G.R. No.

L-52265 January 28, 1980 legislative policy and its formulation and promulgation as a defined and binding
rule of conduct. 2 It is a recognized principle in constitutional law that the
SAMUEL C. OCCEÑA, petitioner,  legislative body possesses Plenary power for all purposes of civil government
vs. The 1egislative power of the Interim Batasang Pambansa is, therefore,
COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, COMMISSION ON AUDIT, NATIONAL Complete, subject only to the limitation that the interim Batasang Pambansa
TREASURER, and DIRECTOR OF PRINTING, respondents. shall not exercise the power of the National Assembly in the ratification of
treaties. 3 The power to regulate the manner of conducting elections, to
Occeña Law Office for petitioner. Prescribe the form of the official ballot, and to provide for the Manner in which
candidates shall be chosen is inherently and historically legislative. Petitioner
has. not cited any provision of the Constitution, as amended by the
Office of the Solicitor General for respondents.
Amendments of 1976, which expressly or by implication deny to the Interim
Batasang Pambansa the authority to call for local elections. It is a well
ANTONIO, J.: established rule that where no exception is made in terms, none will be made
by mere implication or construction. The wordings of a constitutional provision
Petition for prohibition seeking to restrain respondents from implementing do not have a narrow or contracted meaning, but are used in a broad sense,
Batas Pambansa Big. 51 (providing for the elective and/or appointive positions with a view of covering all contingencies. Petitioner's invocation of the Report
in various local governments), 52 (governing the election of local government of the Committee on Transitory Provisions of October 13, 1972 does not.
officials scheduled on January 30, 1980), 53 (defining the rights and privileges support his contention that the Interim Batasang Pambansa has no power to
of accredited parties), and 54 (providing for a plebiscite, simultaneously with call local elections. The purported report refers to the interim National
the election of local officials on January 30, 1980, regarding the proposed Assembly in Article XVII, the convening of which was rejected by the Filipino
amendment of Article X, Section 7, of the 1973 Constitution). The people. As We stated in Peralta v. Commission on Elections: 4
constitutional issues raised are: (1) whether or not the Interim Batasang
Pambansa has the power to authorize the holding of local elections; (2) It should be recalled that under the terms of the Transitory
assuming it has such power, whether it can authorize said elections without Provisions of the Constitution, the membership of
enacting a local government code; (3) as g it may validly perform the the interim National Assembly would consist of the Incumbent
foregoing, whether it can schedule such elections less than ninety, (90) days President and Vice-President, the Senators and the
from the passage of the enabling law; and; (4), assuming further that the Representatives of the old Congress and the Delegates to the
proposed amendment to Article X, Section 7 of the Constitution is valid, Constitutional Convention who have opted to serve therein.
whether the plebiscite con be legally held together with the local elections. The The Filipino people rejected the convening of
thrust of Petitioner's arguments is that these issues should be resolved in the the interim National Assembly, and for a perfectly justifiable
negative. reason.

After deliberating on the memoranda and arguments adduced by both parties By September of 1976, the consensus had emerged for a
at the hearing as January 15, 1980, the Court finds no merit in the petition. referendum partaking of the character of a plebiscite which
would be held to establish the solid foundation for the next step
1. The leguslative power granted by Section 1, Artcle VIII of the Constitution to towards normalizing the political process. By the will of the
the National Assembly has been explicitly vested during the period of transition people, as expressed overwhelmingly in the plebiscite of
on the Interim Batasang Pambansa by Amendment No. 2 to the constitution. October 15 and 16, 1976, Amendments Nos. 1 to 9 were
The only station is that it shall not exercise its treaty ratification powers approved, abolishing the interim National Assembly and
provided in Article VIII, Section 14(1) of the Constitution. The legislative power creating in its stead an interim Batasang Pambansa. This was
has described generally as being a power to make, alter and laws. 1It is the intended as a preparatory and experimental step toward the
peculiar province of the legislature to probe general rules for the government
of society. The e of the legislative function is the determination of the
 establishment of full parliamentary government as provided for judges of inferior courts from sixty-five (65) to seventy (70) years is but a
in the Constitution. (at p. 61). restoration of the age of retirement provided in the 1935 Constitution and has
been intensively and extensively discussed at the Interim Batasang
In the search for the meaning of the language of the Constitution, reference Pambansa, as well as through the mass media, it cannot, therefore, be said
may be made to the historical basis of the provisions. The historical events and that our people are unaware of the advantages and disadvantages of the
circumstances which led to the ratification of Amendments Nos. I to 9 of the proposed amendment.
