Abakada Guro PartyList vs Executive Secretary Ermita Case Digest
It has been said that taxes are the lifeblood of the government. In this case, it is just an enema, a first-aid measure to resuscitate an economy in distress. The Court is neither blind nor is it turning a deaf ear on the plight of the masses. But it does not have the panacea for the malady that the law seeks to remedy. As in other cases, the Court cannot strike down a law as unconstitutional simply because of its yokes.
RELATED
Facts:
Petitioners then filed a petition contending that sections 4,5, and 6 of RA 9337 giving the President the stand-by authority to raise VAT rate from 10% to 12% when certain conditions are met constitutes under delegation of legislative power to tax.
Issue
Is the standby authority given to the President an undue delegation of legislative power?
Ruling
No.
The case before the Court is not a delegation of legislative power.
It is a simple delegation of ascertainment of facts upon which enforcement and administration of the increase rate under the law are contingent. It leaves the entire operation or non-operation of the increase to a 12% rate upon factual matters outside of the control of the executive. No discretion would be exercised by the President.
WHEREFORE, Republic Act No. 9337 not being unconstitutional, the petitions in G.R. Nos. 168056, 168207, 168461, 168463, and 168730, are hereby DISMISSED.
There being no constitutional impediment to the full enforcement and implementation of R.A. No. 9337, the temporary restraining order issued by the Court on July 1, 2005, is LIFTED upon finality of herein decision.
Let us likewise disabuse our minds from the notion that the judiciary is the repository of remedies for all political or social ills; We should not forget that the Constitution has judiciously allocated the powers of government to three distinct and separate compartments; and that judicial interpretation has tended to the preservation of the independence of the three, and zealous regard of the prerogatives of each, knowing full well that one is not the guardian of the others and that, for official wrong-doing, each may be brought to account, either by impeachment, trial or by the ballot box.
Abakada Guro PartyList vs Executive Secretary Ermita Case Digest
