Digest Author: Cecille Mangaser

Peter John D. Calderon v. Bartolome Carale, et al.

GR Number 91636
Petition: Petition for prohibition
Respondents: Chairman Bartolome Carale of the National Labor Relations Commision,
Commissioners of the National Labor Relations Commission (Edna Bonto Perez, Lourdes C.
Javier, Ernesto G. Ladrido III, Musib M. Buat, Domingo H. Zapanta, Vicente S.E. Veloso III,
Ireneo B. Bernardo, Irenea E. Ceniza, Leon G. Gonzaga, Jr., Romeo B. Putong, Rogelio I.
Rayala, Rustico L. Diokno, Bernabe S. Batuhan, and Oscar N. Abella), and Secretary Guillermo
Carague of the Department of Budget and Management
Ponente: Padilla, J.
Date: April 23, 1992
Facts:
In 1989, RA 6715 was passed. It amended PD 442 or the Labor Code. It provided that the
Chairman, Division Presiding Commissioners, and other Commissioners of the NLRC should be
appointed by the President and it required the confirmation by CoA.
Pursuant to RA 6715, President Aquino appointed the Chairman and Commissioners of the
National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) representing the public, workers, and employers
sector. Petitioners assail the constitutionality and legality of the permanent appointments
extended by the President to the respondents Chairman and Members of the NLRC without
submitting the same to the Commission for confirmation pursuant to Article 215 of the
Labor Code, as amended by RA 6715.
Petitioners insist on a mandatory compliance with RA 6715, it is not an encroachment on the
appointing power of the executive as contained in Section 16, Article 6 of the Constitution.
Petitioner claims that Mison and Bautista rulings are not decisive of the issue in the case,
President issued permanent appointments to the respondents without submitting then to the CoA
for confirmation despite passage of RA 6715.
The Solicitor-General contends that RA 6715 amending the Labor Code transgresses Section 16,
Article 6 by expanding the confirmation powers of CoA without constitutional basis.
Issues:
Whether or not the Congress may, by law, require confirmation by the CoA of appointments
extended by the President to government officials additional to those expressly mentioned in the
first sentence of Section 16, Article 6 of the Constitution whose appointments require
confirmation by the CoA.
Ruling:
No. The NLRC Chairman and Commissioners fall within the 2nd sentence of Section 16, Article
6 of the Constitution (specifically under the third groups of appointees). To require confirmation
by the CoA of the appointments of respondents is unconstitutional because it amends the first
sentence of Section 16, Article 6 by:

Digest Author: Cecille Mangaser

1.! Adding appointments requiring confirmation by CoA
2.! Imposing the confirmation of the CoA which are otherwise entrusted only with the
President
Section 16, Article 6 of the Constitution was deliberately intended by the framers to be a
departure from the system embodied in the 1935 constitution where CoA exercised the power of
confirmation over almost all presidential appointments leading to many cases of abuse of
such power of confirmation.
Dispositive:
Petition is dismissed. Article 215 of the Labor Code as amended by RA 6715, insofar as it
requires the confirmation of the CoA of appointments of the Chairman and Members of the
NLRC is declared unconstitutional and of no legal force and effect.