VALIDITY OF CREATING COUNTERPARTS OF CONCOMS
WHETHER THE POLITICAL ENTITIES ESTABLISHED BY THE SAMBANSA
ORGANIC LAW CAN VALIDLY CREATE CONSTITUTIONAL COMMISSIONS
The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines provides for the
creation of the three Independent bodies, unlike any other public
offices, they perform vital functions in the government
particularly the Civil Service Commission which served as the
personnel office of government, the Commission on Audit which
served as the central auditing arm of the government and the
Commission on Elections which is charged with the administration of
the electoral process in the country.
The Constitution expressly vests legislative power in the
Congress of the Philippines. Traditionally, the delegation of
Congress of its legislative powers had been frowned upon. The power
to create a public office is undeniably a legislative power. There
are two ways by which a public office is created either by the
Constitution, which is the fundamental law of the land, or by a law
duly enacted, by the Congress.
The Congress cannot further delegate the power delegated to it
by the people, a power that has been delegated by congress cannot
in turn be delegated. This is in keeping with the
principlenon-delegation of powers, which is applicable to all the
three branches of the government. In connection with the Latin
maxim: delegata potestas non potest delegaristates that no
delegated powers can be further delegated. This is based on the
ethical principle that such delegated power constitutes not only a
right but a duty to be performed by the delegate through the
instrumentality of his own judgment acting immediately upon the
matter of legislation and not through the intervening mind of
another.[footnoteRef:1] [1: MARQUEZ v COMELEC G.R. NO. 178628]
Further delegation therefore constitutes violation of the trust
reposed by the delegator on the delegate. The people, through the
Constitution, delegated lawmaking powers to the Congress, and as
such, it cannot as a rule delegate further the same to
another.[footnoteRef:2] [2:
https://tamayaosbc.wordpress.com/2014/08/02/the-philippine-government/]
The Constitutional doctrines must remain steadfast no matter
what may be the tides of time. It cannot be simply made to sway and
accommodate the call of situations and much more tailor itself to
the whims and caprices of government and the people who run
it.[footnoteRef:3] [3: Cruz,Philippine Political law, 2002 ed. p.
12.]
In this case, what was being delegated to the political entity
is not just the entire legislative power, but the other powers
mandated by the Constitution, thereby invading and impairing the
already existing powers of the Constitutional Commissions. Such act
involves a change in the Constitution, a process which involves not
only the Congress, but by a Constitutional Convention or
Commission, by the people through Initiative and Referendum, and
ultimately, by the Sovereign Electorate.
Since Constitutional Commission is a public office created by
the Constitution, Its hard to delegate the duties of constitutional
bodies to another agency, especially to the political entity
created by Sambansa Organic Law. The Constitution is clear that
theres only one Commission on Elections, Commission on Audit and
Civil Service Commission, the creation of its counterparts cannot
be done by a mere statute.
******* In the case decided by the Supreme Court en
banc[footnoteRef:4], the creation of the ARMM, and the grant of
legislative powers to its Regional Assembly under its organic act,
did not divest Congress of its exclusive authority to create
legislative districts. [4: MARQUEZ v COMELEC G.R. NO. 178628]
On the other hand, Section 3, Article IV of RA 9054 amending the
ARMM Organic Act, provides, TheExceptions to the Scope of Regional
Assembly Legislative Power, the Regional Assembly may exercise
legislative power in the autonomous region for the benefit of the
people and for the development of the region except on the
following matters:(a)Foreign affairs;(b)National defense and
security;(c)Postal service;(d)Coinage and fiscal and monetary
policies;(e)Administration of justice. It may, however, legislate
on matters covered by the Shari'ah. The Shari'ah shall apply only
to Muslims. Its application shall be limited by pertinent
constitutional provisions, particularly by the prohibition against
cruel and unusual punishment and by pertinent national legislation
that promotes human rights and the universally accepted legal
principles and precepts;(f)Quarantine;(g)Customs and
tariff;(h)Citizenship;(i)Naturalization, immigration and
deportation;(j)General auditing;(k)National elections;(l)Maritime,
land and air transportation, and communications. The autonomous
government shall, however, have the power to grant franchises,
licenses and permits to land, sea and air transportation plying
routes in the provinces or cities within the region, and
communications facilities whose frequencies are confined to and
whose main offices are located within the autonomous
region;(m)Patents, trademarks, trade names, and copyrights;
and(n)Foreign trade.
Since the ARMM Regional Assembly has no legislative power to
enact laws relating to national elections, it cannot create a
legislative district whose representative is elected in national
elections. Applying the said jurisprudence, Sambansa Organic Law
has no power to enact laws relating to creation of Constitutional
Commission such as COMELEC, the framers of the Constitution never
equated autonomy with independence. The Sambansa Organic Law as a
statute creating a sub state is still subject to the
Constitution.
