02 Garcia - v. - Corona20210511 12 9i4zpc
02 Garcia - v. - Corona20210511 12 9i4zpc
02 Garcia - v. - Corona20210511 12 9i4zpc
SYNOPSIS
SYLLABUS
DECISION
R.A. 8180 was struck down as invalid because three key provisions
intended to promote free competition were shown to achieve the opposite
result. More specifically, this Court ruled that its provisions on tariff differential,
stocking of inventories, and predatory pricing inhibit fair competition,
encourage monopolistic power, and interfere with the free interaction of the
market forces.
A.
SECTION 19 OF R.A. NO. 8479 WHICH PROVIDES FOR FULL
DEREGULATION FIVE (5) MONTHS OR EARLIER FOLLOWING THE
EFFECTIVITY OF THE LAW, IS GLARINGLY PRO-OLIGOPOLY, ANTI-
COMPETITION AND ANTI-PEOPLE, AND IS THEREFORE PATENTLY
UNCONSTITUTIONAL FOR BEING IN GROSS AND CYNICAL
CONTRAVENTION OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL POLICY AND COMMAND
EMBODIED IN ARTICLE XII, SECTION 19 OF THE 1987 CONSTITUTION
AGAINST MONOPOLIES AND COMBINATIONS IN RESTRAINT OF TRADE.
B.
SAID SECTION 19 OF R.A. No. 8479 IS GLARINGLY PRO-OLIGOPOLY,
ANTI-COMPETITION AND ANTI-PEOPLE, FOR THE FURTHER REASON
THAT IT PALPABLY AND CYNICALLY VIOLATES THE VERY OBJECTIVE
AND PURPOSE OF R.A. NO. 8479, WHICH IS TO ENSURE A TRULY
COMPETITIVE MARKET UNDER A REGIME OF FAIR PRICES.
C.
SAID SECTION 19 OF R.A. No. 8479, BEING GLARINGLY PRO-
OLIGOPOLY, ANTI-COMPETITION AND ANTI-PEOPLE, BEING PATENTLY
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UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND BEING PALPABLY VIOLATIVE OF THE LAW'S
POLICY AND PURPOSE OF ENSURING A TRULY COMPETITIVE MARKET
UNDER A REGIME OF FAIR PRICES, IS A VERY GRAVE AND GRIEVOUS
ABUSE OF DISCRETION ON THE PART OF THE LEGISLATIVE AND
EXECUTIVE BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT.
D.
PREMATURE FULL DEREGULATION UNDER SECTION 19 OF R.A. NO.
8479 MAY AND SHOULD THEREFORE BE DECLARED NULL AND VOID
EVEN AS THE REST OF ITS PROVISIONS REMAIN IN FORCE, SUCH AS
THE TRANSITION PHASE OR PARTIAL DEREGULATION WITH PRICE
CONTROLS THAT ENSURES THE PROTECTION OF THE PUBLIC INTEREST
BY PREVENTING THE BIG 3 OLIGOPOLY'S PRICE-FIXING AND
OVERPRICING. 3
The issues involved in the deregulation of the downstream oil industry are
of paramount significance. The ramifications, international and local in scope,
are complex. The impact on the nation's economy is pervasive and far-
reaching. The amounts involved in the oil business are immense. Fluctuations in
the supply and price of oil products have a dramatic effect on economic
development and public welfare. As pointed out in the Tatad decision, few
cases carry a surpassing importance on the daily life of every Filipino. The
issues affect everybody from the poorest wage-earners and their families to the
richest entrepreneurs, from industrial giants to humble consumers.
Our decision in this case is complicated by the unstable oil prices in the
world market. Even as this case is pending, the price of OPEC oil is escalating to
record levels. We have to emphasize that our decision has nothing to do with
worldwide fluctuations in oil prices and the counter-measures of Government
each time a new development takes place.
The most important part of deregulation is freedom from price control.
