SECTION 27 – METHODS BY WHICH A BILL MAY BECOME A LAW TOLENTINO VS. SECRETARY OF FINANCE 235 SCRA 630, 1994 FACTS: The value-added tax (VAT) is levied on the sale, barter or exchange of goods and properties as well as on the sale or exchange of services. It is equivalent to 10% of the gross selling price or gross value in money of goods or properties sold, bartered or exchanged or of the gross receipts from the sale or exchange of services. Republic Act No. 7716 seeks to widen the tax base of the existing VAT system and enhance its administration by amending the National Internal Revenue Code. It was challenged for alleged constitutional infirmities (defects), among others: It is claimed that the conference committee included provisions not found in either the House Bill or the Senate Bill – that these provisions were stealthily inserted by the conference committee and Law did not originate exclusively in the House of Representative as required by Section 24, Article VI – they contended that to be considered as having originated in the HOR, it should retain the essence of the House Bill. ISSUE: Whether or not there are constitutional defects in RA 7716, since the conference committee included provisions not found in either the House Bill or the Senate Bill. HELD: A third version of the bill may result from the conference committee, which is considered may result from the conference committee, which is considered an “amendment in the nature of a substitute” the only requirement being that the third version be germane to the subject of the House and Senate bills. As to the possibility of an entirely new bill emergency out of a Conference Committee, it has been explained: Under congressional rules of procedure, conference committees are not
