LAGMAN VS PIMENTEL

Question no. 2 July 12, 2019 Digest

Issue:
How many times and for how long can congress, upon the initiative of the President,
may extend the proclamation of martial law and the suspension of the privilege of the
writ of habeas corpus?

Ruling:
The provision is indisputably silent as to how many times the Congress, upon the
initiative of the President, may extend the proclamation of martial law or the
suspension of the privilege of habeas corpus. Such silence, however, should not be
construed as a vacuum, flaw or deficiency in the provision. While it does not specify
the number of times that the Congress is allowed to approve an extension of martial
law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, Section 18, Article
VII is clear that the only limitations to the exercise of the congressional authority to
extend such proclamation or suspension are that the extension should be upon the
President's initiative; that it should be grounded on the persistence of the invasion or
rebellion and the demands of public safety; and that it is subject to the Court's review
of the sufficiency of its factual basis upon the petition of any citizen.

A cardinal rule in statutorv construction is that when the law is clear and free from
any doubt or ambiguity, there is no room for construction or interpretation, but only
for application.108 Thus, whenever there is a determination that the invasion or
rebellion persists and public safety requires the extension of martial law or of the
suspension of the privilege of the writ, the Congress may exercise its authority to
grant such extension as may be requested by the President, even if it be subsequent
to the initial extension.

Section 18, Article VII did not also fix the period of the extension of the proclamation
and suspension. However, it clearly gave the Congress the authority to decide on its
duration; thus, the provision states that that the extension shall be "for a period to
be determined by the Congress." If it were the intention of the framers of the
Constitution to limit the extension to sixty (60) days, as petitioners in G.R. No.
235935 theorize, they would not have expressly vested in the Congress the power to
fix its duration.