Indeed, the free play of market forces through deregulation and when to
implement it represent one option to solve the problems of the oil-consuming
public. There are other considerations which may be taken into account such as
the reduction of taxes on oil products, the reinstitution of an Oil Price
Stabilization Fund, the choice between government subsidies taken from the
regular taxpaying public on one hand and the increased costs being shouldered
only by users of oil products on the other, and most important, the immediate
repeal of the Oil Deregulation Law as wrong policy. Petitioner wants the setting
of prices to be done by Government instead of being determined by free
market forces. His preference is continued price control with no fixed end in
sight. A simple glance at the factors surrounding the present problems
besetting the oil industry shows that they are economic in nature.
R.A. 8479, the present deregulation law, was enacted to implement Article
XII, Section 19 of the Constitution which provides:
The State shall regulate or prohibit monopolies when the public
interest so requires. No combinations in restraint of trade or unfair
competition shall be allowed.
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This is so because the Government believes that deregulation will
eventually prevent monopoly. The simplest form of monopoly exists when there
is only one seller or producer of a product or service for which there are no
substitutes. In its more complex form, monopoly is defined as the joint
acquisition or maintenance by members of a conspiracy, formed for that
purpose, of the power to control and dominate trade and commerce in a
commodity to such an extent that they are able, as a group, to exclude actual
or potential competitors from the field, accompanied with the intention and
purpose to exercise such power. 4
Where two or three or a few companies act in concert to control market
prices and resultant profits, the monopoly is called an oligopoly or cartel. It is a
combination in restraint of trade. dctai
While the Court respects the firm resolve displayed by Congress and the
President, all departments of Government are equally bound by the sovereign
will expressed in the commands of the Constitution. There is a need for utmost
care if this Court is to faithfully discharge its duties as arbitral guardian of the
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Constitution. We cannot encroach on the policy functions of the two other great
departments of Government. But neither can we ignore any overstepping of
constitutional limitations. Locating the correct balance between legality and
policy, constitutional boundaries and freedom of action, and validity and
expedition is this Court's dilemma as it resolves the legitimacy of a
Government program aimed at giving every Filipino a more secure, fulfilling and
abundant life.
Our ruling in Tatad is categorical that the Constitution's Article XII, Section
19, is anti-trust in history and spirit. It espouses competition. We have stated
that only competition which is fair can release the creative forces of the market.
We ruled that the principle which underlies the constitutional provision is
competition. Thus:
Section 19, Article XII of our Constitution is anti-trust in history
and in spirit. It espouses competition. The desirability of competition is
the reason for the prohibition against restraint of trade, the reason for
the interdiction of unfair competition, and the reason for regulation of
unmitigated monopolies. Competition is thus the underlying principle of
section 19, Article XII of our Constitution which cannot be violated by
R.A. No. 8180. We subscribe to the observation of Prof. Gellhorn that
the objective of anti-trust law is "to assure a competitive economy,
based upon the belief that through competition producers will strive to
satisfy consumer wants at the lowest price with the sacrifice of the
fewest resources. Competition among producers allows consumers to
bid for goods and services, and thus matches their desires with
society's opportunity costs." He adds with appropriateness that there is
a reliance upon "the operation of the 'market' system (free enterprise)
to decide what shall be produced, how resources shall be allocated in
the production process, and to whom the various products will be
distributed. The market system relies on the consumer to decide what
and how much shall be produced, and on competition, among
producers to determine who will manufacture it." 6
Petitioner overlooks the fact that Congress enacted the deregulation law
exactly because of the monopoly evils he mentions in his petition. Congress
instituted the lifting of price controls in the belief that free and fair competition
was the best remedy against monopoly power. In other words, petitioner's facts
are also the reasons why Congress lifted price controls and why the President
accelerated the process. The facts adduced in favor of continued and indefinite
price control are the same facts which supported what Congress believes is an
exercise of wisdom and discretion when it chose the path of speedy
deregulation and rejected Congressman Garcia's economic theory. LLjur
The petition states that it is using the very thoughts and words of the
Court in its Tatad decision. Those thoughts and words, however, were directed
against the tariff differential, the inventory requirement, and predatory pricing,
not against deregulation as a policy and not against the lifting of price controls.
