Philippine Supreme Court Jurisprudence


Philippine Supreme Court Jurisprudence > Year 2005 > September 2005 Decisions > CONCURRING AND DISSENTING OPINION : PUNO, J.: G.R. No. 168056, G.R. NO. 168207, G.R. NO. 168461, G.R. NO. 168463 and G.R. NO. 168730 - ABAKADA Guro Party List Officers Samson S. Alcantara, et al. v. The Honorable Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, et al.:




CONCURRING AND DISSENTING OPINION : PUNO, J.: G.R. No. 168056, G.R. NO. 168207, G.R. NO. 168461, G.R. NO. 168463 and G.R. NO. 168730 - ABAKADA Guro Party List Officers Samson S. Alcantara, et al. v. The Honorable Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, et al.

PHILIPPINE SUPREME COURT DECISIONS

EN BANC

[G.R. NO. 168056 : September 01, 2005]

ABAKADA GURO PARTY LIST (FORMERLY AASJAS) OFFICERS SAMSON S. ALCANTARA AND ED VINCENT S. ALBANO, Petitioners, v. THE HONORABLE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY EDUARDO ERMITA; HONORABLE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE CESAR PURISIMA; AND HONORABLE COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE GUILLERMO PARAYNO, JR., Respondents.

[G.R. NO. 168207]

AQUILINO Q. PIMENTEL, JR., LUISA P. EJERCITO-ESTRADA, JINGGOY E. ESTRADA, PANFILO M. LACSON, ALFREDO S. LIM, JAMBY A.S. MADRIGAL, AND SERGIO R. OSMEÑA III, Petitioners, v. EXECUTIVE SECRETARY EDUARDO R. ERMITA, CESAR V. PURISIMA, SECRETARY OF FINANCE, GUILLERMO L. PARAYNO, JR., COMMISSIONER OF THE BUREAU OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondents.

[G.R. NO. 168461]

ASSOCIATION OF PILIPINAS SHELL DEALERS, INC. REPRESENTED BY ITS PRESIDENT, ROSARIO ANTONIO; PETRON DEALERS' ASSOCIATION REPRESENTED BY ITS PRESIDENT, RUTH E. BARBIBI; ASSOCIATION OF CALTEX DEALERS' OF THE PHILIPPINES REPRESENTED BY ITS PRESIDENT, MERCEDITAS A. GARCIA; ROSARIO ANTONIO DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE NAME AND STYLE OF "ANB NORTH SHELL SERVICE STATION”; LOURDES MARTINEZ DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE NAME AND STYLE OF "SHELL GATE - N. DOMINGO”; BETHZAIDA TAN DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE NAME AND STYLE OF "ADVANCE SHELL STATION”; REYNALDO P. MONTOYA DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE NAME AND STYLE OF "NEW LAMUAN SHELL SERVICE STATION”; EFREN SOTTO DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE NAME AND STYLE OF "RED FIELD SHELL SERVICE STATION”; DONICA CORPORATION REPRESENTED BY ITS PRESIDENT, DESI TOMACRUZ; RUTH E. MARBIBI DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE NAME AND STYLE OF "R&R PETRON STATION”; PETER M. UNGSON DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE NAME AND STYLE OF "CLASSIC STAR GASOLINE SERVICE STATION”; MARIAN SHEILA A. LEE DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE NAME AND STYLE OF "NTE GASOLINE & SERVICE STATION”; JULIAN CESAR P. POSADAS DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE NAME AND STYLE OF "STARCARGA ENTERPRISES”; ADORACION MAÑEBO DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE NAME AND STYLE OF "CMA MOTORISTS CENTER”; SUSAN M. ENTRATA DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE NAME AND STYLE OF "LEONA'S GASOLINE STATION AND SERVICE CENTER”; CARMELITA BALDONADO DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE NAME AND STYLE OF "FIRST CHOICE SERVICE CENTER”; MERCEDITAS A. GARCIA DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE NAME AND STYLE OF "LORPED SERVICE CENTER”; RHEAMAR A. RAMOS DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE NAME AND STYLE OF "RJRAM PTT GAS STATION”; MA. ISABEL VIOLAGO DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE NAME AND STYLE OF "VIOLAGO-PTT SERVICE CENTER”; MOTORISTS' HEART CORPORATION REPRESENTED BY ITS VICE-PRESIDENT FOR OPERATIONS, JOSELITO F. FLORDELIZA; MOTORISTS' HARVARD CORPORATION REPRESENTED BY ITS VICE-PRESIDENT FOR OPERATIONS, JOSELITO F. FLORDELIZA; MOTORISTS' HERITAGE CORPORATION REPRESENTED BY ITS VICE-PRESIDENT FOR OPERATIONS, JOSELITO F. FLORDELIZA; PHILIPPINE STANDARD OIL CORPORATION REPRESENTED BY ITS VICE-PRESIDENT FOR OPERATIONS, JOSELITO F. FLORDELIZA; ROMEO MANUEL DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE NAME AND STYLE OF "ROMMAN GASOLINE STATION”; ANTHONY ALBERT CRUZ III DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE NAME AND STYLE OF "TRUE SERVICE STATION”, Petitioners, v. CESAR V. PURISIMA, IN HIS CAPACITY AS SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND GUILLERMO L. PARAYNO, JR., IN HIS CAPACITY AS COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondents.

[G.R. NO. 168463]

FRANCIS JOSEPH G. ESCUDERO, VINCENT CRISOLOGO, EMMANUEL JOEL J. VILLANUEVA, RODOLFO G. PLAZA, DARLENE ANTONINO-CUSTODIO, OSCAR G. MALAPITAN, BENJAMIN C. AGARAO, JR. JUAN EDGARDO M. ANGARA, JUSTIN MARC SB. CHIPECO, FLORENCIO G. NOEL, MUJIV S. HATAMAN, RENATO B. MAGTUBO, JOSEPH A. SANTIAGO, TEOFISTO DL. GUINGONA III, RUY ELIAS C. LOPEZ, RODOLFO Q. AGBAYANI AND TEODORO A. CASIÑO, Petitioners, v. CESAR V. PURISIMA, IN HIS CAPACITY AS SECRETARY OF FINANCE, GUILLERMO L. PARAYNO, JR., IN HIS CAPACITY AS COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, AND EDUARDO R. ERMITA, IN HIS CAPACITY AS EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, Respondents.

[G.R. NO. 168730]

BATAAN GOVERNOR ENRIQUE T. GARCIA, JR., Petitioner, v. HON. EDUARDO R. ERMITA, IN HIS CAPACITY AS THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY; HON. MARGARITO TEVES, IN HIS CAPACITY AS SECRETARY OF FINANCE; HON. JOSE MARIO BUNAG, IN HIS CAPACITY AS THE OIC COMMISSIONER OF THE BUREAU OF INTERNAL REVENUE; AND HON. ALEXANDER AREVALO, IN HIS CAPACITY AS THE OIC COMMISSIONER OF THE BUREAU OF CUSTOMS, Respondents.


