ESTRADA v SANDIGANBAYAN G.R. No.

148560, November 19, 2001

Facts:Petitioner Joseph Estrada prosecuted An Act Defining and Penalizing the Cr
ime of Plunder,wishes to impress upon the Court that the assailed law is so defe
ctively fashioned that itcrosses that thin but distinct line which divides the v
alid from the constitutionally infirm. Hiscontentions are mainly based on the ef
fects of the said law that it suffers from the vice of vagueness; it dispenses w
ith the "reasonable doubt" standard in criminal prosecutions; and itabolishes th
e element of mens rea in crimes already punishable under The Revised Penal Codes
aying that it violates the fundamental rights of the accused.The focal point of
the case is the alleged vagueness of the law in the terms it uses.Particularly, th
is terms are: combination, series and unwarranted. Because of this, the petition
er uses the facial challenge on the validity of the mentioned law.
Issue:Whether or not the petitioner possesses the locus standi to attack the val
idity of the law usingthe facial challenge.
Ruling:On how the law uses the terms combination and series does not constitute
vagueness. Thepetitioner s contention that it would not give a fair warning and su
fficient notice of what the lawseeks to penalize cannot be plausibly argued. Voi
d-for-vagueness doctrine is manifestlymisplaced under the petitioner s reliance si
nce ordinary intelligence can understand whatconduct is prohibited by the statut
e. It can only be invoked against that specie of legislation thatis utterly vagu
e on its face, wherein clarification by a saving clause or construction cannot b
einvoked. Said doctrine may not invoked in this case since the statute is clear
and free fromambiguity. Vagueness doctrine merely requires a reasonable degree o
f certainty for the statuteto be upheld, not absolute precision or mathematical
exactitude.On the other hand, overbreadth doctrine decrees that governmental pur
pose may not beachieved by means which sweep unnecessarily broadly and thereby i
nvade the area of protected freedoms.Doctrine of strict scrutiny holds that a fa
cial challenge is allowed to be made to vague statuteand to one which is overbro
ad because of possible chilling effect upon protected speech.Furthermore, in the
area of criminal law, the law cannot take chances as in the area of freespeech.
A facial challenge to legislative acts is the most difficult challenge to mount
successfullysince the challenger must establish that no set of circumstances ex
ists.Doctrines mentioned are analytical tools developed for facial challenge of
a statute in freespeech cases. With respect to such statue, the established rule
is that one to who application of a statute is constitutional will not be heard
to attack the statute on the ground that impliedly itmight also be taken as app
lying to other persons or other situations in which its applicationmight be unco
nstitutional. On its face invalidation of statues results in striking them downe
ntirely on the ground that they might be applied to parties not before the Court
whose activitiesare constitutionally protected. It is evident that the purporte
d ambiguity of the Plunder Law ismore imagined than real.The crime of plunder as
a malum in se is deemed to have been resolve in the Congress decision to include
it among the heinous crime punishable by reclusion perpetua to death.Supreme Cou
rt holds the plunder law constitutional and petition is dismissed for lacking me
rit.