CHAPTER 1

3. Spooner Amendment, civil governmeny with William Howard Taft as

the 1st governor.
GENERAL CONSIIDERATIONS

Phil Bill of 1902, the Phil Assembly was created in 1907 to sit with the Phil
Commission is a bicameral legislature.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY OF LAW

1. Phil Autonomy Act (Jones Law) which established a Phil Legislature
consisting of Senate and House of Representatives. Manuel Quezon
POLITICAL LAW – that branch of public law which deals with the organization as Pres and Sergio Osmena as Speaker.
and operations of the governmental organs of the State and defines the
relations of the State with the inhabitants of its territory.
2. Tydings-Mcduffie Act, authorized the establishment of the
POLITICAL LAW embraces: Commonwealth of the Phil. a Constitution was framed in the year
1935. Quezon as Pres and Osmena as VP. TM promised
1. Constitutional Law I and II independence during a 10 yr period of transition. 2nd Pres Jose P.
Laurel during Japanese occupation.
2. Administrative Law
3. July 4, 1946, the US withdrew the sovereignty to the Phil. Pres as
Roxas and was proclaimed Republic of the Philippines.
3. The Law on Public Officers

4. Election Law 4. Constitutional Convention of 1971 and deliberations and

revision of 1935 Constitution and the fashioning of 1973
5. Law on Municipal Corporations Constitution.

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW I – a study of the structure and powers of the gov’t of 5. Sept 21, 1972 Pres. Marcos issued Proclamation No. 1081 placing
the Republic of the Phil. It also deals with certain basic concepts of Political Phil under Martial Law.
Law such as the Nature of the State, the Supremacy of the Constitution, the
Separation of Powers and the Rule of the Majority. 6. Nov. 30, 1972 the draft of 1973 Consti was formally approved by the
Constitutional Convention.
NECESSITY FOR THE STUDY

Every citizen, REGARDLESS OF CALLING, should understand the mechanics 7. Jan 17,1973, Marcos issued Proclamation NO. 1102 announced that
and motivations of his government. This must be so because “sovereignty Constitution of 1973 had been ratified.
resides in the people and all gov’t authority emanates from them.”
8. Jan 17, 1981 Macros issued Proclamation No. 2045 lifting martial
law.

The fundamental law provides that “all educational institutions shall include 9. SNAP election happened on Feb 7, 1986 Pres-Marcos VP- Arturo
the study of the Constitution as part of the Criteria.” Tolentino.

10. Feb 22, 1986, Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Gen Fidel V.
Ramos lead people power revolution to oust Marcos. Pres – Cory
Aquino VP – Salvador H. Laurel inducted on Feb 25, 1986.
BASIS OF THE STUDY

11. Freedom Constitution on Feb 2, 1987

The principal basis of the study of Constitutional Law is the PRESENT
CONSTITUTION OF THE PHILIPPINES as adopted on Feb.2, 1987. Students
should consider pertinent statutes, executive orders and decrees, and judicial
decisions, as well as current political events in which the purposes of the law
are applied (or misapplied). - 7 Consititutions

1. Biak na Bato

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY 2.

In habitants of the Phil. originally consisted of DISPARATE tribes, they are 3. Malolos
generally free and were each governed by a system of laws promulgated by
the datu or council of elders. Except when they fell under Madjapahit and Sri- 4. 1935 - Commonwealth
Vishayan empires.
5. 1971
Magellan discovered Phil. in 1521brought the people of the territory under the
common rule of Spain which lasted for 300 years. Rizal and other 6. 1973
propagandists were later to ignite the spirit of nationalism that was to fuel the
Revolution.
7. 1987
Started by Bonifacio and won under the generalship of Emilio Aguinaldo. On
June 12, 1898, Philippine Independence was proclaimed; and on Jan 21, CHAPTER 2
1899, the 1st Republic was established with Aguinaldo as its President.
Malolos Constitution was established – the 1st democratic constitution ever THE CONSTITUTION OF THE PHILIPPINES
to be promulgated in Asia. Significantly it established a parliamentary system,
but with the President and not the Prime Minister as head of the gov’t.

The 1st Republic was to be shortlived as US was already planting the seeds of Pres. Corazon Aquino in Proclamation No. 9 created a Constitutional
another sovereign in our country. The Treaty of Paris on Dec. 10,1898 was Commission composed of 50 members.
provided for the cessation of the Phil Islands by Spain to the US.

1. Schurman Commission (First Phil. Commission), to make a fact

finding survey for the Phil Islands OUTSTANDING FEATURES

2. Substituted by the Taft of Commission (2nd Phil Commission), which Consists of 18 Articles and is EXCESSIVELY LONG compared to the
took over all legilative powers and some executive and judicial Constitutions of 1935 and 1973. Independence of Judiciary has been
powers of the military governor. strengthened, with new provisions for appointment thereto and an increase in
its authority, which now covers even political questions formerly beyond its
jurisdiction. 1973 provisions were retained like those on the Constitutional
Commission and local governments. The bill of right of the Commonwealth and
Marcos Constitutions has been considerable improves and bolstered with the b. Maritime and Fluvial Domains - the inland and external
creation elsewhere in the document of a COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS. waters

c. Aerial Domain – the air space above the land and waters

The sheer length of the document has deterred people form reading ARTICLE 1 OF THE CONSTITUTION PROVIDES:
it, much less trying to understand its contents and motivations.
NATIONAL TERRITORY

