Demeteria VS Alba

G.R. No. 71977 | February 27, 1987

Facts:
A petition for prohibition with prayer for a writ of preliminary injunction was filed
by concerned citizens, members of the National Assembly, parties with general
interest common to all people of the Philippines, and as taxpayers, on the
constitutionality of paragraph one, Section 44 of Presidential Decree No. 1177.
The grounds are that Section 44 infringes upon the fundamental law of the land
by authorising the illegal transfer of the public's money, by being repugnant to the
Constitution, by allowing the President to override appropriations procedure
acknowledged by the Constitution, and undue delegation of the legislative
powers to the executive.
The Solicitor General then, quickly questioned the legal standing of the public
respondents and stated how one branch cannot be enjoined by another.
Furthermore, it alleged that the petition has been considered moot and academic
after the abrogation of Section 16, Article VIII of the 1973 Constitution by the
Freedom Constitution stating, "No law shall be passed authorising any transfer of
appropriations, however, the President may by law be authorised to augment
any item in the General Appropriations Law for their respective offices from
savings in other items of their respective appropriations."
Issue:
1. Whether or not Paragraph 1, Section 44 of President Decree No. 1177
unconstitutional?
Held:
Paragraph one, Section 44 of Presidential Decree No. 1177 unduly overextends
its privilege in accordance to Section 16[5], Article VIII of the 1973 Constitution
that grants privilege to high officials in office such as the President to
indiscriminately transfer funds from one department to another. The said
provision does not only completely disregard the standards set by the
Constitution, thus, leading to the undue delegation of legislative powers. Only
when transfers of savings within one department to another included in the
General Appropriations Act may be allowed by law. Because of these reasons,
the provision is hereby declared null and void.