Constitutional Law
Santiago v. Guingona, Jr.
G.R. No. 134577: November 18, 1998
FACTS:
Senator Marcelo Fernan was elected Senate President for the 11th Congress, winning
by a vote of 20:2 against Senator Francisco Tatad. Senator Blas Ople was elected president
pro tempore and Senator Franklin Drilon, majority leader.
Senator Tatad said that he was assuming the position of minority leader, since the 20
people who voted for Senator Fernan comprised the “majority,” while those who voted for
him comprised the “minority.” However, Senator Juan Flavier manifested that the seven
senators of the Lakas-NUCD-UMDP Party—also a minority considering the composition of
the Senate—had selected Senator Teofisto Guigona as the minority leader. On July 30, 1998,
the majority leader recognized Senator Guingona, Jr. as the minority leader.
On July 31, 1998, Senators Santiago and Tatad filed for a petition for quo warranto,
seeking the ouster of Senator Guingona, alleging that he had been unlawfully acting as the
minority leader.
Petitioners argue that the “majority” referred to in Section 16(1), Article VI of the
1987 Constitution is the group of Senators who voted for the winning Senate President and
accepted committee chairmanships. They further assert that Senator Guingona cannot be the
rightful minority leader because the members of Lakas-NUCD-UMDP Party, where Senator
Guingona belongs, voted for the winning President, Senator Fernan, and because they
accepted committee chairmanships.
ISSUE:
In recognizing respondent Guingona, Jr. as the Senate minority leader, did the Senate
or its officials violate the Constitution or the laws?
RULING:
The Senate did not violate the Constitution or the laws when it recognized Senator
Guingona as the Senate minority leader.
While the Constitution requires that the President of the Senate must be elected by a
number constituting more than one half of all the members, i.e., by a “majority,” it does not
state that the members who will not vote for him shall constitute the “minority,” who could
thereby elect the minority leader. No law or regulation states that the defeated candidate shall
automatically become the minority leader.
The Constitution only states that “[e]ach House shall choose such other officers as it
may deem necessary”; it is silent on the manner of selecting them. And since even the Rules
of the Senate neither prescribes the manner of procedure of choosing the other officers, the
Legislature must be left on its own on how to fashion and promulgate its own operable norms
and standards, owing to the separation of powers.