CONCURRING AND DISSENTING OPINION

PUNO, J.:


The main opinion of Madam Justice Martinez exhaustively discusses the numerous constitutional and legal issues raised by the petitioners. Be that as it may, I wish to raise the following points, viz:

First. Petitioners assail sections 4 to 6 of Republic Act No. 9337 as violative of the principle of non-delegation of legislative power. These sections authorize the President, upon recommendation of the Secretary of Finance, to raise the value-added tax (VAT) rate to 12% effective January 1, 2006, upon satisfaction of the following conditions: viz:
(i) Value-added tax collection as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the previous year exceeds two and four-fifth percent (2 4/5%); or

(ii) National government deficit as a percentage of GDP of the previous year exceeds one and one-half percent (1 �%)
The power of judicial review under Article VIII, section 5(2) of the 1987 Constitution is limited to the review of "actual cases and controversies."1 As rightly stressed by retired Justice Vicente V. Mendoza, this requirement gives the judiciary "the opportunity, denied to the legislature, of seeing the actual operation of the statute as it is applied to actual facts and thus enables it to reach sounder judgment" and "enhances public acceptance of its role in our system of government."2 It also assures that the judiciary does not intrude on areas committed to the other branches of government and is confined to its role as defined by the Constitution.3 Apposite thereto is the doctrine of ripeness whose basic rationale is "to prevent the courts, through premature adjudication, from entangling themselves in abstract disagreements."4 Central to the doctrine is the determination of "whether the case involves uncertain or contingent future events that may not occur as anticipated, or indeed may not occur at all."5 The ripeness requirement must be satisfied for each challenged legal provision and parts of a statute so that those which are "not immediately involved are not thereby thrown open for a judicial determination of constitutionality."6

It is manifest that the constitutional challenge to sections 4 to 6 of R.A. No. 9337 cannot hurdle the requirement of ripeness. These sections give the President the power to raise the VAT rate to 12% on January 1, 2006 upon satisfaction of certain fact-based conditions. We are not endowed with the infallible gift of prophesy to know whether these conditions are certain to happen. The power to adjust the tax rate given to the President is futuristic and may or may not be exercised. The Court is therefore beseeched to render a conjectural judgment based on hypothetical facts. Such a supplication has to be rejected.

Second. With due respect, I submit that the most important constitutional issue posed by the petitions at bar relates to the parameters of power of a Bicameral Conference Committee. Most of the issues in the petitions at bar arose because the Bicameral Conference Committee concerned exercised powers that went beyond reconciling the differences between Senate Bill No. 1950 and House Bill Nos. 3705 and 3555. In Tolentino v. Secretary of Finance,7 I ventured the view that a Bicameral Conference Committee has limited powers and cannot be allowed to act as if it were a "third house" of Congress. I further warned that unless its roving powers are reigned in, a Bicameral Conference Committee can wreck the lawmaking process which is a cornerstone of the democratic, republican regime established in our Constitution. The passage of time fortifies my faith that there ought to be no legal u-turn on this preeminent principle. I wish, therefore, to reiterate my reasons for this unbending view, viz:8
Section 209, Rule XII of the Rules of the Senate provides:
In the event that the Senate does not agree with the House of Representatives on the provision of any bill or joint resolution, the differences shall be settled by a conference committee of both Houses which shall meet within ten days after their composition.

Each Conference Committee Report shall contain a detailed and sufficiently explicit statement of the changes in or amendments to the subject measure, and shall be signed by the conferees. (Emphasis supplied)
The counterpart rule of the House of Representatives is cast in near identical language. Section 85 of the Rules of the House of Representatives pertinently provides:
In the event that the House does not agree with the Senate on the amendments to any bill or joint resolution, the differences may be settled by a conference committee of both chambers.

x x x. Each report shall contain a detailed, sufficiently explicit statement of the changes in or amendments to the subject measure. (Emphasis supplied)
The Jefferson's Manual has been adopted as a supplement to our parliamentary rules and practice. Section 456 of Jefferson's Manual similarly confines the powers of a conference committee, viz:
The managers of a conference must confine themselves to the differences committed to them ... and may not include subjects not within the disagreements, even though germane to a question in issue.
This rule of antiquity has been honed and honored in practice by the Congress of the United States. Thus, it is chronicled by Floyd Biddick, Parliamentarian Emeritus of the United States Senate, viz:
Committees of conference are appointed for the sole purpose of compromising and adjusting the differing and conflicting opinions of the two Houses and the committees of conference alone can grant compromises and modify propositions of either Houses within the limits of the disagreement. Conferees are limited to the consideration of differences between the two Houses.

Congress shall not insert in their report matters not committed to them by either House, nor shall they strike from the bill matters agreed to by both Houses. No matter on which there is nothing in either the Senate or House passed versions of a bill may be included in the conference report and actions to the contrary would subject the report to a point of order. (Emphasis ours)
In fine, there is neither a sound nor a syllable in the Rules of the Senate and the House of Representatives to support the thesis of the respondents that a bicameral conference committee is clothed with an ex post veto power.

But the thesis that a Bicameral Conference Committee can wield ex post veto power does not only contravene the rules of both the Senate and the House. It wages war against our settled ideals of representative democracy. For the inevitable, catastrophic effect of the thesis is to install a Bicameral Conference Committee as the Third Chamber of our Congress, similarly vested with the power to make laws but with the dissimilarity that its laws are not the subject of a free and full discussion of both Houses of Congress. With such a vagrant power, a Bicameral Conference Committee acting as a Third Chamber will be a constitutional monstrosity.

It needs no omniscience to perceive that our Constitution did not provide for a Congress composed of three chambers. On the contrary, section 1, Article VI of the Constitution provides in clear and certain language: "The legislative power shall be vested in the Congress of the Philippines which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives ..." Note that in vesting legislative power exclusively to the Senate and the House, the Constitution used the word "shall." Its command for a Congress of two houses is mandatory. It is not mandatory sometimes.

In vesting legislative power to the Senate, the Constitution means the Senate "... composed of twenty-four Senators xxx elected at large by the qualified voters of the Philippines ..." Similarly, when the Constitution vested the legislative power to the House, it means the House "... composed of not more than two hundred and fifty members xxx who shall be elected from legislative districts xxx and those who xxx shall be elected through a party-list system of registered national, regional, and sectoral parties or organizations." The Constitution thus, did not vest on a Bicameral Conference Committee with an ad hoc membership the power to legislate for it exclusively vested legislative power to the Senate and the House as co-equal bodies. To be sure, the Constitution does not mention the Bicameral Conference Committees of Congress. No constitutional status is accorded to them. They are not even statutory creations. They owe their existence from the internal rules of the two Houses of Congress. Yet, respondents peddle the disconcerting idea that they should be recognized as a Third Chamber of Congress and with ex post veto power at that.

