EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT

A. Privileges, inhibitions, and disqualifications

1. Presidential immunity
1. While the President is immune from suit, she may not be prevented from
instituting suit
2. Presidential privilege
1. Pertains in the area of military and foreign relations
2. The necessity for withholding the information must be of such a high degree as
the public interest in enforcing that obligation in a particular case. In light of this
highly exceptional nature of the privilege, the Court finds it essential to limit to
the President (and to the Executive Secretary, by order of the President) the power
to invoke the privilege
1. The provision in the Executive Order which authorized Department
Secretaries to invoke executive privilege in case senior officials in their
departments are asked to appear in a legislative investigation is
unconstitutional. It is upon the President that executive power is vested.
Only the President can make use of Executive Privilege
3. The communications must be received by a close advisor of the President
pursuant to the proximity test
4. Presidential communications privilege applies to decision-making of the
President. The deliberative process privilege applies to decision-making of
executive officials. Unlike the "deliberative process privilege," "the presidential
communications privilege" applies to documents in their entirety and covers final
and post decisional matters, as well as pre-deliberative ones. The deliberative
process privilege includes advisory opinions, recommendations and deliberations
comprising part of a process by which governmental decisions and policies are
formulated
3. Inhibitions
1. Shall not receive any other emoluments from the government or any other
source
2. Unless otherwise provided in this Constitution, shall not hold any other office
or employment
1. Vice President may be appointed to the Cabinet, without need of
confirmation by the Commission on Appointments; and the Secretary of
Justice is an ex officio member of the Judicial and Bar Council
2. This prohibition must not, however, be construed as applying to posts
occupied by the Executive officials without additional compensation in an
ex-officio capacity, as provided by law and as required by the primary
functions of the said officials’ office. The ex-officio position being
actually and in legal contemplation part of the principal office, it follows
that the official concerned has no right to receive additional compensation
for his services in said position
3. Shall not directly or indirectly practice any other profession, participate in any
business, or be financially interested in any contract with, or in any franchise or
special privilege granted by the government
 4. Strictly avoid conflict of interest in the conduct of their office
5. May not appoint spouse or relatives by consanguinity or affinity within the
fourth civil degree as Members of Constitutional Commissions, or the Office of
the Ombudsman, or as Secretaries, Under Secretaries, chairmen or heads of
bureaus or offices, including government-owned or -controlled corporations and
their subsidiaries
B. Powers
1. Executive and administrative powers in general
1. No person may be elected President unless he is a natural-born citizen of the
Philippines, a registered voter, able to read and write, at least forty years of age on
the day of the election, and a resident of the Philippines for at least ten years
immediately preceding such election
2. The specific grant of executive powers is not inclusive but is merely a
limitation upon the general grant
of executive power
3. President exercises residual powers
2. Power of appointment
a. In general
1. Distinguished from designation in that the latter simply means the
imposition of additional duties, usually by law, on a person already in the
public service. It is also different from the commission in that the latter is
the written evidence of the appointment
1. There is no security of tenure in designation
2. Permanent appointments are those extended to persons possessing the
qualifications and the requisite eligibility and are thus protected by the
constitutional guarantee of security of tenure. Temporary appointments are
given to persons without such eligibility, revocable at will and without the
necessity of just cause or a valid investigation; made on the understanding
that the appointing power has not yet decided on a permanent appointee
and that the temporary appointee may be replaced at any time a permanent
choice is made
3. A regular appointment is one made by the President while Congress is
in session, takes effect only after confirmation by the Commission on
Appointments, and once approved, continues until the end of the term of
the appointee. An ad interim appointment is one made by the President
