. President, I hope that you will be liberal and tolerant enough to reject this proposed amendment because it is unnecessary and because it is discriminatory.[32]

Furthermore, the 1935 Constitution removed the property qualifications under Act No. 1582. We explained the reason for this removal in Maquera v. Borra,[33] viz:chanrobles virtual law library

x x x  property qualifications are inconsistent with the nature and essence of the republican system ordained in our constitution and the principle of social justice underlying the same, for said political system is premised upon the tenet that sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them, and this, in turn, implies necessarily that the right to vote and to be voted for shall not be dependent upon the wealth of the individual concerned, whereas social justice presupposes equal opportunity for all, rich and poor alike, and that, accordingly, no person shall by reason of poverty, be denied the chance to be elected to the public office.x x x[34]

In sum, the 1935 Constitution gave a constitutional status to the right of suffrage. Thus, suffrage is not anymore a privilege granted by the legislature, but a right granted by the sovereign people to a definite portion of the population possessing certain qualifications. To be sure, the right of suffrage was still subject to regulation by the legislature but only in accordance with the terms of the Constitution.cralaw:red

The march towards liberalization of the right of suffrage continued with the 1973 Constitution. The literacy requirement was removed while the age bar was further lowered from 21 years to 18 years. Thus, section 1, Article VI of the 1973 Constitution reads:chanrobles virtual law library

Section 1. Suffrage shall be exercised by citizens of the Philippines not otherwise disqualified by law, who are eighteen years of age or over, and who shall have resided in the Philippines for at least one year and in the place wherein they propose to vote for at least six months preceding the election. No literacy, property or other substantive requirement shall be imposed on the exercise of suffrage. The National Assembly shall provide a system for the purpose of securing the secrecy and sanctity of the vote. (emphasis ours)

The rationale for these changes was expressed in the Explanatory Note of Resolution No. 03 of the Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, viz:chanrobles virtual law library

In keeping with the trend for the broadening of the electoral base already begun with the lowering of the voting age to 18 and in keeping with the committee’s desire to continue the alienation and exclusion of millions of citizens from the political system and from participation in the political life in the country, the requirement of literacy for voting has been eliminated. It is noted that there are very few countries left in the world where literacy remains a condition for voting. There is no Southeast Asian country that imposes this requirement. The United States Supreme Court only a few months ago declared unconstitutional any state law that would continue to impose this requirement for voting.cralaw:red

Although there were more resolutions submitted proposing the increase of educational requirements for voting than those advocating the elimination of the literacy requirement, the committee felt that favoring the elimination of the requirement would be more in keeping with its objective and that of the Constitutional Convention encouraging popular participation and equalizing the privileges and rights of the people

According to the Bureau of Census and Statistics, the projection for the population of the Philippines over 18 years old for 1970 is 17,659,000. Of this, 12,384,000 are considered literates. However, the same Bureau admitted that there is no real scientific literacy test in counting literates. All that is done is to ask each member of the population the question whether he is able to read and write and to take his answer at its face value.cralaw:red

These circumstances plus the well-known practice in all elections in which political leaders spend their time in the barrios showing the prospective voters to write the name of the candidates instead of explaining the political issues to them, strengthened the conviction of the committee that present literacy requirement is more of a joke, and worse, a deterrent to intelligent discussions of the issues. Finally, the committee took note of the convincing argument that the requirement to read and write was written into our constitution at a time when the only medium of information was the printed word and even the public meetings were not as large and successful because of the absence of amplifying equipment. It is a fact that today the vast majority of the population learn about national matters much more from the audio-visual media, namely, radio and television, and public meetings have become much more effective since the advent of amplifying equipment.cralaw:red

In addition, the 1973 Constitution provided that no property or other substantive requirement shall be imposed on the exercise of suffrage.chanrobles virtual law library

The 1987 Constitution further liberalized the right of suffrage. For the first time, it required Congress to provide a system for absentee voting by qualified Filipinos abroad and to design a procedure for the disabled and the illiterates to vote without assistance from other persons. Be that as it may, four qualifications existing since the 1935 Constitution were retained: (1) Filipino citizenship; (2) age; (3) one year residence in the Philippines; and (4) six months residence in the place where the voter proposes to vote. The wisdom of these four qualifications has not been questioned at any given time in the history of our suffrage.  It is easy to see the reason.  Suffrage is a political right appertaining to citizenship. Each individual qualified to vote is a particle of popular sovereignty, hence, the right of suffrage cannot be extended to non-citizens. As an attribute of citizenship, suffrage is reserved exclusively to Filipinos whose allegiance to the country is undivided.[35]

It is also conceded that the right of suffrage can be exercised only by persons of a certain age. Nobody could doubt the reason for preventing minors from taking part in the political exercise. Voting is an act of choice and involves prescience. It requires not only a familiarity of political realities but also the maturity to make reasoned choices out of these realities.[36]

But citizenship and age requirements are not enough. For the vote to be more meaningful as an expression of sovereignty, the voter must possess more than a passing acquaintance with the problems and prospects of the country.  Thus, residence is imposed as a qualification "to exclude a stranger and a newcomer, unacquainted with the conditions and needs of the community and not identified with the latter."[37] The residence requirement is also necessary for administrative purposes such as the preparation of accurate list of voters.[38]

I now come to the case at bar.  The first issue is whether section 5(d) of Rep. Act No. 9189 extending the right of suffrage to Filipinos who are "immigrants" or "permanent residents" of foreign countries is unconstitutional. To resolve this issue, the following need to be addressed: (1) whether section 2, Article V of the Constitution dispenses with the residence requirements prescribed in section 1 thereof; (2) whether an "immigrant" or a "permanent resident" satisfies the residence requirements; (3) whether the execution of an affidavit is sufficient proof of non-abandonment of residence in the Philippines; and (4) whether the system provided in section 5(d) of Rep. Act No. 9189 will dilute the right of suffrage of other Filipino voters who possess the full residence qualifications under Section 1, Article VI of the Constitution.cralaw:red

(1)  Whether section 2 of Article V dispenses with the residence requirements prescribed in section 1 of the same Article.cralaw:red

Section 1, Article V of the 1987 Constitution prescribes two residence qualifications: (a) one year residence in the Philippines; and (2) six months residence in the locality where the voter proposes to vote.cralaw:red

In its ordinary conception, residence connotes the actual relationship of an individual to a specific place. To be a resident, physical presence of a person in a given area, community or country is required.[39] Even before the adoption of the 1935 Constitution, jurisprudence has equated the first residence requirement (one year residence in the Philippines) with domicile or legal residence.[40] Domicile in turn has been defined as an individual's permanent home or "the place to which, whenever absent for business or for pleasure, one intends to return, and depends on facts and circumstances in the sense that they disclose intent."[41]  The domicile of a person is determined by the concurrence of the following elements: (1) the fact of residing or physical presence in a fixed place; and (2) animus manendi, or the intention of returning there permanently.[42]  The mere absence of an individual from his permanent residence without the intention to abandon it does not result in a loss or change of domicile.[43]

The second residence requirement (six months residence in the place the voter proposes to vote) refers to either the voter’s domicile or to his temporary residence.[44] A voter who is domiciled in a particular locality but has resided for six months in another locality may register and vote in either locality, but not in both. To be sure, a person fulfilling the first residence requirement also fulfills the second so long as the voter registers in his established domicile. The second residence requirement is relevant for two purposes: (1) the determination of the place where the voter will register, and (2) the determination of the place where the voter will vote. It ought to be noted that as a general rule, a person should register and vote in the place where he has established his domicile or the place where he has resided for six months.cralaw:red

The intent of the members of the Constitutional Commission to apply the residence requirements to absentee voters is evident from its deliberations. They precisely used the phrase "QUALIFIED FILIPINOS ABROAD" to stress that the absentee voter must have all the qualifications in section 1, Article VI of the Constitution, viz:chanrobles virtual law library

MR. SUAREZ. May I just be recognized for a clarification. There are certain qualifications for the exercise of the right of suffrage like having resided in the Philippines for at least one year and in the place where they propose to vote for at least six months preceding the elections. What is the effect of these mandatory requirements on the matter of the exercise of the right of suffrage by the absentee voters like Filipinos abroad?

THE PRESIDENT. Would Commissioner Monsod care to answer?

MR. MONSOD. I believe the answer was already given by Commissioner Bernas, that the domicile requirements as well as the qualifications and disqualifications would be the same.cralaw:red

THE PRESIDENT. Are we leaving it to the legislature to devise the system?

FR. BERNAS. I think there is a very legitimate problem raised there.cralaw:red

THE PRESIDENT. Yes.chanrobles virtual law library

MR. BENGZON. I believe Commissioner Suarez is clarified.cralaw:red

FR. BERNAS. But I think it should be further clarified with regard to the residence requirement or the place where they vote in practice; the understanding is that it is flexible. For instance, one might be a resident of Naga or domiciled therein, but he satisfies the requirement of residence in Manila, so he is able to vote in Manila.cralaw:red

MR. TINGSON. Madam President, may I suggest to the Committee to change the word "Filipinos" to QUALIFIED FILIPINO VOTERS. Instead of "VOTING BY FILIPINOS ABROAD," it should be QUALFIED FILIPINO VOTERS. If the Committee wants QUALIFIED VOTERS LIVING ABROAD, would that not satisfy the requirement?

THE PRESIDENT. What does Commissioner Monsod say?

MR. MONSOD. Madam President, I think I would accept the phrase "QUALIFIED FILIPINOS ABROAD" because "QUALIFIED" would assume that he has the qualifications and none of the disqualifications to vote.cralaw:red

MR. TINGSON. That is right. So does the Committee accept?chanrobles virtual law library

FR. BERNAS. "QUALIFIED FILIPINOS ABROAD"?

THE PRESIDENT. Does the Committee accept the amendment?

MR. REGALADO. Madam President.cralaw:red

THE PRESIDENT. Commissioner Regalado is recognized.cralaw:red

MR. REGALADO. When Commissioner Bengzon asked me to read my proposed amendment, I specifically stated that the National Assembly shall prescribe a system which will enable qualified citizens, temporarily absent from the Philippines, to vote. According to Commissioner Monsod, the use of the phrase "absentee voting" already took into account as its meaning. That is referring to qualified Filipino citizens temporarily abroad.cralaw:red

MR. MONSOD. Yes, we accepted that. I would like to say that with respect to registration we will leave it up to the legislative assembly, for example, to require where the registration is. If it is, say, members of the diplomatic corps who may be continuously abroad for a long time, perhaps, there can be a system of registration in the embassies. However, we do not like to preempt the legislative assembly.cralaw:red

THE PRESIDENT. Just to clarify, Commissioner Monsod’s amendment is only to provide a system.cralaw:red

MR. MONSOD. Yes.cralaw:red

THE PRESIDENT. The Commissioner is not stating here that he wants new qualifications for these absentee voters.cralaw:red

MR. MONSOD. That is right. They must have the qualifications and none of the disqualifications.cralaw:red

THE PRESIDENT. It is just to devise a system by which they can vote.cralaw:red

MR. MONSOD. That is right, Madam President.[45]

In the course of the deliberations, Fr. Bernas perceived a problem that may arise from the meaning of the second residence requirement on the place of registration and voting. As noted, a qualified voter normally registers and votes in the place where he is domiciled or has resided for six months. Fr. Bernas feared that the second residence requirement may pose a constitutional obstacle to absentee voting "unless the vote of the person who is absent is a vote which will be considered as cast in the place of his domicile," viz:chanrobles virtual law library

MR. OPLE. With respect to Section 1, it is not clear whether the right of suffrage, which here has a residential restriction, is not denied to citizens temporarily residing or working abroad. Based on the statistics of the government agencies, there ought to be about two million such Filipinos at this time. Commissioner Bernas had earlier pointed out that these provisions are really lifted from the two previous Constitutions of 1935 and 1973, with the exception of the last paragraph. They could not therefore have foreseen at that time the phenomenon now described as the Filipino labor force explosion overseas.cralaw:red

According to government data, there are now about 600,000 contract workers and employees, and although the major portions of these expatriate communities of workers are found in the Middle East, they are scattered in 177 countries in the world.cralaw:red

In previous hearings of the Committee on Constitutional Commissions and Agencies, the Chairman of the Commission on Elections, Ramon Felipe, said that there was no insuperable obstacle to making effective the right of suffrage for Filipinos overseas. Those who have adhered to their Filipino citizenship notwithstanding strong temptations are exposed to embrace a more convenient foreign citizenship. And those who on their own or under pressure of economic necessity here, find that they have detached themselves from their families to work in other countries with definite tenures of employment. Many of them are on contract employment for one, two, or three years. They have no intention of changing their residence on a permanent basis, but are technically disqualified from exercising the right of suffrage in their countries of destination by residential requirement in Section 1chanrobles virtual law library

I, therefore, ask the Committee whether at the proper time, they might entertain an amendment that will make this exercise of the right to vote abroad for Filipino citizens an effective, rather than merely a nominal right under this proposed Constitution.chanrobles virtual law library

FR. BERNAS. Certainly, the Committee will consider that. But more than just saying that, I would like to make a comment on the meaning of "residence" in the Constitution because I think it is a concept that has been discussed in various decisions of the Supreme Court, particularly in the case of  Faypon vs. Quirino, a 1954 case which dealt precisely with the meaning of "residence" in the Election Law

In other words, "residence" in this provision refers to two residence qualifications: "residence" in the Philippines and "residence" in the place where he will vote. As far as the residence in the Philippines is concerned, the word "residence" means domicile, but as far as residence where he will actually cast his ballot is concerned, the meaning seems to be different. He could have a domicile somewhere else and yet he is allowed to vote there. So that there may be serious constitutional obstacles to absentee voting, unless the vote of the person who is absent is a vote which will be considered as cast in the place of his domicile.[46] (Emphasis supplied)

Following the observation of Father Bernas and to obviate the constitutional problem, the members of the Constitutional Commission then discussed the system of registration of qualified Filipinos abroad who will be allowed to vote. It was agreed that their registration abroad would be considered as registration in a particular locality in the Philippines where he is domiciled, and the vote cast abroad would be considered cast in that particular locality, to wit:chanrobles virtual law library

MR. REGALADO. I just want to make a note on the statement of Commissioner Suarez that this envisions Filipinos residing abroad. The understanding in the amendment is that the Filipino is temporarily abroad. He may or may not be actually residing abroad; he may just be there on a business trip. It just so happens that the day before the elections he has to fly to the United States, so that he could not cast his vote. He is temporarily abroad but not residing there. He stays in a hotel for two days and comes back. This is not limited only to Filipinos temporarily residing abroad. But as long as he is temporarily abroad on the date of the elections, then he can fall within the prescription of Congress in that situation.cralaw:red

MR. SUAREZ. I thank the Commissioner for his further clarification. Precisely, we need this clarification on record.cralaw:red

MR. MONSOD. Madam President, to clarify what we mean by "temporarily abroad," it need not be on very short trips. One can be abroad on a treaty traders visa. Therefore, when we talk about registration, it is possible that his residence is in Angeles and he would be able to vote for the candidates in Angeles, but Congress or the Assembly may provide the procedure for registration, like listing one’s name, in a registry list in the embassy abroad. That is still possible under this system.cralaw:red

FR. BERNAS. Madam President, just one clarification if Commissioner Monsod agrees with this.cralaw:red

Suppose we have a situation of a child of a diplomatic officer who reaches the voting age while living abroad and he has never registered here. Where will he register? Will he be a registered voter of a certain locality in the Philippines?

