MABANAG V. LOPEZ VITO, 78 PHIL.

1
FACTS:
This is a petition for prohibition to prevent the enforcement of a congressional
resolution designated "Resolution of both houses proposing an amendment to the
Constitution of the Philippines to be appended as an ordinance thereto." The
petitioners contend that their vote were not taken into consideration in requiring that
in amending the constitution, the law requires 3/4 of the votes of the member of the
Congress thus arriving in the question of constitutionality of the said resolution.
ISSUES:
Whether or not the Court has jurisdiction and whether or not the journals can
be investigated against the conclusiveness of the enrolled bills.
HELD:
Petition is dismissed without cost. The Court held that to go behind the
enrolled bills which were already authenticated and to investigate the journals
amounts to disregard of the respect due to the coequal and independent department of
the state, and it would be an inquisition into the conduct of the members of the
legislature, a very delicate power, the frequent exercise of which must lead to
confusion in the administration of the law. Duly certified copies shall be conclusive
proof of the provisions of Acts and the due enactment thereof.

GONZALES vs. COMELEC [21 SCRA 774; G.R. No. L-28196; 9 Nov 1967
Facts:
The case is an original action for prohibition, with preliminary injunction.
The main facts are not disputed. On March 16, 1967, the Senate and the House of
Representatives passed the following resolutions:

1. R. B. H. (Resolution of Both Houses) No. 1, - proposing that Section 5, Article VI, of

the Constitution of the Philippines, be amended so as to increase the membership of
the House of Representatives from a maximum of 120, as provided in the present
Constitution, to a maximum of 180, to be apportioned among the several provinces as
nearly as may be according to the number of their respective inhabitants, although
each province shall have, at least, one (1) member;

2. R. B. H. No. 2, - calling a convention to propose amendments to said Constitution,

the convention to be composed of two (2) elective delegates from each representative
district, to be "elected in the general elections to be held on the second Tuesday of
November, 1971;" and

3. R. B. H. No. 3, -proposing that Section 16, Article VI, of the same Constitution, be
amended so as to authorize Senators and members of the House of Representatives to
become delegates to the aforementioned constitutional convention, without forfeiting
their respective seats in Congress.
Subsequently, Congress passed a bill, which, upon approval by the President, on June
17, 1967, became Republic Act No. 4913, providing that the amendments to the
Constitution proposed in the aforementioned Resolutions No. 1 and 3 be submitted,

for approval by the people, at the general elections which shall be held on November
14, 1967.

Issue:
Whether or Not a Resolution of Congress, acting as a constituent assembly,
violates the Constitution.

Held:
In as much as there are less than eight (8) votes in favor of declaring Republic
Act 4913 and R. B. H. Nos. 1 and 3 unconstitutional and invalid, the petitions in these
two (2) cases must be, as they are hereby, dismiss and the writs therein prayed for
denied, without special pronouncement as to costs. It is so ordered.

As a consequence, the title of a de facto officer cannot be assailed collaterally. It may

not be contested except directly, by quo warranto proceedings. Neither may the validity
of his acts be questioned upon the ground that he is merely a de facto officer. And the
reasons are obvious:
(1) It would be an indirect inquiry into the title to the office; and
(2) The acts of a de facto officer, if within the competence of his office, are valid, insofar
as the public is concerned.

"The judicial department is the only constitutional organ which can be called upon to
determine the proper allocation of powers between the several departments and among
the integral or constituent units thereof."

Article XV of the Constitution provides:

. . . The Congress in joint session assembled, by a vote of three-fourths of all the

Members of the Senate and of the House of Representatives voting separately, may
propose amendments to this Constitution or call a contention for that purpose. Such
amendments shall be valid as part of this Constitution when approved by a majority of
the votes cast at an election at which the amendments are submitted to the people for
their ratification.

From our viewpoint, the provisions of Article XV of the Constitution are satisfied so
long as the electorate knows that R. B. H. No. 3 permits Congressmen to retain their
seats as legislators, even if they should run for and assume the functions of delegates
to the Convention.