Section 5.
Before they enter on the execution of their opening of an envelope thought to contain the
office, the President, Vice President, or the Acting
President shall take the following oath or affirmation:
(Please refer to Bernas, pp. 845-846)
Section 6. The President shall have an official residence.
The salaries of the President and Vice President shall be
determined by law and shall not be decreased during their
tenure. No increase in said compensation shall take effect
until after the expiration of the term of the incumbent
during which such increase was approved. They shall not
receive during their tenure any other emolument from the
government or any other source.
Section 7. The President-elect and Vice President-elect
shall assume office at the beginning of their terms. (Please
refer to Bernas, p. 846)
Section 8. In case of death, permanent disability, removal
from office, or resignation of the president, the Vice
President shall become the President to serve the
unexpired term. (Please refer to Bernas, p. 846)
1. Filling a vacancy in the Presidency.
 Section 7- applies when vacancy occurs at the
start of the term
 Section 8 –applies when vacancy occurs in mid-
term.
 The President has no right to “hold over”.
o At the end of his term, at noon of the
30th of June, he must leave the office.
o Should there be no President-elect on
the appointed hour and day, or no
winner has been proclaimed, Section 7
becomes operative.
 A vacancy can also occur when an incumbent
President dies, is permanently disabled, is
removed from office, or resigns. (Section 8
applies)
o Of the four causes, permanent disability
is the most shrouded in obscurity.
 What is “permanent
disability”?
 Who decides whether the
President is disabled.
2. From Joseph Estrada to Gloria Arroyo
 The proximate antecedents of the event started
with a House Resolution approving the
impeachment trial of Joseph Estrada for various
grave crimes.
 With Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. presiding,
the impeachment trial proceeded until on January
16, 2001, the Senate voted 11-10 to block the
"smoking gun" against Estrada.
 The vote was followed by the walkout of the
prosecution panel.
 Within hours a massive gathering of people
began to converge at the EDSA shrine clamoring
for the resignation of Estrada.
 On January 18, as the pressure continued to
mount, the entire military establishment led by
Secretary of National Defense Orlando Mercado
and the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces
Angelo Reyes abandoned their support for
President Estrada.
 The Philippine National Police followed later.
 On January 20, at high noon, Chief Justice
Davide administered the oath of office to Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo as President.
 On the same day, Estrada signed a letter
containing his declaration that he unable to
exercise the powers and duties of my office and
by operation of law and the Constitution, the
Vice-President shall be the Acting President.
 The letter was addressed to the Speaker of the
House of Representatives and to the Senate
President.
 Thereafter, Arroyo proceeded to perform the
functions of a President, and her government
received the recognition of many states.
 The contention of Joseph Estrada was that he
was a President on leave under the terms of
Section 11 of Article VII and that Gloria
Macapagal- Arroyo was merely an acting
President.
 The Estrada v. Arroyo case was filed by Estrada,
together with the companion case of Estrada v.
Desierto to seek confirmation of his position.
 The decision of the Court was unanimous, with
Chief Justice Davide and Justice Panganiban
abstaining: Davide because he had sworn in
Arroyo and Panganiban to obviate any suspicion
that he had prejudged the case.
 The decision was that Estrada was no longer
President and that Arroyo was. But there was no
unanimity in arriving at this conclusion. (Please
refer to Bernas, pp. 850-857 for the opinions of
the Justices.)
 Justice Puno –gave resignation from office
as the cause of its permanent vacancy and he
concluded it with what he called the result of
“totality test”.
 Justice Vitug concurred with the
resignation theory, however according to
him it is not a simple and pure resignation.
 Justice Pardo based his opinion on forced
resignation.
 Justice Mendoza saw it as a case of
permanent disability.
 Justice Bellosillo anchored his concurrence
with on permanent disability.
  Justice Kapunan disagreed with the
resignation theory and preferred to
recognize the legitimacy of the Arroyo
Presidency as an irreversible fact.
 Justice Sandoval Guttierez was of similar
view.
 Justice Ynares Santiago’s opinion was
mainly a warning against the legitimation of
“people power”.

 The Estrada camp filed a motion for

reconsideration which was decided on April 3,
2001.
 However, the justices maintained their respective
positions but, on the matter of resignation,
Justice Puno added that they also reject the
contention that petitioner's resignation was due
to duress and an involuntary resignation is no
resignation at all.
 In sum, three justices (Puno, Vitug and Pardo)
accepted some form of resignation.
 Two justices (Mendoza and Bellosillo) saw
permanent disability.
 Three justices (Kapunan, Ynares-Santiago,
and Sandoval Gutierrez) accepted the
presidency of Arroyo as an irreversible fact.
 Five justices (Quisumbing, Melo, Buena, de
Leon and Gonzaga-Reyes) signed the decision
without expressing any opinion.
 Davide and Panganiban abstained.
 In the light of all this, it is not clear what
doctrine was established by the decision.