MR. MONSOD. Yes, it is possible that the system will enable that child to comply with the registration requirements in an embassy in the United States and his name is then entered in the official registration book in Angeles City, for instance.cralaw:red

FR. BERNAS. In other words, he is not a registered voter of Los Angeles, but a registered voter of a locality here.cralaw:red

MR. MONSOD. That is right. He does not have to come home to the Philippines to comply with the registration procedure here.cralaw:red

FR. BERNAS. So, he does not have to come home.[47]  (Emphases ours)

It is crystal clear from the foregoing deliberations, that the majority erred in ruling that section 2 of Article V of the Constitution dispensed with the residence requirements provided under section 1 of the same Article.cralaw:red

(2) Whether an "immigrant" or a "permanent resident" of a foreign country has lost his domicile in the Philippines.chanrobles virtual law library

The next question is whether an "immigrant" or a "permanent resident" of a foreign country has abandoned his domicile in the Philippines. I respectfully submit that he has.cralaw:red

There are three classes of domicile, namely: domicile of origin, domicile of choice, and domicile by operation of law. At any given point, a person can only have one domicile.cralaw:red

Domicile of origin is acquired by every person at birth and continues until replaced by the acquisition of another domicile. More specifically, it is the domicile of the child’s parents or of the persons upon whom the child is legally dependent at birth. Although also referred to as domicile of birth, domicile of origin is actually the domicile of one’s parents at the time of birth and may not necessarily be the actual place of one’s birth.[48]  Domicile of choice is a domicile chosen by a person to replace his or her former domicile. An adult may change domicile at will. The choice involves an exercise of free will and presumes legal capacity to make a choice. While intention is a principal feature of domicile of choice, a mere intention without the fact of actual presence in the locality cannot bring about the acquisition of a new domicile. Domicile of choice generally consists of a bodily presence in a particular locality and a concurrent intent to remain there permanently or at least indefinitely.[49] Domicile by operation of law is a domicile that the law attributes to a person independent of a person’s residence or intention. It applies to infants, incompetents, and other persons under disabilities that prevent them from acquiring a domicile of choice.[50]

In Romualdez-Marcos v. Comelec,[51] we ruled that domicile of origin is not easily lost. To successfully effect a change of domicile, one must demonstrate an actual removal or an actual change of domicile; a bona fide intention of abandoning the former place of residence and establishing a new one; and acts which correspond with purpose.[52] This change of domicile is effected by a Filipino who becomes an "immigrant" or a "permanent resident" of a foreign country. Thus, we held in Caasi v. Court of Appeals,[53] viz:chanrobles virtual law library

Miguel’s application for immigrant status and permanent residence in the U.S. and his possession of a green card attesting to such status are conclusive proof that he is a permanent resident of the U.S. despite his occasional visits to the Philippines. The waiver of such immigrant status should be as indubitable as his application for it. Absent clear evidence that he made an irrevocable waiver of that status or that he surrendered his green card to the appropriate U.S. authorities before he ran for mayor.[54]

The doctrine in Caasi is by no means new. Our election laws have continuously regarded "immigrants" or "permanent residents" of a foreign country to have lost their domiciles in the Philippines and hence are not qualified to run for public office.[55] There is no reason not to apply the Caasi ruling in disputes involving the qualification of voters. In essence, both cases concern fulfillment of the residence requirements.cralaw:red

Section 5(d) of Rep. Act No. 9189 itself reinforces the applicability of the Caasi doctrine. As observed by the majority, Rep. Act No. 9189 disqualifies an immigrant or a permanent resident who is recognized as such in another country "because immigration or permanent residence in another country implies renunciation of one’s residence in his country of origin."[56]

We now slide to the legal significance of the affidavit to be executed by "immigrants" or "permanent residents" to remove them from the class of disqualified voters.cralaw:red

(3) Whether the execution by an immigrant or a permanent resident of the affidavit under section 5(d) of Rep. Act No. 9189 is sufficient proof of non-abandonment of residence in the Philippines.cralaw:red

Again, with due respect, I submit that the majority ruling on the nature of the affidavit to be executed by an "immigrant" or a "permanent resident" is inconsistent.  On one hand, it theorizes that the act "serves as an explicit expression that he had not in fact abandoned his domicile of origin."[57]  This concedes that while an "immigrant" or a "permanent resident" has acquired a new domicile in a foreign country by virtue of his status as such, Rep. Act No. 9189 would consider him not to have abandoned his domicile in the Philippines.  On the other hand, the majority also theorizes that the affidavit constitutes an "express waiver of his status as an immigrant or permanent resident," and upon fulfillment of the requirements of registration, "he may still be considered as a ‘qualified citizen of the Philippines abroad’ for purposes of exercising his right of suffrage."[58]  This presupposes that the "immigrant" or "permanent resident" abandoned his domicile in the Philippines, but seeks to reacquire this domicile by the execution of the affidavit.cralaw:red

The first theory is untenable.  Its inevitable result would be the establishment of two domiciles, i.e., domicile in the Philippines and domicile in a foreign country where he is considered an "immigrant" or a "permanent resident."  This ruling will contravene the principle in private international law that a person can be domiciled only in one place at a given time.[59]

The second theory is equally untenable.  A person who has abandoned his domicile of origin by establishing a domicile of choice cannot just revert back to his domicile of origin.[60]  He must satisfy the same requisites for acquiring a new domicile, i.e., an actual removal or an actual change of domicile; a bona fide intention of abandoning the former place of residence and establishing a new one; and acts which correspond with the purpose. An existing domicile cannot be lost by abandonment alone, even if there is an intent to acquire a new one; the existing domicile continues until a new one is in fact gained.  To abandon domicile, a person must choose a new domicile, actually reside in the place chosen, and intend that it be the principal and permanent residence.  That is, there can be no change of domicile without the concurrence of act and intent.[61]

The doctrine established in England that the domicile of origin is revived upon the abandonment of a domicile of choice has long been rejected in the United States.[62]  Even in England, "the mobility of modern society has fostered both criticism of the rule and recommendation for its change."[63]  Thus, the prevailing view at present is that if a domicile of choice is abandoned without acquiring a new domicile of choice, "the domicil[e] of origin is not thereby revived, but the last domicil[e] of choice continues to be the domicile."[64]

In his Separate Opinion, our esteemed colleague, Mr. Justice Azcuna, opines that the execution of the affidavit is the operative act that revives the domicile of origin, and "the requirement of resuming actual physical presence within three (3) years is only a test of such intention."  He further opines that "if the affiant does not resume the residence physically within said period, then the intent expressed in the affidavit is defective and the law will deem it inoperative."chanrobles virtual law library

With due respect, I submit that the affidavit merely proves the intent to return but not the other requisites for reacquiring the domicile of origin.  Intent, which is not coupled with actual physical transfer, is not sufficient either to abandon the former domicile or to establish a new domicile.[65]  Thus, the view that domicile could be established as soon as the old is abandoned even though the person has not yet arrived at the new domicile, has not been accepted.  In his latest work on the subject, Scoles, an acknowledged expert in Conflict of Laws stated as follows:chanrobles virtual law library

The element of physical presence is essential to confirm the requisite attitude of mind contemplated by the concept of domicile.  As a consequence, a person who is to acquire a domicile of choice at a place must actually be present at that place during the time in which the intention to make it his home exists. For most people, intention is confirmed by the physical presence of considerable duration looking toward an indefinite period of time.  However, in light of the function that domicile serves, i.e., to identify a settled relationship with a place for a particular legal purpose, it is sometimes necessary to make a determination when the physical presence has been very brief.  Consequently, no particular length of time is necessary in order to satisfy the requirement of physical presence if that stay at a place verifies the intention to make it a home.cralaw:red

In the case of the individual who has clearly manifested an intention to change a new home and center of social activities, the question sometimes arises why that person’s domicile should not change as soon as the old is abandoned eventhough the individual has not yet arrived at the new. Although this has sometimes been suggested as a possibility, it is contrary to the clear weight of authority, probably because physical presence is ordinarily the principal confirming evidence of the intention of the person.[66] (Emphases ours)

Beale, another acknowledged expert on the subject, shares the same view, viz:chanrobles virtual law library

One or two authorities under special circumstances have held that a domicil[e] might be acquired in a certain place while the person is on his way toward the place with an intent to live there and during his journey toward that place, although he had not yet actually reached that place.  In two taxation cases in Massachusetts, where upon the taxing day the person in question was actually on his journey from a former residence in the state to an intended second residence, whether in the same state or in another state, he was held to be taxable in the second residence in the ground that under those peculiar circumstances his domicile would shift at the moment of abandoning the first residence.  These, however, were disapproved and overruled.  In one other case, a similar intimation has been made.  In Matter of Grant, it appeared that a decedent had left a United States reservation in the State of New York with intention to go to the District of Columbia, and there establish his residence, but he had died en route.  Fowler, Surrogate, intimated that he was already domiciled in the District of Columbia.  It is not too much to say, however, that there is absolutely no good authority for the opinion thus expressed, and that it is legally impossible for a man to acquire a domicil[e] before he is present at the place where the domicile is established.[67] (Emphasis ours)

Beale also states that with the rejection of the English "automatic reversion" doctrine, physical presence is required before the person can reacquire his domicile of origin, viz:chanrobles virtual law library

The doctrine in England is that the domicil[e] of origin revives upon the abandonment of a domicile of choiceInspite of a few English cases to the contrary, this has become thoroughly established as the doctrine of the English courts, the court being especially emphatic in cases where a person has left his domicile of choice without intent to return and has started to return to his domicil[e] of origin.  Here, evidence must of course be introduced to show a definitive abandonment of domicile of choice by actually leaving the country without intent to return.  The English doctrine has been approved in this country in several cases, in most of which the approval was a mere dictum, but in the United States, generally, the opposite view is held, and upon the abandonment of a domicile of choice there is no change of domicile until a new domicile is obtained.chanrobles virtual law library

On the other hand, a few American cases follow the English decision in so far as to declare that a domicil[e] of origin revives when a person having abandoned a domicil[e] of choice is on his way to make a home at his domicil[e] of origin, but the better opinion in this country does not allow the reacquisition of the domicil[e] of origin until the fact of presence at the place of domicil[e] of origin exists, as well as the intent to return there.[68] (Emphasis ours)

To stress, the burden of establishing a change in domicile is upon the party who asserts it.[69]  A person’s declarations as to what he considers his home, residence, or domicile are generally admissible "as evidence of his attitude of mind."[70]  However, whatever the context, "their accuracy is suspect because of their self-serving nature, particularly when they are made to achieve some legal objective."[71]

In the case at bar, the burden rests on an "immigrant" or a "permanent resident" to prove that he has abandoned his domicile in the foreign country and reestablished his domicile in the Philippines.  A self-serving affidavit will not suffice, especially when what is at stake is a very important privilege as the right of suffrage.  I respectfully submit that what makes the intent expressed in the affidavit effective and operative is the fulfillment of the promise to return to the Philippines.  Physical presence is not a mere test of intent but the "principal confirming evidence of the intention of the person."[72]  Until such promise is fulfilled, he continues to be a domiciliary of another country.  Until then, he does not possess the necessary requisites and therefore, cannot be considered a qualified voter.cralaw:red

(4)  Whether counting the votes of immigrants or permanent residents who fail to return to the Philippines will dilute the valid votes of our fully qualified electors.cralaw:red

The only consequence imposed by Rep. Act No. 9189 to an "immigrant" or a  "permanent resident" who does not fulfill his promise to return to the Philippines is the removal of his name from the National Registry of Absentee Voters and his permanent disqualification to vote in absentia. But his vote would be counted and accorded the same weight as that cast by bona fide qualified Filipino voters. I respectfully submit that this scheme diminishes the value of the right of suffrage as it dilutes the right of qualified voters to the proportionate value of their votes. The one person, one vote principle is sacrosanct in a republican form of government.  The challenged provision which allows the value of the valid votes of qualified voters to be diminished by the invalid votes of disqualified voters violates the sovereignty of our people. The validation by the majority of this unconstitutional provision may result in the anomaly where the highest public officials of our land will owe their election to "immigrants" or "permanent residents" who failed to fulfill their promise to return to our country or who repudiated their domicile here.cralaw:red

The majority downplays the effect of the challenged provision on those who are already qualified prior to the enactment of Rep. Act No. 9189.  It is opined that the removal of an "immigrant" or a "permanent resident" from the list of the National Registry of Absentee Voters and his permanent disqualification "would suffice to serve as deterrence to non-compliance with his/her undertaking under the affidavit."  The majority misses the point.  Without section 5(d) of Rep. Act No. 9189, an "immigrant" or a "permanent resident" has no right to vote. Thus, even assuming that he becomes qualified after executing the affidavit, he does not stand to lose anything when he is subsequently disqualified for his failure to comply with his undertaking under the affidavit. He will just return to his original status.chanrobles virtual law library

B.

Is section 18.5 of Rep. Act No. 9189 in relation to section 4 of the same Act in contravention of section 4, Article VII of the Constitution?

