cG.R. No.

96409 February 14, 1992

CITIZEN J. ANTONIO M. CARPIO, petitioner,

vs.
THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, THE SECRETARY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, THE
SECRETARY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE and THE NATIONAL TREASURER, respondents.

PARAS, J.:

At the very outset, it should be well to set forth the constitutional provision that is at the core of the
controversy now confronting us, thus:

Article XVI, Section 6:

The State shall establish and maintain one police force, which shall be national in
scope and civilian in character, to be administered and controlled by a national police
commission. The authority of local executives over the police units in their jurisdiction
shall be provided by law. 1

With the aforequoted provision in mind, Congress passed Republic Act No. 6975 entitled "AN ACT
ESTABLISHING THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE UNDER A REORGANIZED DEPARTMENT
OF THE INTERIOR AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES" as the
consolidated version of House Bill No. 23614 and Senate Bill No. 463.

Following the said Act's approval by President Corazon C. Aquino on December 13, 1990, it was
published on December 17, 1990. 2

Presently, however, petitioner as citizen, taxpayer and member of the Philippine Bar sworn to defend
the Constitution, filed the petition now at bar on December 20, 1990, seeking this Court's declaration
of unconstitutionality of RA 6975 with prayer for temporary restraining order.

But in an en banc resolution dated December 27, 1990, We simply required the public respondents
to file their Comment, without however giving due course to the petition and the prayer therein.
Hence, the Act took effect after fifteen days following its publication, or on January 1, 1991. 3

Before we settle down on the merits of the petition, it would likewise be well to discuss albeit briefly
the history of our police force and the reasons for the ordination of Section 6, Article XVI in our
present Constitution.

During the Commonwealth period, we had the Philippine Constabulary as the nucleus of the
Philippine Ground Force (PGF), now the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). The PC was made
part of the PGF but its administrative, supervisory and directional control was handled by the then
Department of the Interior. After the war, it remained as the "National Police" under the Department
of National Defense, as a major service component of the AFP. 4

Later, the Integration Act of 1975 created the Integrated National Police (INP) under the Office of
5

the President, with the PC as the nucleus, and the local police forces as the civilian components.
The PC-INP was headed by the PC Chief who, as concurrent Director-General of the INP, exercised
command functions over the INP. 6
The National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) exercised administrative control and supervision
7

while the local executives exercised operational supervision and direction over the INP units
assigned within their respective localities. 8

The set-up whereby the INP was placed under the command of the military component, which is the PC, severely eroded the INP's civilian
character and the multiplicity in the governance of the PC-INP resulted in inefficient police service. 9 Moreover, the integration of the national
police forces with the PC also resulted in inequities since the military component had superior benefits and privileges. 10

The Constitutional Commission of 1986 was fully aware of the structural errors that beset the
system. Thus, Com. Teodulo C. Natividad explained that:

xxx xxx xxx

MR. NATIVIDAD. . . . The basic tenet of a modern police organization

is to remove it from the military. 11

xxx xxx xxx

Here in our draft Constitution, we have already made a constitutional postulate that
the military cannot occupy any civil service position [in Section 6 of the Article on the
Civil Service ] Therefore, in keeping with this and because of the universal
12

acceptance that a police force is a civilian function, a public service, and should not
be performed by military force, one of the basic reforms we are presenting here is
that it should be separated from the military force which is the PC. 13

xxx xxx xxx

Furthermore:

xxx xxx xxx

. . . the civilian police cannot blossom into full profession because most of the key
positions are being occupied by the military So, it is up to this Commission to remove
the police from such a situation so that it can develop into a truly professional civilian
police. . . . 14

Hence, the "one police force, national in scope, and civilian in character" provision that is now Article
XVI, Section 6 of the 1987 Constitution.

And so we now come to the merits of the petition at hand.

In the main, petitioner herein respectfully advances the view that RA 6975 emasculated the National
Police Commission by limiting its power "to administrative control" over the Philippine National Police
(PNP), thus, "control" remained with the Department Secretary under whom both the National Police
Commission and the PNP were placed. 15

We do not share this view.

