SESSION 14: CONGRESSIONAL POWERS
CONTINUED.. of Congress to become valid as an act of the legislative
2. Requirements as to certain laws>> Tax Laws
Art. VI, Sec. 24. All appropriation, revenue or tariff
bills, bills authorizing increase of the public debt, bills
of local application, and private bills shall originate
exclusively in the House of Representatives, but the
Senate may propose or concur with amendments.
Bills that must originate from HOR
- Appropriation
- Revenue or tariff
- Bills authorizing increase of public debt
- Bills of local application
- Private bills
Revenue bill, not the law, is the one required to
originate exclusively in the HOR
 It is not the law — but the revenue bill — which is
required by the Constitution to "originate exclusively"
in the House of Representatives. (Tolentino v
Secretary of Finance)
Senate’s power to propose and concur with
amendments
 To insist that a revenue statute — and not only the bill
which initiated the legislative process culminating in
the enactment of the law — must substantially be the
same as the House bill would be to deny the Senate's
power not only to "concur with amendments" but also
to " propose amendments." (Id.)
Filing of a substitute bill in the Senate allowed
 Nor does the Constitution prohibit the filing in the
Senate of a substitute bill in anticipation of its receipt
of the bill from the House, so long as action by the
Senate as a body is withheld pending receipt of the
House bill. (Id.)
Art, VI, Sec. 26(2). No bill passed by either House
shall become a law unless it has passed three
readings on separate days, and printed copies
thereof in its final form have been distributed
to its Members three days before its passage,
except when the President certifies to the necessity
of its immediate enactment to meet a public calamity or
emergency. Upon the last reading of a bill, no
amendment thereto shall be allowed, and the vote
thereon shall be taken immediately thereafter, and the
yeas and nays entered in the Journal.
Certification by the President dispenses with the
reading and printing requirement
 The presidential certification dispensed with the
requirement not only of printing but also that of
reading the bill on separate days. (Id.)
Conference committee can include in its report an
entirely new provision
 It is within the power of a conference committee to
include in its report an entirely new provision that is
not found either in the House bill or in the Senate bill.
So long as such amendment is germane to the subject
of the bills before the committee. After all, its report
was not final but needed the approval of both houses
department. The charge that in this case the
Conference Committee acted as a third legislative
chamber is thus without any basis. (Id.)
3 separate readings not required for conference
committee report
 Art. VI, § 26(2) must, therefore, be construed as
referring only to bills introduced for the first time in
either house of Congress, not to the conference
committee report. (Id.)
Tax laws must not violate Constitutional rights
- Press freedom
- Freedom of Thought
- Religious Freedom
- Due process
- Equal Protection
- Non-impairment of contracts (Id.)
Tax laws must be equitable and uniform; A
regressive tax law is not unconstitutional
 VAT is constitutional. No empirical data that it is
regressive. (Id.)
 Even if regressive, what Congress is required by the
Constitution to do is to "evolve a progressive system
of taxation." It does not say that a regressive system
of taxation is unconstitutional. (Id.)
Art. VI, Sec. 28 (3). Charitable institutions, churches
and personages or convents appurtenant thereto,
mosques, non-profit cemeteries, and all lands,
buildings, and improvements, actually, directly, and
exclusively used for religious, charitable, or educational
purposes shall be exempt from taxation.
Charitable institutions are exempt from taxation
 As a general principle, a charitable institution does
not lose its character as such and its exemption from
taxes simply because it derives income from paying
patients, whether out-patient, or confined in the
hospital, or receives subsidies from the government,
so long as the money received is devoted or used
altogether to the charitable object which it is intended
to achieve; and no money inures to the private benefit
of the persons managing or operating the institution.
(Lung Center v Quezon City)
Real property owned by charitable institutions
not actually used directly and exclusively for
charitable purposes subject to real property taxes
 Portions of its real property that are leased to private
entities are not exempt from real property taxes as
these are not actually, directly and exclusively used
for charitable purposes. (Id.)
Meaning of “actual, direct and exclusive use”
 What is meant by actual, direct and exclusive use of
the property for charitable purposes is the direct and
immediate and actual application of the property
itself to the purposes for which the charitable
institution is organized.
 It is not the use of the income from the real property
that is determinative of whether the property is used
for tax-exempt purposes. (Id.)
 Art. VI, Sec. 28 (1). The rule of taxation shall be
uniform and equitable. The Congress shall evolve a
progressive system of taxation.
Uniformity defined
 All subjects or objects of taxation, similarly situated,
are to be treated alike both in privileges and
liabilities. (Tan v Del Rosario)
Requisites of uniformity
- the standards that are used therefor are substantial
and not arbitrary,
- the categorization is germane to achieve the
legislative purpose,
- the law applies, all things being equal, to both present
and future conditions, and
- the classification applies equally well to all those
belonging to the same class (Id.)
Art. VI, Sec. 28 (2). The Congress may, by law,
authorize the President to fix within specified limits,
and subject to such limitations and restrictions as it
may impose, tariff rates, import and export quotas,
tonnage and wharfage dues, and other duties or
imposts within the framework of the national
development program of the Government.
***
Art. VI, Sec. 28 (4). No law granting any tax
exemption shall be passed without the concurrence of a
majority of all the Members of the Congress.
Power to declare certain classes exempt from
taxation
 Congress has full power to exempt any person or
corporation or class of property from taxation, its
power to exempt being as broad as its power to tax.
Other Provisions on Taxation
Local Government
Art. X, Sec. 5. Each local government unit shall have
the power to create its own sources of revenues and to
levy taxes, fees and charges subject to such guidelines
and limitations as the Congress may provide, consistent
with the basic policy of local autonomy. Such taxes,
fees, and charges shall accrue exclusively to the local
governments.
Art. X, Sec. 6. Local government units shall have a
just share, as determined by law, in the national taxes
which shall be automatically released to them.
Educational Institutions
Art. XIV, Sec. 4(3). All revenues and assets of non-
stock, non-profit educational institutions used actually,
directly, and exclusively for educational purposes shall
be exempt from taxes and duties. Upon the dissolution
or cessation of the corporate existence of such
institutions, their assets shall be disposed of in the
manner provided by law.
Art. XIV, Sec. 4(4). Subject to conditions prescribed
by law, all grants, endowments, donations, or
contributions used actually, directly, and exclusively for
educational purposes shall be exempt from tax.
2. Requirements as to certain laws>> Appellate
Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court
Art. VI, Sec. 30. No law shall be passed increasing
the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court as
provided in this Constitution without its advice and
concurrence.
 Section 27 of RA No. 6770 is unconstitutional insofar
as it authorizes an appeal to this Court from decisions
of the Office of the Ombudsman in administrative
disciplinary cases. (Fabian v Desierto)
 Second paragraph of Section 14, RA 6770 which states
that "[n]o court shall hear any appeal or application
for remedy against the decision or findings of the
Ombudsman, except the Supreme Court, on pure
question of law” is unconstitutional since it increases
the Court’s appellate jurisdiction without the
Supreme Court’s approval. (Carpio-Morales v CA)
The Legislative Process
Rules of Congress
Rules of the Senate
Rule XII:
§ Sec. 26. In the event that the Senate does not agree
with the House of Representatives on the provision of
any bill or joint resolution, the differences shall be
settled by a conference committee of both Houses
which shall meet within ten days after their
composition.
The President shall designate the members of
the conference committee in accordance with
subparagraph (c), Section 3 of Rule III.
Each Conference Committee Report shall contain a
detailed and sufficiently explicit statement of the
changes in or amendments to the subject measure, and
shall be signed by the conferees.
The consideration of such report shall not be in order
unless the report has been filed with the Secretary of
the Senate and copies thereof have been distributed to
the Members.
Rules of the House of Representatives
Rule XIV:
§ Sec. 85. Conference Committee Reports. — In the
event that the House does not agree with the Senate on
the amendments to any bill or joint resolution, the
differences may be settled by conference committees of
both Chambers.
The consideration of conference committee reports
shall always be in order, except when the journal is
being read, while the roll is being called or the House is
dividing on any question. Each of the pages of such
reports shall be signed by the conferees. Each report
shall contain a detailed, sufficiently explicit statement
of the changes in or amendments to the subject
measure.
The consideration of such report shall not be in order
unless copies thereof are distributed to the Members:
Provided, That in the last fifteen days of each session
period it shall be deemed sufficient that three copies of
 the report, signed as above provided, are deposited in indivisible sum of money dedicated to a stated
the office of the Secretary General. purpose.

