FIRST DIVISION

[ G.R. No. 118295, May 02, 1997 ]

WIGBERTO E. TAÑADA AND ANNA DOMINIQUE COSETENG, AS MEMBERS OF THE PHILIPPINE

SENATE AND AS TAXPAYERS; GREGORIO ANDOLANA AND JOKER ARROYO AS MEMBERS OF
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND AS TAXPAYERS; NICANOR P. PERLAS AND HORACIO R.
MORALES, BOTH AS TAXPAYERS; CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION, NATIONAL ECONOMIC
PROTECTIONISM ASSOCIATION, CENTER FOR ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES,
LIKAS-KAYANG KAUNLARAN FOUNDATION, INC., PHILIPPINE RURAL RECONSTRUCTION
MOVEMENT, DEMOKRATIKONG KILUSAN NG MAGBUBUKID NG PILIPINAS, INC., AND
PHILIPPINE PEASANT INSTITUTE, IN REPRESENTATION OF VARIOUS TAXPAYERS AND AS NON-
GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS, PETITIONERS,

VS.

EDGARDO ANGARA, ALBERTO ROMULO, LETICIA RAMOS-SHAHANI, HEHERSON ALVAREZ,

AGAPITO AQUINO, RODOLFO BIAZON, NEPTALI GONZALES, ERNESTO HERRERA, JOSE LINA,
GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO, ORLANDO MERCADO, BLAS OPLE, JOHN OSMEÑA, SANTANINA
RASUL, RAMON REVILLA, RAUL ROCO, FRANCISCO TATAD AND FREDDIE WEBB, IN THEIR
RESPECTIVE CAPACITIES AS MEMBERS OF THE PHILIPPINE SENATE WHO CONCURRED IN THE
RATIFICATION BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES OF THE AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING
THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION; SALVADOR ENRIQUEZ, IN HIS CAPACITY AS SECRETARY
OF BUDGET AND MANAGEMENT; CARIDAD VALDEHUESA, IN HER CAPACITY AS NATIONAL
TREASURER; RIZALINO NAVARRO, IN HIS CAPACITY AS SECRETARY OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY;
ROBERTO SEBASTIAN, IN HIS CAPACITY AS SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE; ROBERTO DE
OCAMPO, IN HIS CAPACITY AS SECRETARY OF FINANCE; ROBERTO ROMULO, IN HIS CAPACITY
AS SECRETARY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS; AND TEOFISTO T. GUINGONA, IN HIS CAPACITY AS
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, RESPONDENTS.

DECISION

PANGANIBAN, J.:

The emergence on January 1, 1995 of the World Trade Organization, abetted by the membership thereto of the vast
majority of countries has revolutionized international business and economic relations amongst states. It has
irreversibly propelled the world towards trade liberalization and economic globalization. Liberalization, globalization,
deregulation and privatization, the third-millennium buzz words, are ushering in a new borderless world of business by
sweeping away as mere historical relics the heretofore traditional modes of promoting and protecting national
economies like tariffs, export subsidies, import quotas, quantitative restrictions, tax exemptions and currency controls.
Finding market niches and becoming the best in specific industries in a market-driven and export-oriented global
scenario are replacing age-old “beggar-thy-neighbor” policies that unilaterally protect weak and inefficient domestic
producers of goods and services. In the words of Peter Drucker, the well-known management guru, “Increased
participation in the world economy has become the key to domestic economic growth and prosperity.”

Brief Historical Background