271059/271347/E-02472/E-04036 Concurring Opinion: Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo — Official PDF

Concurring Opinion 8 G.R. Nos. 271059, 271347, E-02472, and E-04036 •Road Fund in the 2025 GAA have already funded government programs and projects which have been executed.25 I concur with the foregoing disquisitions. I, nonetheless, write this Concurring Opinion to share my perspective on the following matters: (a) the president's certification ofHouse Bill No. 8980 as urgent was not attended by grave abuse of discretion; (b) the Bicameral Conference Committee is not limited, in reconciling any extant conflict between the versions of the two houses of Congress, to the specific subject matter of the conflicting provisions. The important consideration is whether the amendment introduced is germane to the subject matter of the bills before it; and ( c) Congress may create new P APs or reclassify P APs between Programmed and Unprogrammed Appropriations. The president did not commit grave abuse of discretion when he certified •Hous'e Bill No. 8980 as urgent. Article VI, Section 26(2) of the 1987 Constitution provides: 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. Tolentino v. Secretary of Finance26 holds that there are two purposes for which three readings on separate days is required: (1) to inform the members of Congress of what they must vote on; and (2) to give them notice that a measure is progressing through the enacting process, thus enabling them and others interested in the measure to prepare their positions with reference to it.27 Essentially, the requirements under Article VI, Section 26(2) are among •many requirements imposed by the Constitution to ensure that laws are properly prepared and thoroughly reviewed by the elected representatives of the people, prior to their passage. The requirements under Article VI, Section 26(2) are firstly for the benefit of the members of Congress, seeing as they guarantee that the members of Congress are given enough time and opportunity to properly 25 /d.at!l5-117. 26 305 Phil. 686 (1994) [Per J. Mendoza, En Banc]. 27 Id. at 755. f