Facts:
On February 24, 2006, as the nation celebrated the
20th Anniversary of the Edsa People Power I, President Arroyo
issued PP 1017 declaring a state of national emergency, thus:
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,
President of the Republic of the Philippines and Commander-in-Chief of the
Armed Forces of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested upon me by
Section 18, Article 7 of the Philippine Constitution which states that:
"The President. . . whenever it becomes necessary, . . . may call out
(the) armed forces to prevent or suppress. . .rebellion. . .," and in my
capacity as their Commander-in-Chief, do hereby command the Armed
Forces of the Philippines, to maintain law and order throughout the
Philippines, prevent or suppress all forms of lawless violence as well as any
act of insurrection or rebellion and to enforce obedience to all the laws and
to all decrees, orders and regulations promulgated by me personally or upon my
direction; and as provided in Section 17, Article 12 of the Constitution
do hereby declare a State of National Emergency.
She cited the following facts as bases:
WHEREAS, over these past months,
elements in the political opposition have conspired with authoritarians
of the extreme Left represented by the NDF-CPP-NPA and the extreme Right,
represented by military adventurists – the historical enemies of the democratic
Philippine State – who are now in a tactical alliance and engaged in a
concerted and systematic conspiracy, over a broad front, to bring down the duly
constituted Government elected in May 2004;
WHEREAS, these conspirators have
repeatedly tried to bring down the President;
WHEREAS, the claims of these
elements have been recklessly magnified by certain segments of the national
media;
WHEREAS, this series of actions is
hurting the Philippine State – by obstructing governance including hindering
the growth of the economy and sabotaging the people’s confidence in government
and their faith in the future of this country;
WHEREAS, these actions are
adversely affecting the economy;
WHEREAS, these activities give
totalitarian forces of both the extreme Left and extreme Right the opening to
intensify their avowed aims to bring down the democratic Philippine State;
WHEREAS, Article 2, Section 4 of the our
Constitution makes the defense and preservation of the democratic institutions
and the State the primary duty of Government;
WHEREAS, the activities above-described,
their consequences, ramifications and collateral effects constitute a clear
and present danger to the safety and the integrity of the Philippine
State and of the Filipino people;
On the same day, the President issued G. O. No. 5
implementing PP 1017, thus:
WHEREAS, over these past months,
elements in the political opposition have conspired with authoritarians of the
extreme Left, represented by the NDF-CPP-NPA and the extreme Right, represented
by military adventurists - the historical enemies of the democratic Philippine
State – and who are now in a tactical alliance and engaged in a concerted and
systematic conspiracy, over a broad front, to bring down the duly-constituted
Government elected in May 2004;
WHEREAS, these conspirators have
repeatedly tried to bring down our republican government;
WHEREAS, the claims of these elements
have been recklessly magnified by certain segments of the national media;
WHEREAS, these series of actions is
hurting the Philippine State by obstructing governance, including hindering the
growth of the economy and sabotaging the people’s confidence in the government
and their faith in the future of this country;
WHEREAS, these actions are adversely
affecting the economy;
WHEREAS, these activities give
totalitarian forces; of both the extreme Left and extreme Right the opening to
intensify their avowed aims to bring down the democratic Philippine State;
WHEREAS, Article 2, Section 4 of our
Constitution makes the defense and preservation of the democratic institutions
and the State the primary duty of Government;
WHEREAS, the activities above-described,
their consequences, ramifications and collateral effects constitute a clear and
present danger to the safety and the integrity of the Philippine State and of
the Filipino people;
WHEREAS, Proclamation 1017 date February
24, 2006 has been issued declaring a State of National Emergency;
NOW, THEREFORE, I GLORIA
MACAPAGAL-ARROYO, by
virtue of the powers vested in me under the Constitution as President of the
Republic of the Philippines, and Commander-in-Chief of the Republic of the
Philippines, and pursuant to Proclamation No. 1017 dated February 24, 2006, do
hereby call upon the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine
National Police (PNP), to prevent and suppress acts of terrorism and lawless
violence in the country;
I hereby direct the Chief of Staff of the AFP and
the Chief of the PNP, as well as the officers and men of the AFP and PNP, to
immediately carry out the necessary and appropriate actions and measures to
suppress and prevent acts of terrorism and lawless violence.
