CONSTITUTIONAL LAW REVIEW | Tolentino vs. COMELEC, 41 SCRA 702 (1971)

Tolentino vs. COMELEC, 

41 SCRA 702 (1971) 


FACTS

A Constitutional Convention was called upon to propose amendments to the Constitution of the Philippines, in which, the delegates to the said Convention were all elected under and by virtue of resolutions and the implementing legislation thereof, Republic Act 6132. The Convention approved Organic Resolution No. 1, amending section one of article 5 of the Constitution of the Philippines to lower the voting age to 18. Said resolution also provided in its Section 3 that the partial amendment, which refers only to the age qualification for the exercise of suffrage shall be without prejudice to other amendments that will be proposed in the future by the 1971 Constitutional Convention on other portions of the amended Section or on other portions of the entire Constitution.  The main thrust of the petition is that Organic Resolution No. 1 and the other implementing resolutions thereof subsequently approved by the Convention have no force and effect as laws as far as they are in contravention to Section 1 Article XV of the Constitution. Under the said provision, the proposed amendment in question cannot be presented to the people for ratification separately from each and all of the other amendments to be drafted and proposed by the Convention.


ISSUE

Is the resolution constitutional?


RULING

No. The Convention’s Organic Resolution No. 1 and all subsequent acts of the Convention implementing the same violate the condition in Section 1, Article XV that there should only be one “election” or plebiscite for the ratification of all the amendments the Convention may propose. 







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