6 - Sarmiento v. Mison

8/26/2017 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 156
VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 549

Sarmiento III vs. Mison
*
No. L-79974. December 17, 1987.
ULPIANO P. SARMIENTO III AND JUANITO G. ARCILLA,

petitioners, vs. SALVADOR MISON, in his capacity as
COMMISSIONER OF THE BUREAU OF CUSTOMS, AND
GUILLERMO CARAGUE, in his capacity as SECRETARY OF
THE DEPARTMENT OF BUDGET, respondents, COMMISSION
ON APPOINTMENTS, intervenor.
Statutory Construction; Constitution; Intent of the framers of the

constitution and of the people adopting it must be given effect.The
fundamental principle of constitutional construction is to give ef fect to the
intent of the framers of the organic law and of the people adopting it. The
intention to which force is to be given is that which is embodied and
expressed in the constitutional provisions themselves. The Court will thus
construe the applicable constitutional provisions, not in accordance with
how the executive or the legislative department may want them construed,
but in accordance with what they say and provide.
Same; Same; Same; 1935 Constitution requires conrmation by the
Commission on Appointments of all presidential appointments, under the
1973 constitution the president has absolute power of appointment while
under the 1987 Constitution, only the rst group of appointments requires
conrmation of the Commission on Appointments.In the 1935
Constitution, almost all presidential appointments required the consent
(conrmation) of the Commission on Appointments, It is now a sad part of
our political history that the power of conrmation by the Commission on
Appointments, under the 1935 Constitution, transformed that commission,
many times, into a venue of "horse-trading" and similar malpractices. On
the other hand, the 1973 Constitution, consistent with the authoritarian
pattern in which it was molded and re-molded by successive amendments,
placed the absolute power of appointment in the President with hardly any
check on the part of the legislature. Given the above two (2) extremes, one,
in the 1935 Constitution and the other, in the 1973 Constitution, it is not
difcult for the Court to state that the framers of the 1987 Constitution and
the people adopting it, struck a "middle ground" by requiring the consent
(conrmation) of the Commission on Appointments for the rst group of
appointments and
http://www.central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/0000015e1c6c3a79897108dc003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 1/32
_______________
* EN BANC.
550
550 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED
leaving to the President, without such conrmation, the appointment of

other ofcers, i.e., those in the second and third groups as well as those in
the fourth group, i.e., ofcers of lower rank.
Same; Same; Same; Same; Under the 1987 Constitution, the clear and
expressed intent of its framers is to exclude presidential appointments from
conrmation on the Commission on Appointments except appointments to
ofces mentioned in the rst sentence of Sec. 16 Article VII.In the 1987
Constitution, however, as already pointed out, the clear and expressed intent
of its framers was to exclude presidential appointments from conrmation
by the Commission on Appointments, except appointments to ofces
expressly mentioned in the rst sentence of Sec. 16, Article VII.
Consequently, there was no reason to use in the third sentence of Sec. 16,
Article VII the word "alone" after the word "President" in providing that
Congress may by law vest the appointment of lower-ranked ofcers in the
President alone, or in the courts, or in the heads of departments, because the
power to appoint ofcers whom he (the President) may be authorized by law
to appoint is already vested in the President, without need of conrmation by
the Commission on Appointments, in the second sentence of the same Sec.
16, Article VII.
Same; Same; Same; Same; Same; The word "alone" in the third
sentence of Sec. 16 Art. VII of the 1987 Constitution is a redundancy in the
light of the second sentence of Sec. 16 Article VII.Therefore, the third
sentence of Sec. 16, Article VII could have stated merely that, in the case of
lower-ranked ofcers, the Congress may by law vest their appointment in
the President, in the courts, or in the heads of various departments of the
government. In short, the word "alone" in the third sentence of Sec. 16,
Article VII of the 1987 Constitution, as a literal import from the last part of
par. 3, section 10, Article VII of the 1935 Constitution, appears to be
redundant in the light of the second sentence of Sec. 16, Article VII. And,
this redundancy cannot prevail over the clear and positive intent of the
framers of the 1987 Constitution that presidential appointments, except
those mentioned in the rst sentence of Sec. 16, Article VII, are not subject
to conrmation by the Commission on Appointments.
Commission on Appointments; Conrmation of the appointment of
Commissioners of the Bureau of Customs by the Commission on
Appointments not required.Coming now to the immediate question before

the Court, it is evident that the position of Commissioner of the Bureau of
Customs (a bureau head) is not one of those within the rst group of
appointments where the consent of the Commission on
551
VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 551
Appointments is required. As a matter of fact, as already pointed out, while

the 1935 Constitution includes "heads of bureaus" among those ofcers
whose appointments need the consent of the Commission on Appointments,
the 1987 Constitution, on the other hand, deliberately excluded the position
of "heads of bureaus" from appointments that need the consent
(conrmation) of the Commission on Appointments.
Same; Same; Appointment of respondent Savlador Mison as
Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs without submitting his nomination
to the Commission on Appointments is within the constitutional authority of
the President of the Philippines.Consequently, we rule that the President
of the Philippines acted within her constitutional authority and power in
appointing respondent Salvador Mison, Commissioner of the Bureau of
Customs, without submitting his nomination to the Commission on
Appointments for conrmation. He is thus entitled to exercise the full
authority and functions of the of ce and to receive all the salaries and
emoluments pertaining thereto.
PADILLA, J.:
Once more the Court is called upon to delineate constitutional

boundaries. In this petition for prohibition, the petitioners, who are
taxpayers, lawyers, members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines
and professors of Constitutional Law, seek to enjoin the respondent
Salvador Mison from performing the functions of the Ofce of
Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs and the respondent
Guillermo Carague, as Secretary of the Department of Budget, from
effecting disbursements in payment of Mison's salaries and
emoluments, on the ground that Mison's appointment as
Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs is unconstitutional by
reason of its not having been conrmed by the Commission on
Appointments. The respondents, on the other hand, maintain the
constitutionality of respondent Mison's appointment without the
conf irmation of the Commission on Appointments.
Because of the demands of public interest, including the need for
stability in the public service, the Court resolved to give due course
to the petition and decide, setting aside the ner procedural

questions of whether prohibition is the proper
552

remedy to test respondent Mison's right to the Ofce of

Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs and of whether the
petitioners have a standing to bring this suit.
By the same token, and for the same purpose, the Court allowed
the Commission on Appointments to intervene and le a petition in
intervention. Comment was required of respondents on said petition.
The comment was led, followed by intervenor's reply thereto. The
parties were also heard in oral argument on 8 December 1987.
This case assumes added signicance because, at bottom line, it
involves a conict between two (2) great departments of
government, the Executive and Legislative Departments. It also
occurs early in the life of the 1987 Constitution.
The task of the Court is rendered lighter by the existence of
relatively clear provisions in the Constitution. In cases like this, we
follow what the Court, speaking through Mr. Justice (later, Chief
Justice) Jose Abad Santos stated in Gold Creek Mining Corp. vs.
1
Rodriguez, that:
'The fundamental principle of constitutional construction is to give effect to

the intent of the framers of the organic law and of the people adopting it.
The intention to which force is to be given is that which is embodied and
expressed in the constitutional provisions themselves."
The Court will thus construe the applicable constitutional

provisions, not in accordance with how the executive or the
legislative department may want them construed, but in accordance
with what they say and provide.
Section 16, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution says:
"The President shall nominate and, with the consent of the Commission on
Appointments, appoint the heads of the executive departments,
ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, or ofcers of the armed
forces from the rank of colonel or naval captain, and other ofcers whose
appointments are vested in him in this Constitution. He shall also appoint all
other ofcers of the Government whose appointments are not otherwise
provided for by law, and those
_______________
1 66 Phil. 259, at 264.
553
VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 553

whom he may be authorized by law to appoint. The Congress may, by law,

vest the appointment of other ofcers lower in rank in the President alone,
in the courts, or in the heads of the departments, agencies, commissions or
boards.
"The President shall have the power to make appointments during the
recess of the Congress, whether voluntary or compulsory, but such
appointments shall be effective only until disapproval by the Commission
on Appointments or until the next adjournment of the Congress."
It is readily apparent that under the provisions of the 1987

Constitution, just quoted, there are four (4) groups of ofcers whom
the President shall appoint. These four (4) groups, to which we will
hereafter refer from time to time, are:
First, the heads of the executive departments, ambassadors, other public

ministers and consuls, ofcers of the armed forces from the rank of colonel
or naval captain, and other ofcers whose appointments are vested in him in
2
this Constitution;
Second, all other ofcers of the Government whose appointments are not
3
otherwise provided for by law;
Third, those whom the President may be authorized by law to appoint;
_______________
2 The "other ofcers" whose appointments are vested in the President in the 1987
Constitution are:
1. Regular members of the Judicial and Bar Council (ART. VIII, Sec. 8(2);
2. Chairman and Commissioners of the Civil Service Commission (ART. IX-B,
Sec. 1(2);
3. Chairman and Commissioners of the Commission on Elections (ART. IX-C,
Sec. 1(2);
4. Chairman and Commissioners of the Commission on Audit (ART. IX-D, Sec.
1(2): and,
5. Members of the regional consultative commission (ART. X, Sec. 18)
3 When Congress creates inferior ofces and omits to provide for appointments to
them, or provides in an unconstitutional way for such appointment, the ofcers are
within the meaning of the clause "ofcers of the Government whose appointments are
not otherwise provided for by law" and the power to appoint such ofcers devolves
on the President. (USC, Const., Par. II, p. 529, citing Op., Atty. Gen. 213.)
554

4
Fourth, ofcers lower in rank whose appointments the Congress may by
law vest in the President alone.
The rst group of ofcers is clearly appointed with the consent of

the Commission on Appointments. Appointments of such ofcers
are initiated by nomination and, if the nomination is conrmed by
5
the Commission on Appointments, the President appoints.
The second, third and fourth groups of ofcers are the present
bone of contention. Should they be appointed by the President with
or without the consent (conrmation) of the Commission on
Appointments? By following the accepted rule in constitutional and
statutory construction that an express enumeration of subjects
excludes others not enumerated, it would follow that only those
appointments to positions expressly stated in the rst group require
the consent (conrmation) of the Commission on Appointments. But
we need not rely solely on this basic rule of constitutional
construction. We can refer to historical background as well as to the
records of the 1986 Constitutional Commission to determine, with
more accuracy, if not precision, the intention of the framers of the
1987 Constitution and the people adopting it, on whether the
appointments by the President, under the second, third and fourth
groups, require the consent (conrmation) of the Commission on
Appointments. Again, in this task, the following advice of Mr. Chief
Justice J. Abad Santos in Gold Creek is apropos:
"In deciding this point, it should be borne in mind that a constitutional

provision must be presumed to have been framed and adopted in the light
and understanding of prior and existing laws and with reference to them.
"Courts are bound to presume that the people adopting a constitution are
familiar with the previous and existing
_______________
4 The 1935 Constitution says "inferior ofcers" while the 1987 Constitution states "ofcers
lower in rank."
5 Example: Sen. Raul S. Manglapus was rst nominated by the President for the position of
Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs (an executive department). After his nomination
was conrmed by the Commission on Appointments, the President appointed him Secretary of
Foreign Affairs.
555
VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 555

laws upon the subjects to which its provisions relate, and upon which they
express their judgment and opinion in its adoption." (Barry vs. Truax, 13
6
N.D., 131; 99 N.W., 769:65 L. R. A., 762.) "
It will be recalled that, under Sec. 10, Article VII of the 1935
Constitution, it is provided that
x x x x x
"(3) The President shall nominate and with the consent of the
Commission on Appointments, shall appoint the heads of
the executive departments and bureaus, ofcers of the army
from the rank of colonel, of the Navy and Air Forces from
the rank of captain or commander, and all other ofcers of
the Government whose appointments are not herein
otherwise provided for, and those whom he may be
authorized by law to appoint; but the Congress may by law
vest the appointment of inferior ofcers, in the President
alone, in the courts, or in the heads of departments.
"(4) The President shall have the power to make appointments
during the recess of the Congress, but such appointments
shall be effective only until disapproval by the Commission
on Appointments or until the next adjournment of the
Congress.
x x x x x
"(7) x x x, and with the consent of the Commission on

Appointments, shall appoint ambassadors, other public
ministers and consuls x x x."
Upon the other hand, the 1973 Constitution provides that
"Section 10. The President shall appoint the heads of bureaus and ofces,
the ofcers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines from the rank of
Brigadier General or Commodore, and all other ofcers of the government
whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and those whom
he may be authorized by law to appoint. However, the Batasang Pambansa
may by law vest in the Prime Minister, members of the Cabinet, the
Executive Committee, Courts, Heads of Agencies, Commissions, and
Boards the power to appoint inferior ofcers in their respective ofces."
Thus, in the 1935 Constitution, almost all presidential appointments

required the consent (conrmation) of the Commis-
_______________
6 66 Phil. 259, at 265.
556

sion on Appointments. It is now a sad part of our political history

that the power of conrmation by the Commission on Appointments,
under the 1935 Constitution, transformed that commission, many
times, into a venue of "horse-trading" and similar malpractices.
On the other hand, the 1973 Constitution, consistent with the
authoritarian pattern in which it was molded and remolded by
successive amendments, placed the absolute power of appointment
in the President with hardly any check on the part of the legislature.
Given the above two (2) extremes, one, in the 1935 Constitution
and the other, in the 1973 Constitution, it is not difcult for the
Court to state that the framers of the 1987 Constitution and the
people adopting it, struck a "middle ground" by requiring the
consent (conrmation) of the Commission on Appointments for the
rst group of appointments and leaving to the President, without
such conrmation, the appointment of other ofcers, i.e., those in
the second and third groups as well as those in the fourth group, i.e.,
ofcers of lower rank.
The proceedings in the 1986 Constitutional Commission support
this conclusion. The original text of Section 16, Article VII, as
proposed by the Committee on the Executive of the 1986
Constitutional Commission, read as follows:
"Section 16. The president shall nominate and, with the consent of a
Commission on Appointment, shall appoint the heads of the executive
departments and bureaus, ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls,
or ofcers of the armed forces from the rank of colonel or naval captain and
all other ofcers of the Government whose appointments are not otherwise
provided for by law, and those whom he may be authorized by law to
appoint. The Congress may by law vest the appointment of inferior ofcers
7
in the President alone, in the courts, or in the heads of departments"
[Emphasis supplied].
The above text is almost a verbatim copy of its counterpart provision

in the 1935 Constitution. When the frames discussed on the oor of
the Commission the proposed text of Section 16,
_______________
7 Pp. 384-385, Vol. II, RECORD OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COMMISSION

OF 1986.
557
VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 557

Article VII, a feeling was manifestly expressed to make the power of

the Commission on Appointments over presidential appointments
more limited than that held by the Commission in the 1935
Constitution, Thus
"Mr. Rama: x x x May I ask that Commissioner Monsod be recogized.

The President: We will call Commissioner Davide later. Mr. Monsod:
With the Chair's indulgence, I just want to take a few minutes of our time to
lay the basis for some of the amendments that I would like to propose to the
Committee this morning.
x x xx x xx x x
On Section 16, / would like to suggest that the power of the Commission
on Appointments be limited to the department heads, ambassadors, generals
and so on but not to the levels of bureau heads and colonels.
8
x x x x x x x x" (Emphasis supplied.)
In the course of the debates on the text of Section 16, there were two
(2) major changes proposed and approved by the Commission.
These were (1) the exclusion of the appointments of heads of
bureaus from the requirement of conrmation by the Commission
on Appointments; and 9
(2) the exclusion of appointments made under
the second sentence of the section from the same requirement. The
records of the deliberations of the Contitutional Commission show
the following:
"MR. ROMULO: I ask that Commissioner Foz be recognized.