Undeterred by the announcements that rallies and
public assemblies would not be allowed, groups of protesters (members of Kilusang
Mayo Uno [KMU] and National Federation of Labor Unions-Kilusang
Mayo Uno [NAFLU-KMU]), marched from various parts of Metro Manila with
the intention of converging at the EDSA shrine. Those who were already near the
EDSA site were violently dispersed by huge clusters of anti-riot police. The
well-trained policemen used truncheons, big fiber glass shields, water cannons,
and tear gas to stop and break up the marching groups, and scatter the massed
participants. The same police action was used against the protesters marching
forward to Cubao, Quezon City and to the corner of Santolan Street and EDSA.
That same evening, hundreds of riot policemen broke up an EDSA celebration
rally held along Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas Street in Makati City.
According to petitioner Kilusang Mayo Uno,
the police cited PP 1017 as the ground for the dispersal of their assemblies.
During the dispersal of the rallyists along EDSA,
police arrested (without warrant) petitioner Randolf S. David, a professor at
the University of the Philippines and newspaper columnist. Also arrested was
his companion, Ronald Llamas, president of party-list Akbayan.
These seven (7) consolidated petitions for certiorari and
prohibition allege that in issuing Presidential Proclamation No. 1017 (PP 1017)
and General Order No. 5 (G.O. No. 5), President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
committed grave abuse of discretion.
In their presentation of the factual bases of PP
1017 and G.O. No. 5, respondents stated that the proximate cause behind the
executive issuances was the conspiracy among some military officers, leftist
insurgents of the New People’s Army (NPA), and some members of the political
opposition in a plot to unseat or assassinate President Arroyo. They
considered the aim to oust or assassinate the President and take-over the
reigns of government as a clear and present danger.
Petitioners, especially Representatives Francis Joseph
G. Escudero, Satur Ocampo, Rafael Mariano, Teodoro Casiño, Liza Maza, and Josel
Virador argue that PP 1017 is unconstitutional as it arrogated upon President
Arroyo the power to enact laws and decrees in violation of Section 1, Article
VI of the Constitution, which vests the power to enact laws in Congress. They
assail the clause "to enforce obedience to all the laws and to all
decrees, orders and regulations promulgated by me personally or upon my
direction."
Issue:
WON PP 1017 is unconstitutional as it arrogated upon
President Arroyo the power to enact laws and decrees?
Ruling:
Yes, PP 1017 is unconstitutional as it arrogated
upon President Arroyo the power to enact laws and decrees.
Section 17, Article VII which reads
:
SEC. 17. The President shall have control of all the
executive departments, bureaus, and offices. He shall ensure that the
laws be faithfully executed.
Furthermore, the President is granted an
Ordinance Power under Chapter 2, Book III of Executive Order No. 292
(Administrative Code of 1987). She may issue any of the following:
Sec. 2. Executive Orders. — Acts of the
President providing for rules of a general or permanent character in
implementation or execution of constitutional or statutory powers shall be
promulgated in executive orders.
Sec. 3. Administrative Orders. — Acts
of the President which relate to particular aspect of governmental operations
in pursuance of his duties as administrative head shall be promulgated in
administrative orders.
Sec. 4. Proclamations. — Acts of the
President fixing a date or declaring a status or condition of public moment or
interest, upon the existence of which the operation of a specific law or
regulation is made to depend, shall be promulgated in proclamations which shall
have the force of an executive order.
Sec. 5. Memorandum Orders. — Acts of
the President on matters of administrative detail or of subordinate or
temporary interest which only concern a particular officer or office of the
Government shall be embodied in memorandum orders.
Sec. 6. Memorandum Circulars. — Acts of
the President on matters relating to internal administration, which the
President desires to bring to the attention of all or some of the departments,
agencies, bureaus or offices of the Government, for information or compliance,
shall be embodied in memorandum circulars.
Sec. 7. General or Special Orders. —
Acts and commands of the President in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief of the
Armed Forces of the Philippines shall be issued as general or special orders.
And lastly, Section 1, Article VI states that
"[t]he legislative power shall be vested in the Congress of the
Philippines which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.
In this case, President Arroyo’s ordinance power is
limited to the foregoing issuances. She cannot issue decrees similar
to those issued by Former President Marcos under PP 1081. Presidential Decrees
are laws which are of the same category and binding force as statutes because
they were issued by the President in the exercise of his legislative power
during the period of Martial Law under the 1973 Constitution. Legislative power
is peculiarly within the province of the Legislature. Neither Martial Law nor a
state of rebellion nor a state of emergency can justify President Arroyo’s
exercise of legislative power by issuing decrees.
Hence, PP 1017 is unconstitutional as it arrogated
upon President Arroyo the power to enact laws and decrees.
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