THE Supreme Court, citing separation of
powers, has nullified a provision in the attrition law which
allows the creation of a congressional oversight committee to
oversee the implementation of a system of rewards and sanctions
for officials and employees of the Bureau of Customs and Bureau
of Internal Revenue.
In the latest incentives given, the customs
collector got P5 million.
The SC partially granted the petition filed
by an educators group, Abakada-Guro, represented by its
president Samson Alcantara, to nullify Section 12 of R.A. 9335,
or the Attrition Act of 2005.
R.A. 9335 was enacted to optimize the
revenue-generation capability and collection of the BIR and the
BOC through the creation of a system of rewards and incentives
for BIR and BOC officials who meet or exceed their revenue
targets.
On the other hand, those who fall short of
their targets shall be evaluated and sanctioned.
The congressional oversight committee would
have been empowered to approve the law’s implementing rules and
regulations (IRR) formulated by the Department of Finance,
Department of Budget and Management, National Economic
Development Authority, Civil Service Commission, BIR and BOC.
The remaining provisions of R.A. 9335,
however, were upheld by the high court.
The high court likewise upheld the system of
rewards and sanctions through the Rewards and Incentives Fund
and a Revenue Performance Evaluation Board.
The SC held that by exercising discretion to
approve or disapprove the IRR based on a determination of
whether or not they conformed with provisions of R.A. 9335,
"arrogated judicial power unto itself," which solely belongs to
the high court.
The high court said that from the moment a
law takes effect, any provision of law that empowers Congress or
any of its members to play any role in the implementation or
enforcement of the law violates the principle of separation of
powers.
The high court dismissed the claim of
petitioners that the law should be nullified because it
transforms officials and employees of BIR and BOC into
mercenaries and bounty hunters; the incentives invite
corruption; limiting the scope of rewards and incentives to
officials and members of the two collecting revenue agencies
violate the guarantee of equal protection; undue delegation of
the power to fix revenue targets to the President; and the
creation of the joint congressional oversight committee violates
the doctrine of separation of powers.
"A law enacted by Congress enjoys the strong presumption of
constitutionality. To justify its nullification, there must be a
clear and unequivocal breach of the Constitution, not a doubtful
and equivocal one," the high court said. – Evangeline de
Vera