“The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the
THE SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION islands and waters embraced therein, and all other territories over which the
Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial, fluvial
The Constitution is the basic and paramount law to which all other and aerial domains, including its territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil, the
laws must conform and to which all persons, including the highest officials of insular shelves, and other submarine areas. The waters around, between, and
the land, must defer. The Consti must EVER REMAIN SUPREME. All must bow to connecting the islands of the archipelago, regardless of their breadth and
the mandate of this law. Right or wrong, the Consti must be upheld as long as dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the Philippines.”
it has not been changed by the sovereign people lest its disregard result in the
usurpation of the majesty of law by the pretenders of illegitimate power.
3. GOVERNMENT – agency or instrumentality through which
the will of the State is formulated, expressed and realized. (US v.
Dorr, 2 Phil 332) Our Consti requires however requires our gov’t to
PROSPECT OF THE CONSTITUTION be democratic and republican.

The Consti must be quintessential rather than superficial, the root A. Functions:
and not the blossom. It must grow with the society to re-structure and march
apace with the progress of the race, drawing from the vicissitudes of history
the dynamism and vitality that will keep it, far from becoming a petrified rule, i.Constituent – compulsory because constitutive of the
a pulsing, living law attuned to the heartbeat of the nation. society

a. The keeping of order and providing for the protection

of persons and property from violence and robbery;
CHAPTER 3
b. The fixing of the legal relations bet husband and wife
THE CONCEPT OF THE STATE and bet parents and children.

c. Regulation of the holding, transission and

interchange of property, and the determination of its
liabilities for debt or for crime;
DEFINITION

d. Definition and punishment of crimes;

State – a community of persons more or less numerous,
permanently occupying a fixed territory, and possessed of an independent
gov’t organized for political ends to which the great body of inhabitants render e. Administration of justice in civil cases;
habitual obedience.
f. Administration of political duties, privileges and
relations of the citizens.

The term Nation is used interchangeably with the State which is a

MISTAKE. The state is a legal concept while the nation is a only a racial or
ethnic concept. A nation need not be a state at all.
ii. Ministrant – undertaken to advance the general
interest of the society (Bacani v. Nacoco). These
functions are merely optional.

Nation – strictly speaking, as evidenced by its etymology (nasci, to

B. Doctrine of Parens Patriae
be born), indicated a relation of birth or origin and implies a common race,
usually characterized by community of language and customs.
The gov’t as guardian of the rights of people
may initiate legal actions for and in behalf of particular
individual (Gov’t of Phil Islands v. El Monte de Piedad)

The State must also be distinguished from the gov’t. The gov’t is
C. De Jure and De Facto Governments
only an element of the State. The State is the principal, the gov’t is the agent.
The State itself is an abstraction; it is the gov’t that externalizes the State and
articulates its will. De Jure – has a rightful title but no power or control,
wither because the same has been withdrawn from it or
because it has not yet actually entered into the exercise
thereof.

ELEMENTS: De facto – actually exercises power or control but without

legal title (Lawyers league for a better Phil v. Aquino)
1. PEOPLE – inhabitants of the State, the number of which is
capable for self-sufficiency and self-defense; of both sexes for
perpetuity. They must be numerous enough to be self-sufficing and
I. De facto proper – gov’t that gets possession
and control of, or usurps, by force or by the voice
to defend themselves and small enough to be easily administered
of the majority, the rightful legal gov’t and
and sustained. maintains itself against the will of the latter

2. TERRITORY – fixed portion of the surface of the earth II. Government of paramount force –
inhabited by the people of the State. It must be neither too big as to
established and maintained by military forces who
be difficult to administer and defend nor too small as to be unable to invade and occupy a territory of the enemy in the
provide for the needs of the population.
course of war; and

• Components of Territory are:

III. Independent gorvenment – establish by the
a. Terrestrial Domain – land mass inhabitants of the country who rise in insurrection
against the parent state (Ko Kim Cham v. Valdez
Tan Keh)
 D. Government of the Republic of the Philippines – is
the corporate governmental entity which the functions of
gov’t are exercised throughout the Phil, including, save as
the contrary appears from the context, the various arms
which political authority is made effective whether
pertaining to the autonomous regions, the provinicial, city
or brgy subdivisions or other forms of local gov’t.

E. Aministration – Gov’t must be distinguished from

administration, which is thegroup of persons in whose
hands the reins of the gov’t are for the time being. The
administration runs the gov’t. Administration is
transitional whereas the gov’t is permanent.

4. SOVEREIGNTY – supreme and uncontrollable power

inherent in a State by which that State is governed. Sovereignty is
permanent, exclusive, comprehensive, absolute, indivisible,
inalienable and imprescriptible.

A. Kinds

i.Legal Sovereignty - authority which has the

power to issue final commands

ii. Political Sovereignty – power behind the legal

sovereign, or the sum of the influences what
operate upon it.

B. Internal or External

i. Internal –power of the State to control its

domestic affairs

ii. External – power of the State to direct its

relations with other States, is also known as
independence.

C. Act of State – is an act done by the sovereogn power

of a country, or by its delegate, within the limits of the
power vested on him. An act of State cannot be
questioned or made the subject of legal proceedings in
a court of law.