THE PRESIDENT: Commissioner Foz is recognized.
MR. FOZ: Madam President, my proposed amendment is on page 7,
Section 16, line 26 which is to delete the words 'and bureaus,' and on line 28
of the same page, to change the phrase 'colonel or naval captain' to MAJOR
GENERAL OR REAR ADMIRAL. This last amendment which is co-
authored by Commissioner de Castro is
_______________
8 Pp. 433-435, Vol. II, RECORD OF THE 1986 CONSTITUTIONAL

COMMISSION.
9 The second sentence of Sec. 16, ART. VII of the 1987 Constitution refers to what
this Decision calls the second and third groups of ofcers appointed by the President.
558

to put a period (.) after the word ADMIRAL, and on line 29 of the same
page, start a new sentence with: HE SHALL ALSO APPOINT, et cetera.
MR. REGALADO. May we have the amendments one by one. The rst
proposed amendment is to delete the words 'and bureaus' on line 26,
MR. FOZ: That is correct.

MR. REGALADO: For the benet of the other Commissioners, what
would be the justication of the proponent for such a deletion?
MR. FOZ: The position of bureau director is actually quite low in the
executive department, and to require further conrmation of presidential
appointment of heads of bureaus would subject them to political inuence.
MR. REGALADO: The Commissioner's proposed amendment by
deletion also includes regional directors as distinguished from merely staff
directors, because the regional directors have quite a plenitude of powers
within the regions as distinguished from staff directors who only stay in the
ofce.
MR. FOZ: Yes, but the regional directors are under the supervision of the
staff bureau directors.
x x x x x x x x x
MR. MAAMBONG: May I direct a question to Commissioner Foz? The
Commissioner proposed an amendment to delete 'and bureaus' on Section
16. Who will then appoint the bureau directors if it is not the President?
MR. FOZ: It is still the President who will appoint them but their
appointment shall no longer be subject to conrmation by the Commission
on Appointments.
MR. MAAMBONG: In other words, it is in line with the same answer of
Commissioner de Castro?
MR. FOZ: Yes.
MR. MAAMBONG: Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Is this clear now? What is the reaction of the
Committee?
x x x x x x x x x
MR. REGALADO: Madam President, the Committee feels that this
matter should be submitted to the body for a vote.
MR. DE CASTRO: Thank you.
559
VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 559

MR. REGALADO: We will take the amendments one by one. We will rst
vote on the deletion of the phrase 'and bureaus' on line 26, such that
appointments of bureau directors no longer need conrmation by the
Commission on Appointment.
Section 16, therefore, would read: 'The President shall nominate, and
with the consent of a Commission on Appointments, shall appoint the heads
of the executive departments, ambassadors. . , .'
THE PRESIDENT: Is there any objection to delete the phrase 'and
bureaus' on page 7, line 26? (Silence) The Chair hears none; the
amendments is approved.
x x x x x x x x x
MR. ROMULO: Madam President.
THE PRESIDENT: The Acting Floor Leader is recognized.

THE PRESIDENT: Commissioner Foz is recognized.
MR. FOZ: Madam President, this is the third proposed amendment on
page 7, line 28.1 propose to put a period (.) after 'captain' and on line 29,
delete 'and all' and substitute it with HE SHALL ALSO APPOINT ANY.
MR. REGALADO: Madam President, the Committee accepts the
proposed amendment because it makes it clear that those other ofcers
mentioned therein do not have to be conrmed by the Commission on
Appointments.
MR. DAVIDE: Madam President.
THE PRESIDENT: Commissioner Davide is recognized.
x x x x x x x x x
MR. DAVIDE: So would the proponent accept an amendment to his
amendment, so that after 'captain' we insert the following words: AND
OTHER OFFICERS WHOSE APPOINTMENTS ARE VESTED IN HIM
IN THIS CONSTITUTION?
FR. BERNAS: It is a little vague.
MR. DAVIDE: In other words, there are positions provided for in the
Constitution whose appointments are vested in the President, as a matter of
fact like those of the different constitutional commissions.
FR. BERNAS: That is correct. This list of ofcials found in Section 16 is
not an exclusive list of those appointments which constitutionally require
conrmation of the Commission on Appointments.
MR. DAVIDE: That is the reason I seek the incorporation of
560

the words I proposed.

FR, BERNAS: Will Commissioner Davide restate his proposed
amendment?
MR. DAVIDE: After 'captain,' add the following: AND OTHER
OFFICERS WHOSE APPOINTMENTS ARE VESTED IN HIM IN THIS
CONSTITUTION.
FR. BERNAS: How about: 'AND OTHER OFFICERS WHOSE
APPOINTMENTS REQUIRE CONFIRMATION UNDER THIS
CONSTITUTION'?
MR. DAVIDE: Yes, Madam President, that is modied by the
Committee.
FR. BERNAS: That will clarify things.
THE PRESIDENT: Does the Committee accept?
MR. REGALADO: Just for the record, of course, that excludes those
ofcers which the Constitution does not require conrmation by the
Commission on Appointments, like the members of the judiciary and the
Ombudsman.
MR. DAVIDE: That is correct. That is very clear from the modication
made by Commissioner Bernas. THE PRESIDENT: So we have now this
proposed amendment of Commissioners Foz and Davide.
x x x x x x x x x
THE PRESIDENT: Is there any objection to this proposed amendment of
Commissioners Foz and Davide as accepted by the Committee? (Silence)
10
The Chair hears none; the amendment, as amended, is approved"
(Emphasis supplied).
It is, therefore, clear that appointments to the second and third

groups of ofcers can be made by the President without the consent
It is contended by amicus curiae, Senator Neptali Gonzales, that
the second sentence of Sec. 16, Article VII reading
". . . He (the President) shall also appoint all other ofcers of the
Government whose appointments are not otherwise provided for by law and
those whom he may be authorized by law to appoint . . .
_______________
10 Pp. 514-521, Vol. II, RECORD OF THE 1986 CONSTITUTIONAL

COMMISSION.
561
VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 561

x x x" (Emphasis supplied)
with particular reference to the word "also," implies that the

President shall "in like manner" appoint the ofcers mentioned in
said second sentence. In other words, the President shall appoint the
ofcers mentioned in said second sentence in the same manner as he
appoints ofcers mentioned in the rst sentence, that is, by
nomination and with the consent (conrmation) of the Commission
on Appointments.
Amicus curiae's reliance on the word "also" in said second
sentence is not necessarily supportive of the conclusion he arrives at.
For, as the Solicitor General argues, the word "also" could mean "in
addition; as well; besides, too" (Webster's International Dictionary,
p. 62, 1981 edition) which meanings could, on the contrary, stress
that the word "also" in said second sentence means that the
President, in addition to nominating and, with the consent of the
Commission on Appointments, appointing the ofcers enumerated
in the rst sentence, can appoint (without such consent
(conrmation) the off icers mentioned in the second sentence.
Rather than limit the area of consideration to the possible

meanings of the word "also" as used in the context of said second
sentence, the Court has chosen to derive signicance from the fact
that the rst sentence speaks of nomination by the President and
appointment by the President with the consent of the Commission on
Appointments, whereas, the second sentence speaks only of
appointment by the President. And, this use of different language in
two (2) sentences proximate to each other underscores a difference
in message conveyed and perceptions established, in line with Judge
Learned Hand's observation that "words are not pebbles in alien
juxtaposition" but, more so, because the recorded proceedings of the
1986 Constitutional Commission clearly and expressly justify such
differences.
As a result of the innovations introduced in Sec. 16, Article VII
of the 1987 Constitution, there are ofcers whose appointments
require no conrmation of the Commission on Appointments, even
if such ofcers may be higher in rank, compared to some ofcers
whose appointments have to be conrmed by the
562