Petitioner contends that section 18.5 in relation to section 4 of Rep. Act No. 9189 violates section 4, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution giving Congress the power to canvass the votes and proclaim the winning candidates for President and Vice-President, viz:chanrobles virtual law library

x    x    x

The returns of every election for President and Vice-President, duly certified by the board of canvassers of each province or city, shall be transmitted to the Congress, directed to the President of the Senate. Upon receipt of the certificates of canvass, the President of the Senate shall, not later than thirty days after the day of the election, open all certificates in the presence of the Senate and the House of Representatives in joint public session, and the Congress, upon determination of the authenticity and due execution thereof in the manner provided by law, canvass the votes.cralaw:red

The person having the highest number of votes shall be proclaimed elected, but in case two or more shall have an equal and highest number of votes, one of them shall forthwith be chosen by the vote of a majority of all the Members of both Congress, voting separately.cralaw:red

The Congress shall promulgate its rules for the canvassing of the certificates.cralaw:red

x      x      x.cralaw:red

Section 4 of Rep. Act No. 9189 allows all qualified Filipinos overseas to vote for President, Vice-President, Senators and party-list representatives while section 18.5 thereof empowers the COMELEC to order the proclamation of winning candidates, viz:chanrobles virtual law library

SEC. 18. On-Site Counting and Canvassing.-

x     x     x

18.5 The canvass of votes shall not cause the delay of the proclamation of a winning candidate if the outcome of the election will not be affected by the results thereof. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Commission is empowered to order the proclamation of winning candidates despite the fact the scheduled election has not taken place in a particular country or countries, if the holding of elections therein has been rendered impossible by events, factors and circumstances peculiar to such country or countries, in which events, factors and circumstances are beyond the control or influence of the Commission.cralaw:red

On its face, section 18.5 of Rep. Act No. 9189 appears to be repugnant to section 4, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution. It gives the impression that Congress abdicated to COMELEC its constitutional duty to canvass and proclaim the winning candidates for President and Vice-President. I agree with the majority that the impugned provision should be given a reasonable interpretation that would save it from a constitutional infirmity. To be sure, Congress could have not allowed the COMELEC to exercise a power exclusively bestowed upon it by the Constitution. Thus, section 18.5 of Rep. Act No. 9189 empowering the COMELEC to proclaim the winning candidates should be construed as limited to the positions of Senators and party-list representatives. In like manner, I agree with the majority that section 18.4 of Rep. Act No. 9189 which provides:chanroblesvirtuallawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

18.4.  Immediately upon the completion of the canvass, the chairman of the Special Board of Canvassers shall transmit via facsimile, electronic mail, or any other means of transmission equally safe and reliable the Certificates of Canvass and the Statements of Votes to the Commission,  (Emphasis supplied)

should be construed in harmony with section 4, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution. Hence, with respect to the position of the President and the Vice-President, the Certificates of Canvass and the Statements of Votes must be submitted to Congress and directed to the Senate President.cralaw:red

C.cralaw:red

Does Congress, through the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee created in section 25 of Rep. Act No. 9189, have the power to review, revise, amend and approve the Implementing Rules and Regulations that the Commission on Elections shall promulgate without violating the independence of the COMELEC under section 1, Article IX-A of the Constitution?

Both the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) agree with the petitioner that sections 19 and 25 of Rep. Act No. 9189 are unconstitutional on the ground that they violate the independence of the COMELEC.[73] The impugned provisions require the public respondent COMELEC to submit its Implementing Rules and Regulations to the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee for review, revision, amendment, or approval, viz:chanrobles virtual law library

Sec. 19. Authority of the Commission to Promulgate Rules.- The Commission shall issue the necessary rules and regulations to effectively implement the provisions of this Act within sixty (60) days from effectivity of this Act. The Implementing Rules and Regulations shall be submitted to the Joint Oversight Committee created by virtue of this Act for prior approval.cralaw:red

In the formulation of the rules and regulations, the Commission shall coordinate with the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Labor and Employment, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration and the Commission on Filipino Overseas. Non-government organizations and accredited Filipino organizations or associations abroad shall be consulted.cralaw:red

x      x      x

Sec. 25. Joint Congressional Oversight Committee.- A joint Congressional Oversight Committee is hereby created, composed of the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments, Revision of Codes and Laws, and seven (7) other Senators designated by the Senate President, and the Chairman of the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, and seven (7) other members of the House of Representatives designated by the Speaker of the House of Representatives: Provided, That, of the seven (7) members to be designated by each House of Congress, four (4) should come from the majority and the remaining three (3) from the minority.cralaw:red

The Joint Congressional Oversight Committee shall have the power to monitor and evaluate the implementation of this Act.  It shall review, revise, amend and approve the Implementing Rules and Regulations promulgated by the Commission.  (Emphases supplied)

Public respondents aver that as an independent constitutional body, the COMELEC is not under the control of the executive or the legislative[74] in the performance of its constitutional function to "enforce and administer all laws and regulations relative to the conduct of an election."[75] Public respondent COMELEC asserts that its right to formulate rules and regulations flows from its power to enforce and administer election laws and regulations.[76] This power is exclusive and its exercise is not subject to the review, revision, or approval of Congress.[77] The Solicitor General shares the same view that the role of the legislature ends with the finished task of legislation.[78] He opines that nothing in Article VI of the 1987 Constitution suggests that Congress is empowered to enforce and administer election laws concurrent with the COMELEC.[79]

Along the same lines, public respondent COMELEC assails section 17.1 of Rep. Act No. 9189 subjecting the implementation of voting by mail to prior review and approval of the Joint Oversight Committee. It maintains that the development of a system for voting by mail involves the "administration of election laws" and falls squarely within its exclusive functions.[80]   Section 17.1 of Rep. Act No. 9189 reads:chanroblesvirtuallawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

Sec. 17. Voting by mail.-

17.1. For the May, 2004 elections, the Commission shall authorize voting by mail in not more than three (3) countries, subject to the approval of the Congressional Oversight Committee. Voting by mail may be allowed in countries that satisfy the following conditions:chanrobles virtual law library

(a)     Where the mailing system is fairly well-developed and secure to prevent occasion of fraud;

(b)     Where there exists a technically established identification system that would preclude multiple or proxy voting; and cralaw:red

(c)     Where the system of reception and custody of mailed ballots in the embassies, consulates and other foreign service establishments concerned are adequate and well-secured.cralaw:red

Thereafter, voting by mail in any country shall be allowed only upon review and approval of the Joint Oversight Committee.   mphases supplied)

The majority sustains the petitioner as it holds that "[b]y vesting itself with the powers to approve, review, amend and revise the IRR for The Overseas Voting Act of 2003, Congress went beyond the scope of its constitutional authority. Congress trampled upon the constitutional mandate of independence of the COMELEC."

I agree with the majority but wish to add my humble thoughts on this all important constitutional issue--- the extent of the exercise by Congress of its oversight powers in the implementation of Rep. Act No. 9189. The resolution of the issue entails a two-tiered discussion of the following: (1) whether Congress has oversight functions over constitutional bodies like the COMELEC; and (2) assuming that it has, whether Congress exceeded the permissible exercise of its oversight functions.cralaw:red

Before proceeding, we must focus on the exact place of the power of congressional oversight in our constitutional canvass. This will involve an exposition of two principles basic to our constitutional democracy: separation of powers and checks and balances.cralaw:red

Separation of powers and checks and balances

The principle of separation of powers prevents the concentration of legislative, executive, and judicial powers to a single branch of government by deftly allocating their exercise to the three branches of government. This principle dates back from the time of Aristotle[81] but the "modern" concept owes its origin in the seventeenth and eighteenth century writings of political philosophers including Locke and Montesquieu. Their writings were mainly reactions to the ruinous struggle for power by the monarchs and the parliaments in Western Europe.[82]

In his Second Treatise of Civil Government,[83] John Locke advocated the proper division of the legislative, executive and federative powers of the commonwealth. He defined legislative power as "that which has a right to direct how the force of the commonwealth shall be employed for preserving the community and the members of it."[84]  He viewed executive power as involving "the execution of the municipal laws of the society within its self, [and] upon all that are parts of it"[85] and federative power as concerned with "the management of the security and interest of the public without" including "the power of war and peace, leagues and alliances, and all the transactions, with all persons and communities without the commonwealth."[86]chanrobles virtual law library

Locke expostulated that executive powers should not be placed in one person or group of persons exercising legislative power because "it may be too great a temptation to human frailty, apt to grasp at power, for the same persons, who have the power to execute them, whereby they may exempt themselves from obedience to the laws they make, and suit the law, both in its making, and execution, to their own private advantage, and thereby come to have a distinct interest from the rest of the community, contrary to the end of society and government."[87] But while the executive and the federative are two distinct powers, Locke conceded that they are intricately related and thus may be exercised by the same persons.[88]

Locke mothered the modern idea of division of power but it was Montesquieu who refined the concept. In his famed treatise, The Spirit of the Laws,[89] Montesquieu authoritatively analyzed the nature of executive, legislative and judicial powers and with a formidable foresight counselled that any combination of these powers would create a system with an inherent tendency towards tyrannical actions, thus:chanrobles virtual law library

In every government there are three sorts of power: the legislative; the executive in respect to things dependent on the law of nations; and the executive in regard to matters that depend on the civil law. By virtue of the legislative power, the prince or magistrate enacts temporary or perpetual laws, and amends or abrogates those that have been already enacted. By the second, he makes peace or war, sends or receives embassies, establishes the public security, and provides against invasions. By the third, he punishes criminals, or determines the disputes that arise between individuals. The latter we shall call the judiciary power, and the other, simply the executive power of the state.cralaw:red

The political liberty of the subject is a tranquility of mind arising from the opinion each person has of his safety. In order to have this liberty, it is requisite the government be so constituted as one man need not be afraid of another.cralaw:red

When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty; because apprehensions may arise, lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws, to execute them in a tyrannical manner.cralaw:red

Again, there is no liberty, if the judiciary power be not separated from the legislative and the executive. Were it joined with the legislative, the life and liberty of the subject would be exposed to arbitrary control; for the judge would be then the legislator. Were it joined to the executive power, the judge might behave with violence and oppression.cralaw:red

There would be an end of everything, were the same man or the same body, whether of the nobles or of the people, to exercise those three powers, that of enacting laws, that of executing the public resolutions, and that of trying the causes of individuals."[90]

At the time of the American Revolution, the more influential political leaders in the new states subscribed to Montesquieu’s concept of separation of powers.[91] Some constitutions of the early state governments even referred to the principle. But the concept espoused at that particular time was a lot different. As then understood, separation of powers requires a watertight compartmentalization of the executive, judicial, and legislative functions and permits no sharing of government powers between and among the three branches of government. The Massachusetts Constitution of 1780, for instance, provides:chanroblesvirtuallawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

In the government of this commonwealth, the legislative department shall never exercise the executive and judicial powers, or either of them; the executive shall never exercise the legislative and judicial powers, or either of them; the judicial shall never exercise the legislative and executive powers, or either of them: to the end that it may be a government of laws and not of men.[92]

The 1787 U.S. Constitution did not contain a similar provision like that found in the Massachusetts Constitution or any principle proclaiming the adherence of the Framers to the principle of separation of powers. But legal scholars are of the view that the Framers essentially followed Montesquieu’s recommendation for the division of powers, noting that the U.S. Constitution vests "all legislative powers" in the Congress of the United States,[93] the "executive power" in the President,[94] and the "judicial power" in one Supreme Court and in such inferior courts as Congress may provide.[95]

These legal scholars also note that the U.S. Constitution allows the "sharing" of the three great powers between and among the three branches. The President, for instance, shares in the exercise of legislative power through his veto power, and the courts through their power to make rules of judicial procedure and especially through their right to interpret laws and invalidate them as unconstitutional. Congress shares in the exercise of executive power through its confirmation of appointments and assent to treaties, and in the judicial power through its power to create inferior courts and regulate the number and pay of judges.[96]  Thus, they postulate that the Framers established a government guided not by strict separation of powers but one of checks and balances to prevent the separate branches from "running wild" and to avert deadlocks and breakdowns, viz:chanrobles virtual law library

The Framers expected the branches to battle each other to acquire and defend power. To prevent the supremacy of one branch over any other in these battles, powers were mixed; each branch was granted important power over the same area of activity. The British and Conference experience has led the Framers to avoid regarding controversy between the branches as a conflict between good and evil or right or wrong, requiring definitive, institutionally permanent resolution. Rather, they viewed such conflict as an expression of the aggressive and perverse part of human nature that demanded outlet but has to be kept from finding lasting resolution so that liberty could be reserved.[97]

Even then, some legal luminaries were of the view that the concept of checks and balances is diametrically opposed to the principle of separation of powers. James Madison, however, explained that Montesquieu’s concept of separation of powers did not require a strict division of functions among the three branches of government. Madison defended the Constitution as having sufficient division of functions among the three branches of government to avoid the consolidation of power in any one branch and also stressed that a rigid segregation of the three branches would undermine the purpose of the separation doctrine.[98] He noted that unless the three branches "be so far connected and blended as to give to each a constitutional control over the others, the degree of separation which the maxim requires as essential to a free government, can never in practice be duly maintained."[99]  Madison’s view has since then been the accepted interpretation of the concept of separation of powers under the Constitution. Thus, in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer,[100] the U.S. Supreme Court held that "In designing the structure of our Government and dividing and allocating the sovereign power among the three co-equal branches, the Framers of the Constitution sought to provide a comprehensive system but the separate powers were not intended to operate with absolute independence." In Buckley v. Valeo,[101] the Court ruled that the Constitution by no means contemplates total separation of each of these essential branches of government and the framers viewed the principle of separation of powers as a vital check against tyranny. It likewise warned that the "hermetic sealing off of the three branches of Government from one another would preclude the establishment of a Nation capable of governing itself effectively."[102] Thus, in Nixon v. Administrator of General Services,[103] the Court rejected the "archaic view of separation of powers as requiring three airtight departments of government." In determining whether an act disrupts the proper balance between the coordinate branches, the Court suggested that the proper inquiry should focus on the extent to which it prevents the other branch from accomplishing its constitutionally assigned functions.[104]

In this jurisdiction, our adherence to the principle of separation powers was succinctly discussed by Justice Laurel in Angara v. Electoral Commission[105] decided in 1936, less than a year after the effectivity of the 1935 Constitution. Justice Laurel emphasized that "The separation of powers is a fundamental principle in our system of government. It obtains not through express provision but by actual division in our Constitution."[106] Thus:chanroblesvirtuallawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

