The Supreme Court (SC) dismissed a petition challenging the validity of Republic Act No. 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act.
Tthe SC Public Information Office released a statement Wednesday, stating that the Court’s en banc dismissed the petition filed by former Laguna State Polytechnic University dean Jaime Ibañez a day before, “as it failed to show grave abuse of discretion committed by its respondents”.
Named in the suit filed last month were Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei Nograles, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, and the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
Two magistrates, Associate Justices Marvic Leonen, and Samuel Gaerlan dissented from the majority opinion.
The High Court said it will release the full copy of the resolution once available from the Office of the Clerk of Court.
The suit filed by Ibañez sought to declare the Bayanihan law and Presidential Proclamations 922 and 929 as “partly unconstitutional” due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Proclamation No. 922 issued on March 8 declared a state of public health emergency in the country while Proclamation 929 issued on March 16 declared a state of calamity nationwide and imposed an enhanced community quarantine throughout Luzon.
