When we need an inquiry in aid of legislation

By Michael Henry Yusingco, LL.M

A commissioned Pulse Asia survey showed that 61% of Filipinos approve of the Quad comm hearings. Expectedly, lawmakers were quick to promote this result as a public endorsement of their effort to investigate crimes committed by officials from the previous administration. Thanks to those who commissioned this survey, lawmakers will be even more emboldened to cosplay as police and prosecutors.

At this stage, it would be pertinent to reiterate this passage from the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of  Belgica vs. Executive Secretary on the unconstitutionality of pork barrel funds: “To the legislative branch of government, through Congress, belongs the power to make laws; to the executive branch of government, through the President, belongs the power to enforce laws; and to the judicial branch of government, through the Court, belongs the power to interpret laws.”

Clearly, the constitutional duty of the legislature is to legislate. This seems like a no brainer, but lawmakers still need to be reminded that their job is lawmaking. Obviously, they are not expected to conjure up laws out of thin air. Statutes must go through extensive study and community consultation. Hence, the power to conduct inquiries. Unfortunately, the “in aid of legislation” part is always lost on lawmakers.

Members of the Quad comm, those who commissioned the survey, Pulse Asia and their respondents, all need to take note of this explanation of the Supreme Court in the case of Neri v. Senate Committee on Accountability of Public Officers:

“The determination of who is/are liable for a crime or illegal activity, the investigation of the role played by each official, the determination of who should be haled to court for prosecution and the task of coming up with conclusions and finding of facts regarding anomalies, especially the determination of criminal guilt, are not functions of the Senate. Congress is neither a law enforcement nor a trial agency.”

As previously mentioned, the job of legislators is to legislate. And lawmaking is fundamentally a problem-solving exercise. Problem-solvers need data to come up with solutions. Thus, the power to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation. As per the Supreme Court in the case of Senate vs. Executive Secretary:

“Inquiries in aid of legislation serve as tools to enable the legislative body to gather information and, thus, legislate wisely and effectively; and to determine whether there is a need to improve existing laws or enact new or remedial legislation, albeit the inquiry need not result in any potential legislation.”

Right now, several urgent matters need to be subjected to an inquiry in aid of legislation. The spread of disinformation online, the growing number of teenage pregnancies, regulating AI, de-criminalizing libel, countering malign foreign interference, strengthening maritime economy, and many more that rarely get any media attention.

But one issue that has recently come to the fore is the problem of nuisance candidates. The Supreme Court just rendered a decision explaining that while the law prohibits candidates who are not serious about running for office, this proscription has nothing to do with the financial capability of the candidate.

Requiring candidates to have the financial means to run a campaign is tantamount to imposing a property requirement and is therefore, unconstitutional. The Comelec must stop relying on the financial capacity to campaign as proof of a bona fide intention to run for office.

Clearly, the current legal regime is not helpful anymore. (See Section 69 of the Omnibus Election Code). It needs to be reformed to help the Comelec do their job more effectively. Interestingly, the Chairman of the Comelec wants Congress to criminalize nuisance candidacy.

Hence, both the House of Representatives Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms and Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation should be put on notice now to use the power to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation as it was intended by the constitution.

In fact, voters should only elect lawmakers who will employ this power as a tool to solve our problems rather than as an excuse to cosplay as police and prosecutor.