Commission on Appointments under the rst sentence of the same

Sec. 16, Art. VII. Thus, to illustrate, the appointment of the Central
Bank Governor requires no conrmation by the Commission on
Appointments, even if he is higher in rank than a colonel in the
Armed Forces of the Philippines or a consul in the Consular Service.
But these contrasts, while initially impressive, merely underscore
the purposive intention and deliberate judgment of the framers of the
1987 Constitution that, except as to those ofcers whose
appointments require the consent of the Commission on
Appointments by express mandate of the rst sentence in Sec., 16,
Art. VII, appointments of other ofcers are left to the President
without need of conrmation by the Commission on Appointments.
This conclusion is inevitable, if we are to presume, as we must, that
the framers of the 1987 Constitution were knowledgeable of what
they were doing and of the foreseable effects thereof.
Besides, the power to appoint is fundamentally executive or
presidential in character. Limitations on or qualications of such
power should be strictly construed against them. Such limitations or
qualications must be clearly stated in order to be recognized. But, it
is only in the rst sentence of Sec. 16, Art. VII where it is clearly
stated that appointments by the President to the positions therein
enumerated require the consent of the Commission on
Appointments.
As to the fourth group of ofcers whom the President can

appoint, the intervenor Commission on Appointments underscores
the third sentence in Sec. 16, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution,
which reads:
"The Congress may, by law, vest the appointment of other ofcers lower in
rank in the President alone, in the courts, or in the heads of departments,
agencies, commissions, or boards." [Emphasis supplied].
and argues that, since a law is needed to vest the appointment of

lower-ranked ofcers in the President alone, this implies that, in the
absence of such a law, lower-ranked ofcers have to be appointed by
the President subject to conrmation by the Commission on
Appointments; and, if this is so, as to lower-
563
VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 563

ranked ofcers, it follows that higher-ranked ofcers should be

appointed by the President, subject also to conrmation by the
Commission on Appointments.
The respondents, on the other hand, submit that the third sentence
of Sec. 16, Article VII, abovequoted, merely declares that, as to
lower-ranked ofcers, the Congress may by law vest their
appointment in the President, in the courts, or in the heads of the
various departments, agencies, commissions, or boards in the
government. No reason however is submitted for the use of the
word' 'alone'' in said third sentence.
The Court is not impressed by both arguments. It is of the
considered opinion, after a careful study of the deliberations of the
1986 Constitutional Commission, that the use of the word "alone"
after the word "President" in said third sentence of Sec. 16, Article
VII is, more than anything else, a slip or lapsus in draftmanship. It
will be recalled that, in the 1935 Constitution, the following
provision appears at the end of par. 3, section 10, Article VII thereof

"x x x ; but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of inferior
ofcers, in the President alone, in the courts, or in the heads of
departments." [Emphasis supplied].
The above provision in the 1935 Constitution appears immediately

after the provision which makes practically all presidential
appointments subject to conrmation by the Commission on
Appointments, thus
"3. The President shall nominate and with the consent of the
the executive departments and bureaus, ofcers of the
Army from the rank of colonel, of the Navy and Air Forces
from the rank of captain or commander, and all other
ofcers of the Government whose appointments are not
herein provided for, and those whom he may be authorized
by law to appoint; x x x"
In other words, since the 1935 Constitution subjects, as a general

rule, presidential appointments to conrmation by the Commission
on Appointments, the same 1935 Constitution saw t, by way of an
exception to such rule, to provide that Congress may, however, by
law vest the appointment of in-
564

ferior ofcers (equivalent to "ofcers lower in rank" referred to in

the 1987 Constitution) in the President alone, in the courts, or in the
heads of departments,
In the 1987 Constitution, however, as already pointed out, the
clear and expressed intent of its framers was to exclude presidential
appointments from conrmation by the Commission on
Appointments, except appointments to ofces expressly mentioned
in the rst sentence of Sec. 16, Article VII. Consequently, there was
no reason to use in the third sentence of Sec. 16, Article VII the
word "alone" after the word "President" in providing that Congress
may by law vest the appointment of lower-ranked ofcers in the
President alone, or in the courts, or in the heads of departments,
because the power to appoint ofcers whom he (the President) may
be authorized by law to appoint is already vested in the President,
without need of conrmation by the Commission on Appointments,
in the second sentence of the same Sec. 16, Article VII.
Therefore, the third sentence of Sec. 16, Article VII could have
stated merely that, in the case of lower-ranked ofcers, the Congress
may by law vest their appointment in the President, in the courts, or
in the heads of various departments of the government. In short, the
word "alone" in the third sentence of Sec. 16, Article VII of the 1987
Constitution, as a literal import from the last part of par. 3, section
10, Article VII of the 1935 Constitution, appears to be redundant in
the light of the second sentence of Sec. 16, Article VII. And, this
redundancy cannot prevail over the clear and positive intent of the
framers of the 1987 Constitution that presidential appointments,
except those mentioned in the rst sentence of Sec. 16, Article VII,
are not subject to conrmation by the Commission on

Appointments.
Coming now to the immediate question before the Court, it is
evident that the position of Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs
(a bureau head) is not one of those within the rst group of
appointments where the consent of the Commission on
Appointments is required. As a matter of fact, as already pointed
out, while the 1935 Constitution includes "heads of bureaus" among
those ofcers whose appointments need the consent of the
Commission on Appointments, the 1987 Con-
565
VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 565

Sarmiento III vs, Mison
stitution, on the other hand, deliberately excluded the position of

"heads of bureaus" from appointments that need the consent
Moreover, the President is expressly authorized by law to appoint
the Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs. The original text of
Sec. 601 of Republic Act No. 1937, otherwise known as the Tariff
and Customs Code of the Philippines, which was enacted by the
Congress of the Philippines on 22 June 1957, reads as follows:
"601. Chief Ofcials of the Bureau.The Bureau of Customs shall have one
chief and one assistant chief, to be known respectively as the Commissioner
(hereinafter known as the 'Commissioner') and Assistant Commissioner of
Customs, who shall each receive an annual compensation in accordance
with the rates prescribed by existing laws. The Assistant Commissioner of
Customs shall be appointed by the proper department head.''
Sec. 601 of Republic Act No. 1937, was amended on 27 October

1972 by Presidential Decree No. 34, amending the Tariff and
Customs Code of the Philippines. Sec. 601, as thus amended, now
reads as follows:
"Sec. 601. Chief Ofcials of the Bureau of Customs.The Bureau of

