G.R. No. 83896 - Civil Liberties Union vs. Executive Secretary

Two petitions—G.R. No. 83815 (Anti-Graft League of the Philippines, Inc. and Crispin T. Reyes vs. Juico et al.) and G.R. No. 83896 (Civil Liberties Union vs. Executive Secretary)—were consolidated by the Supreme Court on August 9, 1988.
Both petitions challenged the constitutionality of Executive Order No. 284 issued on July 25, 1987 by President Corazon C. Aquino.

Section 1 permitted members of the Cabinet, undersecretaries, assistant secretaries or other appointive officials of the Executive Department to hold no more than two additional government positions (with compensation), excepting ad hoc bodies and committees or boards chaired by the President.
Section 2 required officials holding excess positions to relinquish them in favor of the next‐in‐rank subordinate, but in no case could an official hold more than two positions besides his primary post.
Section 3 mandated that at least one‐third of the boards of government-owned or controlled corporations be composed of a secretary, undersecretary or assistant secretary.

Petitioners invoked Section 13, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution, which provides that the President, Vice-President, Cabinet members and their deputies or assistants “shall not … hold any other office or employment during their tenure” and “shall not … practice any other profession, participate in any business, or be financially interested in any contract … including government-owned or controlled corporations.”
DOJ Opinion No. 73 (July 23, 1987) construed Section 13 in relation to Section 7(2), Article IX-B, allowing Cabinet members and their deputies/assistants to hold other positions if:

Subsequent DOJ Opinions Nos. 129 (1987) and 155 (1988) clarified that E.O. 284’s limitation did not apply to ex-officio positions or those required by primary functions, but only to unrelated (disparate) positions.

Whether Section 13, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution absolutely prohibits Cabinet members, their undersecretaries and assistant secretaries from holding any other office or employment (public or private) except where the Constitution itself expressly provides.
Whether the general exceptions for appointive officials in Section 7(2), Article IX-B apply to the high-ranking officials covered by Section 13, Article VII.

Issuance of writs of prohibition and mandamus and a temporary restraining order to compel public respondents to cease holding unauthorized positions and to stop receiving salaries, allowances, per diems or privileges therefrom.
Compel respondents to return, reimburse or refund any benefits or compensation received from such positions.