Admin law: Quasi legislative power of admin agencies in general

Ople v Torres
Facts:
(See previous digest)

Issue: Whether the issuance of A.O. No. 308 an exercise by the President of legislative power
properly belonging to Congress?

Held: Yes
Majority opinion:
An administrative order is an ordinance issued by the President which relates to specific
aspects in the administrative operation of government. It must be in harmony with the law and
should be for the sole purpose of implementing the law and carrying out the legislative policy.
We reject the argument that A.O. No. 308 implements the legislative policy of the Administrative
Code of 1987. The Code is a general law and incorporates in a unified document the major
structural, functional and procedural principles of governance and embodies changes in
administrative structures and procedures designed to serve the people.
J. Kapunan Dissenting Opinion (just take note of how the presidents rule making power
was discussed).
No. It is not. The Administrative Code of 1987 has unequivocally vested the President with
quasi-legislative powers in the form of executive orders, administrative orders, proclamations,
memorandum orders and circulars and general or special orders. An administrative order, like
the one under which the new identification system is embodied, has its peculiar meaning under
the 1987 Administrative Code:
SEC. 3. Administrative Orders.Acts of the President which relate to particular aspects of
governmental operations in pursuance of his duties as administrative head shall be
promulgated in administrative orders.
The courts have perceived the necessity of avoiding a narrow construction of a state
constitutional provision for the division of the powers of the government into three distinct
departments, for it is impractical to view the provision from the standpoint of a doctrinaire. Thus,
the modern view of separation of powers rejects the metaphysical abstractions and reverts
instead to a more pragmatic, flexible, functional approach, giving recognition to the fact that
there may be a certain degree of blending or admixture of the three powers of the government.
Moreover, the doctrine of separation of powers has never been strictly or rigidly applied, and
indeed could not be, to all the ramifications of state or national governments; government would
prove abortive if it were attempted to follow the policy of separation to the letter.