ASTORGA

RA 4065 was passed which amended the Revised Charter of the of the City of

Manila and provided for the power, duties and rights of the vice-mayor of the city. It
turns out that the bill which was signed into law contained amendments different form
those approved by the Senate, The President of the Philippines after learning of such,
had already withdrawn his signature therefrom. This being the case, the Mayor of
Manila issued circulars to the various departments of the local government unit to
disregard the provisions ofthe said law. thus, thepetitioner, then vice-mayor of Manila
filed a petition for Mandamus, lnjunction and/or Prohibition with Preliminary Mandatory
and Prohibitory Injunction to compel the necessary parties to comply with the law.
Respondents alleged, hovever, that the bill never became a law as itwas not the bill
approved by Senate, and in such a case, the entries in the journal, and not
the enrolled bill itself should be the basis for the decision of the Court.
ISSUE: Whether or not RA 4065 was validly enacted.
HELD: No. The journal of the proceedings of each House of Congress is no ordinary
record. The Constitution requires it. While it is true that the journal is not authenticated and
is subject to the risks of misprinting and other errors, the journal can be looked upon in this
case. The journal discloses that substantial and lengthy amendments were introduced on
the floor and approved by As done by both the President of the Senate and the Chief
Executive, when they withdrew their signatures therein, the SC also declares that the bill
intended to be as it is supposed to be was never made into law.  To perpetuate that error by
disregarding such rectification and holding that the erroneous bill has become law would be
to sacrifice truth to fiction and bring about mischievous consequences not intended by the
law-making body.