04/02/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly "one that ceases to present a justiciable controversy by virtue of supervening events, so that a declaration thereon would be of no practical use or value." It goes on to state that "generally, courts decline jurisdiction over such cases and dismiss it on the ground of mootness."[8] This pronouncement traces its current roots from the express constitutional rule under the second paragraph of Section 1, Article VIII of the 1987 Constitution that "[j]udicial power includes the duty of the courts of justice to settle actual controversies involving rights which are legally demandable and enforceable..." This rule, which can conveniently be called the traditional concept of judicial power, has been expanded under the 1987 Constitution to include the power "to determine whether or not there has been grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of any branch or instrumentality of the Government." Whether under the traditional or the expanded concept, judicial power must be based on an actual justiciable controversy at whose core is the existence of a case involving rights which are legally demandable and enforceable. Without this feature, courts have no jurisdiction to act. Even a petition for declaratory relief[9]- a petition outside the original jurisdiction of this Court to entertain - must involve an actual controversy that is ripe for adjudication.[10] In light of these requirements, any exception that this Court has recognized to the rule on mootness (as expressed, for example, in the cited David v. Macapagal-Arroyo) is justified only by the implied recognition that a continuing controversy exists. Specifically involved in the exercise of judicial power in the present petitions is the Court's power of judicial review, i.e., the power to declare the substance, application or operation of a treaty, international agreement, law, presidential decree, proclamation, order, instruction, ordinance, or regulation unconstitutional.[11] A first requisite for judicial review is that there be an "actual case" calling for the exercise of judicial power. Fr. Joaquin Bernas, S.J., an eminent constitutional law expert, comments in this regard that This is a manifestation of the commitment to the adversarial system. Hence, the Court has no authority to pass upon issues of constitutionality through advisory opinions and it has no authority to resolve hypothetical or feigned constitutional problems or friendly suits collusively arranged between parties without real adverse interests. Nor will the Court normally entertain a petition touching on an issue that has become moot because then there would no longer be a `flesh and blood' case for the Court to resolve." [Citations deleted, emphasis supplied.][12] Other than the rule on actual case and standing (which aspect this separate opinion does not cover), jurisprudence holds that this Court will not touch upon the issue of constitutionality unless it is unavoidable or is the very lis mota.[13] As will be discussed in refuting the ponencia's various positions, this rule finds special application in the present case in light of the political sensitivity of the peace talks with the MILF and the issues it has placed on the agenda, namely, peace and order in Mindanao and the MILF's aspirations for freedom. My disagreement with the ponencia on the application of the exceptions to the mootness principle of David v. Macapagal-Arroyo is essentially based on how the mootness principle and its exceptions should be applied. While the mootness elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/47263 122/203