while Congress is not in session, takes effect immediately, but ceases to be
valid if disapproved by the Commission on Appointments or upon the next
adjournment of Congress. In the latter case, the ad interim appointment is
deemed “by-passed” through inaction
1. Ad interim appointment is a permanent appointment
4. Limitations
1. The President may not appoint his spouse and relatives by
consanguinity or affinity within the fourth civil degree as Members
of the Constitutional Commissions, as Ombudsman, or as
Secretaries, Undersecretaries, chairmen or heads of bureaus or
offices, including government-owned or -controlled corporations
 2. Appointments extended by an acting President shall remain
effective unless revoked by the elected President within ninety
days from his assumption of office
3. The presidential power of appointment may also be limited by
Congress through its power to prescribe qualifications for public
office; and the judiciary may annul an appointment made by the
President if the appointee is not qualified or has not been validly
confirmed
b. Commission on Appointments confirmation
1. A temporary appointment and a designation are not subject to
confirmation by the Commission on Appointments. Such confirmation, if
given erroneously, will not make the incumbent a permanent appointee
2. There is no dispute that when the Commission on Appointments
disapproves an ad interim appointment, the appointee can no longer be
extended a new appointment, inasmuch as the disapproval is a final
decision of the Commission in the exercise of its checking power on the
appointing authority of the President
3. But when an ad interim appointment is by-passed because of lack of
time or failure of the Commission on Appointments to organize, there is
no final decision by the Commission to give or withhold its consent to the
appointment. Absent such decision, the President is free to renew the ad
interim appointment
4. The President shall nominate, and with the consent of the Commission
on Appointments, appoint the following: [a] Heads of executive
departments; [b] Ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls; [c]
Officers of the armed forces from the rank of colonel or naval captain; and
[d] Those other officers whose appointments are vested in him in the
Constitution
1. Congress cannot, by law, require the confirmation of
appointments of government officials other than those enumerated
2. Steps in the appointing process (must all be complied in order to
be valid):
1. Nomination by the President;
2. Confirmation by the Commission on Appointments;
3. Issuance of the commission;
4. Acceptance by the appointee
5. He shall also appoint [a] All other officers of the Government whose
appointments are not otherwise provided by law; and [b] Those whom he
may be authorized by law to appoint. These do not require confirmation of
the COA
c. Midnight appointments
1. Two months immediately before the next presidential elections and up
to the end of his term, a President or acting President shall not make
appointments except temporary appointments to executive positions when
continued vacancies therein will prejudice public service or endanger
public safety
 2. There is no law that prohibits local executive officials from making
appointments during the last days of their tenure
3. The President can make appointments to the Supreme Court two months
before a presidential election until the end of his term but not to the rest of
the Judiciary like the Court of Appeals. Under Section 4(1), Article VIII of
the Constitution, vacancies in the Supreme Court shall be filled within
ninety (90) days from the occurrence of the vacancy. Under Section 9,
Article VIII of the Constitution, vacancies in the lower courts shall be
filled within ninety (90) days from submission of the list of nominees
d. Power of removal
1. Members of the career service of the Civil Service who are appointed
by the President may be directly disciplined by him provided that the same
is for cause and in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law
2. Members of the Cabinet and such officers whose continuity in office
depends upon the pleasure of the President may be replaced at any time,
but legally speaking, their separation is effected not by removal but by
expiration of their term
3. Power of control and supervision
a. Doctrine of qualified political agency
1. The acts of the Secretaries of such departments performed and
promulgated in the regular course of business are, unless disapproved or
reprobated by the Chief Executive presumptively the acts of the Chief
Executive
2. Appeal to the President from decisions of subordinate executive
officers, including Cabinet members, completes exhaustion of
administrative remedies, except in the instances when the doctrine of
qualified political agency applies
