PADILLA V. CONGRESS:The Congress is not constitutionally mandated to convene in joint session except to vote jointly to revoke the President's declaration or suspension.

issues:

I. Whether or not the Court has jurisdiction over the subject matter of these consolidated petitions;

II. Whether or not the petitions satisfy the requisites for the Court's exercise of its power of judicial review;

III. Whether or not the Congress has the mandatory duty to convene jointly upon the President's proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus under Article VII, Section 18 of the 1987 Constitution; and

IV. Whether or not a writ of mandamus or certiorari may be issued in the present cases.

 The duty of the Congress to vote jointly

under Article VII, Section 18

We now come to the crux of the present petitions - the issue of whether or not under Article VII, Section 18 of the 1987 Constitution, it is mandatory for the Congress to automatically convene in joint session in the event that the President proclaims a state of martial law and/or suspends the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in the Philippines or any part thereof.

The Court answers in the negative. The Congress is not constitutionally mandated to convene in joint session except to vote jointly to revoke the President's declaration or suspension.

X X X 

As earlier discussed, under the Court's expanded jurisdiction, a petition for certiorari is a proper remedy to question the act of any branch or instrumentality of the government on the ground of grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction by any branch or instrumentality of the government, even if the latter does not exercise judicial, quasi-judicial or ministerial functions.95 Grave abuse of discretion implies such capricious and whimsical exercise of judgment as to be equivalent to lack or excess of jurisdiction; in other words, power is exercised in an arbitrary or despotic manner by reason of passion, prejudice, or personal hostility; and such exercise is so patent or so gross as to amount to an evasion of a positive duty or to a virtual refusal either to perform the duty enjoined or to act at all in contemplation of law.96 It bears to mention that to pray in one petition for the issuance of both a writ of mandamus and a writ of certiorari for the very same act - which, in the Tañada Petition, the non-convening by the two Houses of the Congress in joint session - is contradictory, as the former involves a mandatory duty which the government branch or instrumentality must perform without discretion, while the latter recognizes discretion on the part of the government branch or instrumentality but which was exercised arbitrarily or despotically. Nevertheless, if the Court is to adjudge the petition for certiorari alone, it still finds the same to be without merit. To reiterate, the two Houses of the Congress decided to no longer hold a joint session only after deliberations among their Members and putting the same to vote, in accordance with their respective rules of procedure. Premises considered, the Congress did not gravely abuse its discretion when it did not jointly convene upon the President's issuance of Proclamation No. 216 prior to expressing its concurrence thereto.

EN BANC

July 25, 2017

G.R. No. 231671

ALEXANDER A. PADILLA, RENE A.V. SAGUISAG, CHRISTIAN S. MONSOD, LORETTA ANN P. ROSALES, RENE B. GOROSPE, and SENATOR LEILA M. DE LIMA, Petitioners
vs.
CONGRESS OF THE PHILIPPINES, consisting of the SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES, as represented by Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, and the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, as represented by House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez, Respondents