Petitioner Bayan Muna is a duly registered party-list group established to represent the marginalized
sectors of society. Respondent Blas F. Ople, now deceased, was the Secretary of Foreign Affairs
during the period material to this case. Respondent Alberto Romulo was impleaded in his capacity
as then Executive Secretary .
In this proceeding, petitioner imputes grave abuse of discretion to respondents in concluding and
ratifying the Agreement and prays that it be struck down as unconstitutional, or at least declared as
without force and effect.
For their part, respondents question petitioner’s standing to maintain a suit and counter that
the Agreement, being in the nature of an executive agreement, does not require Senate concurrence
for its efficacy. And for reasons detailed in their comment, respondents assert the constitutionality of
the Agreement.
ACTS:
In 2000, the RP, through Charge d’Affaires Enrique A. Manalo, signed the
Rome Statute which, by its terms, is “subject to ratification, acceptance or
approval” by the signatory states. In 2003, via Exchange of Notes with the US
government, the RP, represented by then DFA Secretary Ople, finalized a non-surrender
agreement which aimed to protect certain persons of the RP and US from frivolous and
harassment suits that might be brought against them in international tribunals. Petitioner
imputes grave abuse of discretion to respondents in concluding and ratifying
the Agreement and prays that it be struck down as unconstitutional, or at least
declared as without force and effect.
Senate Concurrence Not Required
Article 2 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties defines a treaty as "an international
agreement concluded between states in written form and governed by international law, whether
embodied in a single instrument or in two or more related instruments and whatever its particular
designation."32
International agreements may be in the form of (1) treaties that require legislative concurrence after
executive ratification; or (2) executive agreements that are similar to treaties, except that they do not
require legislative concurrence and are usually less formal and deal with a narrower range of subject
matters than treaties.33
Under international law, there is no difference between treaties and executive agreements in terms
of their binding effects on the contracting states concerned,34 as long as the negotiating functionaries
have remained within their powers.35 Neither, on the domestic sphere, can one be held valid if it
violates the Constitution.36 Authorities are, however, agreed that one is distinct from another for
accepted reasons apart from the concurrence-requirement aspect.37 As has been observed by US
constitutional scholars, a treaty has greater "dignity" than an executive agreement, because its
constitutional efficacy is beyond doubt, a treaty having behind it the authority of the President, the
Senate, and the people;38 a ratified treaty, unlike an executive agreement, takes precedence over
any prior statutory enactment.39
Petitioner parlays the notion that the Agreement is of dubious validity, partaking as it does of the
nature of a treaty; hence, it must be duly concurred in by the Senate. Petitioner takes a cue
from Commissioner of Customs v. Eastern Sea Trading, in which the Court reproduced the following
observations made by US legal scholars: "[I]nternational agreements involving political issues or
changes of national policy and those involving international arrangements of a permanent
character usually take the form of treaties [while] those embodying adjustments of detail carrying out
well established national policies and traditions and those involving arrangements of a more or less
temporary nature take the form of executive agreements." 40
Pressing its point, petitioner submits that the subject of the Agreement does not fall under any of the
subject-categories that are enumerated in the Eastern Sea Trading case, and that may be covered
by an executive agreement, such as commercial/consular relations, most-favored nation rights,
patent rights, trademark and copyright protection, postal and navigation arrangements and
settlement of claims.
In addition, petitioner foists the applicability to the instant case of Adolfo v. CFI of Zambales and
Merchant,41 holding that an executive agreement through an exchange of notes cannot be used to
amend a treaty.
We are not persuaded.
The categorization of subject matters that may be covered by international agreements mentioned
in Eastern Sea Trading is not cast in stone. There are no hard and fast rules on the propriety of
entering, on a given subject, into a treaty or an executive agreement as an instrument of
international relations. The primary consideration in the choice of the form of agreement is the
parties’ intent and desire to craft an international agreement in the form they so wish to further their
respective interests. Verily, the matter of form takes a back seat when it comes to effectiveness and
binding effect of the enforcement of a treaty or an executive agreement, as the parties in either
international agreement each labor under the pacta sunt servanda42 principle.
As may be noted, almost half a century has elapsed since the Court rendered its decision in Eastern
Sea Trading. Since then, the conduct of foreign affairs has become more complex and the domain of
international law wider, as to include such subjects as human rights, the environment, and the sea.