The thesis that a Bicameral Conference Committee can exercise law making power with ex post veto power is freighted with mischief. Law making is a power that can be used for good or for ill, hence, our Constitution carefully laid out a plan and a procedure for its exercise. Firstly, it vouchsafed that the power to make laws should be exercised by no other body except the Senate and the House. It ought to be indubitable that what is contemplated is the Senate acting as a full Senate and the House acting as a full House. It is only when the Senate and the House act as whole bodies that they truly represent the people. And it is only when they represent the people that they can legitimately pass laws. Laws that are not enacted by the people's rightful representatives subvert the people's sovereignty. Bicameral Conference Committees, with their ad hoc character and limited membership, cannot pass laws for they do not represent the people. The Constitution does not allow the tyranny of the majority. Yet, the respondents will impose the worst kind of tyranny - the tyranny of the minority over the majority. Secondly, the Constitution delineated in deft strokes the steps to be followed in making laws. The overriding purpose of these procedural rules is to assure that only bills that successfully survive the searching scrutiny of the proper committees of Congress and the full and unfettered deliberations of both Houses can become laws. For this reason, a bill has to undergo three (3) mandatory separate readings in each House. In the case at bench, the additions and deletions made by the Bicameral Conference Committee did not enjoy the enlightened studies of appropriate committees. It is meet to note that the complexities of modern day legislations have made our committee system a significant part of the legislative process. Thomas Reed called the committee system as "the eye, the ear, the hand, and very often the brain of the house." President Woodrow Wilson of the United States once referred to the government of the United States as "a government by the Chairmen of the Standing Committees of Congress ..." Neither did these additions and deletions of the Bicameral Conference Committee pass through the coils of collective deliberation of the members of the two Houses acting separately. Due to this shortcircuiting of the constitutional procedure of making laws, confusion shrouds the enactment of R.A. No. 7716. Who inserted the additions and deletions remains a mystery. Why they were inserted is a riddle. To use a Churchillian phrase, lawmaking should not be a riddle wrapped in an enigma. It cannot be, for Article II, section 28 of the Constitution mandates the State to adopt and implement a "policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest." The Constitution could not have contemplated a Congress of invisible and unaccountable John and Mary Does. A law whose rationale is a riddle and whose authorship is obscure cannot bind the people.

All these notwithstanding, respondents resort to the legal cosmetology that these additions and deletions should govern the people as laws because the Bicameral Conference Committee Report was anyway submitted to and approved by the Senate and the House of Representatives. The submission may have some merit with respect to provisions agreed upon by the Committee in the process of reconciling conflicts between S.B. No. 1630 and H.B. No. 11197. In these instances, the conflicting provisions had been previously screened by the proper committees, deliberated upon by both Houses and approved by them. It is, however, a different matter with respect to additions and deletions which were entirely new and which were made not to reconcile inconsistencies between S.B. No. 1630 and H.B. No. 11197. The members of the Bicameral Conference Committee did not have any authority to add new provisions or delete provisions already approved by both Houses as it was not necessary to discharge their limited task of reconciling differences in bills. At that late stage of law making, the Conference Committee cannot add/delete provisions which can become laws without undergoing the study and deliberation of both chambers given to bills on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd readings. Even the Senate and the House cannot enact a law which will not undergo these mandatory three (3) readings required by the Constitution. If the Senate and the House cannot enact such a law, neither can the lesser Bicameral Conference Committee.

Moreover, the so-called choice given to the members of both Houses to either approve or disapprove the said additions and deletions is more of an optical illusion. These additions and deletions are not submitted separately for approval. They are tucked to the entire bill. The vote is on the bill as a package, i.e., together with the insertions and deletions. And the vote is either "aye" or "nay," without any further debate and deliberation. Quite often, legislators vote "yes" because they approve of the bill as a whole although they may object to its amendments by the Conference Committee. This lack of real choice is well observed by Robert Luce:
Their power lies chiefly in the fact that reports of conference committees must be accepted without amendment or else rejected in toto. The impulse is to get done with the matter and so the motion to accept has undue advantage, for some members are sure to prefer swallowing unpalatable provisions rather than prolong controversy. This is the more likely if the report comes in the rush of business toward the end of a session, when to seek further conference might result in the loss of the measure altogether. At any time in the session there is some risk of such a result following the rejection of a conference report, for it may not be possible to secure a second conference, or delay may give opposition to the main proposal chance to develop more strength.
In a similar vein, Prof. Jack Davies commented that "conference reports are returned to assembly and Senate on a take-it or leave-it-basis, and the bodies are generally placed in the position that to leave-it is a practical impossibility." Thus, he concludes that "conference committee action is the most undemocratic procedure in the legislative process."

The respondents also contend that the additions and deletions made by the Bicameral Conference Committee were in accord with legislative customs and usages. The argument does not persuade for it misappreciates the value of customs and usages in the hierarchy of sources of legislative rules of procedure. To be sure, every legislative assembly has the inherent right to promulgate its own internal rules. In our jurisdiction, Article VI, section 16(3) of the Constitution provides that "Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings x x x." But it is hornbook law that the sources of Rules of Procedure are many and hierarchical in character. Mason laid them down as follows:
x x x
  1. Rules of Procedure are derived from several sources. The principal sources are as follows:

    a. Constitutional rules.
    b. Statutory rules or charter provisions.
    c. Adopted rules.
    d. Judicial decisions.
    e. Adopted parliamentary authority.
    f. Parliamentary law.
    g. Customs and usages.

  2. The rules from the different sources take precedence in the order listed above except that judicial decisions, since they are interpretations of rules from one of the other sources, take the same precedence as the source interpreted. Thus, for example, an interpretation of a constitutional provision takes precedence over a statute.

  3. Whenever there is conflict between rules from these sources the rule from the source listed earlier prevails over the rule from the source listed later. Thus, where the Constitution requires three readings of bills, this provision controls over any provision of statute, adopted rules, adopted manual, or of parliamentary law, and a rule of parliamentary law controls over a local usage but must give way to any rule from a higher source of authority. (Emphasis ours)
As discussed above, the unauthorized additions and deletions made by the Bicameral Conference Committee violated the procedure fixed by the Constitution in the making of laws. It is reasonless for respondents therefore to justify these insertions as sanctioned by customs and usages.

Finally, respondents seek sanctuary in the conclusiveness of an enrolled bill to bar any judicial inquiry on whether Congress observed our constitutional procedure in the passage of R.A. No. 7716. The enrolled bill theory is a historical relic that should not continuously rule us from the fossilized past. It should be immediately emphasized that the enrolled bill theory originated in England where there is no written constitution and where Parliament is supreme. In this jurisdiction, we have a written constitution and the legislature is a body of limited powers. Likewise, it must be pointed out that starting from the decade of the 40s, even American courts have veered away from the rigidity and unrealism of the conclusiveness of an enrolled bill. Prof. Sutherland observed:
x x x

Where the failure of constitutional compliance in the enactment of statutes is not discoverable from the face of the act itself but may be demonstrated by recourse to the legislative journals, debates, committee reports or papers of the governor, courts have used several conflicting theories with which to dispose of the issue. They have held: (1) that the enrolled bill is conclusive and like the sheriff's return cannot be attacked; (2) that the enrolled bill is prima facie correct and only in case the legislative journal shows affirmative contradiction of the constitutional requirement will the bill be held invalid; (3) that although the enrolled bill is prima facie correct, evidence from the journals, or other extrinsic sources is admissible to strike the bill down; (4) that the legislative journal is conclusive and the enrolled bills is valid only if it accords with the recital in the journal and the constitutional procedure.
Various jurisdictions have adopted these alternative approaches in view of strong dissent and dissatisfaction against the philosophical underpinnings of the conclusiveness of an enrolled bill. Prof. Sutherland further observed:
x x x. Numerous reasons have been given for this rule. Traditionally, an enrolled bill was "a record" and as such was not subject to attack at common law. Likewise, the rule of conclusiveness was similar to the common law rule of the inviolability of the sheriff's return. Indeed, they had the same origin, that is, the sheriff was an officer of the king and likewise the parliamentary act was a regal act and no official might dispute the king's word. Transposed to our democratic system of government, courts held that as the legislature was an official branch of government the court must indulge every presumption that the legislative act was valid. The doctrine of separation of powers was advanced as a strong reason why the court should treat the acts of a co-ordinate branch of government with the same respect as it treats the action of its own officers; indeed, it was thought that it was entitled to even greater respect, else the court might be in the position of reviewing the work of a supposedly equal branch of government. When these arguments failed, as they frequently did, the doctrine of convenience was advanced, that is, that it was not only an undue burden upon the legislature to preserve its records to meet the attack of persons not affected by the procedure of enactment, but also that it unnecessarily complicated litigation and confused the trial of substantive issues.

