CONSTI NOTES | October 3, 2011 Q: Can a vice-president be appointed as Ombudsman? Q: Can a President be sued? A: No, he has immunity Q: Absolutely?

A: No, only applies when he is currently sitting as President Q: Does the immunity extend to the Vice-President? Procedure in Answering Questions 1. Look at the text and see if there is a provision that directly answers the question 2. If there is a provision, look at jurisprudence and see how the provision is interpreted 3. If there is no provision, look at jurisprudence 4. If there is no provision and jurisprudence, look at the legislative history of a text that is related to the question The role of the legislature is to provide policies for acts of the future Legislature looks forward, executive looks at the present, and the judiciary examines the past If there is a hiatus but there is a need to act, the President needs to act = Reason for the concept of residual powers Marcos v. Manglapus SC: The President has the powers to fill in interstices. SC: There is freedom to travel outside the country but such freedom is not guaranteed in going back to the country If you make a law that protects the evil ones then you are actually giving more protection to the good ones Residual powers are limited to the text of the Constitution There is nothing in the Constitution that states that the President should take his oath exactly at 12 noon of June 30 Q: What happens if the President is delayed in taking his oath? Only the law can move the election Q: What is a SONA? A: A SONA is a report of the President done on the th opening of the regular session of the Congress on the 4 Monday of July Q: What happens if the President does not make a report? A: He is still the President but the House of Representatives can initiate an impeachment complaint against him under Article XI Section 2 for culpable violation of the Constitution. Q: Who determines first the definition of the word culpable A: The House of Representatives Q: Can the SC review this definition? A: Yes, it is not a political question if there is a showing that there is abuse of discretion Q: What is grave abuse? A: Arbitrary or whimsical decisions

Q: Can the decisions of the SC be reviewed? A: No, but the members of the SC can be impeached Q: What happens if the President is abroad? Does the VP become President? A: No, there is no such thing as temporary absence of the President. He is still President Q: Can the President delegate his power? A: Yes, under the doctrine of qualified alter ego which states that the President can delegate somebody to do executive acts as if he himself is the one doing it. But the President remains as the only executive Stages of Appointment 1. Appointment 2. Acceptance The Commission on Appointments is composed of legislators presided by the Senate President. Members of the Commission can veto the appointments of: 1. Members of ConCon 2. Members of Constitutional offices/body 3. Generals Appointments not decided upon before the closing of the regular session of the Congress is deemed invalid Ambassadors are representative of the Head-of-State and as such the President can choose them at will The list of appointment that needs confirmation by the Commission on Appointments is exclusive The Commission on Appointment is a separate constitutional body