To begin with, one need only refer to the fundamentally accepted principle in Constitutional Law that
the President has control of all executive departments, bureaus, and offices to lay at rest petitioner's
contention on the matter.
This presidential power of control over the executive branch of government extends over all
executive officers from Cabinet Secretary to the lowliest clerk and has been held by us, in the
17

landmark case of Mondano vs. Silvosa, to mean "the power of [the President] to alter or modify or
18

nullify or set aside what a subordinate officer had done in the performance of his duties and to
substitute the judgment of the former with that of the latter." It is said to be at the very " heart of the
meaning of Chief Executive." 19

Equally well accepted, as a corollary rule to the control powers of the President, is the "Doctrine of
Qualified Political Agency". As the President cannot be expected to exercise his control powers all at
the same time and in person, he will have to delegate some of them to his Cabinet members.
20

Under this doctrine, which recognizes the establishment of a single executive, "all executive and
21

administrative organizations are adjuncts of the Executive Department, the heads of the various
executive departments are assistants and agents of the Chief Executive, and, except in cases where
the Chief Executive is required by the Constitution or law to act in person on the exigencies of the
situation demand that he act personally, the multifarious executive and administrative functions of
the Chief Executive are performed by and through the executive departments, and the acts of the
Secretaries of such departments, performed and promulgated in the regular course of business,
unless disapproved or reprobated by the Chief Executive presumptively the acts of the Chief
Executive." (emphasis ours)
22

Thus, and in short, "the President's power of control is directly exercised by him over the members
of the Cabinet who, in turn, and by his authority, control the bureaus and other offices under their
respective jurisdictions in the executive department." 23

Additionally, the circumstance that the NAPOLCOM and the PNP are placed under the reorganized
Department of Interior and Local Government is merely an administrative realignment that would
bolster a system of coordination and cooperation among the citizenry, local executives and the
integrated law enforcement agencies and public safety agencies created under the assailed
Act, the funding of the PNP being in large part subsidized by the national government.
24

Such organizational set-up does not detract from the mandate of the Constitution that the national
police force shall be administered and controlled by a national police commission as at any rate, and
in fact, the Act in question adequately provides for administration and control at the commission
level, as shown in the following provisions, to wit:

Sec. 14. Powers and Functions of the Commission. — The Commission shall
exercise the following powers and functions:

xxx xxx xxx

(i) Approve or modify plans and programs on education and training, logistical
requirements, communications, records, information systems, crime laboratory, crime
prevention and crime reporting;

(j) Affirm, reverse or modify, through the National Appellate Board, personnel
disciplinary actions involving demotion or dismissal from the service imposed upon
members of the Philippine National Police by the Chief of the PNP;
 (k) Exercise appellate jurisdiction through .the regional. appellate boards over
administrative cases against policemen and over decisions on claims for police
benefits;

xxx xxx xxx

Sec. 26. The Command and direction of the PNP shall be vested in the Chief of the
PNP . . . Such command and direction of the Chief of the PNP may be delegated to
subordinate officials with respect to the units under their respective commands, in
accordance with the rules and regulations prescribed by the Commission. . . .

xxx xxx xxx

Sec. 35. . . . To enhance police operational efficiency and effectiveness, the Chief of
the PNP may constitute such other support units as may be necessary subject to the
approval of the Commission. . . .

xxx xxx xxx

Sec. 37. . . . There shall be established a performance evaluation system which shall
be administered in accordance with the rules, regulations and standards; and a code
of conduct promulgated by the Commission for members of the PNP. . . .

xxx xxx xxx

Petitioner further asserts that in manifest derogation of the power of control of the NAPOLCOM over
the PNP, RA 6975 vested the power to choose the PNP Provincial Director and the Chiefs of Police
in the Governors and Mayors, respectively; the power of "operational supervision and control" over
police units in city and municipal mayors; in the Civil Service Commission, participation in
appointments to the positions of Senior Superintendent to Deputy Director-General as well as the
administration of qualifying entrance examinations; disciplinary powers over PNP members in the
"People's Law Enforcement Boards" and in city and municipal mayors. 25

Once more, we find no real controversy upon the foregoing assertions.

It is true that when the Constitutional Commissioners of 1986 provided that the authority of local
executives over the police units in their jurisdiction shall be provided by law, they intended that the
day-to-day functions of police work like crime, investigation, crime prevention activities, traffic
control, etc., would be under the operational control of the local executives as it would not be
advisable to give full control of the police to the local executives.
26

They reasoned that in the past, this gave rise to warlordism, bossism, and sanctuaries for vices and
abuses. 27

It would appear then that by vesting in the local executives the power to choose the officers in
question, the Act went beyond the bounds of the Constitution's intent.

Not so. We find light in the principle of constitutional construction that every presumption should be
indulged in favor of constitutionality and the court in considering the validity of the statute in question
should give it such reasonable construction as can be reached to bring it within the fundamental
law.28
Under the questioned provisions, which read as follows:

D. PARTICIPATION OF LOCAL EXECUTIVES IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE

PNP.

Sec. 51. Powers of Local Government Officials over the PNP Units or Forces.