Although many of these arguments are persuasive and are indeed the basis for the rule in many states today, they are not invulnerable to attack. The rule most relied on - the sheriff's return or sworn official rule - did not in civil litigation deprive the injured party of an action, for always he could sue the sheriff upon his official bond. Likewise, although collateral attack was not permitted, direct attack permitted raising the issue of fraud, and at a later date attack in equity was also available; and that the evidence of the sheriff was not of unusual weight was demonstrated by the fact that in an action against the sheriff no presumption of its authenticity prevailed.

The argument that the enrolled bill is a "record" and therefore unimpeachable is likewise misleading, for the correction of records is a matter of established judicial procedure. Apparently, the justification is either the historical one that the king's word could not be questioned or the separation of powers principle that one branch of the government must treat as valid the acts of another.

Persuasive as these arguments are, the tendency today is to avoid reaching results by artificial presumptions and thus it would seem desirable to insist that the enrolled bill stand or fall on the basis of the relevant evidence which may be submitted for or against it. (Emphasis ours)
Thus, as far back as the 1940s, Prof. Sutherland confirmed that "x x x the tendency seems to be toward the abandonment of the conclusive presumption rule and the adoption of the third rule leaving only a prima facie presumption of validity which may be attacked by any authoritative source of information.
Third. I respectfully submit that it is only by strictly following the contours of powers of a Bicameral Conference Committee, as delineated by the rules of the House and the Senate, that we can prevent said Committee from acting as a "third" chamber of Congress. Under the clear rules of both the Senate and House, its power can go no further than settling differences in their bills or joint resolutions. Sections 88 and 89, Rule XIV of the Rules of the House of Representatives provide as follows:
Sec. 88. Conference Committee. - In the event that the House does not agree with the Senate on the amendment to any bill or joint resolution, the differences may be settled by the conference committees of both chambers.

In resolving the differences with the Senate, the House panel shall, as much as possible, adhere to and support the House Bill. If the differences with the Senate are so substantial that they materially impair the House Bill, the panel shall report such fact to the House for the latter's appropriate action.

Sec. 89. Conference Committee Reports. - . . . Each report shall contain a detailed, sufficiently explicit statement of the changes in or amendments to the subject measure.

. . .

The Chairman of the House panel may be interpellated on the Conference Committee Report prior to the voting thereon. The House shall vote on the Conference Committee Report in the same manner and procedure as it votes a bill on third and final reading.
Section 35, Rule XII of the Rules of the Senate states:
Sec. 35. In the event that the Senate does not agree with the House of Representatives on the provision of any bill or joint resolution, the differences shall be settled by a conference committee of both Houses which shall meet within ten (10) days after their composition. The President shall designate the members of the Senate Panel in the conference committee with the approval of the Senate.

Each Conference Committee Report shall contain a detailed and sufficiently explicit statement of the changes in, or amendments to the subject measure, and shall be signed by a majority of the members of each House panel, voting separately.
The House rule brightlines the following: (1) the power of the Conference Committee is limited . . . it is only to settle differences with the Senate; (2) if the differences are substantial, the Committee must report to the House for the latter's appropriate action; and (3) the Committee report has to be voted upon in the same manner and procedure as a bill on third and final reading. Similarly, the Senate rule underscores in crimson that (1) the power of the Committee is limited - - - to settle differences with the House; (2) it can make changes or amendments only in the discharge of this limited power to settle differences with the House; and (3) the changes or amendments are merely recommendatory for they still have to be approved by the Senate.

Under both rules, it is obvious that a Bicameral Conference Committee is a mere agent of the House or the Senate with limited powers. The House contingent in the Committee cannot, on its own, settle differences which are substantial in character. If it is confronted with substantial differences, it has to go back to the chamber that created it "for the latter's appropriate action." In other words, it must take the proper instructions from the chambers that created it. It cannot exercise its unbridled discretion. Where there is no difference between the bills, it cannot make any change. Where the difference is substantial, it has to return to the chamber of its origin and ask for appropriate instructions. It ought to be indubitable that it cannot create a new law, i.e., that which has never been discussed in either chamber of Congress. Its parameters of power are not porous, for they are hedged by the clear limitation that its only power is to settle differences in bills and joint resolutions of the two chambers of Congress.

Fourth. Prescinding from these premises, I respectfully submit that the following acts of the Bicameral Conference Committee constitute grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction and should be struck down as unconstitutional nullities, viz:

a. Its deletion of the pro poor "no pass on provision" which is common in both Senate Bill No. 1950 and House Bill No. 3705.

Sec. 1 of House Bill No. 37059 provides:
Section 106 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

SEC. 106. Value-added Tax on Sale of Goods or Properties. –

x x x

Provided, further, that notwithstanding the provision of the second paragraph of Section 105 of this Code, the Value-added Tax herein levied on the sale of petroleum products under Subparagraph (1) hereof shall be paid and absorbed by the sellers of petroleum products who shall be prohibited from passing on the cost of such tax payments, either directly or indirectly[,] to any consumer in whatever form or manner, it being the express intent of this act that the Value-added Tax shall be borne and absorbed exclusively by the sellers of petroleum products x x x.
Sec. 3 of the same House bill provides:
Section 108 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

Sec. 108. Value-added Tax on Sale of Goods or Properties. –

Provided, further, that notwithstanding the provision of the second paragraph of Section 105 of this Code, the Value-added Tax imposed under this paragraph shall be paid and absorbed by the subject generation companies who shall be prohibited from passing on the cost of such tax payments, either directly or indirectly[,] to any consumer in whatever form or manner, it being the express intent of this act that the Value-added Tax shall be borne and absorbed exclusively [by] the power-generating companies.
In contrast and comparison, Sec. 5 of Senate Bill No. 1950 provides:
Value-added Tax on sale of Services and Use or Lease of Properties. –

x x x Provided, that the VAT on sales of electricity by generation companies, and services of transmission companies and distribution companies, as well as those of franchise grantees of electrical utilities shall not apply to residential end-users: Provided, that the Value-added Tax herein levied shall be absorbed and paid by the generation, transmission and distribution companies concerned. The said companies shall not pass on such tax payments to NAPOCOR or ultimately to the consumers, including but not limited to residential end users, either as costs or in any other form whatsoever, directly or indirectly. x x x.
Even the faintest eye contact with the above provisions will reveal that: (a) both the House bill and the Senate bill prohibited the passing on to consumers of the VAT on sales of electricity and (b) the House bill prohibited the passing on to consumers of the VAT on sales of petroleum products while the Senate bill is silent on the prohibition.

