PHILIPPINE BAR ASSOCIATION

VS. COMELEC
140 SCRA 455, January 7, 1986

FACTS:

Petitions of complaint were filed questioning the validity of BP 883, calling for
a special election for President and Vice President on February 7, 1986.

The law was enacted following the letter of President Marcos to the BP that he was
“irrevocably vacating the position of President effective only when the election is held and
after the winner is proclaimed and qualified as President by taking his oath of office ten days
after his proclamation.

Petitioners question the validity of Marcos’ conditional resignation as it did not create
the vacancy required by Article VII, Sec. 9 authorizing the calling of a special election to be
held and pray for prohibition to acts in relation to BP 883.

ISSUE:

1. Whether or not BP 883 is unconstitutional.

2. Whether or not the Supreme Court should allow incumbent President Marcos to run
on that said special election. 

HELD:

No. Petitions dismissed. After the deliberation, 7 Justices voted to dismiss the case,
while 5 justices voted to declare the statute unconstitutional. There are less than 10 required
votes to declare BP 833 unconstitutional, thus, BP 883 is constitutional.

When Corazon Aquino run for presidency, as the court did not issue any restraining
order, the issue have turned out to be a political question from the purely justiciable issue of
the questioned constitutionality of the act due to lack of the actual vacancy of the Presidential
Position. It can only be decided by the people in their sovereign capacity at the scheduled
election.

Thus, it is outside the ambit of the courts. The Court cannot stand in the way of letting
the people decide through their ballot, either to give the incumbent president a new mandate
or elect a new president.