Governors and mayors shall be deputized as representatives of the Commission in

their respective territorial jurisdictions. As such, the local executives shall discharge
the following functions:

a.) Provincial Governor — (1) . . .

The provincial governor shall choose the provincial director from a list of three (3)
eligibles recommended by the PNP Regional Director.

4) . . . City and municipal mayors shall have the following authority over the PNP
units in their respective jurisdictions:

i.) Authority to choose the chief of police from a list of five (5) eligibles recommended
by the Provincial Police Director. . . . (Emphasis ours)

full control remains with the National Police Commission.

We agree, and so hold, with the view of the Solicitor General that "there is no usurpation of the
power of control of the NAPOLCOM under Section 51 because under this very same provision, it is
clear that the local executives are only acting as representatives of the NAPOLCOM. . . . As such
deputies, they are answerable to the NAPOLCOM for their actions in the exercise of their functions
under that section. Thus, unless countermanded by the NAPOLCOM, their acts are valid and binding
as acts of the NAPOLCOM." It is significant to note that the local officials, as NAPOLCOM
29

representatives, will choose the officers concerned from a list of eligibles (those who meet the
general qualifications for appointment to the PNP) to be recommended by PNP officials.
30

The same holding is true with respect to the contention on the operational supervision and control
exercised by the local officials. Those officials would simply be acting as representatives of the
Commission.

As regards the assertion involving the Civil Service Commission, suffice it to say that the questioned
provisions, which read:

Sec. 31. Appointment of PNP Officers and Members. — The Appointment of the
officers and members of the PNP shall be effected in the following manner:

a.) Police Officer I to Senior Police Officer IV. — Appointed by the PNP regional
director for regional personnel or by the Chief of the PNP for national headquarters
personnel and attested by the Civil Service Commission;

b.) Inspector to Superintendent. — Appointed by the Chief of the PNP, as

recommended by their immediate superiors, and attested by the Civil Service
Commission;
 c.) Senior Superintendent to Deputy Director-General. — Appointed by the President
upon recommendation of the Chief of the PNP, with proper endorsement by the
Chairman of the Civil Service
Commission . . .

Sec. 32. Examinations for Policemen. — The Civil Service Commission shall
administer the qualifying entrance examinations for policemen on the basis of the
standards set by the NAPOLCOM.

precisely underscore the civilian character of the national police force, and will undoubtedly
professionalize the same.

The grant of disciplinary powers over PNP members to the "People's Law Enforcement Boards" (or
the PLEB) and city and municipal mayors is also not in derogation of the commission's power of
control over the PNP.

Pursuant to the Act, the Commission exercises appellate jurisdiction, thru the regional appellate
boards, over decisions of both the PLEB and the said mayors. This is so under Section 20(c).
Furthermore, it is the Commission which shall issue the implementing guidelines and procedures to
be adopted by the PLEB for in the conduct of its hearings, and it may assign NAPOLCOM hearing
officers to act as legal consultants of the PLEBs (Section 43-d4, d5).

As a disciplinary board primarily created to hear and decide citizen's complaints against erring
officers and members of the PNP, the establishment of PLEBs in every city, and municipality would
all the more help professionalize the police force.

Petitioner would likewise have this Court imagine that Section 12 of the questioned Act, the pertinent
portion of which reads:

Sec. 12. Relationship of the Department with the Department of National Defense. —
During a period of twenty- four (24) months from the effectivity of this Act, the Armed
Forces of the Philippines (AFP) shall continue its present role of preserving the
internal and external security of the State: Provided, that said period may be
extended by the President, if he finds it justifiable, for another period not exceeding
twenty-four (24) months, after which, the Department shall automatically take over
from the AFP the primary role of preserving internal security, leaving to the AFP its
primary role of preserving external security.

xxx xxx xxx

constitutes an "encroachment upon, interference with, and an abdication by the President of,
executive control and commander-in-chief powers."

That We are not disposed to do for such is not the case at all here. A rejection thus of petitioner's
submission anent Section 12 of the Act should be in order in the light of the following exchanges
during the CONCOM deliberations of Wednesday, October 1, 1986:

xxx xxx xxx

MR. RODRIGO. Just a few questions. The President of the Philippines is the
Commander-in-Chief of all the armed forces.
 MR. NATIVIDAD. Yes, Madam President.

MR. RODRIGO. Since the national police is not integrated with the armed forces, I
do not suppose they come under the Commander-in-Chief powers of the President of
the Philippines.

MR. NATIVIDAD. They do, Madam President. By law they are under the supervision
and control of the President of the Philippines.

MR. RODRIGO. Yes, but the President is not the Commander-in-Chief of the
national police.

MR. NATIVIDAD. He is the President.