Petitioner states that price control is good. He claims that it was the
regulation of the importation of finished oil products which led to the exit of
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competitors and the consolidation and dominion of the market by an oligopoly,
not price control. Congress and the President think otherwise.
The argument that price control is not the villain in the intrusion and
growth of monopoly appears to be pure theory not validated by experience.
There can be no denying the fact that the evils mentioned in the petition arose
while there was price control. The dominance of the so-called "Big 3" became
entrenched during the regime of price control. More importantly, the
ascertainment of the cause and the method of dismantling the oligopoly thus
created are a matter of legislative and executive choice. The judicial process is
equipped to handle legality but not wisdom of choice and the efficacy of
solutions.
Petitioner engages in another contradiction when he puts forward what he
calls a self-evident truth. He states that a truly competitive market and fair
prices cannot be legislated into existence. However, the truly competitive
market is not being created or fashioned by the challenged legislation. The
market is simply freed from legislative controls and allowed to grow and
develop free from government interference. R.A. 8479 actually allows the free
play of supply and demand to dictate prices. Petitioner wants a government
official or board to continue performing this task. Indefinite and open-ended
price control as advocated by petitioner would be to continue a regime of
legislated regulation where free competition cannot possibly flourish. Control is
the antithesis of competition. To grant the petition would mean that the
Government is not keen on allowing a free market to develop. Petitioner's "self-
evident truth" thus supports the validity of the provision of law he opposes.
New players in the oil industry intervened in this case. According to them,
it is the free market policy and atmosphere of deregulation which attracted and
brought the new participants, themselves included, into the market. The
intervenors express their fear that this Court would overrule legislative policy
and replace it with petitioner's own legislative program.
The factual allegations of the intervenors have not been refuted and we
see no reason to doubt them. Their argument that the co-existence of many
viable rivals create free market conditions induces competition in product
quality and performance and makes available to consumers an expanded range
of choices cannot be seriously disputed.
On the other hand, the pleadings of public and private respondents both
put forth the argument that the challenged provision is a policy decision of
Congress and that the wisdom of the provision is outside the authority of this
Court to consider. We agree. As we have ruled in Morfe v. Mutuc 7 :
(I)t is well to remember that this Court, in the language of Justice
Laurel, "does not pass upon question or wisdom, justice or expediency
of legislation." As expressed by Justice Tuason: "It is not the province of
the courts to supervise legislation and keep it within the bounds of
propriety and common sense. That is primarily and exclusively a
legislative concern." There can be no possible objection then to the
observation of Justice Montemayor: "As long as laws do not violate any
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Constitutional provision, the Courts merely interpret and apply them
regardless of whether or not they are wise or salutary." For they,
according to Justice Labrador, "are not supposed to override legitimate
policy and . . . never inquire into the wisdom of the law."
It is thus settled, to paraphrase Chief Justice Concepcion in
Gonzales v. Commission on Elections, that only congressional power or
competence, not the wisdom of the action taken, may be the basis for
declaring a statute invalid. This is as it ought to be. The principle of
separation of powers has in the main wisely allocated the respective
authority of each department and confined its jurisdiction to such a
sphere. There would then be intrusion not allowable under the
Constitution if on a matter left to the discretion of a coordinate branch,
the judiciary would substitute its own. If there be adherence to the rule
of law, as there ought to be, the last offender should be the courts of
justice, to which rightly litigants submit their controversy precisely to
maintain unimpaired the supremacy of legal norms and prescriptions.
The attack on the validity of the challenged provision likewise insofar
as there may be objections, even if valid and cogent, on its wisdom
cannot be sustained.
