Law School Noob: [CASE DIGEST] In re: Saturnino Bermudez (G.R. No. 76180)

Sunday, December 2, 2018

[CASE DIGEST] In re: Saturnino Bermudez (G.R. No. 76180)

October 24, 1986 | G.R. No. 76180

Saturnino Bermudez, petitioner

FACTS:

Bermudez filed a petition for declaratory relief before the SC, asking the same Court to clarify exactly who were being referred to in Section 5, Art. XVIII of the proposed 1986 Constitution. Said provision reads in part: "The six-year term of the incumbent President and Vice-President elected in the February 7, 1986 election is, for the purposes of synchronization of elections, hereby extended to noon of June 30, 1992."

ISSUE:

Does Section 5, Art. XVIII of the proposed 1986 Constitution pertain to incumbent President Corazon Aquino and Vice-President Salvador Laurel or to elected President Ferdinand Marcos and Vice-President Arturo Tolentino?

HELD:

Petition has no merit and should be dismissed outright for the following reasons:

petitions for declaratory relief do not fall within the jurisdiction of the SC;
petitioner does not have the legal standing to sue;
although no respondent is impleaded, the instant petition amounts to a suit against incumbent President Corazon Aquino, who is immune from suits during her incumbency;
it should be fairly obvious -- mutatis mutandis, there should be no question -- that the aforecited provision pertains to incumbent President Corazon Aquino and Vice-President Salvador Laurel. The Aquino administration is legitimately recognized by other nations, and all eleven members of the SC have sworn to uphold the fundamental law of the land under her government; and
the people of the Philippines have accepted her government as the one in effective control of the country, such that it is not merely a de facto government but in fact and law a de jure government.

___

De facto means "actual" or "in reality." Therefore, a de facto government is one that exercises power as if legally constituted even though it is not formally recognized. De jure means "by right" or something that is based on laws or actions of the State.

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