Customs shall have one chief and one assistant chief, to be known
respectively as the Commissioner (hereinafter known as Commissioner) and
Deputy Commissioner of Customs, who shall each receive an annual
compensation in accordance with the rates prescribed by existing law. The
Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner of Customs shall be appointed
by the President of the Philippines " (Emphasis supplied.)
Of course, these laws (Rep. Act No. 1937 and PD No. 34) were
approved during the effectivity of the 1935 Constitution, under
which the President may nominate and, with the consent of the
Commission on Appointments, appoint the heads of bureaus, like

the Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs.
After the effectivity of the 1987 Constitution, however, Rep. Act
No. 1937 and PD No. 34 have to be read in harmony with Sec. 16,
Art. VII, with the result that, while the appointment of the
Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs is one that devolves on the
President, as an appointment he is authorized
566

by law to make, such appointment, however, no longer needs the

conrmation of the Commission on Appointments. Consequently,
we rule that the President of the Philippines acted within her
constitutional authority and power in appointing respondent
Salvador Mison, Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs, without
submitting his nomination to the Commission on Appointments for
conrmation. He is thus entitled to exercise the full authority and
functions of the ofce and to receive all the salaries and emoluments
pertaining thereto.
WHEREFORE, the petition and petition in intervention should
be, as they are, hereby DISMISSED. Without costs.
SO ORDERED.
Yap, Fernan, Narvasa, Paras, Feliciano, Gancayco, Bidin

and Corts, JJ., concur.
Teehankee (C.J.), see brief statement.
Melencio-Herrera, J., concurring in a separate opinion.
Gutierrez, Jr., J., please see separate opinion.
Cruz, J., see dissent.
Sarmiento, J., concurring in a separate opinion.
TEEHANKEE, C.J., concurring:
The Court has deemed it necessary and proper, in consonance with

its constitutional duty, to adjudicate promptly the issue at bar and to
rule that the direct appointment of respondent Salvador Mison as
Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs (without need of
submitting a prior nomination to the Commission on Appointments
and securing its conrmation) is valid and in accordance with the
President's constitutional authority to so appoint ofcers of the
Government as dened in Article VII, section 16 of the 1987
Constitution. The paramount public interest and the exigencies of
the public service demand that any doubts over the validity of such
appointments be resolved expeditiously in the test case at bar.
It should be noted that the Court's decision at bar does not

mention nor deal with the Manifestation of December 1, 1987
567
VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 567

led by the intervenor that Senate Bill No. 137 entitled "An Act
Providing For the Conrmation By the Commission on
Appointments of All Nominations and Appointments Made by the
President of the Philippines" was passed on 23 October 1987 and
was "set for perusal by the House of Representatives." This omission
has been deliberate. The Court has resolved the case at bar on the
basis of the issues joined by the parties. The contingency of approval
of the bill mentioned by intervenor clearly has no bearing on and
cannot affect retroactively the validity of the direct appointment of
respondent Mison and other appointees similarly situated as in G.R.
No. 80071, "Alex G. Almario vs. Hon. Miriam Defensor-Santiago."
The Court does not deal with constitutional questions in the abstract
and without the same being properly raised before it in a justiciable
case and after thorough discussion of the various points of view that
would enable it.to render judgment after mature deliberation. As
stressed at the hearing of December 8, 1987, any discussion of the
reported bill and its validity or invalidity is premature and irrelevant
and outside the scope of the issues resolved in the case at bar,
MELENCIO-HERRERA, J., concurring:.
I concur with the majority opinion and with the concurring opinion
of Justice Sarmiento, and simply wish to add my own reading of the
Constitutional provision involved,
Section 16, Article VII, of the 1987 Constitution provides:
'The President shall nominate and, with the consent of the Commission on
Appointments, appoint the heads of the executive departments,
ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, or ofcers of the armed
forces from the rank of colonel or naval captain, and other ofcers whose
appointments are vested in him in this Constitution.
He shall also appoint all other ofcers of the Government whose
appointments are not otherwise provided for by law, and those whom he
may be authorized by law to appoint.
The Congress may, by law, vest the appointment of other ofcers lower
in rank in the President alone, in the courts, or in the heads of the
departments, agencies, commissions or boards.
568

"The President shall have the power to make appointments during the recess
of the Congress, whether voluntary or compulsory, but such appointments
shall be effective only until disapproval by the Commission on
Appointments or until the next adjournment of the Congress" (Emphasis and
1st three paragraphings, supplied).
The difference in language used is signicant. Under the rst

sentence it is clear that the President "nominates,' and with the
consent of the Commission on Appointments "appoints" the ofcials
enumerated. The second sentence, however, signicantly uses only
the term "appoint" all other ofcers of the Government whose
appointments are not otherwise provided for by law, and those
whom he may be authorized by law to appoint. Deliberately
eliminated was any reference to nomination.
Thus, the intent of the framers of the Constitution to exclude the
appointees mentioned in the second sentence from conrmation by
the Commission on Appointments is, to my mind, quite clear. So
also is the fact that the term "appoint" used in said sentence was not
meant to include the three distinct acts in the appointing process,
namely, nomination, appointment, and commission. For if that were
the intent, the same terminologies in the rst sentence could have
been easily employed.
There should be no question either that the participation of the
Commission on Appointments in the appointment process has been
deliberately decreased in the 1987 Constitution compared to that in
the 1935 Constitution, which required that all presidential
appointments be with the consent of the Commission on
Appointments.
The interpretation given by the majority may, indeed, lead to
some incongruous situations as stressed in the dissenting opinion of
Justice Cruz. The remedy therefor addresses itself to the future. The
task of constitutional construction is to ascertain the intent of the
framers of the Constitution and thereafter to assure its realization
(J.M. Tuason & Co., Inc. vs. Land Tenure Administration, G.R. No.
21064, February 18, 1970, 31 SCRA 413). And the primary source
from which to ascertain constitutional intent is the language of the
Constitution itself,
569
VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 569

SARMIENTO, J., Concurring:
I concur. It is clear from the Constitution itself that not all

Presidential appointments are subject to prior Congressional
conrmation, thus:
Sec. 16. The President shall nominate and, with the consent of the
Commission on Appointments, appoint the heads of the executive
departments, ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, or ofcers of
the armed forces from the rank of colonel or naval captain, and other
ofcers whose appointments are vested in him in this Constitution. He shall
also appoint all other ofcers of the Government whose appointments are
not otherwise provided for by law, and those whom he may be authorized by
law to appoint. The Congress may, by law, vest the appointment of other
ofcers lower in rank in the President alone, in the courts, or in the heads of
departments, agencies, commissions, or boards.
The President shall have the power to make appointments during recess
of the Congress, whether voluntary or compulsory, but such appointment
shall be effective only until disapproval by the Commission on
1
Appointments or until the next adjournment of the Congress.
By its plain language, the Constitution has intended that only those
grouped under the rst sentence are required to undergo a
consenting process. This is a signicant departure from the
procedure set forth in the 1935 Charter:
(3) The President shall nominate and with the consent of the
the executive departments and bureaus, ofcers of the
Army from the rank of colonel, of the Navy and Air Forces
from the rank of captain to commander, and all other
ofcers of the Government whose appointments are not
herein otherwise provided for, and those whom he may be
authorized by law to appoint; but the Congress may by law
vest the appointment of inferior ofcers, in the President
2
alone, in the courts, or in the heads of departments.
under which, as noted by the majority, "almost all presidential
_______________
1 CONST., art. VII, sec. 16.

2 CONST. (1935), art. VII, sec. 10(3).
570

appointments required the 3consent (conrmation) of the

Commission on Appointments." As far as the present Charter is
concerned, no extrinsic aid is necessary to ascertain its meaning.

Had its framers intended otherwise, that is to say, to require all
Presidential appointments clearance from the Commission on
Appointments, they could have simply reenacted the Constitution's
4
1935 counterpart.
I agree that the present Constitution classies four types of
appointments that the President may make: (1) appointments of
heads of executive departments, ambassadors, other public ministers
and consuls, or ofcers of the armed forces from the rank of colonel
or naval captain, and those of other ofcers whose appointments are
vested in him under the Constitution,
5
including the regular members
of the Judicial and Bar Council, 6 the Chairman and Commissioners
of the Civil Service Commission, the Chairman
7
and Commissioners
of the Commission on Elections, and the 8
Chairman and
Commissioners of the Commission on Audit; (2) those ofcers
whose appointments are not otherwise provided for by law; (3) those
whom he may be authorized by law to appoint; and (4) ofcers
lower in rank whose appointments the Congress may vest in the
President alone.
But like Justice Cruz in his dissent, I too am aware that authors
of the fundamental law have written a "rather confused
9
Constitution" with respect, to a large extent, to its other parts, and
with respect, to a certain extent, to the appointing clause itself, in the
sense that it leaves us for instance, with the incongruous situation
where a consul's appointment needs conrmation whereas that of
Undersecretary of Foreign
_______________
3 Sarmiento v. Mison, G.R. No. 79974, 6.

