[ G.R. No. L-47245. December 09, 1977 ] 170 Phil. 544
EN BANC
[ G.R. No. L-47245. December 09, 1977 ]
GUALBERTO J. DELA LLANA, PETITIONER, VS. THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, THE COMMISSION ON AUDIT, THE SECRETARY OF FINANCE AND THE BUDGET COMMISSIONER, RESPONDENTS. R E S O L U T I O N
CASTRO, C.J.:
Considering the allegations, issues presented, and arguments adduced (a) in what the petitioner has denominated as a “Petition for Prohibition or Declaratory Relief,” (b) in the Solicitor General’s Comment on the petition, and (c) at the hearing on November 24, 1977, the Court Resolved NOT to give due course to the petition and to DISMISS the same, for the reasons hereunder set forth.
(1) The question to be submitted to the people in the December 17, 1977 referendum which reads, “Do you vote that President Ferdinand E. Marcos continue in office as incumbent President and be Prime Minister after the organization of the Interim Batasang Pambansa as provided for in Amendment No. 3 of the 1976 Amendments to the Constitution?,” is in neither the nature nor the form of an amendment. The holding of the referendum will not result in an indirect amendment to Amendment No. 3 to the Constitution which provides that “The incumbent President of the Philippines shall be the Prime Minister and he shall continue to exercise all his powers even after the interim Batasang Pambansa is organized and ready to discharge its functions and likewise he shall continue to exercise his powers and prerogatives under the Nineteen Hundred and Thirty Five Constitution and the powers vested in the President and the Prime Minister under this Constitution.” Presidential Decree No. 1229 which calls for the December 17, 1977 referendum cannot therefore be said to suffer from any constitutional infirmity. If the people vote “yes,” Amendment No. 3 will merely be reaffirmed and reinforced. If the people vote “no,” the incumbent President, heeding “the will” of the people, will – as he has categorically announced – resign; in such situation, he will be merely exercising the prerogative, inherent in all public officials, to resign. In either case the Constitution, as it now reads, will remain unaltered.
(2) The matter of whether or not the holding of the December 17, 1977 referendum is unnecessary because the people, on several occasions, had already expressed their assent to the incumbent President’s continuance in office and their approval of his programs of government, is a political and non-justiciable question, involving as it does the wisdom, no more and no less, of the decision to call for a referendum. The power to determine when a referendum should be called and what matter is important for referral to the people, resides in the political branch of the Government, the exercise of which involves consideration of a multitude of factors – political, social, economic, etc. – normally outside the periphery of competence of the courts.
(3) The call for the referendum is explicitly authorized by Amendment No. 7 of the Constitution which in part provides that “Referenda conducted thru the barangays and under the supervision of the Commission on Elections may be called at any time the government deems it necessary to ascertain the will of the people regarding any important matter whether of national or local interest.” If, pursuant to this grant of power, the President decides, as he has decided, to consult with the people and submit himself to a vote of confidence in a referendum because he deems it important to do so, he cannot be constitutionally faulted. His action would also be in full accord with the spirit of Section 1, Article XIII of the Constitution, which states that public office is a public trust and that public officers shall remain accountable to the people.
It is clear from the above that the petition does not pose any question of sufficient importance or significance to warrant the further intention of the Court.
The dismissal of the instant petition is immediately executory.
Makasiar, Antonio, Aquino, Concepcion, Jr., Santos, Fernandez, and Guerrero, JJ., concur. Fernando, J., on official leave. Teehankee and Muñoz Palma, JJ., files a dissent. Barredo, J., concurs in a separate opinion. Martin, J., on sick leave.