G.R.
No. 86649 July 12, 1990
Topic:
Commission on Appointments
Facts:
1. The congressional elections of May 11, 1987
resulted in the election to the House of the candidates of diverse political
parties such as the PDP-Laban, Lakas ng Bansa (LB), Liberal Party (LP),
NP-Unido, Kilusan ng Bagong Lipunan (KBL), Panaghiusa, Kababaihan Para sa Inang
Bayan (KAIBA), and some independents. Petitioner Anna Dominique M.L. Coseteng
was the only candidate elected under the banner of KAIBA.
2. Then, House , upon nomination by the Majority
Floor Leader, Cong. Francisco Sumulong, elected from the Coalesced Majority,
eleven (11) out of twelve (12) congressmen to represent the House in the
Commission on Appointments (CA).
3. Upon nomination of the Minority Floor Leader,
the House elected Honorable Roque Ablan, Jr., KBL, as the 12th CA
member, representing the Coalesced Minority in the House.
4.
A year later, the LDP was organized as a
political party. As 158 out of 202 members of the House affiliated with it the
House committees, including the House representation in the CA, had to be
reorganized to conform with the new political alignments.
5. Petitioner Coseteng wrote a letter to Speaker
Ramon Mitra requesting that as representative of KAIBA, she be appointed as a
member of the CA and HRET. Her request was endorsed by nine (9) congressmen.
After the reorganization, Congressman Ablan, KBL, was retained as the 12th
member representing the House minority.
6. Hence the
petition of for Extraordinary legal writs by Coseteng to declare as null and
void the election of respondent Ablan, Verano-Yap, Romero, Cuenco, Mercado,
Bandon, Cabochan, Imperial, Lobregat, Beltran, Locsin, and Singson, as members
of the Commission on Appointments, to enjoin them from acting as such and to
enjoin also the other respondents from recognizing them as members of the
Commission on Appointments on the theory that their election to that Commission
violated the constitutional mandate of proportional representation on following
grounds:
a. the
New Majority (158 LDP members out of the 202 members of the House) is entitled
to only nine (9) seats out of the twelve to be filled by the House;
b. the
members representing the political parties, or coalitions thereof, must be
nominated by their respective political parties or coalitions;
c. the
nomination and election of respondent Verano-Yap by the respondents as
representative of the minority was clearly invalid;
and
d. that
similarly invalid was the retention of respondent Ablan as Minority member in
the Commission because he was neither nominated nor elected as such by the
minority party or parties in the House.
7. Petitioner Coseteng further alleged that
she is qualified to sit in the CA as a representative of the Minority because
she has the support of nine (9) other congressmen and congresswomen of the
Minority .
8. Respondent’s contention was that: (1) that the legality of the reorganization of the
CA is a political question, hence, outside the jurisdiction of this Court to
decide, and (2) that in any case, the reorganization was "strictly in
consonance with Section 18, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution" i.e.,
on the basis of proportional representation of the political parties,
considering the majority coalition "as a form of a political party"
ISSUE: W/N the
members of the House in the Commission on Appointments were chosen on the basis
of proportional representation from the political parties therein as provided
in Section 18, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution
YES.
1. The Court held
that the petition should be dismissed, not because it raises a political
question, (which it does not), but because the revision of the House
representation in the CA is based on proportional representation of the
political parties therein as provided in Section 18, Article VI of the 1987
Constitution. Moreover, there is no merit in the petitioner's contention
that the House members in the CA should have been nominated and elected by
their respective political parties, as they were nominated by their respective
floor leaders in the House. They were elected by the House (not by their party)
in accordance with the Constitution. The validity of their election to the
Commission on Appointments — eleven (11) from the Coalesced Majority and one
from the minority — is unassailable.
2. There are 160 members of the LDP in the House.
They represent 79% of the House membership (which may be rounded out to 80%).
Eighty percent (80%) of 12 members in the Commission on Appointments would
equal 9.6 members, which may be rounded out to ten (10) members from the LDP.
The remaining two seats were apportioned to the LP (respondent Lorna
Verano-Yap) as the next largest party in the Coalesced Majority and the KBL
(respondent Roque Ablan) as the principal opposition party in the House. There
is no doubt that this apportionment of the House membership in the Commission
on Appointments was done "on the basis of proportional representation of
the political parties therein.
3. The other political parties or groups in the
House, such as petitioner's KAIBA (which is presumably a member also of the
Coalesced Majority), are bound by the majority's choices. Even if KAIBA were to
be considered as an opposition party, its lone member (petitioner Coseteng)
represents only .4% or less than 1% of the House membership, hence, she is not
entitled to one of the 12 House seats in the Commission on Appointments. To be
able to claim proportional membership in the Commission on Appointments, a
political party should represent at least 8.4% of the House membership, i.e.,
it should have been able to elect at least 17 congressmen or congresswomen.
4. The indorsements of the nine (9) congressmen and
congresswomen in favor of the petitioner's election to the Commission are
inconsequential because they are not members of her party and they signed
identical indorsements in favor of her rival, respondent Congresswoman
Verano-Yap.
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