In the guise of reconciling disagreeing provisions of the House and the Senate bills on the matter, the Bicameral Conference Committee deleted the "no pass on provision" on both the sales of electricity and petroleum products. This action by the Committee is not warranted by the rules of either the Senate or the House. As aforediscussed, the only power of a Bicameral Conference Committee is to reconcile disagreeing provisions in the bills or joint resolutions of the two houses of Congress. The House and the Senate bills both prohibited the passing on to consumers of the VAT on sales of electricity. The Bicameral Conference Committee cannot override this unequivocal decision of the Senate and the House. Nor is it clear that there is a conflict between the House and Senate versions on the "no pass on provisions" of the VAT on sales of petroleum products. The House version contained a "no pass on provision" but the Senate had none. Elementary logic will tell us that while there may be a difference in the two versions, it does not necessarily mean that there is a disagreement or conflict between the Senate and the House. The silence of the Senate on the issue cannot be interpreted as an outright opposition to the House decision prohibiting the passing on of the VAT to the consumers on sales of petroleum products. Silence can even be conformity, albeit implicit in nature. But granting for the nonce that there is conflict between the two versions, the conflict cannot escape the characterization as a substantial difference. The seismic consequence of the deletion of the "no pass on provision" of the VAT on sales of petroleum products on the ability of our consumers, especially on the roofless and the shirtless of our society, to survive the onslaught of spiraling prices ought to be beyond quibble. The rules require that the Bicameral Conference Committee should not, on its own, act on this substantial conflict. It has to seek guidance from the chamber that created it. It must receive proper instructions from its principal, for it is the law of nature that no spring can rise higher than its source. The records of both the Senate and the House do not reveal that this step was taken by the members of the Bicameral Conference Committee. They bypassed their principal and ran riot with the exercise of powers that the rules never bestowed on them.

b. Even more constitutionally obnoxious are the added restrictions on local government's use of incremental revenue from the VAT in Section 21 of R.A. No. 9337 which were not present in the Senate or House Bills. Section 21 of R.A. No. 9337 provides:
Fifty percent of the local government unit's share from VAT shall be allocated and used exclusively for the following purposes:
  1. Fifteen percent (15%) for public elementary and secondary education to finance the construction of buildings, purchases of school furniture and in-service teacher trainings;

  2. Ten percent (10%) for health insurance premiums of enrolled indigents as a counterpart contribution of the local government to sustain the universal coverage of the national health insurance program;

  3. Fifteen percent (15%) for environmental conservation to fully implement a comprehensive national reforestation program; and

  4. Ten percent (10%) for agricultural modernization to finance the construction of farm-to-market roads and irrigation facilities.
Such allocations shall be segregated as separate trust funds by the national treasury and shall be over and above the annual appropriation for similar purposes.
These amendments did not harmonize conflicting provisions between the constituent bills of R.A. No. 9337 but are entirely new and extraneous concepts which fall beyond the median thereof. They transgress the limits of the Bicameral Conference Committee's authority and must be struck down.

I cannot therefore subscribe to the thesis of the majority that "the changes introduced by the Bicameral Conference Committee on disagreeing provisions were meant only to reconcile and harmonize the disagreeing provisions for it did not inject any idea or intent that is wholly foreign to the subject embraced by the original provisions."

Fifth. The majority further defends the constitutionality of the above provisions by holding that "all the changes or modifications were germane to subjects of the provisions referred to it for reconciliation."

With due respect, it is high time to re-examine the test of germaneness proffered in Tolentino.

The test of germaneness is overly broad and is the fountainhead of mischief for it allows the Bicameral Conference Committee to change provisions in the bills of the House and the Senate when they are not even in disagreement. Worse still, it enables the Committee to introduce amendments which are entirely new and have not previously passed through the coils of scrutiny of the members of both houses. The Constitution did not establish a Bicameral Conference Committee that can act as a "third house" of Congress with super veto power over bills passed by the Senate and the House. We cannot concede that super veto power without wrecking the delicate architecture of legislative power so carefully laid down in our Constitution. The clear intent of our fundamental law is to install a lawmaking structure composed only of two houses whose members would thoroughly debate proposed legislations in representation of the will of their respective constituents. The institution of this lawmaking structure is unmistakable from the following provisions: (1) requiring that legislative power shall be vested in a bicameral legislature;10 (2) providing for quorum requirements;11 (3) requiring that appropriation, revenue or tariff bills, bills authorizing increase of public debt, bills of local application, and private bills originate exclusively in the House of Representatives;12 (4) requiring
that bills embrace one subject expressed in the title thereof;13 and (5) mandating that bills undergo three readings on separate days in each House prior to passage into law and prohibiting amendments on the last reading thereof.14 A Bicameral Conference Committee with untrammeled powers will destroy this lawmaking structure. At the very least, it will diminish the free and open debate of proposed legislations and facilitate the smuggling of what purports to be laws.

On this point, Mr. Robert Luce's disconcerting observations are apropos:
"Their power lies chiefly in the fact that reports of conference committees must be accepted without amendment or else rejected in toto. The impulse is to get done with the matters and so the motion to accept has undue advantage, for some members are sure to prefer swallowing unpalatable provisions rather than prolong controversy. This is more likely if the report comes in the rush of business toward the end of the session, when to seek further conference might result in the loss of the measure altogether. At any time in the session there is some risk of such a result following the rejection of a conference report, for it may not be possible to secure a second conference, or delay may give opposition to the main proposal chance to develop more strength.

xxx � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � xxx � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � xxx

Entangled in a network of rule and custom, the Representative who resents and would resist this theft of his rights, finds himself helpless. Rarely can be vote, rarely can he voice his mind, in the matter of any fraction of the bill. Usually he cannot even record himself as protesting against some one feature while accepting the measure as whole. Worst of all, he cannot by argument or suggested change, try to improve what the other branch has done.

This means more than the subversion of individual rights. It means to a degree the abandonment of whatever advantage the bicameral system may have. By so much it in effect transfers the lawmaking power to small group of members who work out in private a decision that almost always prevails. What is worse, these men are not chosen in a way to ensure the wisest choice. It has become the practice to name as conferees the ranking members of the committee, so that the accident of seniority determines. Exceptions are made, but in general it is not a question of who are most competent to serve. Chance governs, sometimes giving way to favor, rarely to merit.

xxx � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � xxx � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � xxx

Speaking broadly, the system of legislating by conference committee is unscientific and therefore defective. Usually it forfeits the benefit of scrutiny and judgment by all the wisdom available. Uncontrolled, it is inferior to that process by which every amendment is secured independent discussion and vote. . . ."15
It cannot be overemphasized that in a republican form of government, laws can only be enacted by all the duly elected representatives of the people. It cuts against conventional wisdom in democracy to lodge this power in the hands of a few or in the claws of a committee. It is for these reasons that the argument that we should overlook the excesses of the Bicameral Conference Committee because its report is anyway approved by both houses is a futile attempt to square the circle for an unconstitutional act is void and cannot be redeemed by any subsequent ratification.

Neither can we shut our eyes to the unconstitutional acts of the Bicameral Conference Committee by holding that the Court cannot interpose its checking powers over mere violations of the internal rules of Congress. In Arroyo, et al. v. de Venecia, et al.,16 we ruled that when the violations affect private rights or impair the Constitution, the Court has all the power, nay, the duty to strike them down.

In conclusion, I wish to stress that this is not the first time nor will it be last that arguments will be foisted for the Court to merely wink at assaults on the Constitution on the ground of some national interest, sometimes clear and at other times inchoate. To be sure, it cannot be gainsaid that the country is in the vortex of a financial crisis. The broadsheets scream the disconcerting news that our debt payments for the year 2006 will exceed Pph1 billion daily for interest alone. Experts underscore some factors that will further drive up the debt service expenses such as the devaluation of the peso, credit downgrades and a spike in interest rates.17 But no doomsday scenario will ever justify the thrashing of the Constitution. The Constitution is meant to be our rule both in good times as in bad times. It is the Court's uncompromising obligation to defend the Constitution at all times lest it be condemned as an irrelevant relic.