Each department of the government has exclusive cognizance of the matters within its jurisdiction, and is supreme within its own sphere. But it does not follow from the fact that the three powers are to be kept separate and distinct that the Constitution intended them to be absolutely unrestrained and independent of each other. The Constitution has provided for an elaborate system of checks and balances to secure coordination in the workings of the various departments of the government. For example, the Chief Executive under our Constitution is so far made a check on the legislative power that this assent is required in the enactment of laws. This, however, is subject to the further check that a bill may become a law notwithstanding the refusal of the President to approve it, by a vote of two-thirds or three-fourths, as the case may be, of the National Assembly. The President has also the right to convene the Assembly in special session whenever he chooses. On the other hand, the National Assembly operates as a check on the Executive in the sense that its consent through its Commission on Appointments is necessary in the appointment of certain officers; and the concurrence of a majority of all its members is essential to the conclusion of treaties. Furthermore, in its power to determine what courts other than the Supreme Court shall be established, to define their jurisdiction and to appropriate funds for their support, the National Assembly controls the judicial department to a certain extent. The Assembly also exercises the judicial power of trying impeachments. And the judiciary in turn, with the Supreme Court as the final arbiter, effectively checks the other departments in the exercise of its power to determine the law, and hence to declare executive and legislative acts void if violative of the Constitution.[107]

In Planas v. Gil,[108] Justice Laurel further discussed the intricate interplay of the principle of separation of powers and checks and balances, viz:chanrobles virtual law library

The classical separation of governmental powers, whether viewed in the light of political philosophy of Aristotle, Locke or Montesquieu, or to the postulations of Mabini, Madison, or Jefferson, is a relative theory of government. There is more truism and actuality in interdependence than in independence and separation of powers, for as observed by Justice Holmes in a case of Philippine origin, we cannot lay down "with mathematical precision and divide the branches in watertight compartments" not only because "the ordinances of the Constitution do not establish and divide fields of black and white" but also because "even more specific to them are found to terminate in a penumbra shading gradually from one extreme to the other."[109]

It is now beyond debate that the principle of separation of powers (1) allows the "blending" of some of the executive, legislative, or judicial powers in one body; (2) does not prevent one branch of government from inquiring into the affairs of the other branches to maintain the balance of power; (3) but ensures that there is no encroachment on matters within the exclusive jurisdiction of the other branches.cralaw:red

For its part, this Court checks the exercise of power of the other branches of government through judicial review. It is the final arbiter of disputes involving the proper allocation and exercise of the different powers under the Constitution. Thus:chanrobles virtual law library

The Constitution is a definition of the powers of government. Who is to determine the nature, scope and extent of such powers? The Constitution itself has provided for the instrumentality of the judiciary as the rational way. And when the judiciary mediates to allocate constitutional boundaries, it does not assert any superiority over the other departments; it does not in reality nullify or invalidate an act of the legislature, but only asserts the solemn and sacred obligation assigned to it by the Constitution to determine conflicting claims of authority under the Constitution and to establish for the parties in an actual controversy the rights which that instrument secures and guarantees to them. This is in truth all that is involved in what is termed "judicial supremacy" which properly is the power of judicial review under the Constitution.[110]

The power of judicial review is, however,  limited to "actual cases and controversies to be exercised after full opportunity of argument by the parties, and limited further to the constitutional question raised or the very lis mota presented," for "any attempt at abstraction could only lead to dialectics and barren legal questions and to sterile conclusions of wisdom, justice or expediency of legislation."[111] Courts are also enjoined to accord the presumption of constitutionality to legislative enactments, "not only because the legislature is presumed to abide by the Constitution but also because the judiciary in the determination of actual cases and controversies must reflect the wisdom and justice of the people as expressed through their representatives in the executive and legislative departments of the government."[112]

The role of the judiciary in mapping the metes and bounds of powers of the different branches of government was redefined in the 1987 Constitution which expanded the jurisdiction of this Court to include the determination of "grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of any branch or instrumentality of the Government."[113] The expansion was made because of the dissatisfaction with the practice of this Court in frequently invoking the "political question"[114] doctrine during the period of martial law to dodge its duty.[115]  Be that as it may, the expanded power "definitely does not do away with the political question doctrine itself."[116]

Thus, in Marcos v. Manglapus,[117] the Court held:chanrobles virtual law library

Under the Constitution, judicial power includes the duty to determine whether or not there has been a grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of any branch or instrumentality of the Government. (Art. VIII, Sec. 1). Given this wording, we cannot agree with the Solicitor General that the issue constitutes a political question which is beyond the jurisdiction of the Court to decide.cralaw:red

The present Constitution limits resort to the political question doctrine and broadens the scope of judicial inquiry into areas which the Court, under previous constitutions, would have normally left to the political departments to decide. But nonetheless there remain issues beyond the Court's jurisdiction the determination of which is exclusively for the President, for Congress or for the people themselves through a plebiscite or referendum. We cannot, for example, question the President's recognition of a foreign government, no matter how premature or improvident such action may appear. We cannot set aside a presidential pardon though it may appear to us that the beneficiary is totally undeserving of the grant. Nor can we amend the Constitution under the guise of resolving a dispute brought before us because the power is reserved to the people.[118]

Since then, the Court has used its expanded power to check acts of the House of Representatives,[119] the President,[120] and even of   independent bodies such as the Electoral Tribunal,[121] the Commission on Elections[122] and the Civil Service Commission.[123]chanrobles virtual law library

Congress checks the other branches of government primarily through its law making powers. Congress can create administrative agencies, define their powers and duties, fix the terms of officers and their compensation.[124] It can also create courts, define their jurisdiction and reorganize the judiciary so long as it does not undermine the security of tenure of its members.[125] The power of Congress does not end with the finished task of legislation. Concomitant with its principal power to legislate is the auxiliary power to ensure that the laws it enacts are faithfully executed. As well stressed by one scholar, the legislature "fixes the main lines of substantive policy and is entitled to see that administrative policy is in harmony with it; it establishes the volume and purpose of public expenditures and ensures their legality and propriety; it must be satisfied that internal administrative controls are operating to secure economy and efficiency; and it informs itself of the conditions of administration of remedial measure."[126]

Concept and bases of congressional oversight

Broadly defined, the power of oversight embraces all activities undertaken by Congress to enhance its understanding of and influence over the implementation of legislation it has enacted.[127] Clearly, oversight concerns post-enactment measures undertaken by Congress: (a) to monitor bureaucratic compliance with program objectives, (b) to determine whether agencies are properly administered, (c) to eliminate executive waste and dishonesty, (d) to prevent executive usurpation of legislative authority, and (d) to assess executive conformity with the congressional perception of public interest.[128]

The power of oversight has been held to be intrinsic in the grant of legislative power itself and integral to the checks and balances inherent in a democratic system of government.[129] Among the most quoted justifications for this power are the writings of John Stuart Mill and Woodrow Wilson. In his Consideration of Representative Government,[130] Mill wrote that the duty of the legislature is "to watch and control the government; to throw the light of publicity on its acts; to compel a full exposition and justification of all of them which any one considers objectionable; and to censure them if found condemnable."[131] Wilson went one step farther and opined that the legislature’s informing function should be preferred to its legislative function. He emphasized that "[E]ven more important than legislation is the instruction and guidance in political affairs which the people might receive from a body which kept all national concerns suffused in a broad daylight of discussion."[132]

Over the years, Congress has invoked its oversight power with increased frequency to check the perceived "exponential accumulation of power" by the executive branch.[133] By the beginning of the 20th century, Congress has delegated an enormous amount of legislative authority to the executive branch and the administrative agencies. Congress, thus, uses its oversight power to make sure that the administrative agencies perform their functions within the authority delegated to them.[134]

The oversight power has also been used to ensure the accountability of regulatory commissions like the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Reserve Board, often referred to as representing a "headless fourth branch of government."[135] Unlike other ordinary administrative agencies, these bodies are independent from the executive branch and are outside the executive department in the discharge of their functions.[136]

Categories of congressional oversight functions

The acts done by Congress purportedly in the exercise of its oversight powers may be divided into three categories, namely: scrutiny, investigation and supervision.[137]

a. Scrutiny

Congressional scrutiny implies a lesser intensity and continuity of attention to administrative operations.[138] Its primary purpose is to determine economy and efficiency of the operation of government activities. In the exercise of legislative scrutiny, Congress may request information and report from the other branches of government. It can give recommendations or pass resolutions for consideration of the agency involved.chanrobles virtual law library

Legislative scrutiny is based primarily on the power of appropriation of Congress. Under the Constitution, the "power of the purse" belongs to Congress.[139] The President may propose the budget, but still, Congress has the final say on appropriations.  Consequently, administrative officials appear every year before the appropriation committees of Congress to report and submit a budget estimate and a program of administration for the succeeding fiscal year. During budget hearings, administrative officials defend their budget proposals.cralaw:red

The power of appropriation carries with it the power to specify the project or activity to be funded.[140] Hence, the holding of budget hearing has been the usual means of reviewing policy and of auditing the use of previous appropriation to ascertain whether they have been disbursed for purposes authorized in an appropriation act. The consideration of the budget is also an opportunity for the lawmakers to express their confidence in the performance of a Cabinet Secretary or to manifest their disgust or disfavor of the continuance in office of a bureaucrat.[141] Congress can even curtail the activities of the administrative agencies by denial of funds.[142] In the United States, for instance, Congress brought to end the existence of the Civilian Conservation Corps, the National Youth Administration and the National Resources Planning Board, simply by denying them any appropriation.[143]

But legislative scrutiny does not end in budget hearings. Congress can ask the heads of departments to appear before and be heard by either House of Congress on any matter pertaining to their departments. Section 22, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution provides:chanrobles virtual law library

The heads of departments may, upon their own initiative, with the consent of the President, or upon the request of either House, as the rules of each House shall provide, appear before and be heard by such House on any matter pertaining to their departments. Written questions shall be submitted to the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives at least three days before their scheduled appearance. Interpellations shall not be limited to written questions, but may cover matters related thereto. When the security of the State or the public interest so requires and the President so states in writing, the appearance shall be conducted in executive session.cralaw:red

This provision originated from the Administrative Code[144] and was later elevated to the level of a constitutional provision due to its "great value in the work of the legislature."[145] In drafting the 1935 Constitution, some delegates opposed the provision arguing that it is a feature of a parliamentary system and its adoption would make our government a "hybrid system."[146] But mainly attacked was the provision authorizing the department secretaries on their own initiative to appear before the legislature, with the right to be heard on any matter pertaining to their departments. It was pointed out that this would "give a chance to the department secretaries to lobby for items in the appropriation bill or for provisions of other bills in which they had special interest, permitting them to bear influence and pressure upon Members of the law-making body, in violation of the principle of separation of powers underlying the Constitution."[147] Despite the objections, the provision was adopted to "prevent the raising of any question with respect to the constitutionality of the practice" and "to make open and public the relations between the legislative and the executive departments."[148] As incorporated in the 1935 Constitution, the provision reads:chanrobles virtual law library

The heads of departments upon their own initiative or upon the request of the National Assembly on any matter pertaining to their departments unless the public interest shall require otherwise and the President shall state so in writing.[149]

The whole tenor of the provision was permissive: the department heads could appear but the legislative was not obliged to entertain them; reciprocally, the legislature could request their appearance but could not oblige them especially if the President objected.[150] The rule radically changed, however, with the adoption of the 1973 Constitution, establishing a parliamentary system of government. In a parliamentary system, the administration is responsible to the Parliament and hence, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Members may be "required to appear and answer questions and interpellations" to give an account of their stewardship during a "question hour," viz:chanrobles virtual law library

Sec. 12 (1) There shall be a question hour at least once a month or as often as the Rules of the Batasang Pambansa may provide, which shall be included in its agenda, during which the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister or any Minister may be required to appear and answer questions and interpellations by Members of the Batasang Pambansa. Written questions shall be submitted to the Speaker at least three days before a scheduled question hour. Interpellations shall not be limited to the written questions, but may cover matters related thereto. The agenda shall specify the subjects of the question hour. When the security of the State so requires and the President so states in writing, the question hour shall be conducted in executive session.cralaw:red

The "question hour" was retained despite the reversion to the presidential system in 1981. During the deliberations of the 1987 Constitution, the report of the legislative committee called for the adoption of the "question hour" for the following reasons:chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
 

Its purposes are to elicit concrete information from the administration, to request its intervention, and when necessary, to expose abuses and seek redress. The procedure provides the opposition with a means of discovering the government’s weak points and because of the publicity it generates, it has a salutary influence on the administration. On the whole, because of the detailed facts elicited during the interpellation or in the written answers, it will help members to understand the complicated subject matter of bills and statutory measures laid before the Assembly. It may be added that the popularity of this procedure can be attributed to the fact that in making use of his right to ask questions, the member is a completely free agent of the people. The only limits on his actions are the rules governing the admissibility of questions concerned with matters of form and not with the merits of the issue at hand. The fact that we also impose a time limit means that the government is obliged to furnish the information asked for and this obligation is what gives the procedure its real strength.[151]

This proposal was vigorously opposed on the ground of separation of powers. CONCOM Delegate Christian Monsod pointed out that the provision was historically intended to apply to members of the legislature who are in the executive branch typical in a parliamentary form of government. In fine, the "question hour" was conducted on a peer basis. But since the delegates decided to adopt a presidential form of government, cabinet members are purely alter egos of the President and are no longer members of the legislature. To require them to appear before the legislators and account for their actions "puts them on unequal terms with the legislators" and "would violate the separation of powers of the executive and the legislative branches."[152] Delegate Monsod, however, recognized that a mechanism should be adopted where Cabinet members may be summoned and may, even on their own initiative, appear before the legislature. This, he said, would promote coordination without subordinating one body to another. He thus suggested that the original tenor of the provision in the 1935 Constitution be retained.[153]

After much deliberation, delegate Monsod’s suggestion prevailed. Thus, the President may or may not consent to the appearance of the heads of departments; and even if he does, he may require that the appearance be in executive session. Reciprocally, Congress may refuse the initiative taken by a department secretary.cralaw:red

Likewise, Congress exercises legislative scrutiny thru its power of confirmation. Section 18, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution provides for the organization of a Commission on Appointments consisting of the President of the Senate as ex officio Chairman, twelve Senators and twelve members of the House of Representatives, elected by each House on the basis of proportional representation from the political parties or organizations registered under the party-list system. Consent of the Commission on Appointments is needed for the nominees of the President for the following positions: (a) heads of executive departments, (b) ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, (c) officers of the armed forces from the rank of colonel or naval captain, and (d) other officers whose appointments are vested with the President under the Constitution.[154]