4 As Justice Padilla further notes, Section 16, of Article VII, was originally a
verbatim copy of the 1935 provisions. Upon further deliberations of the
Constitutional Commission, however, the consensus was reached to amend the same
to its present form.
5 CONST., art. VIII, sec. 8(2).
6 Supra, art. IX (B), sec. 1 (2).
7 Supra, art. IX (C), sec. 1 (2).
8 Supra, art. IX (D), sec. 1 (2).
9 Sarmiento v. Mison, supra, Cruz., J., Dissenting, 5.
571
VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 571

Affairs, his superior, does not. But the idiosyncracies, as it were, of

the Charter is not for us to judge, That is a question addressed to the
electorate, and who, despite those "eccentricities," have stamped
their approval on that Charter. "The Court," avers the majority, "will
thus construe the applicable constitutional provisions, not in
accordance with how the executive or the legislative department
may want them construed, but in accordance with what they say and
10
provide.''
It must be noted that the appointment of public ofcials is
11
essentially an exercise of executive power. The fact that the
Constitution has provided for a Commission on Appointments does
not minimize the extent of such a power, much less, make it a shared
executive-legislative prerogative. In Concepcion v. Paredes, we
stated in no uncertain terms that "[a]ppointment to ofce is 12
intrinsically an executive act involving
13
the exercise of discretion."
Springer v. Philippine Islands on the other hand, underscored the
fact that while the legislature may create a public ofce, it cannot
name the ofcial to discharge the functions appurtenant thereto. And
while it may prescribe the qualications therefor, it cannot
circumscribe such qualications, which would unduly narrow the
President's choice. In that event, it is as if it is the legislature itself
conferring the appointment.
Thus, notwithstanding the existence of a Commission on
_______________
10 Supra, 3.
11 Concepcion v. Paredes, 42 Phil. 599 (1921); Government v. Springer, 50 Phil.
259 (1927); Springer v. P.I., 277 U.S. 189 (1929). The Supreme Court has been vested
with the power to "[a]ppoint all ofcials of the Judiciary in accordance with the Civil
Service Law" [CONST., art. VIII, sec. 5(6)] but that is by at of the Constitution
itself. (See also supra, art. VII, sec. 16.). In Government v. Springer, supra, we
recognized the authority of the legislature to appoint its ofcers but only as "an
incident to the discharge of its functions." (At 278). When the Constitution authorizes
Congress to vest in the President the appointment of other ofcers, it is not Congress
being empowered to make the appointments; the President retains his appointing
power, through, however, a procedure established by Congress.
12 Supra, at 603.
13 Supra.
572

Appointments, the Chief Executive retains his supremacy as the

appointing authority. In case of doubt, the same should be resolved
in f avor of the appointing power,
It is the essence of a republican form of government, like ours,
that "[e]ach department of the government
14
has exclusive cognizance
of matters within its jurisdiction." But like all genuine republican
systems, no power is absolutely separate from the other. For

republicanism operates on a process of checks and balances as well,
not only to guard against excesses by one branch, but more
importantly, "to secure coordination in the workings of the various
15
departments of the government." Viewed in that light, the
Commission on Appointments acts as a restraint against abuse of the
appointing authority, but not as a means with which to hold the
Chief Executive hostage by a possibly hostile Congress, an unhappy
lesson as the majority notes, in our history under the regime of the
1935 Constitution.
The system of checks and balances is not peculiar to the
provision on appointments. The prohibition, for instance, against the
enactment of a bill of attainder operates as a bar against legislative
encroachment upon both judicial and executive domains, since the
determination of guilt and punishment of the guilty address judicial
16
and executive functions, respectively,
And then, the cycle of checks and balances pervading the
Constitution is a sword that cuts both ways. In a very real sense, the
power of appointment constitutes a check against legislative
17
authority. In Springer v. Philippine Islands, we are told that
"Congress may not control the law enforcement process by retaining
18
a power to appoint the individual who will execute the laws." This
is so, according to one authority, because "the appointments clause,
rather than 'merely dealing with etiquette or protocol,' seeks to
preserve an executive check upon legislative authority in the interest
of avoiding an
_______________
14 Angara v. Electoral Commission, 63 Phil. 139,156 (1936).

15 Angara v. Electoral Commission, supra.
16 TRIBE, AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, 184-185 (1978), citing
Buckley v. Valeo. 424 US 1 (1976)
17 Supra.
18 TRIBE, id, 184.
573
VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 573

19
undue concentration of power in Congress. " 20
The President has sworn to "execute [the] laws. For that matter,
no other department of the Government may discharge that function,
least of all, Congress. Accordingly, a statute conferring upon a
commission the responsibility of administering that very legislation
and whose members have been 21
determined therein, has been held to
be repugnant to the Charter." Execution of the laws, it was held, is
the concern of the President, and in going about this business, he

acts by himself or through his men and women, and no other.
The President, on the other hand, cannot remove his own
22
appointees "except for cause provided by law." Parenthetically, this
represents a deviation from the rule prevailing in American
jurisdiction that "the power of removal. . . [is] incident to the power
23
of appointment," although this has since been tempered in a
24
subsequent case, where it was held that the President may remove
25
only "purely executive ofcers,"26 that is, ofcers holding ofce at
his pleasure. In Ingles v. Mutuc, this Court held that the President
may remove incumbents of ofces condential in nature, but we
likewise made clear that in such a case, the incumbent is not
"removed" within the meaning of civil service laws, but that his term
merely expires.
It is to be observed, indeed, that the Commission on
Appointments, as constituted under the 1987 Constitution, is itself
subject to some check. Under the Charter, "[t]he Commission shall
act on all appointments submitted to it27within thirty session days of
the Congress from their submission." Accordingly, the failure of
the Commission to either consent or
_______________
19 Id., 184-185, citing Buckley v. Valeo, supra,

20 CONST., art. VII, sec. 5.
21 Buckley v. Valeo, supra,
22 CONST., art. IX (B), sec. 2 (3).
23 Myers v. United States, 272 US 52 (1926).
24 TRIBE, id., at 188, citing Humphrey's Executor v. United States, 295 US 602
(1935).
25 Id.
26 No. L-20390, November 29,1968, 26 SCRA 171 (1968).
27 CONST., art. VI, sec. 18.
574

not consent to the appointments preferred before it within the

prescribed period results in a de facto conrmation thereof.
Certainly, our founding fathers have fashioned a Constitution
where the boundaries of power are blurred by the predominance of
checks and counterchecks, yet amid such a rubble of competing
powers emerges a structure whose parts are at times jealous of each
other, but which are ultimately necessary in assuring a dynamic, but
stable, society. As Mr. Justice Holmes had so elegantly articulated:
x x x x x x x x x
The great ordinances of the Constitution do not establish and divide
elds of black and white. Even the more specic of them are found to
terminate in a penumbra shading gradually from one extreme to the other. x
x x When we come to the fundamental distinctions it is still more obvious
that they must be received with a certain latitude or our government could
not go on.
x x x x x x x x x
It does not seem to need argument to show that however we may
disguise it by veiling words we do not and cannot carry out the distinction
between legislative and executive action with mathematical precision and
divide the branches into watertight compartments, were it ever so desirable
to do so, which I am far from believing that it is, or that the Constitution
28
requires.
x x x x x x x x x
We are furthermore told:
x x x x x x x x x
x x x [I]t will be vital not to forget that all of these "checks and
counterpoises, which Newton might readily have recognized as suggestive
of the mechanism of the heavens," [W. Wilson, Constitutional Government
in the United States 56 (1908)] can represent only the scaffolding of a far
more subtle "vehicle of life." (Id. at 192: "The Constitution cannot be
regarded as a mere legal document, to be read as a will or a contract would
be. It must, of the necessity of the case, be a vehicle of life.") The great
difculty of any theory less rich, Woodrow Wilson once warned, "is that
government is not a
_______________
28 Holmes, J., Dissenting, Springer v. Philippine Islands, supra, 210-212.
575
VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 575

machine, but a living thing. It falls, not under the theory of the universe, but
under the theory of organic life. It is accountable to Darwin, not to Newton.
It is . . . shaped to its functions by the sheer pressure of life. No living thing
can have its organs offset against each other as checks, and live." (Id. at 56.)
Yet because no complex society can have its centers of power not "offset
against each other as checks," and resist tyranny, the Model of Separated
and Divided Powers offers continuing testimony to the undying dilemmas of
29
progress and justice.
x x x x x x x x x
As a closing observation, I wish to clear the impression that the