WHEREFORE, I concur with the majority but dissent on the following points:

a) I vote to withhold judgment on the constitutionality of the "standby authority" in Sections 4 to 6 of Republic Act No. 9337 as this issue is not ripe for adjudication.;

b) I vote to declare unconstitutional the deletion by the Bicameral Conference Committee of the pro poor "no pass on provision" on electricity to residential consumers as it contravened the unequivocal intent of both Houses of Congress; and

c) I vote to declare Section 21 of Republic Act No. 9337 as unconstitutional as it contains extraneous provisions not found in its constituent bills.

Endnotes:


1 Angara v. Electoral Commission, 63 Phil. 139 (1936); See also Tribe, American Constitutional Law, pp. 311-314 (3rd ed.).

2 Mendoza, Judicial Review of Constitutional Questions: Cases and Materials, p. 86 (2004).

3Id. at 87.

4 Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner, 387 U.S. 136 (1967); I Tribe, American Constitutional Law, p. 334 (3rd ed.).

5 Texas v. United States, 523 U.S. 296 (1998); Thomas v. Union Carbide Agricultural Products Co., 473 U.S. 568 (1985); I Tribe, American Constitutional Law, pp. 335-336 (3rd ed.).

6 Communist Party of the United States v. Subversive Activities Control Bd., 367 U.S. 1, 71 (1961); I Tribe, American Constitutional Law, p. 336 (3rd ed.); See also concurring opinion of Justice Brandeis in Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority, 297 U.S. 288 (1936).

7 235 SCRA 630 (1994).

8See Opinion in 235 SCRA 630, 805-825.

9 H.B. No. 3555 has no "no pass on provision." House Bill No. 3705 expresses the latest intent of the House on the matter.

10 1 Sutherland Statutory Construction � 6:2 (6th ed.): The provision requiring that legislative power shall be vested in a bicameral legislature seeks to "assure sound judgment that comes from separate deliberations and actions in the respective bodies that check and balance each other."

11 Const., Article VI, Section 16(2) (1987): "(2) A majority of each House shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and may compel the attendance of absent Members in such manner, and under such penalties, as such House may provide."

12 Const., Article VI, Section 24 (1987); 1 Sutherland Statutory Construction � 9:6 (6th ed.): The provision helps guarantee that the exercise of the taxing power is well studied as the lower house is "presumably more representative in character."

13 Const., Article VI, Section 26(1) (1987); I Cooley, A Treatise on Constitutional Limitations, p. 143; Central Capiz v. Ramirez, 40 Phil. 883 (1920): "In the construction and application of this constitutional restriction the courts have kept steadily in view the correction of the mischief against which it was aimed. The object is to prevent the practice, which was common in all legislative bodies where no such restrictions existed of embracing in the same bill incongruous matters having no relation to each other or to the subject specified in the title, by which measures were often adopted without attracting attention. Such distinct subjects represented diverse interests, and were combined in order to unite the members of the legislature who favor either in support of all. These combinations were corruptive of the legislature and dangerous to the State. Such omnibus bills sometimes included more than a hundred sections on as many different subjects, with a title appropriate to the first section, and for other purposes."

"The failure to indicate in the title of the bill the object intended to be accomplished by the legislation often resulted in members voting ignorantly for measures which they would not knowingly have approved; and not only were legislators thus misled, but the public also; so that legislative provisions were steadily pushed through in the closing hours of a session, which, having no merit to commend them, would have been made odious by popular discussion and remonstrance if their pendency had been seasonably announced. The constitutional clause under discussion is intended to correct these evils; to prevent such corrupting aggregations of incongruous measures, by confining each act to one subject or object; to prevent surprise and inadvertence by requiring that subject or object to be expressed in the title."

14 Const., Article VI, Section 26(2) (1987); 1 Sutherland Statutory Construction � 10:4 (6th ed.); See also IV Laurel, Journal of the (1935) Constitutional Convention, pp. 436-437, 440-441 where the 1934 Constitutional Convention noted the anomalous legislative practice of railroading bills on the last day of the legislative year when members of Congress were eager to go home. By this irregular procedure, legislators were able to successfully insert matters into bills which would not otherwise stand scrutiny in leisurely debate; I Cooley, A Treatise on the Constitutional Limitations, pp. 286-287(8th ed.); Smith v. Mitchell, 69 W.Va 481, 72 S.E. 755 (1911): "The purpose of this provision of the Constitution is to inform legislators and people of legislation proposed by a bill, and to prevent hasty legislation."

15 235 SCRA 630, 783-784 citing Luce, Legislative Procedure, pp. 404-405, 407 (1922); See also Davies, Legislative Law and Process, p. 81 (2nd ed.): "conference reports are returned to assembly and Senate on a take-it or leave-it-basis, and the bodies are generally placed in the position that to leave-it is a practical impossibility." Thus, he concludes that "conference committee action is the most undemocratic procedure in the legislative process."

16 268 SCRA 269, 289 (1997).

17 The Manila Standard Today, August 26, 2005, p. 1.



Back to Home | Back to Main




















chanrobles.com





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






September-2005 Jurisprudence                 

  • A.C. No. 5050 - Felisa M. Angeles, et al. v. Atty. Roberto L. Figueroa.

  • A.C. No. 5760 - The Heirs of Tiburcio F. Ballesteros, Sr., et al. v. Atty. Manile o N. Apiag.

  • Adm. Case No. 5910 - Atty. Ireneo L. Torres, et al. v. Atty. Jose Concepcion Javier.

  • ADM. CASE NO. 6542 - Maria Cielo B. Suzuki v. Atty. Erwin L. Tiamson.

  • A.M. No. 05-8-213-MeTC - RE: Habitual Tardiness of Ms. Divina A. Kiamko.

  • A.C. No. 6597 - Eduardo M. Dizon v. Atty. Francisco S. Laurente.

  • A.M. No. MTJ-05-1609 - Trinidad O. Lachica v. Judge Rosabella M. Tormis.

  • A.M. No. CA-05-20-P - Associate Justice Delilah Vidallon-Magtolis v. Cielito M. Salud.

  • A. M. No. MTJ-05-1610 - Dr. Jose S. Luna v. Judge Eduardo H. MIrafuente.

  • A.M. No. P-05-1933 - Jaclyn Chua v. Rey F. Paas.

  • A.M. No. P-05-2066 - Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corporation v. Dominador B. Caubalejo.

  • A.M. No. P-05-1976 - Erlinda Bergonia v. Romeo S. Gatcheco, Jr.

  • A.M. No. P-05-2074 - Pablo Antimaro, et al. v. Roslyn P. Amores.

  • A.M. No. P-99-1342 - Concerned Taxpayer v. Norberto V. Doblada, Jr.

  • A.M. No. RTJ-03-1780 - Amado L. De Leon v. Judge Patrocinio R. Corpuz.

  • A.M. No. RTJ-05-1956 - Atty. Carlos L. Valdez, Jr. v. Judge Monico G. Gabales.

  • A.M. No. RTJ-05-1957 - Prescilla L. Nedia, et al. v. Judge Celso D. Lavi a, et al.

