QUESTION: May the incumbent Chief Executive be haled to court even for the limited purpose under the Rules on the Writ of Habeas Data?
ANSWER: NO, the president is immune from suit, hence he cannot be sued.
Sen. De Lima maintains that presidential immunity does not lie because President Duterte's attacks against her are not part of his official duties and functions; that before presidential immunity applies, there must first be a balancing of interest; and that the balancing favors her because her right to be protected from harassment far outweighs the dangers of intrusion on the Office of Chief Executive.
Sen. De Lima wants us to apply principles established by the US Supreme Court in the celebrated cases of Nixon and Clinton, supra. Such decisions, though persuasive, are not binding as case law for us. As earlier asserted, the Philippine concept of Presidential immunity from suit diverged from its foreign roots, from the time of the amendment of the 1973 Constitution. Presidential immunity in this jurisdiction attaches during the entire tenure of the President. The immunity makes no distinction with regard to the subject matter of the suit; it applies whether or not the acts subject matter of the suit are part of his duties and functions as President. Furthermore, no balancing of interest has ever been applied to Presidential immunity under our jurisprudence. We are not prepared or willing to recogmze such a test without constitutional, statutory, or jurisprudential basis.
Both Sen. De Lima and the OSG disagree on whether or not the statements of the President regarding her have been part of the discharge of the President's official duties, but our declaration herein that immunity applies regardless of the personal or official nature of the acts complained of have rendered their disagreement moot and academic.
Sen. De Lima argues that the rationale for Presidential immunity does not apply in her case because the proceedings for the writ of habeas data do not involve the determination of administrative, civil, or criminal liabilities. Again, we remind that immunity does not hinge on the nature of the suit. In short, presidential immunity is not intended to immunize the President from liability or accountability.
The rationale for the grant to the President of the privilege of immunity from suit is to assure the exercise of Presidential duties and functions free from any hindrance of distraction, considering that being the Chief Executive of the Government is a job that, aside from requiring all of the office-holder's time, also demands undivided attention.63
The rationale has been expanded
in David v. Macapagal-Arroyo:
x x x It will degrade the dignity of the high office of the President, the Head of State, if he can be dragged into court litigations while serving as such. Furthermore, it is important that he be freed from any form of harassment, hindrance or distraction to enable him to fully attend to the performance of his official duties and functions. Unlike the legislative and judicial branch, only one constitutes the executive branch and anything which impairs his usefulness in the discharge of the many great and important duties imposed upon him by the Constitution necessarily impairs the operation of the Government. However, this does not mean that the President is not accountable to anyone. Like any other official, he remains accountable to the people but he may be removed from office only in the mode provided by law and that is by impeachment. 64
With regard to the submission that the President must first invoke the privilege of immunity before the same may be applied by the courts, Sen. De Lima quotes from Soliven where the Court said that "this privilege of immunity from suit, pertains to the President by virtue of the office and may
be invoked only by the holder of the office; not by any other person in the President's behalf."65 But that passage in Soliven was made only to point
out that it was the President who had gone to court as the complainant, and the Court still stressed that the accused therein could not raise the presidential privilege as a defense against the President's complaint. At any rate, if this Court were to first require the President to respond to each and every complaint brought against him, and then to avail himself of presidential immunity on a case to case basis, then the rationale for the privilege - protecting the President from harassment, hindrance or distraction in the discharge of his duties - would very well be defeated. It takes little imagination to foresee the possibility of the President being deluged with lawsuits, baseless or otherwise, should the President still need to invoke his immunity personally before a court may dismiss the case against him.
Sen. De Lima posits that her petition for habeas data will not distract the President inasmuch as the case can be handled by the OSG. But this is inconsistent with her argument that the attacks of the President are purely personal. It is further relevant to remind that the OSG is mandated to appear as counsel for the Government as well as its various agencies and instrumentalities whenever the services of a lawyer is necessary; thus, a public official may be represented by the OSG when the proceedings arise from acts done in his or her official capacity.66 The OSG is not allowed to serve as the personal counsel for government officials. If Sen. De Lima's position that the acts complained of are not related to the official functions of the President, then it also necessarily follows that the OSG can no longer continue to represent him.Besides, any litigation, whether big or small, naturally serves as a distraction to a party-litigant. Even while represented by counsel, a litigant is still responsible for certain facets of the case, like presenting evidence and disputing claims, and cannot simply leave the course and conduct of the proceedings entirely to the discretion of his or her chosen counsel.
Sen. De Lima hinges her allegations of violations of her rights on the Magna Carta of Women, as well as on Republic Act No. 6713. Although she claims that her present recourse does not seek to hold the President administratively, civilly, or criminally liable, it will be impossible for the Court to enable her cause of action to be established without first determining whether or not said laws, which carry penal sanctions, had been violated. Any ruling on her petition will necessarily entail a judgment on whether or not the President violated said laws.
Finally, Sen. De Lima asserts that for every right violated, there must be a remedy. No one can dispute the validity of her assertion. We agree with her, but at the same time we must remind her that this ruling will not deny her any available remedy. Indeed, the Constitution provides remedies for violations committed by the Chief Executive except an ordinary suit before the courts. The Chief Executive must first be allowed to end his tenure (not his term) either through resignation or removal by impeachment. Being a Member of Congress, the petitioner is well aware of this, and she cannot sincerely claim that she is bereft of any remedy.
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