G.R. No. 147780 – 410 Phil. 78 – 357 SCRA 757 – Political Law – Constitutional Law – The Executive Department – Powers of the President – Calling Out Power – Commander-in-Chief Clause – Judicial Review Limited to Sufficiency of Factual Basis
These are four consolidated cases seeking to question the constitutionality of Proclamation No. 38 issued by PGMA on 1 May 2001 as a result of the EDSA TRES chaos. The Proclamation placed the NCR under a state of rebellion.
One of the consolidated cases was filed by Ronaldo Lumbao, President of People’s Movement Against Poverty. Lumbao alleged that the Proclamation encroached on the duty of the courts to judicially resolve what actually happened during EDSA TRES (did the crime of rebellion take place?). The President cannot supplant her judgment by stating that rebellion occurred; doing so will be a violation of the doctrine of separation of powers.
ISSUE: Whether or not Proclamation No. 38 is valid.
HELD: Yes. It is a valid exercise of the President’s calling out power. The President shall be the Commander-in-Chief of all armed forces of the Philippines and whenever it becomes necessary, he may call out such armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion or rebellion. The SC emphasized the ruling in IBP vs Zamora: The factual necessity of calling out the armed forces is not easily quantifiable and cannot be objectively established since matters considered for satisfying the same is a combination of several factors which are not always accessible to the courts. The President as Commander-in-Chief has a vast intelligence network to gather information, some of which may be classified as highly confidential or affecting the security of the state. In the exercise of the power to call, on-the-spot decisions may be imperatively necessary in emergency situations to avert great loss of human lives and mass destruction of property.