1973 Constitution deliberately denied the legislature (the National
Assembly under the 1971 draft Constitution) the power to check
executive appointments, and hence, granted the President absolute
30
appointing power. As a delegate to, and Vice-President of, the ill-
fated 1971 Constitutional Convention, and more so as the presiding
ofcer of most of its plenary session, I am aware that the
Convention did not provide for a commission on appointments on
the theory that' the Prime Minister, the head of the Government and
the sole appointing power, was himself a member of parliament. For
this reason, there was no necessity for a separate body to scrutinize
his appointees. But should such appointees forfeit the condence of
the assembly, they are, by tradition, required to resign, unless they
31
should otherwise have been removed by the Prime Minister. In
effect, it is parliament itself that "approves" such appointments.
Unfortunately, supervening events forestalled our parliamentary
experiment, and beginning with the 1976 amendments and some 140
or so amendments thereafter, we had reverted to the presidential
32
form, without provisions for a commission on appointments.
In ne, while Presidential appointments, under the rst sentence
of Section 16, of Article VII of the present Constitution, must pass
prior Congressional scrutiny, it is a test
_______________
29 TRIBE, id., 18-19; emphasis in original.

30 Sarmiento v. Mison, supra, 6.
31 CONST. (1973), art. IX, sec. 4; art. XII (B), sec. 3.
32 See Free Telephone Workers Union v. Minister of Labor and Employment, No.
L-58184, October 30, 1981, 108 SCRA 757 (1981).
576

that operates as a mere safeguard against abuse with respect to those

appointments. It does not accord Congress any more than the power
to check, but not to deny, the Chief Executive's appointing power or
to supplant his appointees with its own. It is but an exception to the
rule. In limiting the Commission's scope of authority, compared to
that under the 1935 Constitution, I believe that the 1987 Constitution
has simply recognized the reality of that exception.
GUTIERREZ, JR., J., dissenting opinion
I join Justice Isagani A. Cruz in his dissent. I agree that the

Constitution, as the supreme law of the land, should never have any
of its provisions interpreted in a manner that results in absurd or

irrational consequences.
The Commission on Appointments is an important constitutional
body which helps give fuller expression to the principles inherent in
our presidential system of government. Its functions cannot be made
innocuous or unreasonably diminished to the conrmation of a
limited number of appointees. In the same manner that the President
shares in the enactment of laws which govern the nation, the
legislature, through its Commission on Appointments, gives
assurance that only those who can pass the scrutiny of both the
President and Congress will help run the country as ofcers holding
high appointive positions. The third sentence of the rst paragraph
"x x x The Congress may, by law, vest the appointment of other
ofcers lower in rank in the President alone, in the courts, or in the
heads of departments, agencies, commissions, or boards."species
only "ofcers lower in rank" as those who may, by law, be appointed
by the President alone, If as expounded in the majority opinion, only
the limited number of ofcers in the rst sentence of Section 16
require conrmation, the clear intent of the third sentence is lost. In
fact both the second and third sentences become meaningless or
superuous. Superuity is not to be read into such an important part
of the Constitution.
I agree with the intervenor that all provisions of the Constitution
on appointments must be read together. In providing
577
VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 577

for the appointment of members of the Supreme Court and judges of

lower courts (Section 9, Article VIII), the Ombudsman and his
deputies (Section 9, Article XI), the Vice President as a member of
cabinet (Section 3, Article VII) and, of course, those who by law the
President alone may appoint, the Constitution clearly provides no
need for conrmation. This can only mean that all other
appointments need conrmation. Where there is no need for
conrmation or where there is an alternative process to conrmation,
the Constitution expressly so declares. Without such a declaration,
there must be conrmation.
The 1973 Constitution dispensed with conrmation by a
Commission on Appointments because the government it set up was
supposed to be a parliamentary one. The Prime Minister, as head of
government, was constantly accountable to the legislature. In our
presidential system, the interpretation which Justice Cruz and myself
espouse, is more democratic and more in keeping with the system of
government organized under the Constitution.
I, theref ore vote to grant the petition.
CRUZ, J., dissenting:
The view of the respondent, as adopted by the majority opinion, is

briey as follows: Conrmation is required only for the ofcers
mentioned in the rst sentence of Section 16, to wit: (1) the heads of
the executive departments; (2) ambassadors, other public ministers
and consuls; (3) ofcers of the armed forces from the rank of colonel
or naval captain; and (4) other ofcers whose appointments are
vested in the President in the Constitution. No conrmation is
required under the second sentence for (1) all other ofcers whose
appointments are not otherwise provided for by law, and (2) those
whom the President may be authorized by law to appoint. Neither is
conrmation required by the third sentence for those other ofcers
lower in rank whose appointment is vested by law in the President
alone.
Following this interpretation, the Undersecretary of Foreign
Affairs, who is not the head of his department, does not
578

have to be conrmed by the Commission on Appointments, but the

ordinary consul, who is under his jurisdiction, must be conrmed.
The colonel is by any standard lower in rank than the Chairman of
the Commission on Human Rights, which was created by the
Constitution; yet the former is subject to conrmation but the latter
is not because he does not come under the rst sentence. The Special
Prosecutor, whose appointment is not vested by the Constitution in
the President, is not subject to conrmation under the rst sentence,
and neither are the Governor of the Central Bank and the members
of the Monetary Board because they fall under the second sentence
as interpreted by the majority opinion. Yet in the case of the multi-
sectoral members of the regional consultative commission, whose
appointment is vested by the Constitution in the President under
Article X, Section 18, their conrmation is required although their
rank is decidedly lower.
I do not think these discrepancies were intended by the framers
as they.would lead to the absurd consequences we should avoid in
interpreting the Constitution.
There is no question that bureau directors are not required to be
conrmed under the rst sentence of Section 16, but that is not the
provision we ought to interpret. It is the second sentence we must
understand for a proper resolution of the issues now before us.
Signicantly, although there was a long discussion of the rst
sentence in the Constitutional Commission, there is none cited on
the second sentence either in the Solicitor-General's comment or in
the majority opinion. We can therefore only speculate on the correct

interpretation of this provision in the light of the rst and third
sentences of Section 16 or by reading this section in its totality.
The majority opinion says that the second sentence is the
exception to the rst sentence and holds that the two sets of ofcers
specied therein may be appointed by the President wihout the
concurrence of the Commission on Appointments. This
interpretation is pregnant with mischievous if not also ridiculous
results that presumably were not envisioned by the framers.
One may wonder why it was felt necessary to include the second
sentence at all, considering the majority opinion that the
579
VOL. 156, DECEMBER .17, 1987 579