In this petition, Congressman Garcia seeks to revive the long settled issue
of the timeliness of full deregulation, which issue he had earlier submitted to
this Court by way of a Partial Motion for Reconsideration in the Tatad case. In
our Resolution dated December 3, 1997, which has long become final and
executory, we stated:
We shall first resolve petitioner Garcia's linchpin contention that
the full deregulation decreed by R.A. No. 8180 to start at the end of
March 1997 is unconstitutional. For prescinding from this premise,
petitioner suggests that "we simply go back to the transition period,
price control will be revived through the automatic pricing mechanism
based on Singapore Posted Prices. The Energy Regulatory Board . . .
would play a limited and ministerial role of computing the monthly
price ceiling of each and every petroleum fuel product, using the
automatic pricing formula. While the OPSF would return, this coverage
would be limited to monthly price increases in excess of P0.50 per
liter."
We are not impressed by petitioner Garcia's submission.
Petitioner has no basis in condemning as unconstitutional per se the
date fixed by Congress for the beginning of the full deregulation of the
downstream oil industry. Our Decision merely faulted the Executive for
factoring the depletion of OPSF in advancing the date of full
deregulation to February 1997. Nonetheless, the error of the Executive
is now a non-issue for the full deregulation set by Congress itself at the
end of March 1997 has already come to pass. March 1997 is not an
arbitrary date. By that date, the transition period has ended and it was
expected that the people would have adjusted to the role of market
forces in shaping the prices of petroleum and its products. The choice
of March 1997 as the date of full deregulation is a judgment of
Congress and its judgment call cannot be impugned by this Court. 8
Reduced to its basic arguments, it can be seen that the challenge in this
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petition is not against the legality of deregulation. Petitioner does not expressly
challenge deregulation. The issue, quite simply, is the timeliness or the wisdom
of the date when full deregulation should be effective.
In this regard, what constitutes reasonable time is not for judicial
determination. Reasonable time involves the appraisal of a great variety of
relevant conditions, political, social and economic. They are not within the
appropriate range of evidence in a court of justice. It would be an extravagant
extension of judicial authority to assert judicial notice as the basis for the
determination. 9
We repeat that what petitioner decries as unsuccessful is not a final
result. It is only a beginning. The Court is not inclined to stifle deregulation as
enacted by Congress from its very start. We leave alone the program of
deregulation at this stage. Reasonable time will prove the wisdom or folly of the
deregulation program for which Congress and not the Court is accountable.
Petitioner argues further that the public interest requires price controls
while the oligopoly exists, for that is the only way the public can be protected
from monopoly or oligopoly pricing. But is indefinite price control the only
feasible and legal way to enforce the constitutional mandate against
oligopolies? cdrep
Section 13 of the Act provides for "Remedies", under which the filing of
actions by government prosecutors and the investigation of private complaints
by the Task Force is provided. Sections 14 and 15 provide how the Department
of Energy shall monitor and prevent the occurrence of collusive pricing in the
industry.
It can be seen, therefore, that instead of the price controls advocated by
the petitioner, Congress has enacted anti-trust measures which it believes will
promote free and fair competition. Upon the other hand, the disciplined,
determined, consistent and faithful execution of the law is the function of the
President. As stated by public respondents, the remedy against unreasonable
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price increases is not the nullification of Section 19 of R.A. 8479 but the setting
into motion of its various other provisions.
For this Court to declare unconstitutional the key provision around which
the law's anti-trust measures are clustered would mean a constitutionally
interdicted distrust of the wisdom of Congress and of the determined exercise
of executive power.
Having decided that deregulation is the policy to follow, Congress and the
President have the duty to set up the proper and effective machinery to ensure
that it works. This is something which cannot be adjudicated into existence.
This Court is only an umpire of last resort whenever the Constitution or a law
appears to have been violated. There is no showing of a constitutional violation
in this case.
WHEREFORE, the petition is DISMISSED.
SO ORDERED.
Separate Opinions
PANGANIBAN, J.:
Petitioner contends that the three largest oil companies (the "Big Three")
comprise an oligopoly of the downstream oil industry. Oligopolies, he claims,
"negate free market competition and fair prices." He submits that "regulation
through price control . . . is patently required by the public interest [and] the
failure to regulate the oligopoly through price control is patently inimical to the
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national interest and patently negates, circumvents and contravenes Section
19, Article XII of the Constitution."
Deregulation per se Is
Not Constitutionally Infirm
A close perusal of the assailed Section 19 of RA 8479 and Section 19 of
Article XII of the Constitution does not readily reveal their irreconcilability.
Indeed, even petitioner admits that the deregulation policy per se is not
contrary to the Constitution. Neither could it be successfully argued that the
implementation of such policy within the five-month phase-in period is per se
anathema to our fundamental law. It is his imperative task therefore to adduce
before the Court factual and legal bases to demonstrate clearly and cogently
the unconstitutionality of the acts of Congress and the President in adopting
and implementing full deregulation of petroleum prices at this time.
In this context, I have pored over the records of this case and searched
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long and wide for such factual and legal bases but, other than presumptions
and generalizations that are unsupported by hard evidence, I could not find
any. Petitioner fails to substantiate his allegations that the three oil giants have
engaged, directly or indirectly, in an unholy alliance to fix prices and restrain
trade.
It is basic to our form of government that the Court cannot inquire into
the wisdom or expediency of the acts of the executive or the legislative
department, unless there is a clear showing of constitutional infirmity or grave
abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction. 9 "By grave
abuse of discretion is meant such capricious and whimsical exercise of
judgment as is equivalent to lack of jurisdiction. Mere abuse of discretion is not
enough. It must be grave abuse of discretion, as when the power is exercised in
an arbitrary or despotic manner by reason of passion or personal hostility, and
must be so patent and so gross as to amount to an evasion of a positive duty or
to a virtual refusal to perform the duty enjoined or to act at all in contemplation
of law." 10 These jurisprudential elements of arbitrariness, despotism, passion
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and hostility have not been shown to exist under the present circumstances. cdll
With this factual backdrop and in the dire absence of contrary proof, it
would be specious to conclude that under the aegis of Section 19 of RA 8479,
the Big Three have restrained trade or unduly restrained competition.
Sometime in March 1996, Congress made that daring step towards the
realization of liberating the oil industry from government regulation and
enacted R.A. 8180. On February 8, 1997, President Fidel V. Ramos issued E.O.
392, which signaled the implementation or start of deregulation in the oil
industry.
That decision came under sharp attack by critics who accused the Court of
improvidently intervening in the economic affairs of the State. Economists and
businessmen remarked that the decision was a major blow to economic reforms
and an additional burden to the government's already huge budget deficit as it
would require reinstating a subsidy on oil products. 4 Pertinent portions of the
Decision decreed:
"With this Decision, some circles will chide the Court for
interfering with an economic decision of Congress. Such criticism is
charmless for the Court is annulling R.A. No. 8180 not because it
disagrees with deregulation as an economic policy but because as
cobbled by Congress in its present form, the law violates the
Constitution. The right call therefor should be for Congress to write a
new oil deregulation law that conforms with the Constitution and not
for this Court to shirk its duty of striking down a law that offends the
Constitution. . . . Indeed when confronted by a law violating the
Constitution, the Court has no option but to strike it down dead. . . .
Hence, for as long as the Constitution reigns supreme so long will this
Court be vigilant in upholding the economic rights of our people
especially from the onslaught of the powerful. Our defense of the
people's economic rights may appear heartless because it cannot be
half-hearted.
IN VIEW WHEREOF, the petitions are granted. R.A. No. 8180 is
declared unconstitutional and E.O. No. 372 [392] void." 5
On the question of the validity of E.O. 392, the Court held that the
Executive Department failed to follow faithfully the standards set by R.A. 8180
when it considered the extraneous factor of depletion of the Oil Price
Stabilization Fund (OPSF) fund, instead of limiting the basis for the acceleration
of full deregulation of the industry to only two factors, viz: (1) the time when the
prices of crude oil and petroleum products in the world market are declining,
and (2) the time when the exchange rate of the peso in relation to the US dollar
is stable. 7 By considering another factor, the Executive Department rewrote
the standards set forth in R.A. 8180. 8 In light of the uncertainty of the
consideration given by the Executive department to the depletion of the OPSF
fund for the full deregulation of the oil industry, we ruled that E.O. 392
constituted a misapplication of R.A. 8180. In sum, the implementing order was
found void, while the basic law was held unconstitutional.
Dissatisfied with the amendments incorporated into the new law by his
own colleagues in Congress, Honorable Enrique T. Garcia filed the instant
petition.
First, the 4% tariff differential. On December 31, 1997, after the Court
declared with finality that R.A. 8180 is unconstitutional, President Ramos issued
Executive Order No. 461. The Order imposed a three percent (3%) import duty
on petroleum products enumerated therein. The President's move avoided the
revival of the old tariff rates of 10% on crude oil and 20% on refined oil while
the legislative department was in the process of crafting a new oil deregulation
law. Noteworthy, Sec. 6 of R.A. 8479 imposed the same tariff treatment on
petroleum products. Section 6 reads:
"SEC. 6. a) Any law to the contrary notwithstanding and
starting with the effectivity of this Act, a single and uniform tariff duty
shall be imposed and collected both on imported crude oil and
imported refined petroleum products at the rate of three percent (3%):
Provided, however, That the President of the Philippines may, in the
exercise of his powers, reduce such tariff rate when on his judgment
such reduction is warranted, pursuant to Republic Act No. 1937, as
amended, otherwise known as the "Tariff and Customs Code":
Provided, further, That beginning January 1, 2004 or upon
implementation of the Uniform Tariff Program under the World Trade
Organization and ASEAN Free Trade Area commitments, the tariff rate
shall be automatically adjusted to the appropriate level
notwithstanding the provisions under this Section."
However, E.O. 471 carried an additional proviso, the transition phase was
continued for LPG, regular gas and kerosene. These socially sensitive products
continued to be covered by the automatic pricing mechanism until July of 1998.
Only then was full deregulation of the industry effected, and the automatic
pricing mechanism was also lifted for LPG, regular gas and kerosene.
These issues may be synthesized into one: Whether or not the full
implementation of deregulating the downstream oil industry as provided in
Section 19 of R.A. 8479 violates the Constitutional mandate of free competition
in a liberalized oil industry under Section 19, Article XII of the 1987 Philippine
Constitution?
Petitioner Garcia principally faults Section 19 of the new R.A. 8479 as well
as E.O. 471 now for violating the constitutional prohibition against monopoly,
and being anti-competition.
Petitioner claims that there was a premature full deregulation under
Section 19 of R.A. 8479. He protests the acceleration of the full implementation
of deregulation decreed under E.O. 471. Petitioner insists that the short
transition period is pro-oligopoly, anti-competition and anti-people and is
patently unconstitutional because the period is too short to establish true
competition in the local oil industry. True competition, he claims, exists only
when there can be a sizable number of players, and at present, the new players
comprise only 3% of the market share which does not put up real competition
against the "Big Three" oil companies (Caltex, Shell and Petron). What he
suggests is to prolong the transition phase or partial deregulation with price
controls while the big oil companies are still dominating the market, to ensure
the protection of the public interest and prevent the big three oligopolies from
fixing the price or overpricing. He further contends that the automatic oil
pricing mechanism will enable the domestic price of petroleum products to
approximate and promptly reflect the price of oil in the international market. He
also stressed that new players may come under an indefinite or open-ended
transition phase.
Commenting on the petition, respondents claim that the propriety of full
deregulation involves the wisdom of Congress and is therefore, a non-justiciable
issue. They counter petitioner's arguments by pointing out that the shortening
of the transition period and acceleration of full deregulation were decreed
pursuant to the joint recommendation of the DOE and DOF, based on the
concurring conditions of a downtrend of crude oil in world market and the
stability of the exchange rate of P40.00 to US$1.
The respondents argue that the short transition period is not violative of
the Constitution because the new players were given until July 1998 to set up
their businesses as they have in fact, and they have captured at least 3% of the
total oil market.
Respondent Petron asserts that full deregulation protects the public from
the greed and exploitation of business. Petron further contends that
competition can be ushered in only with the certainty of price deregulation and
the short transition period would guarantee the investors that within a
manageable period, they would be able to set prices, taking into account their
investment and operating costs. It claims an indefinite transition period would
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discourage new investors because the new players had hoped that within a
reasonable time, price regulation would be lifted.
The Solicitor General filed a comment on behalf of the public
respondents, interposing economic arguments that price regulation reduces
economic efficiency and is prejudicial to the public. 14 Public respondents assert
that the acceleration of full deregulation is based on existing conditions and
sound economic theory.
Note that during the review of R.A. 8180 by the Court in G.R. No. 127867,
petitioners Edcel C. Lagman, Arroyo, et al., likewise questioned the
constitutionality of Section 15 of R.A. No. 8180 15 as well as E.O. No. 392 16
which provided for the implementation of full deregulation. The Court decreed
thus:
". . . Full deregulation at the end of March 1997 is mandatory and
the Executive has no discretion to postpone it for any purported
reason. Thus, the law is complete on the question of the final date of
full deregulation. The discretion given to the President is to advance
the date of full deregulation before the end of March 1997. Section 15
lays down the standard to guide the judgment of the President — he is
to time it as far as practicable when the prices of crude oil and
petroleum products in the world market are declining and when the
exchange rate of the peso in relation to the US dollar is stable.
xxx xxx xxx
"It ought to follow that the argument that E.O. No. 392 is null and
void as it was based on indeterminate standards set by R.A. 8180 must
likewise fail. If that were all to the attack against the validity of E.O. No.
392, the issue need not further detain our discourse." 17
In G.R. No. 127867, Congressman Garcia filed an Urgent Motion for Partial
Reconsideration from the November 5, 1997, decision of the Court. He sought
to strike down only the premature full deregulation but maintain partial
deregulation under R.A. No. 8180 with price controls and price mechanism
based on Singapore Posted Prices. The Court resolved the issue this way:
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"We shall first resolve petitioner Garcia's linchpin contention that
the full deregulation decreed by R.A. No. 8180 to start at the end of
March 1997 is unconstitutional. For prescinding from this premise
petitioner suggests that 'we simply go back to the transition period
under R.A. No. 8180.' Under the transition period, price control will be
revived through the automatic pricing mechanism based on Singapore
Posted Prices. The Energy Regulatory Board . . . would play a limited
and ministerial role of computing the monthly price ceiling of each and
every petroleum fuel product, using the automatic pricing formula. . . .
We are not impressed by petitioner Garcia's submission.
Petitioner has no basis in condemning as unconstitutional per se the
date fixed by Congress for the beginning of the full deregulation of the
downstream oil industry . . . The choice of March 1997 as the date of
full deregulation is a judgment of Congress and its judgment call
cannot be impugned by this Court." 18
Now in the present petition, Garcia insists on his old plea for a return only
to partial deregulation of the downstream oil industry, wherein the main
features of deregulation would be permitted but the retail prices of oil products
would still be regulated through an Automatic Pricing Mechanism.
Well-established is the principle that every law has in its favor the
presumption of constitutionality. 30 To declare a law unconstitutional, the
repugnancy of that law to the Constitution must be clear and unequivocal. But
we recognize that even if a law is aimed at the attainment of some public good,
still its provisions cannot infringe upon constitutional rights. 31 That
infringement, however, must be proved and established persuasively to
invalidate a provision of a law, if not the entire law itself.
Petitioner ought to have demonstrated the need for the extension of the
transition period. But, in fact, he could not downplay the DOE report that new
players accounted for a sizable share of the market, some 18.1 percent of the
total product imports, and competing companies are keen in joining the
Philippine oil industry since the full implementation of deregulation. And, as
stressed by the public respondents in the rejoinder dated January 7, 1999:
"Since 1996, new players have taken a significant share in the
market, to wit: (a) seven (7) new players have entered the downstream
oil industry before RA No. 8180; (b) during the effectivity of RA No.
8180, twenty eight (28) new players have engaged in a number of
downstream oil industry activities; and (c) three (3) new players have
engaged in fuel bulk marketing, while two (2) new players have started
to establish gasoline service stations immediately before and during
the effectivity of RA No. 8479. At the same time, many more
companies have indicated their intention to enter the downstream oil
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industry business." 32
The new players, according to industry experts, are gradually making a dent
in the local market and their share is expected to surge in a few years when
their retail stations are established. 33
A calculus of fear and pessimism, however, does not justify the remedy
petitioner seeks: that we now overturn a law enacted by Congress and
approved by the Chief Executive. The Court must act on valid legal reasons that
will explain why we should interfere with vital legislation. 34 To strike down a
provision of law we need a clear showing that what the Constitution prohibits,
the statute has allowed to be done. 35 Since there is no clear showing that
Section 19 of R.A. 8479 has violated the constitutional prohibition against
monopolies and combinations in restraint of trade, I vote that the present
petition be DISMISSED.
Footnotes
2. § 2, RA 8479.
3. Neri, Economics and Public Policy, 1999 ed., p. 23. Parentheses in original
but brackets supplied.
4. Tañada v. Angara, 272 SCRA 18, May 2, 1997; Tatad v. Secretary of the
Department of Energy, infra; Santiago v. Guingona Jr., GR No. 134577,
November 18, 1998.
5. "Sec. 19. Start of Full Deregulation. — Full deregulation of the [Downstream
Oil] Industry shall start five (5) months following the effectivity of this Act:
Provided, however, That when the public interest so requires, the President
may accelerate the start of full deregulation upon the recommendation of the
DOE and the Department of Finance (DOF) when the prices of crude oil and
petroleum products in the world market are declining and the value of the
peso in relation to the US dollar is stable, taking into account relevant trends
and prospects . . . ."
6. 281 SCRA 330, 355; November 5, 1997; per Puno, J.
7. This quote is taken from a comment I made in Battles in the Supreme Court,
1998 ed., p. 121.
8. Lim v. Pacquing, 240 SCRA 649, January 27, 1995; Tano v. Socrates, 278
SCRA 154, 1997; Tan v. People, 290 SCRA 117, May 19, 1998.
9. Tañada v. Angara, supra; Santiago v. Guingona Jr., supra. See also Garcia v.
Comelec, 227 SCRA 100, October 5, 1993; Tañada v. Cuenco, 103 Phil 1051,
February 28, 1957; Magtajas v. Pryce Properties Corp., 223 SCRA 255, July
20, 1994.
10. Tañada v. Angara, supra, citing Zarate v. Olegario, 260 SCRA 1; October 7,
1996; San Sebastian College v. Court of Appeals, 197 SCRA 138, 144, May
15, 1991; Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Court of Tax Appeals, 195
SCRA 444, 458, March 20, 1991; Simon v. Civil Service Commission, 215
SCRA 410, November 5, 1992; Bustamante v. Commissioner on Audit, 216
SCRA 134, 136, November 27, 1992.
11. Solicitor general's Memorandum, p. 44.
12. Ibid.
13. During the Oral Argument on July 13, 1999, I compared petitioner to a Don
Quixote bravely battling petroleum-powered windmills. If only for his gutsy
Quixotic quest, I have, like many members of the Court, lent a sympathetic
ear to petitioner, not only in this case but also in the earlier Tatad in which I
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wrote a Concurring Opinion to the Court's Decision striking down RA 8180,
the Oil Deregulation Law then.
QUISUMBING, J., concurring:
22. Id., citing Winslow v. Fleischner , 112 Or 23, 228 P 101, 34 ALR 826.
23. Id., citing King v. State, 87 Tenn 304, 10 SW 509.
24. Daza vs. Singson 180 SCRA 496, 500 (1989); citing Tanada vs. Cuenco, 103
Phil. 1051 (1957), Association of Small Landowners in the Philippines, Inc. vs.
Secretary of Agrarian Reform, 175 SCRA 343, 377 (1989).
25. Ibid.
26. Ibid.
27. Valmonte vs. Belmonte, Jr., 170 SCRA 256, 268 (1989).
28. 190 SCRA 717 (1990).