Dili tanan

Every now and then, the music world, here in Cebu, at least, is surprised by compositions that are endearing immediately after their release, as records, to the public. Yoyoy Villame’s Magellan, decades ago, was one of them. It was amusing how Yoyoy wove the beginnings of recorded Philippine history, as everyone seemed to know, into a song. Then, there was Mitulo Na, Mitulo Na. Because the song was, to the dirty-minded ones, capable of double interpretation, the warped perceptions of Martial Law power-wielders prevented the record from reaching its marketing potential.

Nowadays, there is this Dili Tanan song of Rommel Tuico. It went viral days before the last Christmas season. Presently, Dili Tanan has become very popular that wherever one goes, he invariably hears somebody singing this song. If the lyrics get jumbled along the singer’s way, the melody remains unerringly hummed. In fact, Mr. Tuico’s composition and the way he sings his song are so well received that some marketing strategists have started to tap him as an effective and recognizable endorser of their products.

The lyrics can be applied to almost every human endeavor. It can even be applied on such a most respected activity called local legislation. To be specific “Dili tanang ordinansa brilliant. Dili tanan brilliant ordinansa.”

When I was reading the January 23, 2014 Agenda of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Cebu City, Dili Tanan was played on the radio. Then I came upon a proposed ordinance that contained six Whereas Clauses and six Sections. In law school, students learn that the Whereas Clause, of a law, ordinance for our purpose, is just like a Preamble, or an Explanatory Note. The function of a whereas clause is to lay the basis of  the ordinance as the preamble of the Philippine Constitution, a one paragraph text introduced us to a voluminous document. In the proposed ordinance that I happened to read, the whereas clause is longer than the proposed measure itself. Gibaliw na!

The first section of this draft local law is the title, followed by Section 2 which is the pronouncement of policy of the city. It is Section 3 that really contains the body of the measure. Everything that the proposed ordinance was (is) supposed to mandate is written in section 3.  Without this section three, there is nothing to reckon with and consider as an ordinance.

Dili Tanan came back to me when I read a Section 4 of the proposal. This section is labelled Separability Clause.

A separability clause is a legislator’s tool. It is used by a lawmaker who drafts a bill containing several provisions, to mean a long statute. In essence, the separability clause means that one section of a law may be considered separate from the others when separating them does not destroy the meaning of the law itself.

A separability clause anticipates an action questioning the constitutionality or legal validity of a certain portion or portions, not all, of the measure. It may happen that the ruling of the case declares such portion or portions as against the constitution. In that circumstance, only that portion of the law that is successfully contested in court shall be deemed invalid and the rest of the statute that may not be so affected shall remain in force and in effect. That is also the purpose of a clause suggesting the separation of the sections of an ordinance.

Applying this information to the proposed ordinance that I have read, I believe that the so-called Section 3 - Separability Clause is totally unnecessary. It is downright useless. Dili tanan ordinansa nagkinahanglan ug separability clause. Ingon man nga dili tanan separability clause angay ibutang sa ordinansa.

Ordinances, unless modified or repealed, or pronounced by courts of competent jurisdictions, as invalid, continue to exist. In other words, they rule for generations to come. Peoples therefore will read them. I write this article in the hope that local legislators, put in their minds what they do today, lest the errors they commit, albeit funny as Magellan or double-edged as Mitulo Na Mitulo Na, will also be preserved in the records of our city. They have the responsibility to do their best to avoid putting into print something that is not worth the ink.