MANILA — The Department of Justice has endorsed the approval by Congress of a bill giving barangay (village) chairs the authority to administer the oath of office to any government official, including the President of the Philippines.
In a March 17 letter to Malacañang, which sought a legal opinion on the bills, Justice Undersecretary Zabedin Azis said the agency did not find any constitutional impediment to the enactment of the proposed measures.
“We recognize the power vested in the legislature to make, ordain, and establish all manners of wholesome and reasonable laws, statues, and ordinances, not repugnant to the Constitution as they shall judge to be for the good and welfare [of the people],” he said.
According to Azis, the practice of the incoming president to take his oath of office before the Chief Justice is not a mandatory legal requirement but “more of a tradition premised on the postulation that the highest elective officer of the land should take an oath before the highest member of the judiciary.”
“While this has been the practice since time immemorial, the same is not binding and may be set aside by enacting a law for this purpose,” the DOJ official said.
The Senate and House bills seek the amendment of Section 41 of Executive Order No. 292, otherwise known as the Administrative Act of 1987, which lists officers authorized to administer oaths of office.
SFM