Through the power of confirmation, Congress shares in the appointing power of the executive. Theoretically, it is intended to lessen political considerations in the appointment of officials in sensitive positions in the government. It also provides Congress an opportunity to find out whether the nominee possesses the necessary qualifications, integrity and probity required of all public servants.cralaw:red

In the United States, apart from the appropriation and confirmation powers of the U.S. Congress, legislative scrutiny finds expression in the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 charging all House and Senate Standing Committees with continuous vigilance over the execution of any and all laws falling within their respective jurisdictions "with a view to determining its economy and efficiency."[155] Pursuant to this law, each committee was authorized to hire a certain number of staff employees. All Senate committees were likewise given the power to subpoena witnesses and documents.[156]

b. Congressional investigation

While congressional scrutiny is regarded as a passive process of looking at the facts that are readily available, congressional investigation involves a more intense digging of facts.[157] The power of Congress to conduct investigation is recognized by the 1987 Constitution under section 21,  Article VI, viz:chanrobles virtual law library

The Senate or the House of Representatives or any of its respective committee may conduct inquiries in aid of legislation in accordance with its duly published rules of procedure. The rights of persons appearing in or affected by such inquiries shall be respected.cralaw:red

But even in the absence of an express provision in the Constitution, congressional investigation has been held to be an essential and appropriate auxiliary to the legislative function. In the United States, the lack of a constitutional provision specifically authorizing the conduct of legislative investigations did not deter its Congresses from holding investigation on suspected corruption, mismanagement, or inefficiencies of government officials. Exercised first in the failed St. Clair expedition in 1792, the power to conduct investigation has since been invoked in the Teapot Dome, Watergate, Iran-Contra, and Whitewater controversies.[158] Subsequently, in a series of decisions, the Court recognized "the danger to effective and honest conduct of the Government if the legislative power to probe corruption in the Executive branch were unduly unhampered."[159]chanrobles virtual law library

In Eastland v. United States Servicemen’s Fund,[160] the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the scope of the congressional power of inquiry "is penetrating and far-reaching as the potential power to enact and appropriate under the Constitution."[161] It encompasses everything that concerns the administration of existing laws as well as proposed or possibly needed statutes.[162] In the exercise of this power, congressional inquiries can reach all sources of information and in the absence of countervailing constitutional privilege or self-imposed restrictions upon its authority, Congress and its committees, have virtually, plenary power to compel information needed to discharge its legislative functions from executive agencies, private persons and organizations. Within certain constraints, the information so obtained may be made public.[163]  In McGrain v. Daugherty,[164] it held that "a legislative body cannot legislate wisely or effectively in the absence of information respecting the conditions which the legislation is intended to effect change."[165] But while the congressional power of inquiry is broad, it is not unlimited. No inquiry is an end in itself; it must be related to, and in furtherance of, a legitimate task of Congress."[166] Moreover, an investigating committee has only the power to inquire into matters within the scope of the authority delegated to it by its parent body.[167] But once its jurisdiction and authority, and the pertinence of the matter under inquiry to its area of authority are established, a committee’s investigative purview is substantial and wide-ranging.[168]

American jurisprudence upholding the inherent power of Congress to conduct investigation has been adopted in our jurisdiction in Arnault v. Nazareno,[169] decided in 1950, when no provision yet existed granting Congress the power to conduct investigation. In the said case, the Senate passed Resolution No.8 creating a special committee to investigate the Buenavista and the Tambobong Estates Deal wherein the government was allegedly defrauded P5,000,000.00. The special committee examined various witnesses, among whom was Jean L. Arnault.  Due to  the refusal of Arnault to answer a question which he claimed to be "self-incriminatory,"[170] the Senate passed a resolution citing Arnault in contempt. The Senate committed him to the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms and ordered his imprisonment until he shall have answered the question. Arnault filed a petition before this Court contending that (a) the Senate has no power to punish him for contempt; (b) the information sought to be obtained by the Senate is immaterial and will not serve any intended or purported legislation; and (c) the answer required of him will incriminate him.cralaw:red

Upholding the power of the Senate to punish Arnault for contempt, the Court ruled as follows:chanrobles virtual law library

Although there is no provision in the Constitution expressly investing either House of Congress with power to make investigations and exact testimony to the end that it may exercise its legislative functions advisedly and effectively, such power is so far incidental to the legislative function as to be implied. In other words, the power of inquiry — with process to enforce it — is an essential and appropriate auxiliary to the legislative function. A legislative body cannot legislate wisely or effectively in the absence of information respecting the conditions which legislation is intended to affect or change; and where the legislative body does not itself possess the requisite information — which is not frequently true — recourse must be had to others who do possess it. Experience has shown that mere requests for such information are often unavailing, and also that information which is volunteered is not always accurate or complete; so some means of compulsion is essential to obtain what is neededThe fact that the Constitution expressly gives the Congress the power to punish its Members for disorderly behaviour, does not by necessary implication exclude the power to punish for contempt any other person.[171]

The Court further ruled that the power of the Senate to punish a witness for contempt does not terminate upon the adjournment of the session.[172]  It held that the investigation was within the power of the Senate since the "transaction involved a questionable and allegedly unnecessary and irregular expenditure of no less than P5,000,000.00 of public funds, of which the Congress is the constitutional guardian."[173] The investigation was also found to be "in aid of legislation." As result of the yet unfinished investigation, the Court noted that the investigating committee has recommended, and the Senate has approved three bills.[174]

The Court further held that once an inquiry is admitted or established to be within the jurisdiction of a legislative body to make, the investigating committee has the power to require a witness to answer any question pertinent to that inquiry, subject to his constitutional right against self-incrimination. The inquiry must be material or necessary to the exercise of a power in it vested by the Constitution.  Hence, a witness can not be coerced to answer a question that obviously has no relation to the subject of the inquiry. But the Court explained that "the materiality of the question must be determined by its direct relation to the subject of the inquiry and not by its indirect relation to any proposed or possible legislation." The reason is that the necessity or lack of necessity for legislative action and the form and character of the action itself are determined by the sum total of the information to be gathered as a result of the investigation, and not by a fraction of such information elicited from a single question.[175]

Finally, the Court ruled that the ground on which Arnault invoked the right against self-incrimination "is too shaky, infirm, and slippery to afford him safety."[176] It noted that since Arnault himself said that the transaction was legal, and that he gave the P440,000.00 to a representative of Burt in compliance with the latter’s verbal instruction, there is therefore no basis upon which to sustain his claim that to reveal the name of that person would incriminate him.[177]  It held that it is not enough for the witness to say that the answer will incriminate him for he is not the sole judge of his liability, thus:chanrobles virtual law library

The danger of self-incrimination must appear reasonable and real to the court, from all the circumstances and from the whole case, as well as from his general conception of the relations of the witness. The fact that the testimony of the witness may tend to show that he has violated the law is not sufficient to entitle him to claim the protection of the constitutional provision against self-incrimination, unless he is at the same time liable to prosecution and punishment for such violation. The witness cannot assert his privilege by reason of some fanciful excuse, for protection against an imaginary danger, or to secure immunity to a third person.[178]chanrobles virtual law library

As now contained in the 1987 Constitution, the power of Congress to investigate is circumscribed by three limitations, namely: (a) it must be in aid of its legislative functions, (b) it must be conducted in accordance with duly published rules of procedure, and (c) the persons appearing therein are afforded their constitutional rights.cralaw:red

In Bengzon, Jr. v. Senate Blue Ribbon Committee,[179] this Court held that the senate committee exceeded the permissible exercise of legislative investigation. The case started with a speech by Senator Enrile suggesting the need to determine possible violation of law in the alleged transfer of some properties of former Ambassador Benjamin "Kokoy" Romualdez to the Lopa Group of Companies. The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee decided to investigate the transaction purportedly in aid of legislation. When the Blue Ribbon Committee summoned the petitioners to appear, they asked this Court for a restraining order on the ground, among others, that the investigation was not in aid of legislation and that their appearance before the investigating body could prejudice their case before the Sandiganbayan. Ruling in favor of the petitioner,  we held as follows:chanrobles virtual law library

Verily, the speech of Senator Enrile contained no suggestion of contemplated legislation; he merely called upon the Senate to look into a possible violation of Sec. 5 of RA No. 3019, otherwise known as "The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act." In other words, the purpose of the inquiry to be conducted by respondent Blue Ribbon Committee was to find out whether or not the relatives of President Aquino, particularly, Mr. Ricardo Lopa, had violated the law in connection with the alleged sale of the 36 or 39 corporations belonging to Benjamin "Kokoy" Romualdez to the Lopa Group. There appears to be, therefore, no intended legislation involved.cralaw:red

The conduct of legislative investigation is also subject to the rules of each House. In the House of Representatives,[180] an inquiry may be initiated or conducted by a committee motu proprio on any matter within its jurisdiction upon a majority vote of all its Members[181] or upon order of the House of Representatives[182] through:chanrobles virtual law library

(1)     the referral of a privilege speech containing or conveying a request or demand for the conduct of an inquiry, to the appropriate committee, upon motion of the Majority Leader or his deputies; orchanrobles virtual law library

(2)     the adoption of a resolution directing a committee to conduct an inquiry reported out by the Committee on Rules after making a determination on the necessity and propriety of the conduct of an inquiry by such committee: Provided, That all resolutions directing any committee to conduct an inquiry shall be referred to the Committee on Rules; or

(3)     the referral by the Committee on Rules to the appropriate committee, after making a determination on the necessity and propriety of the conduct of inquiry by such committee, of a petition filed or information given by a Member of the House requesting such inquiry and endorsed by the Speaker: Provided, That such petition or information shall be given under oath, stating the facts upon which it is based, and accompanied by supporting affidavits.[183]

The committee to which a privilege speech, resolution, petition or information requesting an inquiry is referred may constitute and appoint sub-committees composed of at least one-third (1/3) of the committee for the purpose of performing any and all acts which the committee as a whole is authorized to perform, except to punish for contempt. In case a privilege speech is referred to two or more committees, a joint inquiry by the said committees shall be conducted. The inquiries are to be held in public except when the committee or sub-committee deems that the examination of a witness in a public hearing may endanger national security. In which case, it shall conduct the hearing in an executive session.[184]

The Rules further provide that "the filing or pendency of a case before any court, tribunal or quasi-judicial or administrative bodies shall not stop or abate any inquiry conducted to carry out a specific legislative purpose."[185] In exercise of congressional inquiry, the committee has the power "to issue subpoena and subpoena duces tecum to a witness in any part of the country, signed by the chairperson or acting chairperson and the Speaker or acting Speaker."[186] Furthermore, the committee may, by a vote of two-thirds (2/3) of all its members constituting a quorum, punish for contempt any person who: (a) refuses, after being duly summoned, to obey such summons without legal excuse; (b) refuses to be sworn or placed under affirmation; (c) refuses to answer any relevant inquiry; (d) refuses to produce any books, papers, documents or records that are relevant to the inquiry and are in his/her possession; (e) acts in a disrespectful manner towards any member of the Committee or commits misbehavior in the presence of the committee; or (f) unduly interferes in the conduct of proceedings during meetings.[187]

Nevertheless, any person called to be a witness may be represented by a counsel[188] and is entitled to all rights including the right against self-incrimination.[189]

c. Legislative supervision

The third and most encompassing form by which Congress exercises its oversight power is thru legislative supervision. "Supervision" connotes a continuing and informed awareness on the part of a congressional committee regarding executive operations in a given administrative area.[190] While both congressional scrutiny and investigation involve inquiry into past executive branch actions in order to influence future executive branch performance, congressional supervision allows Congress to scrutinize the exercise of delegated law-making authority, and permits Congress to retain part of that delegated authority.cralaw:red

Congress exercises supervision over the executive agencies through its veto power. It typically utilizes veto provisions when granting the President or an executive agency the power to promulgate regulations with the force of law. These provisions require the President or an agency to present the proposed regulations to Congress, which retains a "right" to approve or disapprove any regulation before it takes effect. Such legislative veto provisions usually provide that a proposed regulation will become a law after the expiration of a certain period of time, only if Congress does not affirmatively disapprove of the regulation in the meantime. Less frequently, the statute provides that a proposed regulation will become law if Congress affirmatively approves it.[191]chanrobles virtual law library

The legislative veto was developed initially in response to the problems of reorganizing the U.S. Government structure during the Great Depression in early 20th century. When U.S. President Hoover requested authority to reorganize the government in 1929, he coupled his request with a proposal for legislative review. He proposed that the Executive "should act upon approval of a joint Committee of Congress or with the reservation of power of revision by Congress within some limited period adequate for its consideration."[192] Congress followed President Hoover’s suggestion and authorized reorganization subject to legislative review.[193] Although the reorganization authority reenacted in 1933 did not contain a legislative veto provision, the provision returned during the Roosevelt administration and has since been renewed several times.[194] Over the years, the provision was used extensively. Various American Presidents submitted to Congress some 115 Reorganization Plans, 23 of which were disapproved pursuant to legislative veto provisions.[195]

During World War II, Congress and the President applied the legislative veto procedure to resolve the delegation problem involving national security and foreign affairs. The legislative veto offered the means by which Congress could confer additional authority to the President while preserving its own constitutional role. During this period, Congress enacted over 30 statutes conferring powers on the Executive with legislative veto provisions.[196]

After World War II, legislative veto provisions have been inserted in laws delegating authority in new areas of governmental involvement including the space program, international agreements on nuclear energy, tariff arrangements, and adjustment of federal pay rates.[197] It has also figured prominently in resolving a series of major constitutional disputes between the President and Congress over claims of the President to broad impoundment, war and national emergency powers.[198] Overall, 295 congressional veto-type procedures have been inserted in 196 different statutes since 1932 when the first veto provision was enacted into law.[199]

Supporters of legislative veto stress that it is necessary to maintain the balance of power between the legislative and the executive branches of government as it offers lawmakers a way to delegate vast power to the executive branch or to independent agencies while retaining the option to cancel particular exercise of such power without having to pass new legislation or to repeal existing law.[200] They contend that this arrangement promotes democratic accountability as it provides legislative check on the activities of unelected administrative agencies.[201] One proponent thus explains:chanrobles virtual law library

