EN BANC
G.R. No. L-32436 September 9, 1970
ABELARDO SUBIDO, Commissioner of Civil Service, petitioner. In re: Validity of Section 4 and Section 8(a), paragraph 2, Republic Act 6132.
G.R. No. L-32439 September 9, 1970
IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION FOR THE DECLARATORY RELIEF RE: VALIDITY AND CONSTITUTIONALITY REPUBLIC ACT 6132, HON. GUARDSON LOOD Judge, CFI Pasig, Rizal, et al., petitioners.
Abelardo Subido in his own behalf.
Quezon City Fiscal Justiniano P. Cortez and Fidel Manalo for petitioners Judge Guardson Lood, et al.
Lorenzo Tañada, Arturo Tolentino, Emmanuel Pelaez and Jovito Salonga as amici curiae.
Separate Opinions
CASTRO, J., concurring:
I concur fully in the majority resolution, but would add, what to my mind, is an observation of fundamental import.
It will be recalled that Resolutions Nos. 1, 2 and 31 were passed by the Congress, sitting as a constituent assembly, on the same date, or more precisely on March 16, 1967, and that the Constitutional amendments proposed by Resolutions Nos. 1 and 3 were thereafter submitted to the people for ratification (but were resoundingly rejected by the electorate in the plebiscite conducted on November 14, 1967).
If the Congress (as a constituent assembly) had intended section 3 of Resolution No. 2 as a mandatory rule of conduct (considering that it apparently conflicts with the provisions of Section 2 of Article XII of the Constitution), 2 it would, have likewise necessarily and advisedly referred the said section to the people for ratification as an amendment to the Constitution. This deliberate non-submission reinforces my view that the said section is to be regarded as, at best, a mere declaration.
Makalintal and Fernando, JJ., concur.
Footnotes
1 Resolution No. 1 proposed that Section 5 of Article VI of the Constitution of the Philippines be amended so that the House of Representatives shall be composed of not more than one hundred eighty members, the apportionment thereof being set forth in detail in the said Resolution. Resolution No. 2 embodies the call for a Convention, and provides in section 3 thereof as follows:
"The office of Delegate shall be honorary and shall be compatible with any other public office: Provided, That Delegates who do not receive any salary from the government shall be entitled to a per diem of fifty pesos for every day of attendance in the Convention or in any of its committees: Provided, however, That every Delegate shall be entitled to necessary travelling expenses to and from his place of residence when attending sessions of the Convention or of its committees."
Resolution No. 3 proposed the following amendment to Section 16 of Article VI of the Constitution:
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"No Senator or Member of the House of Representatives may hold any other office or employment in the Government without forfeiting his seat, nor shall any Senator or Member of the House of Representatives, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office which may have been created or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased while he was a member of the Congress. He may, however, be a Member of a Constitutional Convention." .
2 Sec. 2 of Art. XII provides as follows: "Officers and employees in the Civil Service, including members of the armed forces, shall not engage directly or indirectly in partisan political activities or take part in any election except to vote." .
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