Title
Almario vs. Alba
Case
G.R. No. L-66088
Decision Date
Jan 25, 1984
Petition to halt plebiscite on constitutional amendments (agrarian/urban land reform) dismissed; Court ruled sufficient time, proper dissemination, and judicial restraint.
land reform
proposed amendments
lack of merit
A

Case Summary (G.R. No. L-66088)

Petitioner

The petitioners challenged the submission of Questions Nos. 3 and 4 to the people on the ground that those proposed amendments had not been fairly and properly submitted for intelligent ratification or rejection, invoking the doctrine established in Tolentino v. COMELEC (41 SCRA 707). They did not seek to stop the plebiscite entirely but asked for additional time for proper public understanding before submission of Questions 3 and 4.

Respondent

COMELEC, through its published program under Batas Pambansa Blg. 643, scheduled a plebiscite for January 27, 1984 to submit four amendment questions (grouped from six Batasang Pambansa resolutions). Respondents asserted the amendments had been published and publicized and that the time elapsed since adoption of the resolutions was sufficient for public debate.

Key Dates

  • Resolution No. 105 adopted November 21, 1983 (67 days before plebiscite).
  • Resolution No. 113 adopted December 19, 1983 (39–42 days before plebiscite; the opinion references 39 and 42 days in different places).
  • Plebiscite scheduled: January 27, 1984.
  • Decision date reflected in the record: January 25, 1984.

Applicable Law and Constitutional Provisions

The Court relied on the constitutional amendment procedure and timing requirements in Article XVI, Section 2 (as applicable to the constitution in force at the time), which provides that an amendment is valid when ratified by a majority in a plebiscite held not later than three months after approval. The opinion also addresses provisions of Article XIV (Sections 11 and 12) proposed to be amended and cites the governing feature of the fair and proper submission doctrine articulated in prior cases (notably Tolentino, Gonzales, and Sanidad).

Text of Plebiscite Questions (as presented to the electorate)

  • Question No. 3: Whether to approve amendments embodied in Resolution No. 105, which in substance provide that "grant" shall be an additional mode for acquisition of lands of the public domain and that the agrarian reform program may include the grant or distribution of alienable lands of the public domain to qualified tenants, farmers and other landless citizens.
  • Question No. 4: Whether to approve an amendment embodied in Resolution No. 113 adding a paragraph to Section 12, Article XIV: "The State shall moreover undertake an urban land reform and social housing program to provide deserving landless, homeless or inadequately sheltered low income resident citizens reasonable opportunity to acquire land and decent housing consistent with Section 2 of Article IV of this Constitution."

Procedural Posture and Relief Sought

Petitioners sought an injunction precluding submission of Questions 3 and 4 on January 27, 1984, arguing inadequate time and inadequate public explanation (improper submission). The petition was heard on January 24, 1984. The Solicitor General filed an answer and participated in oral argument.

Court’s Holding

The Court, through Justice Gutierrez, Jr., resolved to dismiss the petition for lack of merit. The majority concluded the petitioners failed to show that the time and manner of submission were inadequate to permit the electorate to reach an intelligent judgment on Questions 3 and 4.

Majority Reasoning — Sufficiency of Time and Submission

The Court emphasized Article XVI, Section 2, which permits a plebiscite to be held within a period not exceeding three months after approval, and held that the sufficiency of time depends on the complexity of the questions. The majority found that the addition of the single word "grant" to Section 11, Article XIV and the added paragraphs to Section 12 (including an urban land reform provision) were not so complex as to deprive voters of an ability to form an intelligent judgment within the elapsed periods (67 days for Res. 105 and 42 days for Res. 113). The petitioners failed to demonstrate that the average voter could not understand the proposed changes.

Majority Reasoning — Legal and Practical Context for "grant" and Urban Land Reform

The Court observed that existing constitutional provisions and longstanding statutory practices already accommodate disposition of public lands by homestead and patent (considered "grants") and that legislation under the then-constitution could legislate grants or distributions of public lands within the 24-hectare limitations. The Solicitor General conceded that Question No. 3 largely confirmed existing practice. The majority reasoned that interpretation of "grant" would be informed by precedent and the surrounding constitutional language, and that any future implementing legislation for urban land reform would be subject to constitutional tests (due process, equal protection, police power, reasonable compensation) analogous to those applied in agrarian reform.

Majority Reasoning — Publication, Publicity, and Channels of Information

The Court noted statutory direction under Batas Pambansa Blg. 643 for COMELEC to publish the amendments and accepted respondents’ assurances that publication occurred in provinces and cities (except a few without local papers), that barangay community gatherings were instructed for dissemination, that civic organizations and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines had publicly taken positions, and that television and radio regularly broadcast the amendments. The majority found petitioners had not explained why, despite these channels, there was no fair and proper submission.

Majority Reasoning — Political Question and Voter Remedy

The Court stressed the distinction between judicial review of the power to submit amendments and the wisdom or policy merits of the proposed amendments. The majority held that whether the amendments were wise, unnecessary, or susceptible to abuse were political questions for the electorate, not for the Court. The proper remedy for those who find the amendments unwise is to vote "NO" rather than seek judicial restraint of submission.

Reliance on Precedent and Comparative Timelines

The majority cited prior practices and decisions: the entire 1935 Constitution was submitted for ratification 36 days after approval of Act No. 4200; 1976 amendments were presented for three weeks; and the Court’s Sanidad decision reflected diverse judicial views on sufficiency of submission periods. The majority concluded that the periods here (67 and 42 days) were not inadequate as a matter of law.

Separate and Concurring Opinions — Chief Justice Fernando and Justice Plana

  • Chief Justice Fernando concurred with the majority outcome and submitted a separate opinion emphasizing that Resolutions 105 and 113 represent logical extensions of long-standing constitutional principles of social justice and, therefore, do not pose fair-submission problems under the applicable standard.
  • Justice Plana concurred and submitted a separate opinion stressing that plenary legislative power in the Batasang Pambansa already authorized disposition of public lands and social justice measures; he concluded the proposed amendments are largely confirmatory of existing powers, that the three-month maximum period was being observed, and that separate plebiscites would be wasteful. He therefore voted to deny the petition.

Separate Opinions Seeking Partial Relief or Postponement — Justices Abad Santos, Melencio-Herrera, and Relova

  • Justice Abad Santos voted to grant partial relief: he found a manifest basis that the citizenry had not been adequately educated on the grant and urban reform proposals and recommended postponement of Questions 3 and 4 while allowing Questions 1 and 2 to proceed. He invoked the Tolentino standard requiring ample opportunity for intelligent appraisal.
  • Justice Melencio-Herrera also voted to enjoin submission of Questions 3 and 4 pending proper publication and urged publication in the Official Gazette and ballot presentation that set out the full proposed amendments. He stressed the importance of effecti

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