8 II. REFUTATIONS TO RESPONDENTS’ RESPECTIVE RESPONSES TO THE PETITION (Responses received by the Petitioners) 2.1. Notably, the crux of respondents’ opposition, as reflected above, concerns procedural matters, specifically the issue on personal and subject matter “jurisdiction.” Hence, the petitioners find it prudent to tackle them first. 2.2. To save paper and avoid unnecessary repetition of counterarguments and discussion, the petitioners presently respond to respondents’ issues and arguments collectively, topically, and sequentially. A. The strict interpretation of the concept of jurisdiction, which requires acquisition of personal and subject matter jurisdiction before hearing and deciding a case, is not applicable to the Honorable Commission, which has a special mandate under the Constitution. 2.3. As early as the case of Herrera v. Baretto and Joaquin,13 the Supreme Court defined jurisdiction as the power to hear and decide cases.14 Jurisdiction is the power with which courts are invested with the power of administering justice, that is, for hearing and deciding cases. For a court to have authority to dispose of a case on the merits, it must acquire jurisdiction over the subject matter and the parties.15 2.4. The noticeable error in respondents’ position is their strict interpretation and blanket application of the concept of jurisdiction, such that the Honorable Commission was placed in the same footing as that of a court of law, which needs to acquire jurisdiction over the subject matter and parties before it can hear and decide a case. 2.5. The Honorable Commission is not a court of law. Thus, the term jurisdiction, as defined above, should not be construed and applied in the current inquiry. The framers of the Constitution intended this interpretation to hold, as could be gleaned from their deliberations— “MR. DE LOS REYES: And may I offer an amendment of [sic] Commissioner Nolledo that instead of 13 25 Phil. 245 (1913) Herrera v. Baretto and Joaquin, supra., note 13. 15 Republic Planters Bank v. Molina, 166 SCRA 39 [1988]. 14