07/08/2025
Hontiveros Challenges Marcoleta: The Supreme Court Possesses the Authority to Overturn Unanimous Rulings.
When Sotto proposed that the Supreme Court might still overturn a unanimous decision, which he characterized as a potential "unanimous mistake," Marcoleta responded by asserting that such an occurrence has never transpired.
"Wala pa pong nangyayaring ganu'n, Mr. President," he told Sotto, saying he shouldn't be arguing based on speculation. (That does not happen, Mr. President.) -Sen. Marcoleta
Sen. Hontiveros then came forward with two Supreme Court cases where a motion for reconsideration was granted by the en banc, effectively overturning an earlier unanimous decision.
"So hindi lang po tulad ng sinabi ng minority leader na there's always a first time, it has happened before. So 'yung ganitong klaseng milagro na hinahanap, posibleng mangyari rin dito sa kasong pinaguusapan natin," she said.
She referred to the League of Cities of the Philippines vs. Commission on Elections and the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications Inc. vs. Greenpeace Southeast Asia cases.
In the first case, the Supreme Court en banc unanimously ruled on Nov. 18, 2008 that the cityhood laws were unconstitutional.
A year later, however, it granted the respondents’ motion for reconsideration, reversed its earlier denials and ultimately dismissed the petitions. It ultimately declared the cityhood laws valid and constitutional.
In the second case, all justices who participated concurred in the Dec. 8, 2015 ruling that a 2002 Department of Agriculture administrative order was “null and void.”
Also a year later, the Supreme Court granted a motion for reconsideration and reversed its decision on July 26, 2016.
Read More:
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2025/08/06/2463618/hontiveros-disputes-marcoleta-sc-can-overturn-unanimous-rulings
