ABAS KIDA v. SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES G.R. No.

196271, October 18, 2011

Article VI. Section 26. Subject and Title of Bills; Three Readings
FACTS:
Several laws pertaining to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) were
enacted by Congress. RA No. 6734 is the organic act that established the ARMM and
scheduled the first regular elections for the ARMM regional officials. RA No.
9054 amended the ARMM Charter and reset the regular elections for the ARMM
regional officials to the second Monday of September 2001. RA No. 9140 further reset
the first regular elections to November 26, 2001. RA No. 9333 reset for the third time
the ARMM regional elections to the 2
nd
Monday of August 2005 and on the same date
every 3 years thereafter. Pursuant to RA No. 9333, the next ARMM regional elections
should have been held on August 8, 2011. COMELEC had begun preparations for
these elections and had accepted certificates of candidacies for the various regional
offices to be elected. But on June 30, 2011, RA No. 10153 was enacted, resetting the
next ARMM regular elections to May 2013 to coincide with the regular national and
local elections of the country. In these consolidated petitions filed directly with the
Supreme Court, the petitioners assailed the constitutionality of RA No. 10153.
ISSUES:
Whether or not the passage of RA No. 10153 violate the three-readings-on-separate-
days rule under Section 26(2), Article VI of the 1987 Constitution
RULING:
No, the passage of RA No. 10153 does not violate the three-readings-on-separate-days
requirement in Section 26(2), Article VI of the 1987 Constitution. The general rule
that before bills passed by either the House or the Senate can become laws they must
pass through three readings on separate days, is subject to the exception when the
President certifies to the necessity of the bills immediate enactment. In the present
case, the records show that the President wrote to the Speaker of the House of
Representatives to certify the necessity of the immediate enactment of a law
synchronizing the ARMM elections with the national and local elections. The
Presidents certification exempted both the House and the Senate from having to
comply with the three separate readings requirement.