Generali dictum genaliter est interpretandum

A general statement is understood in a general sense

Macalintal v. Comelec
G.R. No. 157013
10 July 2003
Austria- Martinez, J.

FACTS:
Romulo Macalintal, a member of the Philippine Bar, sought the declaration of certain provisions of the
Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003 as unconstitutional. He said that a lawyer and a taxpayer, he has actual and
material legal interest in the case and in ensuring that public funds are properly appropriated.

ISSUES:
Whether or not Section 18.5 of the same law empowering the COMELEC to order the proclamation of the
winning candidates violate the constitutional mandate under Section 4, Article VII of the Constitution that the
winning candidates for President and the Vice-President shall be proclaimed as winners by Congress?

RULING:
The judge reiterated the majority opinion the phrase proclamation of winning candidates used in the
assailed statute is a sweeping statement, which thus includes even the winning candidates for the presidency and
vice-presidency. Following a basic principle in statutory construction, generali dictum genaliter est interpretandum
(a general statement is understood in a general sense), the said phrase cannot be construed otherwise. To uphold
the assailed provision of Rep. Act No. 9189 would in effect be sanctioning the grant of a power to the COMELEC,
which under the Constitution, is expressly vested in Congress; it would validate a course of conduct that the
fundamental law of the land expressly forbids.