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Constitution to suppress or stamp out such violence.

The State, acting through the


Government, is not precluded from taking pre-emptive action against threats to its existence
if, though still nascent, they are perceived as apt to become serious and direct. Protection of
the people is the essence of the duty of government. The preservation of the State the
fruition of the people's sovereignty is an obligation in the highest order. The President,
sworn to preserve and defend the Constitution and to see the faithful execution the laws,
cannot shirk from that responsibility. LLjur
We cannot also lose sight of the fact that the country is only now beginning to
recover from the hardships brought about by the plunder of the economy attributed to the
Marcoses and their close associates and relatives, many of whom are still here in the
Philippines in a position to destabilize the country, while the Government has barely
scratched the surface, so to speak, in its efforts to recover the enormous wealth stashed
away by the Marcoses in foreign jurisdictions. Then, We cannot ignore the continually
increasing burden imposed on the economy by the excessive foreign borrowing during the
Marcos regime, which stifles and stagnates development and is one of the root causes of
widespread poverty and all its attendant ills. The resulting precarious state of our economy
is of common knowledge and is easily within the ambit of judicial notice.
The President has determined that the destabilization caused by the return of the
Marcoses would wipe away the gains achieved during the past few years and lead to total
economic collapse. Given what is within our individual and common knowledge of the state
of the economy, we cannot argue with that determination.
WHEREFORE, and it being our well-considered opinion that the President did not act
arbitrarily or with grave abuse of discretion in determining that the return of former
President Marcos and his family at the present time and under present circumstances poses
a serious threat to national interest and welfare and in prohibiting their return to the
Philippines, the instant petition is hereby DISMISSED. So ordered.
Narvasa, Melencio-Herrera, Gancayco, Grio-Aquino, Medialdea and Regalado, JJ., concur.
Feliciano, J., is on leave.

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