It is too late to debate the merits of this delegation policy: the policy is too deeply embedded in our law and practice. It suffices to say that the complexities of modern government have often led Congress-whether by actual or perceived necessity- to legislate by declaring broad policy goals and general statutory standards, leaving the choice of policy options to the discretion of an executive officer. Congress articulates legislative aims, but leaves their implementation to the judgment of parties who may or may not have participated in or agreed with the development of those aims. Consequently, absent safeguards, in many instances the reverse of our constitutional scheme could be effected: Congress proposes, the Executive disposes. One safeguard, of course, is the legislative power to enact new legislation or to change existing law. But without some means of overseeing post enactment activities of the executive branch, Congress would be unable to determine whether its policies have been implemented in accordance with legislative intent and thus whether legislative intervention is appropriate.[202]

Its opponents, however, criticize the legislative veto as undue encroachment upon the executive prerogatives. They urge that any post-enactment measures undertaken by the legislative branch should be limited to scrutiny and investigation; any measure beyond that would undermine the separation of powers guaranteed by the Constitution.[203] They contend that legislative veto constitutes an impermissible evasion of the President’s veto authority and intrusion into the powers vested in the executive or judicial branches of government.[204]  Proponents counter that legislative veto enhances separation of powers as it prevents the executive branch and independent agencies from accumulating too much power.[205] They submit that reporting requirements and congressional committee investigations allow Congress to scrutinize only the exercise of delegated law-making authority. They do not allow Congress to review executive proposals before they take effect and they do not afford the opportunity for ongoing and binding expressions of congressional intent.[206] In contrast, legislative veto permits Congress to participate prospectively in the approval or disapproval of "subordinate law" or those enacted by the executive branch pursuant to a delegation of authority by Congress. They further argue that legislative veto "is a necessary response by Congress to the accretion of policy control by forces outside its chambers." In an era of delegated authority, they point out that legislative veto "is the most efficient means Congress has yet devised to retain control over the evolution and implementation of its policy as declared by statute."[207]

In Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha,[208] the U.S. Supreme Court resolved the validity of legislative veto provisions. The case arose from the order of the immigration judge suspending the deportation of Chadha pursuant to § 244(c)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The United States House of Representatives passed a resolution vetoing the suspension pursuant to § 244(c)(2) authorizing either House of Congress, by resolution, to invalidate the decision of the executive branch to allow a particular deportable alien to remain in the United States. The immigration judge reopened the deportation proceedings to implement the House order and the alien was ordered deported. The Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed the alien’s appeal, holding that it had no power to declare unconstitutional an act of Congress. The United States Court of Appeals for Ninth Circuit held that the House was without constitutional authority to order the alien’s deportation and that § 244(c)(2) violated the constitutional doctrine on separation of powers.cralaw:red

On appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court declared § 244(c)(2) unconstitutional. But the Court shied away from the issue of separation of powers and instead held that the provision violates the presentment clause and bicameralism. It held that the one-house veto was essentially legislative in purpose and effect. As such, it is subject to the procedures set out in Article I of the Constitution requiring the passage by a majority of both Houses and presentment to the President. Thus:chanroblesvirtuallawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

Examination of the action taken here by one House pursuant to § 244(c)(2) reveals that it was essentially legislative in purpose and effect. In purporting to exercise power defined in Art I, § 8, cl 4, to "establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization," the House took action that had the purpose and effect of altering the legal rights, duties, and relations of persons, including the Attorney General, Executive Branch officials and Chadha, all outside the Legislative Branch.  Section 244(c)(2) purports to authorize one House Congress to require the Attorney General to deport an individual alien whose deportation otherwise would be canceled under § 244. The one-House veto operated in these cases to overrule the Attorney General and mandate Chadha’s deportation; absent the House action, Chadha would remain in the United States. Congress has acted and its action altered Chadha’s status.cralaw:red

The legislative character of the one-House veto in these cases is confirmed by the character of the congressional action it supplants. Neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate contends that, absent the veto provision in § 244(c)(2), either of them, or both of them acting together, could effectively require the Attorney General, in exercise of legislatively delegated authority, had determined the alien should remain in the United States. Without the challenged provision in § 244(c)(2), this could have been achieved, if at all, only by legislation requiring deportation. Similarly, a veto by one House of Congress under § 244(c)(2) cannot be justified as an attempt at amending the standards set out in § 244(a)(1), or as a repeal of § 244 as applied to Chadha. Amendment and repeal of statutes, no less than enactment, must conform with Art I.cralaw:red

The nature of the decision implemented by one-House veto in these cases further manifests its legislative character. After long experience with the clumsy, time-consuming private bill procedure, Congress made a deliberate choice to delegate to the Executive Branch, and specifically to the Attorney General, the authority to allow deportable aliens to remain in this country in certain specified circumstances. It is not disputed that this choice to delegate authority is precisely the kind of decision that can be implemented only in accordance with the procedures set out in Art I. Disagreement with the Attorney General’s decision on Chadha’s deportation- that is, Congress’ decision to deport Chadha- no less than Congress’ original choice to delegate to the Attorney General the authority to make decision, involves determinations of policy that Congress can implement in only one way; bicameral passage followed by presentment to the President. Congress must abide by its delegation of authority until that delegation is legislatively altered or revoked.[209]

Two weeks after the Chadha decision, the Court upheld, in memorandum decision, two lower court decisions invalidating the legislative veto provisions in the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978[210] and the Federal Trade Commission Improvement Act of 1980.[211] Following this precedence, lower courts invalidated statutes containing legislative veto provisions although some of these provisions required the approval of both Houses of Congress and thus met the bicameralism requirement of Article I. Indeed, some of these veto provisions were not even exercised.[212]

Given the concept and configuration of the power of congressional oversight, the next level of inquiry is whether congress exceeded its permissible exercise in the case at bar. But before proceeding, a discussion of the nature and powers of the Commission on Elections as provided in the 1987 Constitution is decisive to the issue.cralaw:red

Congressional Oversight and COMELEC

The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) is a constitutional body exclusively charged with the enforcement and administration of "all laws and regulations relative to the conduct of an election, plebiscite, initiative, referendum, and recall,"[213] and is invested with the power to decide all questions affecting elections save those involving the right to vote.[214]

Given its important role in preserving the sanctity of the right of suffrage,[215] the COMELEC was purposely constituted as a body separate from the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.[216] Originally, the power to enforce our election laws was vested with the President and exercised through the Department of the Interior. According to Dean Sinco,[217] however, the view ultimately emerged that an independent body could better protect the right of suffrage of our people. Hence, the enforcement of our election laws, while an executive power, was transferred to the COMELEC.cralaw:red

The shift to a modified parliamentary system with the adoption of the 1973 Constitution did not alter the character of COMELEC as an independent body.[218]  Indeed, a "definite tendency to enhance and invigorate the role of the Commission on Elections as the independent constitutional body charged with the safeguarding of free, peaceful and honest elections" has been observed.[219] The 1973 Constitution broadened the power of the COMELEC by making it the sole judge of all election contests relating to the election, returns and qualifications of members of the national legislature and elective provincial and city officials.[220]  Thus, the COMELEC was given judicial power aside from its traditional administrative and executive functions.cralaw:red

The trend towards strengthening the COMELEC continued with the 1987 Constitution.  Today, the COMELEC enforces and administers all laws and regulations relative to the conduct of elections, plebiscites, initiatives, referenda and recalls. Election contests involving regional, provincial and city elective officials are under its exclusive original jurisdiction while all contests involving elective municipal and barangay officials are under its appellate jurisdiction.[221]chanrobles virtual law library

Several safeguards have been put in place to protect the independence of the COMELEC from unwarranted encroachment by the other branches of government. While the President appoints the Commissioners with the concurrence of the Commission on Appointments, the Commissioners are not accountable to the President in the discharge of their functions. They have a fixed tenure and are removable only by impeachment.[222] To ensure that not all Commissioners are appointed by the same President at any one time, a staggered system of appointment was devised. Thus, of the Commissioners first appointed, three shall hold office for seven years, three for five years, and the last three for three years.[223]  Reappointment and temporary designation or appointment is prohibited.[224] In case of vacancy, the appointee shall only serve the unexpired term of the predecessor.[225]  The COMELEC is likewise granted the power to promulgate its own rules of procedure,[226] and to appoint its own officials and employees in accordance with Civil Service laws.[227]

The COMELEC exercises quasi-judicial powers but it is not part of the judiciary. This Court has no general power of supervision over the Commission on Elections except those specifically granted by the Constitution.[228]  As such, the Rules of Court are not applicable to the Commission on Elections.[229] In addition, the decisions of the COMELEC are reviewable only by petition for certiorari on grounds of grave abuse of discretion,[230] viz:chanrobles virtual law library

Conceived by the charter as the effective instrument to preserve the sanctity of popular suffrage, endowed with independence and all the needed concomitant powers, it is but proper that the Court should accord the greatest measure of presumption of regularity to its course of action and choice of means in performing its duties, to the end that it may achieve its designed place in the democratic fabric of our government. Ideally, its members should be free from all suspicions of partisan inclinations, but the fact that actually some of them have had stints in the arena of politics should not, unless the contrary is shown, serve as basis for denying to its actuations the respect and consideration that the Constitution contemplates should be accorded to it, in the same manner that the Supreme Court itself which from time to time may have members drawn from the political ranks or even from the military is at all times deemed insulated from every degree or form of external pressure and influence as well as improper internal motivations that could arise from such background or orientation.cralaw:red

We hold, therefore, that under the existing constitutional and statutory provisions, the certiorari jurisdiction of the Court over orders, rulings and decisions of the Comelec is not as broad as it used to be and should be confined to instances of grave abuse of discretion amounting to patent and substantial denial of due process.[231]

The COMELEC is, however, subject to congressional scrutiny especially during budget hearings. But Congress cannot abolish the COMELEC as it can in case of other agencies under the executive branch. The reason is obvious. The COMELEC is not a mere creature of the legislature; it owes its origin from the Constitution. Furthermore, the salary of the Chairman and the Commissioners cannot be decreased during their tenure.[232] Enjoying fiscal autonomy, the COMELEC has a wider discretion in the disbursement and allocation of approved appropriations. To safeguard the COMELEC from undue legislative interference, the 1987 Constitution provides that its approved annual appropriations are to be automatically and regularly released.[233] Also, Congress has no power to call the commissioners of the COMELEC to a question hour. The Constitution provides that the question hour is limited to heads of departments under the Executive branch, and the deliberations during the drafting of the 1987 Constitution clearly reflect this sentiment.  Be that as it may, the COMELEC is mandated to "submit to the President and the Congress a comprehensive report on the conduct of each election, plebiscite, initiative, referendum and recall."[234] This provision allows Congress to review and assess the effectivity of election laws and if necessary, enact new laws or amend existing statutes.cralaw:red

Be that as it may, I respectfully submit that the legislative veto power or congressional oversight power over the authority of COMELEC to issue rules and regulations in order to enforce election laws is unconstitutional.chanrobles virtual law library

As aforediscussed, the Constitution divided the powers of our government into three categories, legislative, executive, and judicial. Although not "hermetically sealed" from one another, the powers of the three branches are functionally identifiable. In this respect, legislative power is generally exercised in the enactment of the law; executive power, in its execution; and judicial power, in its interpretation. In the absence of specific provision in the Constitution, it is fundamental under the principle of separation of powers that one branch cannot exercise or share the power of the other.cralaw:red

In addition, our Constitution created other offices aside from the executive, the legislative and the judiciary and defined their powers and prerogatives. Among these bodies especially created by the Constitution itself is the COMELEC.cralaw:red

The COMELEC occupies a distinct place in our scheme of government.  As the constitutional body charged with the administration of our election laws, it is endowed with independence in the exercise of some of its powers and the discharge of its responsibilities. The power to promulgate rules and regulations in order to administer our election laws belongs to this category of powers as this has been vested exclusively by the 1987 Constitution to the COMELEC.  It cannot be trenched upon by Congress in the exercise of its oversight powers.cralaw:red

In Gallardo v. Tabamo, Jr.,[235] this Court traced the origin of COMELEC’s power to promulgate rules and regulations.  It was initially a statutory grant. Both the 1935 and the 1973 Constitutions did not explicitly grant the COMELEC the power to promulgate rules and regulations. The power was vested by Congress to the COMELEC in the Omnibus Election Code,[236] viz:chanrobles virtual law library

Sec. 52. Powers and functions of the Commission on Elections.- In addition to the powers and functions conferred upon it by the Constitution, the Commission shall have the exclusive charge of the enforcement and administration of all laws relative to the conduct of elections for the purpose of ensuring free, orderly and honest elections, and shall:chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
 

(c) Promulgate rules and regulations implementing the provisions of this Code or other laws which the Commission is required to enforce and administer.cralaw:red

This statutory power was elevated to a constitutional status with the insertion of the word "regulations" in section 2(1) of Article IX-C of the 1987 Constitution, viz:chanrobles virtual law library

While under the 1935 Constitution it had "exclusive charge of the enforcement and administration of all laws relative to the conduct of elections," exercised "all other functions.conferred upon it by law" and had the power to deputize all law enforcement agencies and instrumentalities of the Government for the purpose of insuring free, orderly and honest elections, and under the 1973 Constitution it had, inter alia, the power to (a) "Enforce and administer all laws relative to the conduct of elections" (b) "Deputize, with the consent or at the instance of the Prime Minister, law enforcement agencies and instrumentalities of the Government, including the Armed Forces of the Philippines, for the purpose of ensuring free, orderly, and honest elections," and (c) "Perform such other functions as may be provided by law," it was not expressly vested with the power to promulgate regulations relative to the conduct of an election. That power could only originate from a special law enacted by Congress; this is the necessary implication of the above constitutional provision authorizing the Commission to "[P]erform such other functions as may be provided by law."

