1. General Executive and Administrative Powers

General Executive and Administrative Powers

Executive and Administrative Power

1987 CONST., art. VII, secs. 1 and 17

> SECTION 1. The executive power shall be vested in the President of the Philippines. SECTION 17. The President shall have control of all the executive departments, bureaus, and offices. He shall ensure that the laws be faithfully executed.

GENERAL EXECUTIVE AND ADMINISTRATIVE POWERS

Executive Powers, In General

The Constitution provides that "[t]he executive power shall be vested in the President of the Philippines.” However, it does not define what is meant by executive power although in the same article it touches on the exercise of certain powers by the President, i.e., the power of control over all executive departments, bureaus and offices, the power to execute the laws, the appointing power, the powers under the commander-in-chief clause, the power to grant reprieves, commutations and pardons, the power to grant amnesty with the concurrence of Congress, the power to contract or guarantee foreign loans, the power to enter into treaties or international agreements, the power to submit the budget to Congress, and the power to address Congress.

The President’s Executive powers are not limited to those set forth in the Constitution. The President has residual powers as the Chief Executive of the country, which powers include others not set forth in the Constitution (Marcos v. Manglapus, G.R. No. 88211, Sept. 15, 1989).

Power of Administrative Reorganization

The President may reorganize executive offices within the authority granted by law, including the Administrative Code of 1987, Book III, Sec. 31, subject to applicable statutory limits and the requirement of good faith, for the purpose of economy or to make the bureaucracy more efficient. (MEWAP v Executive Secretary, G.R. No. 160093, July 31, 2007)

Faithful Execution Clause

Until and unless a law is declared unconstitutional, the President has a duty to execute it regardless of his doubts as to its validity.

PRESIDENTIAL PRIVILEGE

Executive Privilege is the power of the President to withhold certain types of information from the court, the Congress, and the public. (Neri v. Senate, G.R. No. 180643, March 25 2008).

For the presidential communications privilege to apply, the following must concur:

• Communications relate to a “quintessential and nondelegable power” of the President. (e.g. the power to enter into an executive agreement with other countries without the concurrence of the Legislature has traditionally been recognized in Philippine jurisprudence)
• Communications are “received” by a close advisor of the President. Under the “operational proximity” test, Secretary Neri of NEDA can be considered a close advisor, being a member of President Arroyo’s cabinet.
• There is no adequate showing of a compelling need that would justify the limitation of the privilege and of the unavailability of the information elsewhere by an appropriate investigating authority.

Executive privilege cannot be used to conceal a crime or a possible wrongdoing. Thus, the specific need for evidence in a pending criminal trial outweighs the President’s generalized interest in confidentiality (Senate v. Ermita, G.R. No. 169777, April 20, 2006).

General Executive and Administrative Powers

Executive Power

This refers to the President’s power to enforce, implement, and administer laws. The President shall ensure that the laws be faithfully executed [Section 17, Article VII, 1987 Constitution].

The President’s power to conduct investigations to aid him in ensuring the faithful execution of laws is inherent in the President’s powers as the Chief Executive. The purpose of allowing ad hoc investigating bodies to exist is to allow an inquiry into matters which the President is entitled to know so that he can be properly advised and guided in the performance of his duties relative to the execution and enforcement of the laws of the land [Biraogo v. Philippine Truth Commission of 2010, G.R. No. 192935, December 7, 2010].

General Executive and Administrative Powers

Executive Power

This refers to the President’s power to enforce, implement, and administer laws. The President shall ensure that the laws be faithfully executed [Section 17, Article VII, 1987 Constitution].

The President’s power to conduct investigations to aid him in ensuring the faithful execution of laws is inherent in the President’s powers as the Chief Executive. The purpose of allowing ad hoc investigating bodies to exist is to allow an inquiry into matters which the President is entitled to know so that he can be properly advised and guided in the performance of his duties relative to the execution and enforcement of the laws of the land [Biraogo v. Philippine Truth Commission of 2010, G.R. No. 192935, December 7, 2010].

To settle government accounts

This means the power to settle liquidated accounts i.e. accounts which may be adjusted simply by an arithmetical process. It does not include the power to fix the amount of an unfixed or undetermined debt.