Arroyo v. De Venecia

Arroyo v. De Venecia

G.R. No. 127255 June 26, 1998

Mendoza, J.

Facts:

                Petitioners contend that when the Majority Leader (Rep. Rodolfo Albano) moved for the approval of the conference committee report on the bill that became R.A. No. 8240, leading the Chair (Deputy Speaker Raul Daza) to ask if there was any objection to the motion, and Rep. Joker P. Arroyo asked, “What is that, Mr. Speaker?”, the Chair allegedly ignored him and instead declared the report approved. Petitioners claim that the question “What is that, Mr. Speaker?” was a privileged question or a point of order which, under the rules of the House, has precedence over other matters, with the exception of motions to adjourn.

Issue:

                whether the process of which led to the enactment of R.A. No. 8240 was illegal for non-compliance with internal rules of the House of Representatives

Held:

                No. there is no basis for the charge that the approval of the conference committee report on what later became R.A. No. 8240 was railroaded through the House of Representatives. Nor is there any need for petitioners to invoke the power of the Supreme Court under Art. VIII, §1 of the Constitution to determine whether, in enacting R.A. No. 8240, the House of Representatives acted with grave abuse of discretion, since that is what we have precisely done, although the result of our review may not be what petitioners want. It should be added that, even if petitioners’ allegations are true, the disregard of the rules in this case would not affect the validity of R.A. No. 8240, the rules allegedly violated being merely internal rules of procedure of the House rather than constitutional requirements for the enactment of laws. It is well settled that a legislative act will not be declared invalid for non-compliance with internal rules.