The present Constitution, however, implicitly grants the Commission the power to promulgate such rules and regulations. The pertinent portion of Section 2 of Article IX-C thereof reads as follows:chanrobles virtual law library

"Sec. 2.        The Commission on Elections shall exercise the following powers and functions:chanroblesvirtuallawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

(1)            Enforce and administer all laws and regulations relative to the conduct of an election, plebiscite, initiative, referendum, and recall."   mphasis supplied)

x     x      x                              x      x      x                           x      x      x

The word regulations is not found in either the 1935 or 1973 Constitutions. It is thus clear that its incorporation into the present Constitution took into account the Commission's power under the Omnibus Election Code (Batas Pambansa Blg. 881), which was already in force when the said Constitution was drafted and ratified, to:chanrobles virtual law library

x      x      x                              x      x      x                           x      x      x

"Promulgate rules and regulations implementing the provisions of this Code or other laws which the Commission is required to enforce and administer"

Hence, the present Constitution upgraded to a constitutional status the aforesaid statutory authority to grant the Commission broader and more flexible powers to effectively perform its duties and to insulate it further from legislative intrusions. Doubtless, if its rule-making power is made to depend on statutes, Congress may withdraw the same at any time. Indeed, the present Constitution envisions a truly independent Commission on Elections committed to ensure free, orderly, honest, peaceful and credible elections, and to serve as the guardian of the people's sacred right of suffrage — the citizenry's vital weapon in effecting a peaceful change of government and in achieving and promoting political stability.[237]

The elevation of the COMELEC’s power to promulgate rules and regulations in the 1987 Constitution is suffused with significance.  Heretofore, it was Congress that granted COMELEC the power to promulgate rules and regulations, and hence, Congress can withdraw or restrict it by the exercise of its veto or oversight power. Under the 1987 Constitution, the power to promulgate rules and regulations has been directly granted by the Constitution and no longer by Congress.  Undoubtedly, the power was granted to COMELEC to strengthen its independence, hence, its exercise is beyond invasion by Congress. Under any lens, Sections 19 and 25 of Rep. Act No. 9189 constitute undue restrictions on the constitutional power of the COMELEC to promulgate rules and regulations for such rules are made subject to the prior review and approval of Congress.  The impugned provisions can result in the denial of this constitutionally conferred power because Congress can veto the rules and regulations the COMELEC has promulgated.  Thus, I respectfully submit that Sections 19 and 25 of Rep. Act No. 9189 granting Congress the power to review, revise, amend and approve the implementing rules and regulations of the COMELEC, otherwise known as subordinate legislations in other countries,  are unconstitutional.cralaw:red

I now come to Section 17.1 of Rep. Act No. 9189 which provides:chanrobles virtual law library

Sec. 17. Voting by mail.-

          17.1. For the May, 2004 elections, the Commission shall authorize voting by mail in not more than three (3) countries, subject to the approval of the Congressional Oversight Committee. Voting by mail may be allowed in countries that satisfy the following conditions:chanrobles virtual law library

(d)     Where the mailing system is fairly well-developed and secure to prevent occasion of fraud;

(e)     Where there exists a technically established identification system that would preclude multiple or proxy voting; and cralaw:red

(f)      Where the system of reception and custody of mailed ballots in the embassies, consulates and other foreign service establishments concerned are adequate and well-secured.cralaw:red

Thereafter, voting by mail in any country shall be allowed only upon review and approval of the Joint Oversight Committee. (Emphases supplied)

From the law itself, it is clear that Congress has already set the necessary standards to guide the COMELEC in identifying the countries where voting by mail may be allowed, viz: (1) the countries must have a mailing  system which is fairly developed and secure to prevent occasion of fraud; (2) there exists a technically established identification that would preclude multiple or proxy voting; and (3) where the system of reception and custody of mailed ballots in the embassies, consulates and other foreign service establishments concerned are adequate and well-secured.cralaw:red

Since the legislative standards have been defined, all that remains is their enforcement. Our Constitution has specifically given the COMELEC the power to enforce and administer all laws and regulations relative to the conduct of an election. The power is exclusive and it ought to be self-evident that it cannot be subject to review and revision or veto by Congress in the exercise of its oversight power.  Again, the reason for the exclusivity is to insulate COMELEC from the virus of partisan politics. In the exercise of this exclusive power, the Commission must be accorded considerable latitude. Unless the means and methods adopted by COMELEC are clearly illegal or constitute grave abuse of discretion, they should not be interfered with.[238] Thus:chanroblesvirtuallawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

There are no ready-made formulas for solving public problems. Time and experience are necessary to evolve patterns that will serve the ends of good government. In the matter of the administration of the laws relative to the conduct of elections, as well as in the appointment of election inspectors, we must not by any excessive zeal take away from the Commission on Elections the initiative which by constitutional and legal mandates properly belongs to it. Due regard to the independent character of the Commission, as ordained in the Constitution, requires that the power of this court to review the acts of that body should, as a general proposition, be used sparingly, but firmly in appropriate cases. We are not satisfied that the present suit is one of such cases.cralaw:red

I join the majority in holding that Section 17.1 of Rep. Act No. 9189 is unconstitutional for it allows Congress to negate the exclusive power of the COMELEC to administer and enforce election laws and regulations granted by the Constitution itself.cralaw:red

This is not to maintain that the Implementing Rules and Regulations promulgated by the COMELEC, or the system it devised to implement voting by mail cannot be challenged. If they are illegal or constitute grave abuse of discretion, the courts can strike them down in an appropriate case. This power is vested to the courts under section 1, Article VIII of the Constitution defining the scope of judicial power, and more specifically under section 5, Article VIII empowering this Court to review, revise, reverse, modify or affirm on appeal or certiorari, "all cases in which the constitutionality or validity of any treaty, international or executive agreement, law, presidential decree, proclamation, order, instruction, ordinance, or regulation is in question." Again, this power is exclusive and is not meant to be shared by any other branch or agency of the government.cralaw:red

In sum, it is my humble view that in the case at bar, Congress exceeded the permissible exercise of its oversight powers for the following reasons: (1) it restricts the COMELEC’s constitutional grant of power to promulgate rules and regulations; and (2) it invades COMELEC’s exclusive constitutional domain to enforce and administer all laws and regulations relative to the conduct of an election, plebiscite, initiative, referendum, and recall.cralaw:red

I wish to stress, however, that granting the petition will not invalidate the entire Rep. Act No. 9189. It does not also mean that all overseas Filipinos cannot vote. The law affects two classes of overseas Filipinos: (1) those who remain a domiciliary of the Philippines but were absent at the time of the elections either briefly or for a long time; and (2) those who are now considered domiciled in foreign countries. To the first class of overseas Filipinos belong the contract workers, students, members of the diplomatic corps and their families, businessmen, and the like. To the second class belong Filipinos who are considered immigrants or permanent residents of foreign countries. The constitutional challenge in the case at bar appertains only to the inclusion of the second category of overseas Filipinos in the coverage of Rep. Act No. 9189. Likewise, the challenge on the exercise of Congressional oversight power over the COMELEC does not taint the core of the law. It merely affects the procedure in adopting the mechanisms to implement the law.   It cannot void the whole law.chanrobles virtual law library

In view of the foregoing, I dissent from the majority’s ruling upholding the constitutionality of Section 5(d) of Rep. Act No. 9189, which allows an immigrant or a permanent resident of a foreign country to vote for President, Vice-President, Senators and Party-List Representatives after executing the required affidavit. I concur, however, with the majority’s ruling upholding the constitutionality of Section 18.5 of Rep. Act No. 9189 with respect to the authority given to the COMELEC to proclaim the winning candidates for Senators and Party-List Representatives but not as to the power to canvass the votes and proclaim the winning candidates for President and Vice-President. I also concur with the majority with respect to the unconstitutionality of Sections 17.1, 19 and 25 of Rep. Act No. 9189 subjecting the implementation of voting by mail, and the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Rep. Act No. 9189 to be promulgated by COMELEC, to prior review and approval by Congress.cralaw:red

I so vote.
 


____________________________

Endnotes:chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
 

[1] "An Act Providing for A System of Overseas Absentee Voting by Qualified Citizens of the Philippines Abroad, Appropriating Funds Therefor, and for Other Purposes." Rep. Act No. 9189 was signed into law by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on February 13, 2003, and was published on February 16, 2003 at Daily Tribune and Today.
[2] "Sec. 2. The Congress shall provide a system for securing the secrecy and sanctity of the ballot as well as a system for absentee voting by qualified Filipinos abroad.
The Congress shall also design a procedure for the disabled and the illiterates to vote without the assistance of other persons. Until then, they shall be allowed to vote under existing laws and such rules as the Commission on Elections may promulgate to protect the secrecy of the ballot."chanrobles virtual law library
[3] Sec. 1. Suffrage may be exercised by all citizens of the Philippines not otherwise disqualified by law, who are at least eighteen years of age, and who shall have resided in the Philippines for at least one year and in the place wherein they propose to vote for at least six months immediately preceding the election. No literacy, property, or other substantive requirement shall be imposed on the exercise of suffrage."
[4]  191 SCRA 229 (1990).chanrobles virtual law library
[5] Petition, pp. 7-9.chanrobles virtual law library
[6] Decision, p. 22.
[7] Id.chanrobles virtual law library
[8] Id. at 26.
[9] Supra note 4.
[10] Decision, p. 26.
[11] Bernas, The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines: A Commentary 582 (1996).
[12] "Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them."
[13] Brent & Levinson, Process of Constitutional Democracy: Cases and Materials 1053 (1992).
[14] McCrary on Elections 10 (1897).chanrobles virtual law library
[15] 2 Ld. Raymond, 938 (1 Smith’s Leading Cases, p. 472), cited in McCrary, id. at 9.
[16] Id. at 10.chanrobles virtual law library
[17] Lieberman, The Evolving Constitution 563.
[18] Id.chanrobles virtual law library
[19] The last survival of religious test appears in the Constitution of South Carolina (Article XIII), in force from 1778 to 1790, limiting suffrage "to every free white man who acknowledges the being of a God, and believes in a future state of rewards and punishments." See McCrary on Elections, supra note 14, f.n. 7 at 5 (1897).
[20] Id. at 3.chanrobles virtual law library
[21] Lieberman, supra note 17.
[22] United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. 542.
[23] Id.chanrobles virtual law library
[24] The exclusion of women originated in the common-law idea of the merger of a married woman’s existence in that of her husband, and her unfitness by nature for the occupation of civil life. See Cooley on Const. Limitation at 38.
[25] 62 Phil. 945 (1936).
[26] Id. at 948, citations omitted.
[27] I Aruego, The Framing of the Philippine Constitution 217 (1936).
[28] Id. at 216.
[29] Id. at 217.
[30] Id. at 218-219.
[31] Id. at 225.
[32] Id. at 225-226.
[33] 15 SCRA 7 (1965).
[34] Id. at 9.
[35] Laurel, Philippine Law on Elections 2 (1940).
[36] Id. at 16.
[37] Gallego v. Vera, 73 Phil. 453, 459 (1941).
[38] Supra note 13 at 1066-1067.
[39] Romualdez-Marcos v. Commission on Elections, 248 SCRA 300, 323 (1995).
[40] See Nuval v. Guray, 52 Phil. 645 (1928).
[41] Ong v. Republic, 19 SCRA 966, 969 (1967).
[42] Supra note 39.
[43] Id. at 325.
[44] II Bernas, Constitutional Rights and Demands: Notes and Cases 558 (1991).
[45] II Records at 34-35.
[46] Id. at 11-12.
[47] II Records at 35-36.
[48] 25 Am Jur 2d, Domicil § 11 at 13.
[49] Id. at § 12.
[50] Id. at § 13.
[51] Supra note 39.
[52] Id. at 331.
[53] Supra note 4.
[54] Id. at 237.chanrobles virtual law library
[55] See for instance, Rep. Act No. 7160, section 40 (f);  B.P. Blg. 52 , sec. 4; B.P. Blg. 881, sec. 68.
[56] Decision, p. 25.
[57] Id. at 26.
[58] Id. at 28.chanrobles virtual law library
[59] I Restatement of Law (Conflict of Laws) 2d, p. 47 (1971).
[60] I Beale, A Treatise on the Conflict of Laws 183 (1935).
[61] 25 Am Jur 2d, Section 15 at 16.chanrobles virtual law library
[62] Scoles, et al., Conflict of Laws, 3rd ed., p. 268 (2000).
[63] Id. at 269.  See Graveson, Reform of the Law of Domicile, 70 L.Q. Rev. 492 (1954); Atkin, The Domicile Act of 1976, 7 N.Z.U. L. Rev. 286 (1977); Rafferty, Domicile, The Need for Reform, Man. L.J. 203 (1977).chanrobles virtual law library
[64] Supra note 59 at 78.
[65] Id. at 62-65.
[66] Scoles, et al., supra note 62 at 248-249.
[67] I Beale, supra note 60 at 182.
[68] Id. at 183-184.
[69] Supra note 59 at 81.
[70] Id. at 82.
[71] Id.
[72] Scoles, et al., supra note 62 at 249.
[73] Memorandum of Public Respondent COMELEC, p. 7.
[74] Citing Lucman v. Dimaporo, G.R. No. 31558, May 29, 1970; Ticzon v. COMELEC, G.R. No. 52451, March 31, 1981; Pangarungan v. COMELEC, G.R. No. 107435, December 11, 1992.
[75] 1987 Constitution, Article IX-C, section 2.
[76] Citing Gallardo v. Tabamo, Jr., 218 SCRA 253 (1993).
[77] Ibid.
[78] OSG Memorandum, p. 18.
[79] Id. at 17.chanrobles virtual law library
[80] Memorandum of Public Respondent COMELEC, p. 5.
[81] Ogg & Ray, Introduction to American Government, 10th ed., p. 28 (1951).
[82] Nowak, et al., Constitutional Law, 3rd ed., p. 121 (1986).
[83] J. Locke, Second Treatise of Government (Machperson, ed. 1980).
[84] § 143, Id. at 75.chanrobles virtual law library
[85] § 145, Id. at 76.
[86] § 146, Id.
[87] § 143, Id. at 75-76.
[88] § 148, Id. at 77. "Though, as I said, the executive and federative powers of every community be really distinct in themselves, yet they are hardly to be separated, and placed at the same time, in the hands of distinct persons: for both of them requiring the force of the society for their exercise, it is almost impracticable to place the force of the commonwealth in distinct, and not subordinate hands; or that the executive and federative power should be placed in persons, that might act separately, whereby the force of the public would be under different commands: which would be apt some time or other to cause disorder and ruin."chanrobles virtual law library
[89] Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws (trans. by Thomas Nugent, 1949).
[90] Id. at 151-152.
[91] Nowak, et al., supra note 82.
[92] Article XXX of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1780). See Jaffe, Administrative Law: Cases and Materials, p. 31 (1976).
[93] Article I, section 1. "All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives."
[94] Article II, section 1. "The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America"
[95] Article III, Sec. 1. "The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from to time ordain and establish"
[96] Supra note 81 at 28-29.
[97] A. Sofaer, War, Foreign Affairs, and Constitutional Power: The Origins 60 (1976).
[98] J. Madison, The Federalist No. 47 at 302-303 (new American Library Ed. 1961).
[99] J. Madison, The Federalist No. 48 at 343 (B. Wright Ed. 1961).
[100] 343 US 579, 635 (1952).
[101] 424 US 1 (1976).
[102] Id. at 121.
[103] 433 US 425, 433 (1977).
[104] Id.
[105] 63 Phil. 139 (1936).
[106] Id. at 156.
[107] Id. at 156-157.
[108] 67 Phil. 62 (1939).
[109] Id. at 73-74.
[110] Angara v. Electoral Commission, supra note 33.
[111] Id.
[112] Id.
[113] 1987 Const., Article VIII, sec. 1. In Sinon v. Civil Service Commission, 215 SCRA 410 (1992), the Court defined grave abuse of discretion as "such capricious and whimsical exercise of judgment as is equivalent to lack of jurisdiction. The abuse of discretion must be patent and gross as to amount to an evasion of positive duty or a virtual refusal to perform a duty enjoined by law, or to act at all in contemplation of law, as where the power is exercised in an arbitrary and despotic manner by reason of passion or hostility."
[114] The accepted meaning of "political question" is that "where the matter involved is left to a decision by the people acting in their sovereign capacity or to the sole determination by either or both the legislative or executive branch of the government, it is beyond judicial cognizance. Thus it was that in suits where the party proceeded against was either the President or Congress, or any of its branches for that matter, the courts refused to act." See Aquino v. Ponce Enrile, 59 SCRA 183, 196 (1974).
[115] I RECORDS at 434.
[116] I RECORDS at 443. Pertinent part of the deliberation of the delegates of the Constitutional Commission are hereto quoted, viz:chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
FR. BERNAS. On another point, is it the intention of Section 1 to do away with the political question doctrine?
Mr. CONCEPCION. No.
FR. BERNAS. It is not.chanrobles virtual law library
MR.CONCEPCION. No because whenever there is an abuse of discretion, amounting to lack of jurisdiction
FR. BERNAS. So, I am satisfied with the answer that it is not intended to do away with the political question doctrine.
MR. CONCEPCION. No certainly not.chanrobles virtual law library
When this provision was originally drafted, it sought to define what is judicial power. But the Gentleman will notice it says, "judicial power includes" and the reason being that the definition that we might make may not cover all possible areas.chanrobles virtual law library
FR. BERNAS. So it is not an attempt to solve the problems arising from political question doctrine.
MR. CONCEPCION. It definitely does not eliminate the fact that truly political questions are beyond the pale of judicial power.
[117] 177 SCRA 668 (1989).
[118] Id. at 695-696.
[119] Bondoc v. Pineda, 201 SCRA 792 (1991).
[120] Supra note 39.
[121] Lerias v. HRET, 202 SCRA 808 (1991).
[122] Mogueis, Jr. v. COMELEC, 104 SCRA 576 (1981).
[123] Dario v. Mison, 176 SCRA 84 (1989).
[124] Rivera, Law of Public Administration 175 (1956).
[125] 1987 Const., Art. VIII.
"Sec. 2. The Congress shall have the power to define, prescribe, and apportion the jurisdiction of the various courts but may not deprive the Supreme Court of its jurisdiction over cases in Section 5 thereof.
No law shall be passed reorganizing the judiciary when it undermines the security of tenure of its members."
[126] White, Introduction to the Study of Public Administration 592 (1948).
[127] Javits & Klein, Congressional Oversight and The Legislative Veto: A Constitutional Analysis, 52 NYU Law Rev. 455, 460 (1977).
[128] Id. at 461.
[129] Hearings of the Subcommittee on Rules & Organizations of the House Committee on Rules, June 15, 1999 <http://www.house.gov/search97cgi/s97=cg..ction>
[130] Mill, Considerations on Representative Democracy (1947).
[131] Id.chanrobles virtual law library
[132] Wilson, "Committee or Cabinet Government?," III Overland Monthly 275 (1884), quoted in Gross, The Legislative Struggle: A Study in Social Combat 137 (1953).
[133] Javits & Klein, supra note 127 at 459-460.chanrobles virtual law library
[134] Id. at 460.chanrobles virtual law library
[135] Strauss, The Place of Agencies in Government: Separation of Powers and the Fourth Branch, 84 Columbia Law Rev. 573, 583 (1984).
[136] Martin, The Legislative Veto and the Responsible Exercise of Congressional Power, 68 Va. L. Rev. 253, 264 (1982).
[137] Gross, supra note 132.chanrobles virtual law library
[138] Ibid.chanrobles virtual law library
[139] Philippine Constitution Association v. Enriquez, 235 SCRA 506 (1994).
[140] Id. at 522.chanrobles virtual law library
[141] Rivera, supra note 124 at 177-178.
[142] Supra note 81 at 304.
[143] Ibid.chanrobles virtual law library
[144] "The Secretaries may be called, and shall be entitled to be heard, by either of the two Houses of the Legislature, for the purpose of reporting on matters pertaining to their Departments, unless the public interest shall require otherwise and the Governor-General shall so state in writing." See I Aruego, supra note 27 at 448.chanrobles virtual law library
[145] Id.chanrobles virtual law library
[146] Id. at 448-449.
[147] Id.chanrobles virtual law library
[148] Id. at 449.chanrobles virtual law library
[149] 1935 Const., Art. VI, sec. 10.chanrobles virtual law library
[150] Bernas, supra note 11 at 682.chanrobles virtual law library
[151] II RECORD 46.chanrobles virtual law library
[152] Id. at 133.chanrobles virtual law library
[153] Id.chanrobles virtual law library
[154] 1987 Const., Art. VII, sec. 16.
[155] Gross, supra note 132 at 138.
[156] Id.chanrobles virtual law library
[157] Id.chanrobles virtual law library
[158] Investigative Oversight: An Introduction to the Law, Practice and Procedure of Congressional Inquiry, CRS Report for Congress, April 7, 1995<http://wwws.house.gov/search97/cgi/s97_ction>last accessed on May 24, 2003.chanrobles virtual law library
[159] Watkins  v. United States, 354 U.S. 178, 194-195 (1957).
[160] 421 U.S. 491 (1975).chanrobles virtual law library
[161] Id. at 504.chanrobles virtual law library
[162] Supra note 159 at 187.
[163] Supra note 158.
[164] 272 U.S. 135 (1927).
[165] Id.chanrobles virtual law library
[166] Kilbourn v. Thomson, 103 U.S. 168, 204 (1880).
[167] United States v. Rumely, 345 U.S. 41 (1953).
[168] Wilkinson v. United States, 365 U.S. 408-409 (1961).
[169] 87 Phil. 29 (1950).
[170] Id. at 42. The question involved the identity of the person to whom Arnault allegedly gave the amount of P 440,000.00.
[171] Id. at 45.
[172] Id. at 63. The Court opined: "By refusing to answer the question, the witness has obstructed the performance by the Senate of its legislative function, and the Senate has the power to remove the obstruction by compelling the witness to answer the questions thru restraint of his liberty until he shall have answered them. That power subsists as long as the Senate, which is a continuing body, persists in performing the particular legislative function involved. To hold that it may punish the witness for contempt only during the session in which the investigation was begun, would be to recognize the right of the Senate to perform its function but at the same time to deny it an essential and appropriate means for its performance. Aside from this, if we should hold that the power to punish for contempt terminates upon the adjournment of the session, the Senate would have to resume the investigation at the next and succeeding sessions and repeat the contempt proceedings against the witness until the investigation is completed- an absurd, unnecessary, and vexatious procedure, which should be avoided."chanrobles virtual law library
[173] Id. at 46-47. One bill prohibits the Secretary of Justice or any other department head from discharging functions and exercising powers other than those attached to his office, without previous congressional authorization. Another prohibits brothers and near relatives of any President of the Philippines from intervening directly or indirectly and in whatever capacity in transactions in which the Government is a party, more particularly where the decision lies in the hands of the executive or administrative officers who are appointees of the President. Finally, one bill provides that purchases of the Rural Progress Administration of big landed estates at the price of P 100,000.00 or more, and loans guaranteed by the Government involving P 100,000.00 or more, shall not become effective without previous congressional confirmation.chanrobles virtual law library
[174] Id.chanrobles virtual law library
[175] Id. at 48.
[176] Id. at 64.
[177] Id. at 65.
[178] Id. at 66.
[179] 203 SCRA 767 (1991).chanrobles virtual law library
[180] House Rules and Procedure Governing Inquiries in Aid of Legislation, adopted on August 28, 2001.
[181] Id. at Section 1 (a).chanrobles virtual law library
[182] Id. at Section 1 (b).
[183] Id. at Section 1(b.1) to (b.4).
[184] Id. at Section 3.
[185] Id. at Section 1.
[186] Id. at Section 7.
[187]Id. at Section 9.
[188] Id. at Section 6.
[189] Id. at Section 7.chanrobles virtual law library
[190] Gross, supra note 132 at 137.chanrobles virtual law library
[191] Nowak, et al., supra note 82 at 256.chanrobles virtual law library
[192] Public Papers of the Public Papers of the Presidents, Herbert Hoover, 1929, p. 432 (1974).
[193] Act of June 30, 1932, § 407, 47 Stat 414.chanrobles virtual law library
[194] See 462 US 919, 969 (1983), 77 L Ed 2d 317, 356. (White,  J., dissenting).
[195] Id.chanrobles virtual law library
[196] Id.
[197] Id. at 970; Id. at 357.
[198] Id.; Id.chanrobles virtual law library
[199] From 1932 to 1939, five statutes were effected; from 1940-1949, nineteen (19) statutes; between 1950-1959, thirty-four (34) statutes; from 1960-1969, forty-nine (49); and from 1970-1975, at least one hundred sixty-three (163) such provisions were included in eighty-nine (89) laws. See Abourezk, The Congressional Veto: A Contemporary Response to Executive Encroachment on Legislative Prerogatives, 52 Ind L Rev 323, 324 (1977).chanrobles virtual law library
[200] Tribe, I American Constitutional Law 142 (2000).
[201] Id.chanrobles virtual law library
[202] Javits and Klein, supra note 127 at 460.
[203] Bruff & Gellhorn, Congressional Control of Administrative Regulation:  A Study of Legislative Vetoes, 90 Harv L Rev 1369, 1373 (1977).
[204] Id. See also Stewart, Constitutionality of Legislative Veto, 13 Harv L J. Legis 593 (1976).
[205] Abourezk, supra note 199 at 327.chanrobles virtual law library
[206] Javits & Klein, supra note 127 at 461-462.chanrobles virtual law library
[207] Id.chanrobles virtual law library
[208] 462 US 919 (1983), 77 L Ed 2d 317.
[209] Id. at 952-955.chanrobles virtual law library
[210] Consumer Energy v. Federal Energy Regulation Commission, 673 F.2d 425 (D.C.Cir. 1982), affirmed sub nom., Process Gas Consumers Group v. Consumers Energy Council of America, 463 U.S. 1216, 103 S.Ct. 3556, 77 L.Ed.2d 1402 (1983), rehearing denied 463 U.S. 1250, 104 S.Ct. 40, 77 L.Ed.2d 1457 (1983).chanrobles virtual law library
[211] Consumers Union of the United States, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission, 691 F.2d 575 (D.C.Cir. 1982), affirmed sub nom., Process Gas Consumers Group v. Consumers Energy Council of America, 463 U.S. 1216, 103 S.Ct. 3556, 77 L.Ed.2d 1402.chanrobles virtual law library
[212] Equal Opportunity Commission v. Allstate Insurance Company, 57 F.Supp. 1224, 104 S.Ct. 3499, 82 L.Ed.2d 810 (1984), case remanded 740 F.2d 966 (5th Cir. 1984), Equal Opportunity Commission v. The Hernando Bank, Inc., 724 F.2d 1188 (5th Cir. 1984).chanrobles virtual law library
[213] 1987 Constitution, Article IX-C, sec. 2 (1).chanrobles virtual law library
[214] Id. at sec. 2 (3).chanrobles virtual law library
[215] Sumulong v. COMELEC, 73 Phil. 288, 294 (1941).
[216] Nacionalista Party v. Bautista, 85 Phil. 101, 106-107 (1949).
[217] Philippine Political Law 383-386 (1962).
[218] 1973 Constitution, Article XII-C.
[219] Aratuc v. COMELEC, 88 SCRA 251, 270 (1979).
[220] 1973 Const., Art. XII-C, sec. 2.
[221] 1987 Const., Art. IX-C, sec. 2.
[222] Id. at Art. XI-A, sec. 2.
[223] Id. at Art. IX-C, sec. 1 (2).
[224] Ibid.chanrobles virtual law library
[225] Ibid.chanrobles virtual law library
[226] 1987 Const., Art. IX-A, sec. 6.
[227] Id. at Art. IX, sec. 8.chanrobles virtual law library
[228] Nacionalista Party v. De Vera, 85 Phil. 126 (1949).
[229] Id. at 130.chanrobles virtual law library
[230] 1987 Const., Art. IX-A, sec. 7.chanrobles virtual law library
[231] Aratuc v. COMELEC, 88 SCRA 251, 271-272 (1979).
[232] 1987 Const., Art. IX, sec. 3.chanrobles virtual law library
[233] Id. at Art. IX, sec. 5.chanrobles virtual law library
[234] Id. at Art. IX-C, sec. 2 (9).chanrobles virtual law library
[235] 218 SCRA 253 (1993).chanrobles virtual law library
[236] B.P. Blg. 881, section 52 (c).chanrobles virtual law library
[237] Gallardo v. Tabamo, Jr., supra note 235 at 263-264.
[238] Maruhom v. COMELEC, 473 SCRA 331 (2000).
 chan robles virtual law library
 
 

 Back to Top   -   Back to Main Index   -   Back to Table of Contents -2003 SC Decisions   -   Back to Home







































chanrobles.com




ChanRobles Legal Resources:

ChanRobles On-Line Bar Review

ChanRobles Internet Bar Review : www.chanroblesbar.com

ChanRobles MCLE On-line

ChanRobles Lawnet Inc. - ChanRobles MCLE On-line : www.chanroblesmcleonline.com