  • G.R. No. 126858 - Jose U Ong, et al. v. Sandiganbayan, et al.

  • G.R. No. 127454 - Mavest (USA) Inc., et al. v. Sapaguita Garment Corporation.

  • G.R. No. 128959 - Ciriaco "Boy" Guingging v. The Honorable Court of Appeals, et al.

  • G.R. No. 129704 - Ulpiano Balo, et al. v. The Hon. Court of Appeals, et al.

  • G.R. No. 129875 - Jovito Cabuslay v. People of the Philippines, et al.

  • G.R. No. 130982 - Spouses Domingo and Lourdes Paguyo v. Pierre Astorga, et al.

  • G.R. No. 132768 - Jaime B. Biana v. George Gimenez.

  • G.R. No. 133803 - Bienvenido M. Casi o, Jr. v. The Court of Appeals, et al.

  • G.R. No. 136814 - Spouses Carlos Gocotano, et al. v. Spouses Marcelo Gocotano, et al.

  • G.R. No. 135830 - G.R. NO. 136035 - G.R. NO. 137743 - Juan De Dios Carlos v. Felicidad Sandoval, et al.

  • G.R. No. 137808 - Aldegonda Vda. De Ramones, et al. v. Aurora P. Agbayani.

  • G.R. No. 138248 - Rangay Piapi, et al. v. Nacio Talip, et al.

  • G.R. No. 138380 - Demetria Garcia v. Teofilo D. Zosa, Jr.

  • G.R. No. 138500 - Andy Quelnan v. VHF Philippines.

  • G.R. No. 138900 - Levi Strauss & Co., et al. v. Clinton Apparelle, Inc.

  • G.R. No.138980 - Filinvest Land, Inc. v. Hon. Court of Appeals, et al.

  • G.R. No. 139464 - Republic of the Philippines v. Sps. Felix Baes, et al.

  • G.R. No. 139536 - Jesus Perez v. Ruth S. Falcatan, et al.

  • G.R. No. 139803 - Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. La Suerte Cigar and Cigarette Factory, Inc.

  • G.R. No. 140847 - Hospicio de San Jose de Barili, Cebu City v. Department of Agrarian Reform.

  • G.R. No. 140892 - Dr. Ibarra S. Santos, et al. v. Spouses Pablo and Nieves De Leon, et al.

  • G.R. No. 140923 - Manuel M. Mendoza, et al. v. Banco Real Development Bank.

  • G.R. No. 141007 - Adoracion Reyes Bautista, et al. v. Celia Reyes Poblete, et al.

  • G.R. No. 141464 - Grandspan Development Corporation v. Ricardo Bernardo, et al.

  • G.R. No. 141524 - Domingo Neypes, et al. v. Hon. Court of Appeals, et al.

  • G.R. No. 141525 - Carlos Sanchez v. Medicard Philippines, Inc., et al.

  • G.R. No. 142022 - Mindanao Savings and Loan Association, Inc., v. Vicenta Vda. De Flores, et. al.

  • G.R. NO. 142402 - Oscar L. Rivera v. Serafin O. Roman.

  • G.R. NO. 142408 - Spouses Ricardo Almendrala, et al. v. Spouses Wing On Ngo, et al.

  • G.R. No. 142464 - Guillermo Dela Cruz v. Hon. Deodoro J. Sison, et al.

  • G.R. No. 142619 - Municipality of Taguig, et al. v. The Hon. Court of Appeals, et al.

  • G.R. No. 142666 - Metro Drug Distribution, Inc. v. Metro Drug Corporation Employees Association - Federation of Free Workers.

  • G.R. No. 143195 - Andrea Camposagrado, et al. v. Pablo S. Camposagrado, et al.

  • G.R. No. 143572 - Gregorio "George" Amante, et al. v. Bibiano Serwelas.

  • G.R. No. 143788 - Danfoss, Inc. v. Continental Cement Corporation.

  • G.R. No. 144099 - Elvira Macabalo-Bravo, et al. v. Juan F. Macabalo, et al.

  • G.R. No. 143870 - Manila International Airport Authority v. Rivera Village Lessee Homeowners Association, Incorporated.

  • G.R. No. 144101 - Antonio P. Tambunting, Jr., et al. v. Spouses Emilio Sumabat, et al.

  • G.R. No. 144570 - Vivencio V. Jumamil v. Jose J. Caf', et al.

  • G.R. No. 144892 - Sps. Carlos J. Suntay, et al. v. Eugenia D. Gocolay, et al.

  • G.R. No. 145022 - Armand Nocum, et al. v. Lucio Tan.

  • G.R. No. 145291 - Public Estates Authority v. Rosario Ganac Chu.

  • G.R. No. 145874 - Sps. Salvacion Serrano Ladanga, et al. v. Bernardo Aseneta.

  • G.R. No. 146035 - Esperanza Vda. De Lopez, et al. v. Hon. Court of Appeals, et al.

  • G.R. No. 147266 - Ludo & Luym Development Corporation, et al. v. Vicente C. Barreto.

  • G.R. No. 147479 - Department of Agrarian Reform, et al. v. Paulino Franco.

  • G.R. No. 148196 and G.R. NO. 148259 - BPI Family Bank v. Edgardo Buenaventura, et al.

  • G.R. No. 147996 - People of the Philippines v. Bayani Roma.

  • G.R. NOS. 150773 and 153599 - Spouses David B. Carpo, et al. v. Eleanor Chua, et al.

  • G.R. No. 150234 - People of the Philippines v. Florante Padrones.

  • G.R. No. 151333 - Spouses Natalio and Felicidad Salonga v. Spouses Manuel and Nenita Concepcion, et al.

  • G.R. No. 151912 - Philippine Savings Bank v. Spouses Pedrito Bermoy, et al.

  • G.R. No. 152012 - Land and Housing Development Corporation, et al. v. Marianito C. Esquillo.

  • G.R. No. 152228 - Rimbunan Hijau Group of Companies, et al. v. Oriental Wood Processing Corporation.

  • G.R. No. 152243 - Victor R. Reyes v. Hon. Jose L. Atienza, et al.

  • G.R. No. 152577 - Republic of the Philippines v. Crasus L. Iyoy.

  • G.R. No. 152808 - Antonio T. Chua v. Total Office Products and Services, Inc.

  • G.R. No. 152627 - Spouses Amancio and and Luisa Sarmiento, et al. v. The Hon. Court of Appeals, et al.

  • G.R. No. 153034 - Development Bank of the Philippines v. Honorable Court of Appeals, et al.

  • G.R. No. 152884 - Derick D. Wooden v. Civil Service Commission, et al.

  • G.R. No. 153180 - Manila Electric Company v. National Labor Relations Commission, et al.

  • G.R. No. 153155 - Manuel D. Laxina, Sr. v. Office of the Ombudsman, et al.

  • G.R. No. 153798 - Belen Sagad Angeles v. Aleli "Corazon" Angeles Maglaya.

  • G.R. No. 154363 - Joel P. Libuit v. People of the Philippines.

  • G.R. No. 154376 - Roberto T. Domondon v. National Labor Relations Commission, et al.

  • G.R. NO. 154475 - Republic of the Philippines, et al. v. Eno Fishpond Corporation, et al.

  • G.R. No. 154521 - Civil Service Commission v. Juliana E. Ledesma.

