G.R. No. L-6266 February 2, 1953
EULOGIO RODRIGUEZ, SR., ETC., ET AL., petitioners, vs. VICENTE GELLA, ETC., ET AL., respondents.
FACTS
Petitioners seek to invalidate Executive Orders Nos. 545 and 546 issued on November 10, 1952. Executive Order No. 545 appropriated P37,850,500 for urgent public works, and Executive Order No. 546 appropriated P11,367,600 for relief in areas struck by calamities. These orders were issued by the President under the authority of Commonwealth Act No. 671, approved on December 16, 1941. This Act declared a state of total emergency due to the war involving the Philippines and authorized the President to promulgate rules and regulations to meet such emergency. The Supreme Court had previously, on August 26, 1949, declared certain executive orders issued under this Act null and void, finding that the Act had lapsed or that Congress had withdrawn the delegated powers by legislating on the same subjects.
ISSUE
Whether Executive Orders Nos. 545 and 546, issued in 1952 under the authority of Commonwealth Act No. 671, are valid.
RULING
No, Executive Orders Nos. 545 and 546 are null and void. Commonwealth Act No. 671, enacted pursuant to Section 26, Article VI of the Constitution, was intended to delegate legislative powers to the President for a limited period during the emergency resulting from the last world war which factually involved the Philippines. This emergency naturally terminated upon the ending of that war. The Act referred to a factual war, not a technical state of war, and the emergency contemplated was the one existing in 1941, not subsequent emergencies from other causes like typhoons or present world conditions. The Congress, through its actions and declarations (such as Republic Act No. 342 and House Bill No. 727 which sought to repeal emergency powers acts), had demonstrated that the emergency from the last war had ceased and that Congress itself had assumed the legislative power, thereby withdrawing the delegation. The President’s veto of House Bill No. 727 does not prevent the withdrawal of delegated powers, as it would be anomalous for Congress to need the President’s consent to take back powers it delegated. Therefore, the emergency powers under Commonwealth Act No. 671 had lapsed, and the President no longer had the authority to issue the challenged executive orders.