MR. RODRIGO. Yes, the Executive. But they do not come under that specific
provision that the President is Commander-in-Chief of all the armed forces.

MR. NATIVIDAD. No, not under the Commander-in-Chief provision.

MR. RODRIGO. There are two other powers of the President. The President has
control over departments, bureaus and offices, and supervision over local
governments. Under which does the police fall, under control or under supervision?

MR. NATIVIDAD. Both, Madam President.

MR. RODRIGO. Control and Supervision.

MR. NATIVIDAD. Yes, in fact, the National Police Commission is under the Office of
the President. (CONCOM RECORDS, Vol. 5, p. 296)

It thus becomes all too apparent then that the provision herein assailed precisely gives muscle to
and enforces the proposition that the national police force does not fall under the Commander-in-
Chief powers of the President. This is necessarily so since the police force, not being integrated with
the military, is not a part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. As a civilian agency of the
government, it properly comes within, and is subject to, the exercise by the President of the power of
executive control.

Consequently, Section 12 does not constitute abdication of commander-in-chief powers. It simply

provides for the transition period or process during which the national police would gradually assume
the civilian function of safeguarding the internal security of the State. Under this instance, the
President, to repeat, abdicates nothing of his war powers. It would bear to here state, in reiteration of
the preponderant view, that the President, as Commander-in-Chief, is not a member of the Armed
Forces. He remains a civilian whose duties under the Commander-in-Chief provision "represent only
a part of the organic duties imposed upon him. All his other functions are clearly civil in nature." His
31

position as a civilian Commander-in-Chief is consistent with, and a testament to, the constitutional
principle that "civilian authority is, at all times, supreme over the military." (Article II, Section 3, 1987
Constitution)

Finally, petitioner submits that the creation of a "Special Oversight Committee" under Section 84 of
the Act, especially the inclusion therein of some legislators as members (namely: the respective
Chairmen of the Committee on Local Government and the Committee on National Defense and
Security in the Senate, and the respective Chairmen of the Committee on Public Order and Security
and the Committee on National Defense in the House of Representatives) is an "unconstitutional
encroachment upon and a diminution of, the President's power of control over all executive
departments, bureaus and offices."

But there is not the least interference with the President's power of control under Section 84. The
Special Oversight Committee is simply an ad hoc or transitory body, established and tasked solely
with planning and overseeing the immediate "transfer, merger and/or absorption" into the
Department of the Interior and Local Governments of the "involved agencies." This it will undertake
in accordance with the phases of implementation already laid down in Section 85 of the Act and
once this is carried out, its functions as well as the committee itself would cease altogether. As 32

an ad hoc body, its creation and the functions it exercises, decidedly do not constitute an
encroachment and in diminution of the power of control which properly belongs to the President.
What is more, no executive department, bureau or office is placed under the control or authority, of
the committee. 33

As a last word, it would not be amiss to point out here that under the Constitution, there are the so-
called independent Constitutional Commissions, namely: The Civil Service Commission,
Commission on Audit, and the Commission on Elections. (Article IX-A, Section 1)

As these Commissions perform vital governmental functions, they have to be protected from external
influences and political pressures. Hence, they were made constitutional bodies, independent of and
not under any department of the government. Certainly, they are not under the control of the
34

President.

The Constitution also created an independent office called the "Commission on Human Rights."
(Article XIII, Section 17[1]).However, this Commission is not on the same level as the Constitutional
Commissions under Article IX, although it is independent like the latter Commissions. It still had to
35

be constituted thru Executive Order No. 163 (dated May 5, 1987).

In contrast, Article XVI, Section 6 thereof, merely mandates the statutory creation of a national police
commission that will administer and control the national police force to be established thereunder.

This commission is, for obvious reasons, not in the same category as the independent Constitutional
Commissions of Article IX and the other constitutionally created independent Office, namely, the
Commission on Human Rights.

By way of resume, the three Constitutional Commissions (Civil Service, Audit, Elections) and the
additional commission created by the Constitution (Human Rights) are all independent of the
Executive; but the National Police Commission is not. In fact, it was stressed during the CONCOM
36

deliberations that this commission would be under the President, and hence may be controlled by
the President, thru his or her alter ego, the Secretary of the Interior and Local Government.

WHEREFORE, having in view all of the foregoing holdings, the instant petition is hereby
DISMISSED for lack of merit.

SO ORDERED.

Narvasa, C.J., Melencio-Herrera, Gutierrez, Jr., Cruz, Feliciano, Padilla, Bidin, Griño-Aquino,
Medialdea, Regalado, Davide, Jr., Romero and Nocon, JJ., concur.