constitution show the manifest intent and desire of the people to establish,
during the period of transition, a government that can effectively provide for the ACCORDINGLY, the petition is DISMISSED. This decision is immediately
nation's peaceful and orderly transition from a crisis to a full parliament system executory.
of government.
SO ORDERED.
2. Neither can We find in Section 1, Article XI of the Constitution any
requirement that the enactment of a local government code is a condition Makasiar, Aquino, Concepcion, Jr., Abad Santos De Castro and Melencio-
sine qua non for the calling of the local elections by the Interim Batasang Herrera, JJ., concur.
Pambansa. Indeed, the holding of local elections does not, in any manner,
preclude the enactment of a local government code by the Batasang Teehankee, J., reserves his vote.
Pambansa at some later period. There cannot be any doubt that our local
governments are basic and fundamental units in our democratic institutions, To
Barredo, Fernandez and Guerrero, JJ., agree with the opinion of the Court
strengthen these institutions, the election of local officials should be
penned by Justice Felix Q. Antonio and Chief Justice Fernando certifies.
periodically held. 5 Accordingly, this Court is not inclined to adopt such a
technical or strained construction as will unduly impair the efficiency of the
Interim Batasang Pambansa in meeting the challenges and discharging its  Separate Opinions
responsibilities in response to the problems arising in a modernizing and
dynamic society. The legislative decision to call for local elections in order to FERNANDO, C J., concurring:
enable the Filipino people to exercise their sovereign right to choose their local
officials cannot, therefore, be faulted as a violation of the Constitution. With the opinion insofar as the Court found no merit in the petition seeking to
declare unconstitutional Batas Pambansa Blg. 51, 52 and 53 and takes no part
3. Section 6 of Article XII of the Constitution does not fix an unalterable period as far as the challenge to Batas Pambansa Blg. 54 is concerned.
of ninety (90) days for an election campaign. This provision must be construed
in relation to Section 5 of Article XII thereof which grants to the Commission on Footnotes
Elections the power to supervise or regulate the operation of transportation
1 Fernando, The Constitution of the Philippines, p. 172.
public utilities, media of communication, etc. during the "election period".
Section 6 fixes the "election period" by stating that unless fixed by the
2 Yakus v. United States, 321 US 414, 88 L. ed. 834.
Commission in special cases, the election period shall commence ninety (90)
days before the day of election and shall end thirty (30) days thereafter.
3 Amendment No. 2, in relation to Article VIII, Section 14(1), Constitution of the
In Peralta v. Commission on Elections, supra, We resolved, in effect, this issue Philippines.
by holding that the forty-five day period of campaign prescribed in Section 4 of
the 1978 Election Code was not violative of Section 6 of Article XII of the 4 L-47771, March 11, 1978, 82 SCRA 30.
Constitution.
5 As long as popular government is an end to be achieved and safeguarded,
4. Considering that the proposed amendment to Section 7 of Article X of the suffrage, whatever may be the modality and form devised, must continue to be the
means be which the a great reservoir of power must be emptied into the
Constitution extending the retirement of members of the Supreme Court and receptacular agencies wrought by the people through their Constitution in the
interest of good government and the common weal. ... (Moya v. Del Fierro 69 Phil.
199. 204 (1939), (PAngutan v. Abubakar, 43 SCRA 1, 11).