b. Executive departments and offices
1. The President must exercise good faith in carrying out the
reorganization of any branch or agency of the executive department if it is
for the purpose of economy or to make bureaucracy more efficient
2. Evidence of bad faith in the removal of civil service employees as a
result of reorganization: (a) where there is a significant increase in the
number of positions in the new staffing pattern of the department or
agency concerned; (b) where an office is abolished and another
performing substantially the same functions is created; (c) where
incumbents are replaced by those less qualified in terms of status of
appointment, performance and merit; (d) where there is a classification of
offices in the department or agency concerned and the reclassified offices
perform substantially the same functions as the original offices; and (e)
where the removal violates the order of separation
c. Local government units
1. The President exercises only the power of general supervision over
local governments
4. Military powers
 1. The ability of the President to require a military official to secure prior consent
before appearing in Congress pertains to a wholly different and independent
specie of presidential authority — the Commander-in-Chief powers of the
President
2. Calling out power
1. Whenever it becomes necessary, he may call out such armed forces to
prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion or rebellion
2. Part of the military powers of the President is the conduct of “saturation
drives” or “aerial target zoning” by members of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines
3. President cannot exercise emergency powers without a law from
Congress
4. The term “whenever becomes necessary” is a political question
5. The Court said that, in calling out the armed forces, a declaration of a
state of rebellion is an “utter superfluity”. At most, it only gives notice to
the nation that such a state exists and that the armed forces may be called
to prevent or suppress it
3. Martial law
1. In cases of invasion or rebellion, when the public safety requires it, he
may, for a period not exceeding sixty days, suspend the privilege of the
writ of habeas corpus or place the Philippines or any part thereof under
martial law
2. Duty of President to report action to Congress: within 48 hours,
personally or in writing
3. Congress may revoke [or extend on request of the President] the
effectivity of proclamation by a majority vote of all its members, voting
jointly
4. The Supreme Court may review, in an appropriate proceeding filed by
any citizen, the sufficiency of the factual basis of the proclamation of
martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ or the extension
thereof, and must promulgate its decision thereon within thirty days from
its filing
5. The suspension of the privilege of the writ does not impair the right to
bail. The suspension applies only to persons judicially charged for
rebellion or offenses inherent in or directly connected with invasion.
During the suspension of the privilege of the writ, any person thus arrested
or detained shall be judicially charged within three days, otherwise he
shall be released
6. A state of martial law does not suspend the operation of the
Constitution, nor supplant the functioning of the civil courts or legislative
assemblies, nor authorize the conferment of jurisdiction on military courts
and agencies over civilians where civil courts are able to function, nor
automatically suspend the privilege of the writ
5. Pardoning power
a. Nature and limitations
1. Cannot be granted in cases of impeachment
 2. Cannot be granted in cases of violation of election laws without the
favorable recommendation of the Commission on Elections
3. Can be granted only after conviction by final judgment
4. Cannot be granted in cases of legislative contempt (as it would violate
separation of powers), or civil contempt (as the State is without interest in
the same)
5. Cannot absolve the convict of civil liability
6. Cannot restore public officer forfeited
7. First, in this case, the power of executive clemency cannot be delegated
for it was not signed by the President himself but by the Executive
Secretary and second, the power of executive clemency cannot extend to
administrative cases in the Judiciary, because it will violate the principle
of separation of powers and impair the power of the Supreme Court under
Section 6, Article VIII of the Constitution of administrative supervision
over all courts
b. Forms of executive clemency
1. Pardon
1. Plenary
2. Partial
3. Absolute
4. Conditional
1. A judicial pronouncement that a convict who was
granted a pardon subject to the condition that he should not
again violate any penal law is not necessary before he can
be declared to have violated the condition of his pardon.
