c. Withdrawal

The President does not have absolute unilateral authority to withdraw from a treaty.

• The President enjoys some leeway in withdrawing from agreements which he or she determines to be contrary to the Constitution or statutes.
• The President cannot unilaterally withdraw from agreements which were entered into pursuant to congressional imprimatur. When a statute is adopted, the President cannot withdraw from the treaty being implemented unless the statute itself is repealed. (ex. Congress passed R.A 9581 (owner check: proposed correction is R.A. No. 9851) ahead of the Senate’s concurrence to the Rome Statute.)
• The President cannot unilaterally withdraw from international agreements where the Senate concurred and expressly declared that any withdrawal must also be made with its concurrence. Effecting treaties is a shared function between the executive and legislative branches hence the Senate’s power to concur with treaties necessarily includes the power to impose conditions for its concurrence.

(Pangilinan et. al. v. Cayetano et. al., G.R. No. 238875, G.R. No. 239483 & 240954, March 16, 2021)

UP NOTES

Withdrawal of Candidates

Nothing in Section 73 of B.P. No. 881 mandates that the affidavit of withdrawal must be filed with the same office where the certificate of candidacy to be withdrawn was filed. Thus, it can be filed directly with the main office of the COMELEC, the office of the regional election director concerned, the office of the provincial election supervisor of the province to which the municipality involved belongs, or the office of the municipal election officer of the said municipality. (Go v. COMELEC, G.R. 147741, 2001).