Political Law – Amendment to the Constitution
One of the issues raised in this case was the validity of the submission of certain proposed constitutional amendments at a plebiscite scheduled on the same day as the regular elections. Petitioners argued that this was unlawful as there would be no proper submission of the proposal to the people who would be more interested in the issues involved in the election.
HELD: Pursuant to Art 15 of the ’35 Constitution, SC held that there is nothing in this provision to indicate that the election therein referred to is a special, not a general election. The circumstance that the previous amendment to the Constitution had been submitted to the people for ratification in special elections merely shows that Congress deemed it best to do so under the circumstances then obtaining. It does not negate its authority to submit proposed amendments for ratification in general elections.
**J JBL Reyes dissented. “Plebiscite should be scheduled on a special date so as to facilitate “Fair submission, intelligent consent or rejection”. They should be able to compare the original proposition with the amended proposition.
Read another version of this digest here. (Political Question vs Justiciable Question)
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