In fact, in the US alone, the executive agreements executed by its President from 1980 to 2000
covered subjects such as defense, trade, scientific cooperation, aviation, atomic energy,
environmental cooperation, peace corps, arms limitation, and nuclear safety, among others. 43 Surely,
the enumeration in Eastern Sea Trading cannot circumscribe the option of each state on the matter
of which the international agreement format would be convenient to serve its best interest. As
Francis Sayre said in his work referred to earlier:
x x x It would be useless to undertake to discuss here the large variety of executive agreements as
such concluded from time to time. Hundreds of executive agreements, other than those entered into
under the trade-agreement act, have been negotiated with foreign governments. x x x They cover
such subjects as the inspection of vessels, navigation dues, income tax on shipping profits, the
admission of civil air craft, custom matters and commercial relations generally, international claims,
postal matters, the registration of trademarks and copyrights, etc. x x x
And lest it be overlooked, one type of executive agreement is a treaty-authorized 44 or a treaty-
implementing executive agreement,45 which necessarily would cover the same matters subject of the
underlying treaty.
But over and above the foregoing considerations is the fact that––save for the situation and matters
contemplated in Sec. 25, Art. XVIII of the Constitution 46––when a treaty is required, the Constitution
does not classify any subject, like that involving political issues, to be in the form of, and ratified as, a
treaty. What the Constitution merely prescribes is that treaties need the concurrence of the Senate
by a vote defined therein to complete the ratification process.
Petitioner’s reliance on Adolfo47 is misplaced, said case being inapplicable owing to different factual
milieus. There, the Court held that an executive agreement cannot be used to amend a duly ratified
and existing treaty, i.e., the Bases Treaty. Indeed, an executive agreement that does not require the
concurrence of the Senate for its ratification may not be used to amend a treaty that, under the
Constitution, is the product of the ratifying acts of the Executive and the Senate. The presence of a
treaty, purportedly being subject to amendment by an executive agreement, does not obtain under
the premises.
Considering the above discussion, the Court need not belabor at length the third main issue raised,
referring to the validity and effectivity of the Agreement without the concurrence by at least two-thirds
of all the members of the Senate. The Court has, in Eastern Sea Trading,48 as reiterated
in Bayan,49 given recognition to the obligatory effect of executive agreements without the
concurrence of the Senate:
x x x [T]he right of the Executive to enter into binding agreements without the necessity of
subsequent Congressional approval has been confirmed by long usage. From the earliest days of
our history, we have entered executive agreements covering such subjects as commercial and
consular relations, most favored-nation rights, patent rights, trademark and copyright protection,
postal and navigation arrangements and the settlement of claims. The validity of these has never
been seriously questioned by our courts.
No Grave Abuse of Discretion
Petitioner’s final point revolves around the necessity of the Senate’s concurrence in the Agreement.
And without specifically saying so, petitioner would argue that the non-surrender agreement was
executed by the President, thru the DFA Secretary, in grave abuse of discretion.
The Court need not delve on and belabor the first portion of the above posture of petitioner, the
same having been discussed at length earlier on. As to the second portion, We wish to state that
petitioner virtually faults the President for performing, through respondents, a task conferred the
President by the Constitution—the power to enter into international agreements.
By constitutional fiat and by the nature of his or her office, the President, as head of state and
government, is the sole organ and authority in the external affairs of the country. 65 The Constitution
vests in the President the power to enter into international agreements, subject, in appropriate
cases, to the required concurrence votes of the Senate. But as earlier indicated, executive
agreements may be validly entered into without such concurrence. As the President wields vast
powers and influence, her conduct in the external affairs of the nation is, as Bayan would put it,
"executive altogether." The right of the President to enter into or ratify binding executive agreements
has been confirmed by long practice.66
In thus agreeing to conclude the Agreement thru E/N BFO-028-03, then President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo, represented by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, acted within the scope of the
authority and discretion vested in her by the Constitution. At the end of the day, the President––by
ratifying, thru her deputies, the non-surrender agreement––did nothing more than discharge a
constitutional duty and exercise a prerogative that pertains to her office.
While the issue of ratification of the Rome Statute is not determinative of the other issues raised
herein, it may perhaps be pertinent to remind all and sundry that about the time this petition was
interposed, such issue of ratification was laid to rest in Pimentel, Jr. v. Office of the Executive
Secretary.67 As the Court emphasized in said case, the power to ratify a treaty, the Statute in that
instance, rests with the President, subject to the concurrence of the Senate, whose role relative to
the ratification of a treaty is limited merely to concurring in or withholding the ratification. And
concomitant with this treaty-making power of the President is his or her prerogative to refuse to
submit a treaty to the Senate; or having secured the latter’s consent to the ratification of the treaty,
refuse to ratify it.68 This prerogative, the Court hastened to add, is the President’s alone and cannot
be encroached upon via a writ of mandamus. Barring intervening events, then, the Philippines
remains to be just a signatory to the Rome Statute. Under Art. 125 69 thereof, the final acts required to
complete the treaty process and, thus, bring it into force, insofar as the Philippines is concerned,
have yet to be done.
WHEREFORE, the petition for certiorari, mandamus and prohibition is hereby DISMISSED for lack
of merit. No costs.
