G.R. No. 190259 – 666 Phil. 225 – 651 SCRA 228 – Political Law – Constitutional Law – The Executive Department – Powers of the President – Calling Out Power – Commander-in-Chief Clause – State of Emergency – Judicial Review; Sufficiency of the Factual Basis
On 23 November 2009, 57 individuals were ambushed and killed in Maguindanao. The next day, PGMA issued Proclamation No. 1946 which placed Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, and Cotabato City under a state of emergency. PGMA directed the armed forces to undertake such measures as may be allowed by the Constitution and by law to prevent and suppress all incidents of lawless violence.
Governor Zaldy Ampatuan questioned the constitutionality of the proclamation on the ground that it was an invalid exercise of the President’s emergency powers for it did not have the concurrence of Congress and even if it did, there was no factual basis for the declaration.
ISSUE: Whether or not Proclamation No. 1946 is constitutional.
HELD: Yes. The proclamation is not an exercise of emergency powers under Sec. 23 (2), Art. VI but rather an exercise of the President’s calling out power under Sec. 18, Art. VII.
The President did not proclaim a national emergency, only a state of emergency in the three provinces. She did not act pursuant to any law enacted by Congress that authorized her to exercise extraordinary powers. The calling out of the armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence in such places is a power that the Constitution directly vests in the President. She did not need a congressional authority to exercise the same.
As regards the issue on whether or not there was a factual basis for the declaration of a state of emergency in the three provinces, the SC exercised judicial restraint. The SC recognized that the Constitution vests in the President the power to determine whether or not there is a need to prevent and suppress lawless violence by calling out the armed forces. Unless there is a showing of grave abuse of discretion, the courts will respect the President’s judgment.
