Garcillano v.

House of Representatives

Facts:
Garcillano filed a Petition for Prohibition to restrain the House
Representatives Committees from using the tape recordings of
the wiretapped conversations in their committee reports and for
any other purpose. Retired justices of the CA filed a Petition for
Prohibition to bar the Senate from conducting its scheduled legislative
inquiry. They argued that the intended legislative inquiry violates Section
21, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution which explicitly provides that "the
Senate or the House of Representatives, or any of its respective
committees may conduct inquiries in aid of legislation in accordance with
its duly published rules of procedure.”

Respondents justify their non-observance of the constitutionally mandated

publication by arguing that the rules have never been amended since 1995
and, despite that, they are published in booklet form available to anyone
for free, and accessible to the public at the Senate's internet web page.

Issue:
Is the publication of the Rules of Procedure in booklet form available to
anyone for free, and accessible to the public at the Senate's internet web
page, sufficient for its applicability?

Ruling:
No. The respondent Senate Committees could not, in violation of the
Constitution, use its unpublished rules in the legislative inquiry subject of
these consolidated cases. The conduct of inquiries in aid of legislation by
the Senate has to be deferred until it shall have caused the publication of
the rules, because it can do so only "in accordance with its duly published
rules of procedure".

Ratio Decidendi:
The publication of the Rules of Procedure in the website of the Senate, or
in pamphlet form available at the Senate, is not sufficient under the
Tañada v. Tuvera ruling which requires publication either in the Official
Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. Specifically, the Rules of
Procedure provide that the rules "shall take effect seven (7) days after
publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation", precluding any
other form of publication. Publication in accordance with Tañada is
mandatory to comply with the due process requirement because the Rules
of Procedure put a person's liberty at risk.