SECTION 17.

The Senate and the House of Representatives shall each have an Electoral
Tribunal, which shall be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns, and
qualifications of their respective Members. Each Electoral Tribunal shall be composed of
nine Members, three of whom shall be Justices of the Supreme Court to be designated by
the Chief Justice, and the remaining six shall be Members of the Senate or the House of
Representatives, as the case may be, who shall be chosen on the basis of proportional
representation from the political parties and the parties or organizations registered under the
party-list system represented therein. The senior Justice in the Electoral Tribunal shall be its
Chairman.
It is quite clear that in providing for a SET to be staffed by both Justices of the SC and
Members of the Senate, the Constitution intended that both those judicial and legislative
components commonly share the duty and authority of deciding all contests relating to the
election, returns and qualifications of Senators. The legislative component herein cannot be
totally excluded from participation in the resolution of senatorial election contests, without
doing violence to the spirit and intent of the Constitution. It is not to be misunderstood in
saying that no Senator-Member of the SET may inhibit or disqualify himself from sitting in
judgment on any case before said Tribunal. Every Member of the Tribunal may, as his
conscience dictates, refrain from participating in the resolution of a case where he sincerely
feels that his personal interests or biases would stand in the way of an objective and
impartial judgment. What SC is saying is that in the light of the Constitution, the SET cannot
legally function as such; absent its entire membership of Senators and that no amendment
of its Rules can confer on the three Justices-Members alone the power of valid adjudication
of a senatorial election contest.
SECTION 18. There shall be a Commission on Appointments consisting of the President of
the Senate, as ex officio Chairman, twelve Senators and twelve Members of the House of
Representatives, elected by each House on the basis of proportional representation from the
political parties and parties or organizations registered under the party-list system
represented therein. The Chairman of the Commission shall not vote, except in case of a tie.
The Commission shall act on all appointments submitted to it within thirty session days of the
Congress from their submission. The Commission shall rule by a majority vote of all the
Members.
If the changes in the political party affiliations of the members of Congress is substantial so
as to dramatically decrease the membership of one party while reducing the other, the
number of representatives of the different parties in the Commission on Appointments may
also be changed in proportion to their actual memberships.
Since 12 Senators are members of the Commission on Appointments, in addition to the
Senate President as the head thereof, every two (2) Senators are entitled to one (1)
representative in the Commission. Parties, however, are not allowed to round off their
members, I.e., 7 Senators are entitled to 3 representatives in the Commission on
Appointments, not 4 since 7/2 is only 3.5.

Further, there is nothing in the Constitution which requires that there must be 24 members of
the Commission. If the different parties do not coalesce, then the possibility that the total
number of Senators in the CA is less than 12 is indeed a reality.

SECTION 19. The Electoral Tribunals and the Commission on Appointments shall be
constituted within thirty days after the Senate and the House of Representatives shall
have been organized with the election of the President and the Speaker. The
Commission on Appointments shall meet only while the Congress is in session, at the
call of its Chairman or a majority of all its Members, to discharge such powers and
functions as are herein conferred upon it.

SECTION 20. The records and books of accounts of the Congress shall be preserved
and be open to the public in accordance with law, and such books shall be audited by the
Commission on Audit which shall publish annually an itemized list of amounts paid to and
expenses incurred for each Member.
Congress is enjoined by the Constitution to preserve and open its records and books of
accounts to the public such hooks shall be audited by the Commission on Audit, which
shall publish annually an itemized list of amounts paid to and expenses incurred for each
member.' This requirement, however, is not absolute. Congress may prescribe by law the
conditions to be complied with in the exercise of the right of inspection of its records and
books of accounts.