Sunday, April 28, 2013

Clear provisions of law need no clarification..


The Constitution evinces the direct action of the Filipino people by 
which the fundamental powers of government are established, limited and 
defined and by which those powers are distributed among the several 
departments for their safe and useful exercise for the benefit of the body 
politic. The Framers reposed their wisdom and vision on one suprema lex 
to be the ultimate expression of the principles and the framework upon 
which government and society were to operate. Thus, in the interpretation 
of the constitutional provisions, the Court firmly relies on the basic 
postulate that the Framers mean what they say. The language used in the 
Constitution must be taken to have been deliberately chosen for a definite 
purpose. Every word employed in the Constitution must be interpreted to 
exude its deliberate intent which must be maintained inviolate against 
disobedience and defiance. What the Constitution clearly says, according to 
its text, compels acceptance and bars modification even by the branch 
tasked to interpret it. 

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

SC adopts new parameters in the qualification of sectoral parties under the party-list system.

The framers of the 1987 Constitution intended the party-list system to include not only sectoral parties but also non-sectoral parties. The framers intended the sectoral parties to constitute a part, but not the entirety, of the the party system. The framers of the 1987 Constitution expressly rejected the proposal to make the party-list system exclusively for sectoral parties only. It is the firm notion of the framers that party-list system will be the entry point to membership in the House of Representatives for these non-traditional parties that could not compete in the legislative district elections. Undeniably, both sectoral and non-sectoral parties are included in the party-list system, as clearly stated in Section 5(1), Article VI of the Constitution. The party-list system is composed of three (3) different groups: (1) National parties or organizations; (2) Regional parties or organizations; and (3) Sectoral parties and organizations. National and Regional parties or organizations need not be recognized along sectoral lines and need not represent any particular sector. A sectoral party refers to an organized group of citizens belonging to "labor, peasant, fisherfolk, urban poor, indigenous cultural minorities, elderly, handicapped, women, youth, veterans, overseas workers and professionals," (Section 5, RA7941). The sectors aforementioned are not necessarily marginalized and under-represented. However, these sectors may "lack well-defined political constituencies" and can therefore organize themselves into sectoral parties in advocacy of the special interests and concerns of their respective sectors. It is enough that their principal advocacy pertains to the special interest of the sector they represent.