  • G.R. No. 154684 - Francel Realty Corporation v. Ricardo T. Sycip.

  • G.R. No. 155098 - Capitol Medical Center, Inc., et al. v. Dr. Cesar E. Meris.

  • G.R. No. 155225 - PVC Investment and Management Corporation v. Jose Borcena, et al.

  • G.R. No. 155343 - Benguet Corporation v. Cordillera Caraballo Mission, Inc., et al.

  • G.R. No. 155653 - Union Refinery Corporation v. Reynaldo C. Tolentino, Sr., et al.

  • G.R. No. 156021 - Cynthia C. Alaban, et al. v. Court of Appeals, et al.

  • G.R. No. 156379 - Emma Cordova, et al. v. Keysa's Boutique, et al.

  • G.R. No. 156559 - Rodolfo S. De Jesus, et al. v. Civil Service Commission, et al.

  • G.R. No. 156581 - Victoria R. Arambulo, et al. v. Emerenciana R. Gungab.

  • G.R. No. 156705 - Socorro Taopo-Banga v. Spouses Jose and Emiline Bello.

  • G.R. No. 157783 - Nilo Paloma v. Danilo Mora, et al.

  • G.R. No. 157845 - Philippine National Bank v. Norman Y. Pike.

  • G.R. No. 158157 - People of the Philippines, et al. v. Louel Uy, et al.

  • G.R. No. 158566 - Josephine Orola, et al. v. The Rural Bank of Pontevedra, Inc., et al.

  • G.R. No. 159212 - Navotas Industrial Corporation v. German D. Cruz, et al.

  • G.R. No. 160396 - Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) Employees Hired after July 1, 1989, v. Commission on Audit, et al.

  • G.R. No. 160703 - GMA Network, Inc. v. ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, et al.

  • G.R. No. 161400 - Zenaida Ortega, et al. v. The Quezon City Government, et al.

  • G.R. No. 161223 - Virgilio A. Cadungog v. Jocelyn O. Yap.

  • G.R. No. 162846 - Republic of the Philippines v. Jose Lubis Masongsong, et al.

  • G.R. No. 161745 - Leamer Industries, Inc. v. Malayan Insurance Co., Inc.

  • G.R. No. 163410 - Concepcion R. Anceta v. Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company, Inc., et al.

  • G.R. No. 163338 - Luzon Development Bank v. Benedicto C. Conquilla, et al.

  • G.R. No. 164481 - Conrado C. Doldol v. People of the Philippines, et al.

  • G.R. No. 164250 - Office of the Ombudsman, et al. v. Atty. Gil A. Valera, et al.

  • G.R. No. 164910 - Union Bank of the Philippines v. Hon. Court of Appeals, et al.

  • G.R. No. 165005 - Spouses Roberto and Natividad Valderama v. Salvacion V. Macalde.

  • G.R. No. 165306 - Manly Sportwear Manufacturing, Inc. v. Dadodette Enterprises, et al.

  • G.R. No. 165675 - Spouses Eduardo Sobrejuanite, et al. v. ASB Development Corporation.

  • G.R. No. 165889 - Sacobia Hills Development Corporation, et al. v. Allan U. Ty.

  • G.R. No. 166273 - Metro Rail Transit Corporation v. Court of Tax Appeals, et al.

  • G.R. No. 166365 - Duty Free Philippines v. Rossano J. Mojica.

  • G.R. No. 166550 - Robert C. Casol, et al. v. Purefoods Corporation.

  • G.R. NO. 167499 - Miles Andrew Mari Roces v. House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal, et al.

  • CONCURRING AND DISSENTING OPINION : AZCUNA, J.: G.R. No. 168056, G.R. NO. 168207, G.R. NO. 168461, G.R. NO. 168463 and G.R. NO. 168730 - ABAKADA Guro Party List Officers Samson S. Alcantara, et al. v. The Honorable Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, et a

  • CONCURRING AND DISSENTING OPINION : CALLEJO, SR., J.: G.R. No. 168056, G.R. NO. 168207, G.R. NO. 168461, G.R. NO. 168463 and G.R. NO. 168730 - ABAKADA Guro Party List Officers Samson S. Alcantara, et al. v. The Honorable Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita

  • CONCURRING OPINION : CHICO-NAZARIO, J.: G.R. No. 168056, G.R. NO. 168207, G.R. NO. 168461, G.R. NO. 168463 and G.R. NO. 168730 - ABAKADA Guro Party List Officers Samson S. Alcantara, et al. v. The Honorable Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, et al.

  • SEPARATE CONCURRING AND DISSENTING OPINION : DAVIDE, JR., C.J.: - G.R. No. 168056, G.R. NO. 168207, G.R. NO. 168461, G.R. NO. 168463 and G.R. NO. 168730 - ABAKADA Guro Party List Officers Samson S. Alcantara, et al. v. The Honorable Executive Secretary Ed

  • SEPARATE OPINION : PANGANIBAN, J.: G.R. No. 168056, G.R. NO. 168207, G.R. NO. 168461, G.R. NO. 168463 and G.R. NO. 168730 - ABAKADA Guro Party List Officers Samson S. Alcantara, et al. v. The Honorable Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, et al.

  • CONCURRING AND DISSENTING OPINION : PUNO, J.: G.R. No. 168056, G.R. NO. 168207, G.R. NO. 168461, G.R. NO. 168463 and G.R. NO. 168730 - ABAKADA Guro Party List Officers Samson S. Alcantara, et al. v. The Honorable Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, et al.

  • RESOLUTION : G.R. No. 168056, G.R. NO. 168207, G.R. NO. 168461, G.R. NO. 168463 and G.R. NO. 168730 - ABAKADA Guro Party List Officers Samson S. Alcantara, et al. v. The Honorable Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, et al.

  • RESOLUTION : AUSTRIA-MARTINEZ, J.: G.R. No. 168056, G.R. NO. 168207, G.R. NO. 168461, G.R. NO. 168463 and G.R. NO. 168730 - ABAKADA Guro Party List Officers Samson S. Alcantara, et al. v. The Honorable Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, et al.

  • CONCURRING AND DISSENTING OPINION : SANDOVAL - GUTIERREZ, J.: G.R. No. 168056, G.R. NO. 168207, G.R. NO. 168461, G.R. NO. 168463 and G.R. NO. 168730 - ABAKADA Guro Party List Officers Samson S. Alcantara, et al. v. The Honorable Executive Secretary Eduard

  • DISSENTING and CONCURRING OPINION : TINGA, J.: G.R. No. 168056, G.R. NO. 168207, G.R. NO. 168461, G.R. NO. 168463 and G.R. NO. 168730 - ABAKADA Guro Party List Officers Samson S. Alcantara, et al. v. The Honorable Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, et al

  • CONCURRING AND DISSENTING OPINION : YNARES-SANTIAGO, J.: G.R. No. 168056, G.R. NO. 168207, G.R. NO. 168461, G.R. NO. 168463 and G.R. NO. 168730 - ABAKADA Guro Party List Officers Samson S. Alcantara, et al. v. The Honorable Executive Secretary Eduardo Erm

  • G.R. No. 168168 - People of the Philippines v. Edgardo Dimaano

  • G.R. No. 168056, G.R. NO. 168207, G.R. NO. 168461, G.R. NO. 168463 and G.R. NO. 168730 - ABAKADA Guro Party List Officers Samson S. Alcantara, et al. v. The Honorable Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, et al.