Moreover, a hearing is not necessary before A can be
recommitted to prison. By accepting the conditional
pardon. He agreed that the determination by the President
that he violated the condition of his pardon shall be
conclusive upon him and an order for his arrest should at
once issue
5. No need for distinct acts of acceptance
2. Commutation
3. Reprieve, postponement of sentence
4. Parole
5. Amnesty
1. One must admit his guilt of the offense covered by the
proclamation; acceptance is necessary
2. Looks backward and puts into oblivion the offense itself
3. There should be concurrence of majority of all the members of
Congress
4. No need for prior conviction
6. Diplomatic power
1. The President may contract or guarantee foreign loans on behalf of the
Republic with the prior concurrence of the Monetary Board, and subject to such
limitations as may be provided by law
 1. No need for concurrence of Senate
2. No treaty or international agreement shall be valid and effective unless
concurred in by at least 2/3 of all the members of the Senate
3. Distinguished treaties from executive agreements, thus: (i) international
agreements which involve political issues or changes of national policy and those
involving international arrangements of a permanent character take the form of a
treaty; while international agreements involving adjustment of details carrying out
well established national policies and traditions and involving arrangements of a
more or less temporary nature take the form of executive agreements; and (ii) in
treaties, formal documents require ratification, while executive agreements
become binding through executive action
1. Executive agreement should not be contrary to an existing domestic law
2. Establishment of an embassy and consular offices is a treaty
3. The second Executive Agreement which allows the Republic of Kroi
Sha to bring to the Philippines its military complement, warships, and
armaments from time may be subject to the provisions of Section 25 of
Article XVIII of the Constitution, which provides that “foreign bases,
troops or facilities shall not be allowed in the Philippines except under a
treaty duly concurred in by the Senate and, when the Congress so requires,
ratified by a majority of the votes cast by the people in a national
referendum held for that purpose, and recognized as a treaty by the of the
contracting state”
4. Senate only concurs to treaties. It is the President who ratifies it
5. Power to ban aliens from entering the Philippines
7. Powers relative to appropriation measures
1. The President shall submit to Congress within 30 days from the opening of
every regular session, as the basis of the general appropriations act, a budget of
expenditures and sources of financing, including receipts from existing and
proposed revenue measures
a. Validity of transferring savings between departments
8. Delegated powers
9. Veto powers
10. Residual powers
1. The President shall address the Congress at the opening of its regular session.
He may also appear before it at any other time
2. Call Congress to a special session
3. Power to approve or veto bills
4. To consent to deputation of government personnel by the Commission on
Elections
5. To discipline such deputies
11. Executive privilege
12. Emergency powers
1. The proclamation of a state of calamity by the President will have the following
legal effects:
 1. The local government units in the Province of Aurora may enact a
supplemental budget for the purchase of supplies and materials or the
payment of services to prevent
danger to or loss of life or property. (Section 321, Local Government
Code)
2. The five per cent of the estimated revenue from regular sources required
to be appropriated in the budgets of local government units for unforeseen
expenditures may be used in the Province of Aurora. (Section 324(d),
Local Government Code]
3. Science and technological personnel of the government in the Province
of Aurora
shall be paid hazard allowance. (Section 7(c), Republic Act No. 8439)
4. Public health workers in the Province of Aurora shall be paid hazard
allowance (Section 21, Republic Act No. 7305)
5. The prices of basic necessities in the Province of Aurora shall
automatically be frozen at their prevailing levels or placed under
automatic price control. (Section 6(1), Republic Act No. 7581 entitled The
Price Act)
6. A crime committed in the Province of Aurora will be considered as
aggravated.
(Article 14(7), Revised Penal Code)
C. Rules of Succession
1. If no President and Vice President chosen nor shall have qualified, or both shall have
died or become permanently disabled: The President of the Senate or, in case of his
inability, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall act as President until a
President or a Vice President shall have been chosen and qualified. In the event of
inability of the officials mentioned, Congress shall, by law, provide for the manner in
which one who is to act as President shall be selected until a President or a Vice President
shall have qualified
2. The Court declared that the elements of a valid resignation are: [1] intent to resign; and
[2] act of relinquishment
3. At 10 o’clock in the morning of the 3rd day after the vacancy occurs, Congress shall
convene without need of a call, and within 7 days enact a law calling for a special
election to elect a President and a Vice President to be held not earlier than 45 nor later
than 60 days from the time of such call. The bill shall be deemed certified and shall
become law upon its approval on third reading by Congress, x x x The convening of
Congress cannot be suspended nor the special election postponed, x x x No special
election shall be called if the vacancy occurs within 18 months before the date of the next
presidential election
4. The President shall nominate a Vice president from among the members of the Senate
and the House of Representatives who shall assume office upon confirmation by a
majority vote of all the Members of both Houses of Congress voting separately