enumeration in the rst sentence of the ofcers subject to

conrmation is exclusive on the basis of expressio unius est exclusio
alterius. If that be so, the rst sentence would have been sufcient
by itself to convey the idea that all other appointees of the President
would not need conrmation.
One may also ask why, if the ofcers mentioned in the second
sentence do not need conrmation, it was still felt necessary to
provide in the third sentence that the appointment of the other
ofcers lower in rank will also not need conrmation as long as their
appointment is vested by law in the President esident alone. The
third sentence would appear to be superuous, too, again in view of
the rst sentence.
More to the point, what will follow if Congress does not see t to
vest in the President alone the appointment of those other ofcers
lower in rank mentioned in the third sentence? Conformably to the
language thereof, these lower ofcers will need the conrmation of
the Commission on Appointments while, by contrast, the higher
ofcers mentioned in the second sentence will not.
Thus, a regional director in the Department of Labor and the
labor arbiters, as ofcers lower in rank than the bureau director, will
have to be conrmed if the Congress does not vest their appointment
in the President alone under the third sentence. On the other hand,
their superior, the bureau director himself, will not need to be
conrmed because, according to the majority opinion, he falls not
under the rst sentence but the second. This is carefulness in
reverse, like checking the bridesmaids but forgetting the bride.
It must be borne in mind that one of the purposes of the
Constitutional Commission was to restrict the powers of the
Presidency and so prevent the recurrence of another dictatorship.
Among the many measures taken was the restoration of the
Commission on Appointments to check the appointing power which
had been much abused by President Marcos. We are now told that
even as this body was revived to limit appointments, the scope of its
original authority has itself been limited in the new Constitution. I
have to disagree.
My own reading is that the second sentence is but a continuation
of the idea expressed in the rst sentence and simply
580

mentions the other ofcers appointed by the President who are also
subject to conrmation. The second sentence is the later expression
of the will of the framers and so must be interpreted as
complementing the rule embodied in the rst sentence or, if
necessary, reversing the original intention to exempt bureau directors
from conrmation. I repeat that there were no debates on this matter
as far as I know, which simply means that my humble conjecture on
the meaning of Section 16 is as arguable, at least, as the suppositions
of the majority. We read and rely on the same records. At any rate,
this view is more consistent with the general purpose of Article VII,
which, to repeat, was to reduce the powers of the Presidency,
The respondent cites the following exchange reported in page
520, Volume II, of the Record of the Constitutional Convention:
Mr. Foz: Madam President, this is the third proposed amendment on page 7,
line 28, I propose to put a period (.) after 'captain' and on line 29, delete 'and
all' and substitute it with HE SHALL ALSO APPOINT ANY.
Mr. Regalado: Madam President, the Committee accepts the proposed
amendment because it makes it clear that those other ofcers mentioned
therein do not have to be conrmed by the Commission on Appointments.
However, the records do not show what particular part of Section 16

the committee chairman was referring to, and a reading in its
entirety of this particular debate will suggest that the body was
considering the rst sentence of the said section, which I reiterate is
not the controversial provision. In any case, although the excerpt
shows that the proposed amendment of Commissioner Foz was
accepted by the committee, it is not reected, curiously enough, in
the nal version of Section 16 as a perusal thereof will readily reveal
Whether it was deleted later in the session or reworded by the style
committee or otherwise replaced for whatever reason will need
another surmise on this rather confused Constitution.
I need only add that the records of the Constitutional
Commission are merely extrinsic aids and are at best persuasive only
and not necessarily conclusive. Interestingly, some quarters have
observed that the Congress is not prevented from adding
581
VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 581

to the list of ofcers subject to conrmation by the Commission on

Appointments and cite the debates on this matter in support of this
supposition. It is true enough that there was such a consensus, but it
is equally true that this thinking is not at all expressed, or even only
implied, in the language of Section 16 of Article VII. Which should
prevail thenthe provision as worded or the debates?
It is not disputed that the power of appointment is executive in
nature, but there is no question either that it is not absolute or
unlimited. The rule re-established by the new Constitution is that the
power requires conrmation by the Commission on Appointments as
a restraint on presidential excesses, in line with the system of checks
and balances. I submit it is the exception to this rule, and not the
rule, that should be strictly construed.
In my view, the only ofcers appointed by the President who are
not subject to conrmation by the Commission on Appointments are
(1) the members of the judiciary and the Ombudsman and his
deputies, who are nominated by the Judicial and Bar Council; (2) the
Vice-President when he is appointed to the Cabinet; and (3) "other
ofcers lower in rank," but only when their appointment is vested by
law in the President alone. It is clear that this enumeration does not
include the respondent Commissioner of Customs who, while not
covered by the rst sentence of Section 16, comes under the second
sentence thereof as I would interpret it and so is also subject to
conrmation.
I vote to grant the petition.
Petition dismissed.
Notes.Appointment is an essential discretionary power and

must be performed by the ofcer in which it is vested according to
his best lights, the only condition being that the appointee should
possess the qualications required by law. (Luego vs. Civil Service
Commission, 143 SCRA 327.)
Civil Service Commission is not empowered to determine the
kind of nature of appointment. (Luego vs. Civil Service Commission,
143 SCRA 327.)
o0o
582
Copyright 2017 Central Book Supply, Inc. All rights reserved.

6 - Sarmiento v. Mison

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

6 - Sarmiento v. Mison

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

6 - Sarmiento v. Mison

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

8/26/2017 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 156

VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 549

ULPIANO P. SARMIENTO III AND JUANITO G. ARCILLA,

Statutory Construction; Constitution; Intent of the framers of the

550 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Sarmiento III vs. Mison

leaving to the President, without such conrmation, the appointment of

Appointments not required.Coming now to the immediate question before

VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 551

Sarmiento III vs. Mison

Appointments is required. As a matter of fact, as already pointed out, while

Once more the Court is called upon to delineate constitutional

to the petition and decide, setting aside the ner procedural

552 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

remedy to test respondent Mison's right to the Ofce of

'The fundamental principle of constitutional construction is to give effect to

The Court will thus construe the applicable constitutional

1 66 Phil. 259, at 264.

VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 553

whom he may be authorized by law to appoint. The Congress may, by law,

It is readily apparent that under the provisions of the 1987

First, the heads of the executive departments, ambassadors, other public

554 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

The rst group of ofcers is clearly appointed with the consent of

"In deciding this point, it should be borne in mind that a constitutional

VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 555

"(7) x x x, and with the consent of the Commission on

Upon the other hand, the 1973 Constitution provides that

Thus, in the 1935 Constitution, almost all presidential appointments

6 66 Phil. 259, at 265.

556 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

sion on Appointments. It is now a sad part of our political history

The above text is almost a verbatim copy of its counterpart provision

7 Pp. 384-385, Vol. II, RECORD OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COMMISSION

VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 557

Article VII, a feeling was manifestly expressed to make the power of

"Mr. Rama: x x x May I ask that Commissioner Monsod be recogized.

"MR. ROMULO: I ask that Commissioner Foz be recognized.

8 Pp. 433-435, Vol. II, RECORD OF THE 1986 CONSTITUTIONAL

558 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

MR. FOZ: That is correct.

VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 559

THE PRESIDENT: The Acting Floor Leader is recognized.

560 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

the words I proposed.

It is, therefore, clear that appointments to the second and third

10 Pp. 514-521, Vol. II, RECORD OF THE 1986 CONSTITUTIONAL

VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 561

x x x" (Emphasis supplied)

with particular reference to the word "also," implies that the

Rather than limit the area of consideration to the possible

562 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Commission on Appointments under the rst sentence of the same

As to the fourth group of ofcers whom the President can

and argues that, since a law is needed to vest the appointment of

VOL. 156, DECEMBER 17, 1987 563

ranked ofcers, it follows that higher-ranked ofcers should be

The above provision in the 1935 Constitution appears immediately

In other words, since the 1935 Constitution subjects, as a general

564 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED