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Garcillano V HR

The Supreme Court ruled that the Senate's invocation of the Electronic Commerce Act to justify the non-publication of its rules for legislative inquiries is insufficient under the Constitution. The requirement for publication of rules is essential for due process, and the Senate cannot conduct inquiries without duly published rules. Consequently, the Senate must defer its inquiries until the rules are properly published.

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21 views2 pages

Garcillano V HR

The Supreme Court ruled that the Senate's invocation of the Electronic Commerce Act to justify the non-publication of its rules for legislative inquiries is insufficient under the Constitution. The requirement for publication of rules is essential for due process, and the Senate cannot conduct inquiries without duly published rules. Consequently, the Senate must defer its inquiries until the rules are properly published.

Uploaded by

dandan.tuazon023
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Garcillano v. House of Representatives Committee on Public Information, G.R. No.

170338, 23 December 2008


FACTS
Petitioners in G.R. No. 179275 seek to disallow the Senate to continue with the
conduct of the questioned legislative inquiry on the issue of “Hello Garci” tapes
containing the wiretapped communication of then President Gloria Macapagal-
Arroyo and COMELEC Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, without duly published rules
of procedure, in clear derogation of the constitutional requirement.
The respondents in G.R. No. 179275 admit in their pleadings and even on oral
argument that the Senate Rules of Procedure Governing Inquiries in Aid of
Legislation had been published in newspapers of general circulation only in 1995
and in 2006. With respect to the present Senate of the 14th Congress, however, of
which the term of half of its members commenced on June 30, 2007, no effort was
undertaken for the publication of these rules when they first opened their session.
Respondents justify their non-observance of the constitutionally mandated
publication by arguing that the rules have never been amended since 1995 and,
despite that, they are published in booklet form available to anyone for free, and
accessible to the public at the Senates internet web page, invoking R.A. No. 8792.
ISSUE
Whether or not the invocation by the respondents of the provisions of R.A. No. 8792,
otherwise known as the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000, to support their claim of
valid publication through the internet is a substantial compliance of the
constitutional requirement of publication.
RULING
NO.
Section 21, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution explicitly provides that [t]he Senate
or the House of Representatives, or any of its respective committees may conduct
inquiries in aid of legislation in accordance with its duly published rules of
procedure. The requisite of publication of the rules is intended to satisfy the basic
requirements of due process.
R.A. 8792 considers an electronic data message or an electronic document as the
functional equivalent of a written document only for evidentiary purposes. In other
words, the law merely recognizes the admissibility in evidence (for their being the
original) of electronic data messages and/or electronic documents. It does not make
the internet a medium for publishing laws, rules and regulations.

Given this discussion, the respondent Senate Committees, therefore, could not, in
violation of the Constitution, use its unpublished rules in the legislative inquiry
subject of these consolidated cases. The conduct of inquiries in aid of legislation by
the Senate has to be deferred until it shall have caused the publication of the rules,
because it can do so only in accordance with its duly published rules of procedure.

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