PIMENTEL VS. EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

PIMENTEL VS. EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
462 SCRA 622
G.R. No. 158088 July 06, 2005


Facts:

On December 28, 2000, the Philippines through the Charge d’ Affairs Enrique A. Manalo of the Philippine Mission to the United Nations, signed the Rome Statute which established the International Criminal Court. Thus, herein petitioners filed the instant petition to compel the respondents — the Office of the Executive Secretary and the Department of Foreign Affairs — to transmit the signed text of the treaty to the Senate of the Philippines for ratification.

Issue: Whether or not the Executive Secretary and the Department of Foreign Affairs have a ministerial duty to transmit to the Senate for ratification the copy of the Rome Statute signed by a member of the Philippine Mission to the United Nations even without the signature of the President.

Held:

The Supreme Court rule in the negative.

The President, being the head of state, is regarded as the sole organ and authority in external relations and is the country’s sole representative with foreign nations. As the chief architect of foreign policy, the President acts as the country’s mouthpiece with respect to international affairs. Hence, the President is vested with the authority to deal with foreign states and governments, extend or withhold recognition, maintain diplomatic relations, enter into treaties, and otherwise transact the business of foreign relations. In the realm of treaty-making, the President has the sole authority to negotiate with other states.

It should be emphasized that under the Constitution, the power to ratify is vested in the President, subject to the concurrence of the Senate. The role of the Senate, however, is limited only to giving or withholding its consent, or concurrence, to the ratification. Hence, it is within the authority of the President to refuse to submit a treaty to the Senate or, having secured its consent for its ratification, refuse to ratify it.