This case has been cited 2 times or more.
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2016-01-12 |
SERENO, C.J. |
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| Distinguished from the general notion of judicial power, the power of judicial review specially refers to both the authority and the duty of this Court to determine whether a branch or an instrumentality of government has acted beyond the scope of the latter's constitutional powers. As articulated in Section 1, Article VIII of the Constitution, the power of judicial review involves the power to resolve cases in which the questions concern the constitutionality or validity of any treaty, international or executive agreement, law, presidential decree, proclamation, order, instruction, ordinance, or regulation.[95] In Angara v. Electoral Commission, this Court exhaustively discussed this "moderating power" as part of the system of checks and balances under the Constitution. In our fundamental law, the role of the Court is to determine whether a branch of government has adhered to the specific restrictions and limitations of the latter's power: The separation of powers is a fundamental principle in our system of government. It obtains not through express provision but by actual division in our Constitution. Each department of the government has exclusive cognizance of matters within its jurisdiction, and is supreme within its own sphere. But it does not follow from the fact that the three powers are to be kept separate and distinct that the Constitution intended them to be absolutely unrestrained and independent of each other. The Constitution has provided for an elaborate system of checks and balances to secure coordination in the workings of the various departments of the government, x x x. And the judiciary in turn, with the Supreme Court as the final arbiter, effectively checks the other departments in the exercise of its power to determine the law, and hence to declare executive and legislative acts void if violative of the Constitution. | |||||
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2016-01-12 |
SERENO, C.J. |
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| When it became clear that the American forces intended to impose colonial control over the Philippine Islands, General Emilio Aguinaldo immediately led the Filipinos into an all-out war against the U.S.[27] The Filipinos were ultimately defeated in the Philippine-American War, which lasted until 1902 and led to the downfall of the first Philippine Republic.[28] The Americans henceforth began to strengthen their foothold in the country.[29] They took over and expanded the former Spanish Naval Base in Subic Bay, Zambales, and put up a cavalry post called Fort Stotsenberg in Pampanga, now known as Clark Air Base.[30] | |||||