The 1987 Constitution

- The 1987 Constitution is the 4th

fundamental law to govern the
Philippines since it became independent
on July 4, 1946.
- A constitution is a written instrument by
which the fundamental powers of
government are established, limited,
and defined and by which these powers
are distributed among several
departments, for their more safe and
useful exercise, for the benefit of the
body politic.
- Is the 4
th
fundamental law to govern the
Philippines.
o 1
st
: Commonwealth (1935)
Constitution
o 2
nd
: 1973 Constitution
o 3
rd
: Freedom Constitution

Qualities of good written constitution
1. Broad - Because it provides for the organization of
the entire government and covers all persons and
things within the territory of the State and also
because it must be comprehensive enough to provide
for every contingency.
2. Brief - It must confine itself to basic principles to be
implemented with legislative details more adjustable
to change and easier to amend.
3. Definite - To prevent ambiguity in its provisions
which could result in confusion and divisiveness
among the people

Essential parts of a good written constitution
1. Constitution of government - The series of
provisions outlining the organization of the
government, enumerating its powers, laying
down certain rules relative to its administration
and defining the electorate.
2. Constitution of liberty - The series of
proscriptions setting forth the fundamental civil
and political rights of the citizens and imposing
limitations on the powers of government as a
means of securing the enjoyment of those rights.

3. Constitution of sovereignty - The provisions
pointing out the mode or procedure in
accordance with which formal changes in the
fundamental law may be brought about.

Interpretation/Construction of the Constitution
In Fransisco v HR, the SC made reference to
the use of well-settled principles of constitutional
construction, namely:
1. Verba Legis
2. Ratio legis et anima
3. Ut magis valeat quam pereat

The Supremacy of the Constitution
- It is the basic and paramount law to which
all other laws must conform and to which all
persons, including the highest officials of the
land, must defer.
- No act shall be valid, however noble its
intentions, if it conflicts with the Constitution.
- The Constitution must ever remain
SUPREME.
- Expediency or greed for power must not be
allowed if it is contrary to the fundamental
law.
- Right or wrong, the Constitution must be
upheld.

Prospects of the Constitution
- The Constitution must be quintessential
rather than superficial.
- It must be the root not the blossom.
- It must be the base & the framework.
- It is but the core of the dream that must take
shape slowly in the crucible of Filipino minds
and hearts, where in time, it will develop its
sinews and gradually gather its strength and
finally achieve its substance.
- It must grow with the society it seeks to re-
structure and march apace with the
progress of the race, drawing from the
vicissitudes of history and dynamism and
vitality that will keep it a pulsing, living law
attuned to the heartbeat of the nation.

Preamble means to walk before.

5 Main uses/purposes of the Preamble:
+To introduce (or to walk before the
constitution)
+Serves to indicate the authors of the
Constitution (we, the Filipino people)
+Enumerates the primary aims
+Expresses the aspirations of the framers
+Useful as an aid in the construction and
interpretation of the text of the constitution

NATIONAL TERRITORY
The national territory comprises the
Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and
waters embraced therein, and all other territories
over which the Philippines has sovereignty or
jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial, fluvial,
and aerial domains, including its territorial sea,
the seabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves, and
other submarine areas. The waters around,
between, and connecting the islands of the
archipelago, regardless of their breadth and
dimensions, form part of the internal waters of
the Philippines.
- a substantial reproduction of Article I of the
1973 Constitution with only a few minor changes
- the present rule now physically lists the
components of our territory and so de-
emphasizes recollections of our colonial past
(departing from the method employed in the
1935 Constitution, which described the national
territory by reference to the pertinent treaties
concluded by the United States during its regime
in this country.
- deleted reference to the territories we claim by
historic right or legal title, but this does not
mean an outright or formal abandonment of
such claim, which was best left to a judicial
body capable of passing judgment over the
issue.

Archipelago doctrine
- affirmed by the 2
nd
sentence
- we connect the outermost points of our
archipelago with straight baselines and consider
all the waters enclosed thereby as internal
waters
- regarded as one integrated unit instead of
being fragmented into so many thousands
islands
- territorial seas are now defined according to
the Jamaica Convention on the Law of the Sea,
ratified in 1994, of which the Philippine is a
signatory
- It is the principle whereby the body of water
studded with islands, or the islands surrounded
with water, is viewed as a unity of islands and
waters together forming one integrated unit. For
this purpose, it requires that baselines be drawn
by connecting the appropriate points of the
outermost islands to encircle the islands within
the archipelago. We consider all the waters
enclosed by the straight baselines as internal
waters.
*The Philippines, like most States now, includes
in its territory the insular shelves which, strictly
speaking, are under the jurisdiction only, and not
the sovereignty, of the coastal state.

