p ol i t ic a l l aw

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PHILCOMSAT HOLDINGS CORPORATION, et al.v.

SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES, et al.
G.R. No. 180308, 19 June 2012, EN BANC (Perlas-Bernabe, J.)

The conferral of the legislative power of inquiry upon any committee of Congress must
carry with it all powers necessary and proper for its effective discharge.

Petitioners Enrique L. Locsin (Locsin) and Manuel D. Andal (Andal)
are nominees of the government to the board of directors of Philippine
Communications Satellite Corporation (PHILCOMSAT) and Philippine Overseas
Telecommunications Corporation (POTC). Both Locsin and Andal are also
directors and corporate officers of Philcomsat Holdings Corporations (PHC). By
virtue of its interest in both PHILCOMSAT and POTC, the government has also
substantial interest in PHC.

The government, through the Presidential Commission on Good
Government (PCGG), received cash dividends from POTC. However, POTC
suffered losses because of its huge operating expenses. In view of the losses
and to protect the governments interest in POTC, PHILCOMSAT and PHC,
Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago introduced Proposed Senate Resolution No.
455 directing the conduct of an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the losses incurred
by POTC, PHILCOMSAT and PHC and the mismanagement committed by
their respective board of directors. PSR No. 455 was referred to Committee on
Government Corporations and Public Enterprises (Senate Committee), which
conducted hearings. Locsin and Andal were invited to attend these hearings as
resource persons. The Senate Committee found an overwhelming mismanagement
by the PCGG over POTC, PHILCOMSAT and PHC, and that PCGG was
negligent in performing its mandate to preserve the governments interest in the
said corporations.

Committee Report No. 312 recommended the privatization and transfer of
the jurisdiction over the shares of the government in POTC and PHILCOMSAT
to the Privatization Management Office (PMO) under the Department of Finance
(DOF) and the replacement of government nominees as directors of POTC and
PHILCOMSAT. Locsin and Andal filed a petition before the Supreme Court
questioning the hasty approval of the Senate of the Committee Report No. 312.
ISSUE:

Whether or not Senate committed grave abuse of discretion amounting
to lack or excess of jurisdiction in approving Committee Resolution No. 312

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recent jurisprudence

HELD:

The Senate Committees power of inquiry relative to PSR No. 455 has
been passed upon and upheld in the consolidated cases of In the Matter of the
Petition for Habeas Corpus of Camilo L. Sabio which cited Article VI, Section 21 of
the Constitution, as follows:
The Senate or the House of Representatives or any of its
respective committees may conduct inquiries in aid of legislation
in accordance with its duly published rules of procedure. The
rights of persons appearing in or affected by such inquiries shall
be respected.

The Court explained that such conferral of the legislative power of

inquiry upon any committee of Congress, in this case, the respondents Senate
Committees, must carry with it all powers necessary and proper for its effective
discharge. On this score, the Senate Committee cannot be said to have acted with
grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or in excess of jurisdiction when it
submitted Committee Resolution No. 312, given its constitutional mandate to
conduct legislative inquiries. Nor can the Senate Committee be faulted for doing
so on the very same day that the assailed resolution was submitted. The wide
latitude given to Congress with respect to these legislative inquiries has long been
settled, otherwise, Article VI, Section 21 would be rendered pointless.

JAMAR KULAYAN, et al. v. GOV. ABDUSAKUR TAN,

in his capacity as Governor of Sulu, et al.
G.R. No. 187298, 03 July 2012, EN BANC (Sereno, J.)
The calling-out powers contemplated under the Constitution isexclusiveto the President.
An exercise by another official, even if he is the local chief executive, isultra vires, and may not
be justified by the invocation of Section 465 of the Local Government Code.
Three members from the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) were kidnapped in the vicinity of the Provincial Capitol in Patikul, Sulu.
Andres Notter, Eugenio Vagni, and Marie Jean Lacaba, were purportedly inspecting
a water sanitation project for the Sulu Provincial Jail when they were seized by
three armed men who were later confirmed to be members of the Abu Sayyaf
Group (ASG). A Local Crisis Committee, later renamed Sulu Crisis Management

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