SABIO v.

GORDON
G.R. No. 174318 | 17 October 2006
IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION FOR ISSUANCE OF WRIT OF HABEAS v. HONORABLE SENATOR RICHARD GORDON, in his capacity as Chairman, and
CORPUS OF CAMILO L. SABIO, the HONORABLE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT
petitioner,J. ERMIN ERNEST LOUIE R. MIGUEL CORPORATIONS AND PUBLIC ENTERPRISES and THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC
SERVICES of the Senate, HONORABLE SENATOR JUAN PONCE-ENRILE, in his
official capacity as Member, HONORABLE MANUEL VILLAR, Senate
President, SENATE SERGEANT-AT- ARMS, and the SENATE OF THE
PHILIPPINES
G.R. No. 174318 | 17 October 2006
PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION ON GOOD GOVERNMENT (PCGG) and CAMILO v. RICHARD GORDON, in his capacity as Chairman, and MEMBERS OF THE
L. SABIO, Chairman, NARCISO S. NARIO, RICARDO M. ABCEDE, TERESO L. COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT CORPORATIONS AND PUBLIC ENTERPRISES,
JAVIER and NICASIO A. CONTI, Commissioners, MANUEL ANDAL and JULIO MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SERVICES, SENATOR JUAN
JALANDONI, PCGG nominees to Philcomsat Holdings Corporation PONCE-ENRILE, in his capacity as member of both said Committees,
MANUEL VILLAR, Senate President, THE SENATE SERGEANT-AT-ARMS, and
SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES,
G.R. No. 174177 | 17 October 2006
PHILCOMSAT HOLDINGS CORPORATIONS, PHILIP G. BRODETT, LUIS K. LOKIN, v. SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT CORPORATIONS and PUBLIC
JR., ROBERTO V. SAN JOSE, DELFIN P. ANGCAO, ROBERTO L. ABAD, ALMA ENTERPRISES, its MEMBERS and CHAIRMAN, the HONORABLE SENATOR
KRISTINA ALOBBA, and JOHNNY TAN, RICHARD GORDON and SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SERVICES, its
Members and Chairman, the HONORABLE SENATOR JOKER P. ARROYO,
Justice Sandoval-Gutierrez
FACTS: Then Pres. Corzazon Aquino, through EO No. 1, created the PCGG whose task is to
recover the ill-gotten wealth accumulated by deposed Pres. Marcos, his family,
relatives, subordinates and close associates.
o Sec. 4-b, EO 1 provides that: [n]o member or staff of the Commission shall be
required to testify or produce evidence in any judicial, legislative or
administrative proceeding concerning matters within its official cognizance.

The constitutionality of said provision is being questioned in this case on the ground
that it tramples upon the Senates power to conduct legislative inquiry under Art. VI,
Sec. 21 of the 1987 Constitution.

Philippine Senate Resolution No. 455 was introduced by then Sen. Defensor Santiago,
directing an inquiry in aid of legislation on the anomalous losses incurred by the
Philippines Overseas Telecommunications Corporation (POTC), Philippine
Communications Satellite Corporation (PHILCOMSAT), and PHILCOMSAT Holdings
Corporation (PHC) due to the alleged improprieties in their operations by their
respective Board of Directors.

Pursuant to this resolution, Senator Gordon requested PCGG Chairman Sabio and his
Commissioners to appear as resource persons in the public meeting jointly conducted
by the Committee on Government Corporations and Public Enterprises and Committee
on Public Services.

Chairman Sabio declined the invitation because of prior commitment, and at the same
time invoked Section 4(b) of EO No. 1.

ISSUE: Whether Sec. 4-b of EO No. 1 is unconstitutional.

HELD: Yes. Petitions dismissed; Sec.4-b of EO No. 1 is declared repealed.

RATIO: The power of inquiry is inherent in the power to legislate. Citing the case of Briggs v.
MacKellar: It is well-established principle of this parliamentary law, that either house
may institute any investigation having reference to its own organization, the conduct
or qualification of its members, its proceedings, rights, or privileges or any matter
affecting the public interest upon which it may be important that it should have exact
information, and in respect to which it would be competent for it to legislate. The right
to pass laws, necessarily implies the right to obtain information upon any matter which
may become the subject of a law. It is essential to the full and intelligent exercise of
the legislative function.

Similarly, McGrain in Arnault v. Nazareno, recognized that the power of inquiry is an

essential and appropriate auxiliary to the legislative function. A legislative body cannot
legislate wiself or effectively in the absence of information respecting the conditions
which the legislation is intended to affect or change; and where the legislation body
does not itself possess the requisite information which is not infrequently true
recourse must be had to others who possess it
 The 1987 Constitution recognizes the power of investigation, not just of Congress, but
also of "any of its committee." This is significant because it constitutes a direct
conferral of investigatory power upon the committees and it means that the
mechanisms which the Houses can take in order to effectively perform its investigative
function are also available to the committees.

Thus, it can be concluded that Sec.4-b is directly repugnant with Art. VI, Sec. 21. The
exemption provided in the subject provision, exempting PCGG members and staff from
legislative inquiry, cannot be countenanced. Nowhere in the Constitution is any
provision granting such exemption. The Congress' power of inquiry, being broad,
encompasses everything that concerns the administration of existing laws as well as
proposed or possibly needed statutes. It even extends "to government agencies
created by Congress and officers whose positions are within the power of Congress to
regulate or even abolish," and PCGG belongs to this class.