Veto by the President  Provision – general provision of law which happens

Article VI, Section 27.
Every bill passed by the Congress shall, before it
becomes a law, be presented to the President. If he
approves the same he shall sign it; otherwise, he shall
veto it and return the same with his objections to the
House where it originated, which shall enter the
objections at large in its Journal and proceed to
reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds
of all the Members of such House shall agree to pass
the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to
the other House by which it shall likewise be
reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of all the
Members of that House, it shall become a law. In all
such cases, the votes of each House shall be determined
by yeas or nays, and the names of the Members voting
for or against shall be entered in its Journal. The
President shall communicate his veto of any bill to the
House where it originated within thirty days after the
date of receipt thereof, otherwise, it shall become a law
as if he had signed it.
The President shall have the power to veto any
particular item or items in an appropriation, revenue,
or tariff bill, but the veto shall not affect the item or
items to which he does not object.
to be put in an appropriation bill
Enactment of law by legislative inaction not
allowed (Miller v Mardo)
Vote required to repeal laws is only majority
 Section 1, Article XVII of RA No. 9054 requires a vote
of no less than two-thirds (2/3) of the Members of the
House of Representatives and of the Senate, voting
separately, in order to effectively amend RA No.
9054. Clearly, this 2/3 voting requirement is higher
than what the Constitution requires for the passage of
bills, and served to restrain the plenary powers of
Congress to amend, revise or repeal the laws it had
passed. (Kida v Senate)
Publication of enacted laws in the Official Gazette
 Article 2 does not preclude the requirement of
publication in the Official Gazette, even if the law
itself provides for the date of its effectivity. (Tanada v
Tuvera)

General veto and item-veto

 Paragraph (1) refers to the general veto power of the

President and if exercised would result in the veto of
the entire bill, as a general rule. Paragraph (2) is what
is referred to as the item-veto power or the line-veto
power. (Gonzales v Macaraig)

Partial veto of an item not allowed

 The power given the executive to disapprove any item

or items in an Appropriations Bill does not grant the
authority to veto a part of an item and to approve the
remaining portion of the same item. (Id.)

Power to augment from savings

Art. VI, Sec. 25(5). No law shall be passed

authorizing any transfer of appropriations; however,
the President, the President of the Senate, the Speaker
of the House of Representatives, the Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court, and the heads of Constitutional
Commissions may, by law, be authorized to augment
any item in the general appropriations law for their
respective offices from savings in other items of their
respective appropriations.

President must veto a bill in its entirety or not at

all

 Executive must veto a bill in its entirety or not at all.

He or she cannot act like an editor crossing out
specific lines, provisions, or paragraphs in a bill that
he or she dislikes. In the exercise of the veto power, it
is generally all or nothing. (Bengzon v Drilon)

 Exception: appropriation, revenue or tariff bills (Id.)

Item v Provision

 Item - refers to the particulars, the details, the

distinct and severable parts . . . of the bill. An