3. Legislative Privileges, Inhibitions, and Disqualifications

D. Legislative Privileges, Inhibitions, and Disqualifications

1987 CONST., art. VI, secs. 10, 11 and 13-14

> SECTION 10. The salaries of Senators and Members of the House of Representatives shall be determined by law. No increase in said compensation shall take effect until after the expiration of the full term of all the Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives approving such increase. SECTION 11. A Senator or Member of the House of Representatives shall, in all offenses punishable by not more than six years imprisonment, be privileged from arrest while the Congress is in session. No Member shall be questioned nor be held liable in any other place for any speech or debate in the Congress or in any committee thereof. SECTION 13. No Senator or Member of the House of Representatives may hold any other office or employment in the Government, or any subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof, including government-owned or controlled corporations or their subsidiaries, during his term without forfeiting his seat. Neither shall he be appointed to any office which may have been created or the emoluments thereof increased during the term for which he was elected. SECTION 14. No Senator or Member of the House of Representatives may personally appear as counsel before any court of justice or before the Electoral Tribunals, or quasi-judicial and other administrative bodies. Neither shall he, directly or indirectly, be interested financially in any contract with, or in any franchise or special privilege granted by the Government, or any subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof, including any government-owned or controlled corporation, or its subsidiary, during his term of office. He shall not intervene in any matter before any office of the Government for his pecuniary benefit or where he may be called upon to act on account of his office.

Privileges (PHIL. CONST., art. VI, § 11.)

Immunity from Arrest — Legislators are privileged from arrest while Congress is in session only (whether regular or special) with respect to offenses punishable by not more than 6 years of imprisonment. The immunity does not extend to the prosecution of criminal offenses.

Right of Members to Attend Congressional Sessions: A Senator, who remains in detention, cannot be allowed to go to the Senate to attend all its official functions. All prisoners whether under preventive detention or serving final sentence cannot practice their profession nor engage in any business or occupation, or hold office, elective or appointive, while in detention. This is a necessary consequence of arrest and detention. The presumption of innocence does not carry with it the full enjoyment of civil and political rights (Trillanes v. Judge Pimentel, G.R. No 179817, June 27, 2008).

Privileged Speech — No member shall be questioned or held liable in any forum other than his/her respective Congressional body for any speech or debate in Congress or in any Committee thereof.

“Speech or debate” includes:

• Utterances made by Congressmen in the performance of their official functions, such as speeches delivered, statements made, or votes cast in the halls of Congress, while the same is in session
• Bills introduced in Congress, whether the same is in session or not
• Other acts performed by Congressmen, either in Congress or outside the premises housing its offices, in the official discharge of their duties as members of Congress and of Congressional Committees duly authorized to perform its functions as such, at the time of the performance of the acts in question (Jimenez v. Cabangbang, G.R. No. L15905, Aug. 3, 1966).

The privilege arises not because the statement is made by a lawmaker, but because it is uttered in furtherance of legislation. It cannot be invoked when the lawmaker's speech or utterance is extraneous to the due functioning of the legislative process (Trillanes v. Castillo-Marigomen, G.R. No. 223451, March 14, 2018).

To participate in or respond to media interviews is not an official function of any lawmaker; it is not demanded by his sworn duty nor is it a component of the process of enacting laws. A lawmaker may discharge his duties and legislate without having to communicate with the press. A lawmaker's participation in media interviews is not a legislative act, but is "political in nature,” outside the ambit of the immunity conferred under the Speech or Debate Clause (Trillanes v. Castillo-Marigomen, G.R. No. 223451, March 14, 2018).

A complaint for disbarment or disciplinary action based on disparaging remarks made by an incumbent Senator against the Chief Justice will not prosper because of the Speech and Debate clause (Pobre v. Defensor-Santiago, A.C. No. 7399, Aug. 25, 2009).

Limitations:

• Protection is only against prosecution in any forum other than Congress itself. Hence, the Senate or the House may discipline their respective members.
• The ‘speech or debate’ must be made in performance of their duties as members of Congress.
• Congress need not be in session when the utterance is made, as long as it forms part of legislative action (e.g. part of the deliberative and communicative process used to participate in legislative proceedings in consideration of proposed legislation or with respect to other matters with Congress’ jurisdiction)

Requirements to Avail of the Privilege of Speech and Debate Clause

• That the remarks or acts must form part of the member’s official legislative functions; Congress need not be in session when they occur; and
• That they must be made in connection with the discharge of official duties.

Inhibitions (PHIL. CONST., art. VI, § 12.)

All Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives shall, upon assumption of office, make a full disclosure of their financial and business interests. They shall notify the House concerned of a potential conflict of interest that may arise from the filing of a proposed legislation of which they are authors.

Therefore, senators and representatives are not prohibited from introducing bills that have conflicts with their interest, as long as they disclose.

Disqualifications (PHIL. CONST., art. VI, § 13 & 14.)

A Senator who is likewise the Chairman of the National Red Cross does not forfeit his seat in the Senate because the Philippine National Red Cross has a sui generis status, neither strictly public nor strictly private, and its chairmanship is not the prohibited government office (Dante v. Liban, G.R. No. 175352, Jan. 18, 2011). Owner check: verify the original citation, “Liban v. Gordon, G.R. No. 175352, Aug. 15, 2009.”

A congressman cannot buy nominal shares in a corporation and appear in “intervention” before the SEC. This is a circumvention of the constitutional policy (Puyat v. De Guzman, G.R. No. L-51122, Mar. 25, 1982).

Rules on Increase in Salaries (PHIL. CONST., art. VI, § 10.)

No increase in their salaries shall take effect until after the expiration of the full term (not tenure) of all the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives approving such increase.

The Constitution’s use of “salaries” does not mean that members of the House may freely appropriate for themselves other sums of money such as travel allowances or other benefits. Such payments require lawful appropriation and must comply with applicable constitutional restrictions (PHIL. CONST., art. VI, § 10.).

A new senator or representative elected through a special election is not entitled to the new salary rate because the new members are serving the terms of those who approved the increase. Thus, they are not entitled to the increase.

Speech and Debate Clause

No Member shall be questioned nor be held liable in any other place for any speech or debate in the Congress or in any committee thereof [Section 11, Article VI, 1987 Constitution].

This means the Senator or Member of the House can still be questioned and held liable in Congress.

To come under the guarantee, the speech or debate must be one made "in Congress or in any committee thereof." Publication of an allegedly libelous letter is not covered by the privilege [Jimenez v. Cabangbang, G.R. No. L15905 (1966)].

What is covered under this provision?

Anything a member of Congress says in line with his legislative functions [Jimenez v. Cabangbang, supra]

• Speeches
• Utterances
• Bills signed
• Votes passed

While the immunity of a Member of Congress is absolute and thus even the Supreme Court cannot discipline a lawyer-senator for remarks made against the court, it does not shield said member from the authority of Congress to discipline its own members [Pobre v. Defensor-Santiago, A.C. No. 7399 (Aug. 25, 2009)].

May not hold any office or employment in the government during his term without forfeiting his seat [Section 13, Article VI]

Incompatible Office — The forfeiture of the seat in Congress shall be automatic upon a member’s assumption of such office deemed incompatible. Thus, when a governor-elect ran for the Batasang Pambansa and won, he could not hold both offices [Adaza v. Pacana, G.R. No. L-68159 (1985)]

Note: The office of the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) Chairman is not a government office or an office in a government-owned or - controlled corporation for purposes of the prohibition in Section 13, Article VI [Liban v. Gordon, G.R. No. 175352 (2009); Dante v. Liban, G.R. No. 175352 (2011)]; but note that the structure of the PNRC is sui generis being neither strictly private nor public in nature.

May not be appointed to any office created or whose emoluments were increased during the term for which he was elected [Section 13, Article VI, 1987 Constitution]

Forbidden Office — One to which a member cannot be appointed even if he is willing to give up his seat in Congress. The effect of his resignation from the Congress is the loss of his seat therein but his disqualification for the forbidden office nevertheless remains.

Shall not be financially interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract with, or franchise or special privilege granted by the government during his term of office [Section 14, Article VI, 1987 Constitution]

Shall not intervene in any matter before any office of the government when it is for his pecuniary benefit or where he may be called upon to act on account of his office [Section 14, Article VI, 1987 Constitution]

The Pork Barrel System “runs afoul” of Section 14, Article VI, because in “allowing legislators to intervene in the various phases of project implementation – a matter before another office of government – [Pork Barrel] renders them susceptible to taking undue advantage of their own office”[Belgica v. Ochoa, supra]

Cannot personally appear as counsel before any court, electoral tribunal, quasi judicial and administrative bodies during his term of office [Section 14, Article VI, 1987 Constitution]

This prohibition is absolute. Thus, when an assemblyman acting as counsel for one group in an internal dispute in a company was denied leave to intervene, the court held that his action of buying 10 stocks in order to be able to intervene in the company’s dispute as a stockholder was an indirect violation of this rule and still unconstitutional [Puyat v. De Guzman Jr., G.R. No. L-51122 (1982)].