By Mario Casayuran
Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson said on Monday Solicitor General Jose Calida could not be prevented from filing the quo warranto petition before the courts in the case of the legislative franchise of ABS-CBN.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson
(Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN)
“Likewise, Congress is ...not prevented from exercising its powers under the same Constitution to act on the application for renewal or a new franchise which is now pending before the House of Representatives,” he said.
Lacson sees this issue as a matter of different jurisdictions.
“The quo warranto petition is under the original jurisdiction of the court. Approval or renewal of legislative franchise is the jurisdiction of both houses of Congress. As such, I see no conflict in jurisdictions,” he said.
Lacson cited the case of former Chief Justice Sereno, under Art VIII, Sec 5, Paragraph 1 of the 1987 Constitution, where the Supreme Court exercises original jurisdiction over a petition for quo warranto, among other petitions filed by the State through the Office of the Solicitor General.