G.R. No.

106971 October 20, 1992

TEOFISTO T. GUINGONA, JR., AND LAKAS-NATIONAL UNION OF CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS (LAKAS-NUCD), petitioners,
vs.
NEPTALI A. GONZALES, ALBERTO ROMULO and WIGBERTO E. TAADA, respondents. NATIONALIST PEOPLE'S
COALITION, petitioner-in-intervention.

FACTS: This is a petition for Prohibition to prohibit respondents Senator Alberto Romulo and Wigberto Taada
from sitting and assuming the position of members of the Commission on Appointments and to prohibit
Senators Neptali Gonzales, as ex-officio Chairman, of said Commission from recognizing and allowing the
respondent senators to sit as members thereof.
After the May 11, 1992 elections, the senate was composed of 15 LDP senators, 5 NPC senators, 3 LAKASNUCD senators, and 1 LP-PDP-LABAN senator. To suffice the requirement that each house must have 12
representatives in the CoA, the parties agreed to use the traditional formula: (No. of Senators of a political
party) x 12 seats) Total No. of Senators elected. The results of such a formula would produce 7.5 members
for LDP, 2.5 members for NPC, 1.5 members for LAKAS-NUCD, and 0.5 member for LP-PDP-LABAN. Based
on the mathematical computation of proportional representation of the various political parties with elected
senators in the senators in the Senate, each of these political parties is entitled to a fractional membership in
the Commission on Appointments. Each political party has a claim to an extra half seat, and the election of
respondents Senator Romulo and Senator Taada to the Commission on Appointments by the LDP majority is
precisely questioned by the petitioners because, according to them, it unduly increased the membership of LDP
and LP-PDP-LABAN in the commission and reduced the membership of the LAKAS-NUCD and NPC
correspondingly. In view of the conflicting claims of each of the political parties/coalition duly represented in the
Senate to a fractional membership in the Commission on Appointments, the election of respondents Senator
Romulo and Senator Taada has become controversial and its validity questionable. On the claim of Senator
Taada that under the ruling in the case of Senator Lorenzo Taada, and the cases of Senator Juan Ponce
Enrile, he has a right to be elected as a member of the Commission on Appointments
ISSUE: Whether the election of Senators Alberto Romulo and Wigberto E. Taada as members of the
Commission on Appointments is in accordance with the provision of Section 18 of Article VI of the 1987
Constitution.
RULING: NO. The Supreme Court held that the respondents' claim to membership in the Commission on
Appointments by nomination and election of the LDP majority in the Senate as not in accordance with Section
18 of Article VI of the 1987 Constitution and therefore violative of the same because it is not in compliance with
the requirements that twelve senators shall be elected on the basis of proportional representation of the
resulting fractional membership of the political parties represented therein. To disturb the resulting fractional
membership of the political parties in the Commission on Appointments by adding together two halves to make
a whole is a breach of the rule on proportional representation because it will give the LDP an added member in
the Commission by utilizing the fractional membership of the minority political party, who is deprived of half a
representation.
The provision of Section 18 on proportional representation is mandatory in character and does not leave any
discretion to the majority party in the Senate to disobey or disregard the rule on proportional representation;
otherwise, the party with a majority representation in the Senate or the House of Representatives can by sheer
force of number impose its will on the hapless minority. By requiring a proportional representation in the
Commission on Appointments, Section 18 in effect works as a check on the majority party in the Senate and
helps to maintain the balance of power. No party can claim more than what it is entitled to under such rule. To
allow it to elect more than its proportional share of members is to confer upon such a party a greater share in
the membership in the Commission on Appointments and more power to impose its will on the minority, who by
the same token, suffers a diminution of its rightful membership in the Commission.
In the light of the foregoing and on the basis of the applicable rules and jurisprudence on the matter before this
Court, the Supreme Court declare the election of Senator Alberto Romulo and Senator Wigberto Taada as

members of the Commission on Appointments as null and void for being in violation of the rule on proportional
representation under Section 18 of Article VI of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines.