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RESOLUTION
ATTY.
EVILLO
C.
PORMENTO, Petitioner,
vs.
JOSEPH
"ERAP"
EJERCITO
ESTRADA
and
COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, Respondents.
CORONA, C.J.:
What is the proper interpretation of the following provision of
Section 4, Article VII of the Constitution: "[t]he President
shall not be eligible for any reelection?"
The novelty and complexity of the constitutional issue
involved in this case present a temptation that magistrates,
lawyers, legal scholars and law students alike would find
hard to resist. However, prudence dictates that this Court
exercise judicial restraint where the issue before it has
already been mooted by subsequent events. More
importantly, the constitutional requirement of the existence
of a "case" or an "actual controversy" for the proper
exercise of the power of judicial review constrains us to
refuse the allure of making a grand pronouncement that, in
the end, will amount to nothing but a non-binding opinion.
The petition asks whether private respondent Joseph
Ejercito Estrada is covered by the ban on the President
from "any reelection." Private respondent was elected
President of the Republic of the Philippines in the general
elections held on May 11, 1998. He sought the presidency
again in the general elections held on May 10, 2010.
Petitioner Atty. Evillo C. Pormento opposed private
respondents candidacy and filed a petition for
disqualification. However, his petition was denied by the
Second Division of public respondent Commission on
en banc.
filed
the
instant
petition
Court, the filing of such petition would not stay the execution
SO ORDERED.
II.
PORMENTO VS ESTRADA CASE DIGEST
THE FACTS
Private respondent Joseph Erap Ejercito Estrada
was elected President of the Republic of the Philippines in
the general elections held on May 11, 1998. He was
however ousted [resigned according to the decision of the
Supreme
Court
in Estrada
vs.
Arroyo, G.R.
No.
THE ISSUE
second time he ran [in the May 2010 elections]. Since the
r u l e s f o r t h e c a n v a s s i n g o f t h e certi
f ic a t e s . I n Ar r o yo v. d e Ven e c i a ( 2 7 7 S C R A
2 6 8 , A u g u s t 1 4 , 1997), the Court ruled that it had
no power to review the internal p r o c e e d i n g s o f
Congress, unless there is a clear violation
of
theC o n s t i t u t i o n . L i k e w i s e , S a n t i a g o v.
G u i n g o n a , ( 2 9 8 S C R A 7 5 6 , November 18,
1998) held that the Court under the doctrine
of separation of powers h a s n o a u t h o r
i t y t o i n t e r f e r e i n t h e exclusive realm of
a co-equal branch, absent a showing of grave
abuse of discretion. The Court has no authority to
restrict
or
limitt h e e x e r c i s e o f c o n g r e s s i o n a
l p r e r o g a t i v e s g r a n t e d b y t h e Con