G.R. No. 180643 - ROMULO L. NERI, in his capacity as Chairman of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and as former Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) v. SENATE COMMITTEE ON ACCOUNTABILITY OF PUBLIC OFFICERS &
EN BANC
[G.R. NO. 180643 : September 4, 2008]
ROMULO L. NERI, Petitioner, v. SENATE COMMITTEE ON ACCOUNTABILITY OF PUBLIC OFFICERS AND INVESTIGATIONS, SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND COMMERCE, AND SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL DEFENSE AND SECURITY, Respondents.
SEPARATE DISSENTING OPINION
AZCUNA, J.:
I fully join Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno in his dissenting opinion.
It was the intent of the Constitutional Commission to preserve the nature of the Senate as a continuing body to provide an institutional memory in the legislature. The deliberations in the Commission, cited by the Chief Justice, clearly bear this out. The Senate, therefore, need not re-publish its Rules with every new Congress.
Furthermore, as I opined in my dissent in the JPEPA case,1 specific provisions of the present Constitution conferred on Congress an information function, apart from its legislative function, which it may exercise to enable our people to effectively take part in governance. The Senate investigation at issue is, therefore, in order even apart from the power to legislate.
I, therefore, VOTE to GRANT the Senate's Motion for Reconsideration and DISMISS the petition for lack of merit.
ADOLFO S. AZCUNA
Associate Justice
Endnotes:
1 G.R. No. 170516, Akbayan Ctizens Action Party ["AKBAYAN"], Pambansang Katipunan Ng Mga Samahan sa Kanayunan ["PKSK"], et al. v. Thomas G. Aquino, in his capacity as Undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry [DTI] and Chairman and Chief Delegate of the Philippine Coordinating Committee [PCC] for the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement, et al., promulgated July 17, 2008.