The Definition of Article I now covers the
following territories:
1. Those ceded to the United States by
virtue of the Treaty of Paris of December 10,
1898.
2. Those defined in the treaty concluded
between the United States and Spain on
November 7, 1900, which were not defined in
the Treaty of Paris, specifically the islands of
Cagayan, Sulu and Sibuto.
3. Those defined in the treaty concluded
on January 2, 1930, between the United States
and Great Britain, specifically the Turtle and
Mangsee islands.
4. The islands of Batanes, which was
covered under a general statement in the 1935
Constitution.
5. Those contemplated in the phrase
belonging to the Philippines by right or legal
title in the 1973 Constitution.

UNCLOS may term our waters as archipelagic
waters and that we may term it as our internal
waters, but the bottom line is that our country
exercises sovereignty over these waters and
UNCLOS itself recognizes that. However, due to
our observance of international law, we allow the
exercise of others of their right of innocent
passage. No modern State can validly invoke its
sovereignty to absolutely forbid innocent
passage that is exercised in accordance with
customary international law without risking
retaliatory measures from the international
community.

The classification of the KIG (or the Spratlys),
as well as the Scarborough Shoal, as a regime
of islands did not diminish our maritime area.
Under UNCLOS and under the baselines law,
since they are regimes of islands, they generate
their own maritime zones in short, they are not
to be enclosed within the baselines of the main
archipelago (which is the Philippine Island
group). This is because if we do that, then we
will be enclosing a larger area which would
already depart from the provisions of UNCLOS
that the demarcation should follow the natural
contour of the archipelago.
Nevertheless, we still continue to lay claim over
the KIG and the Scarborough Shoal through
effective occupation.
The UNCLOS provides for the following:

Baseline Determined by connecting points
on the coastline from a large map, this is the
starting point for measuring the maritime
territory of a coastal state.

Territorial sea This is the belt of sea 12
nautical miles from the baseline. In this area,
the coastal state exercises sovereign rights
and may arrest foreign ships.

Contiguous Zone This is the maritime area
not exceeding 24 nautical miles from the
baselines. The coastal state exercises
authority over this area to the extent
necessary to prevent infringement of its
customs, fiscal, immigration, or sanitation
authority over its territorial waters. This is a
response to the practice of foreign ships
lingering beyond a states territorial sea, and
thus beyond its criminal jurisdiction, where
they commit acts inimical to the coastal state.

Exclusive Economic Zone or EEZ This is the
maritime area within 200 nautical miles from a
countrys baseline. Within the EEZ, the
coastal state has rights over the economic
resources of the sea, seabed, and subsoil to
the exclusion of other states. However, other
nations have the right of navigation and
overflight over this area, subject to the
regulation of the coastal state.

Continental Shelf This is the seabed and
subsoil of the submarine areas adjacent to the
coastal state but outside the territorial sea.
The continental shelf extends 200 nautical
miles, and in some cases may extend up to
350 miles, following the natural prolongation
of the soil. The coastal state has the right to
explore and exploit the natural resources in
this area, but this right does not extend to
other materials such as shipwrecks.

THE CONCEPT OF THE STATE

State a community of persons, more or less
numerous, permanently occupying a fixed
territory, and possessed of an independent
government organized for political ends to which
the great body of inhabitants render habitual
obedience

Elements of a State
1. People
2. Territory
3. Sovereignty
4. Government

People
A community of persons sufficient in number
and capable of maintaining the continued
existence of the community and held together by
a common bond of law.

Territory
Territory is the fixed portion of the surface of the
earth inhabited by the people of the state.

Government
- is the agency or instrumentality thru which the
will of the State is formulated, expressed and
realized
- (international law) no particular form of
government is prescribed, provided only that the
government is able to represent the State in its
dealings with other States
- (Phil. Constitution), requires our government to
be democratic and republican
- the State is an ideal person, invisible,
intangible, immutable and existing only in
contemplation of law; the government is an
agent and, within the sphere of its agency, it is a
perfect representative, but outside of that it is a
lawless usurpation.
Mandate of the government from the State:
- to promote the welfare of the people
- whatever good is done by the government is
attributed to the State but every harm inflicted on
the people is imputed not to the State but to the
government alone
- such injury may justify the replacement of the
government by revolution, theoretically at the
behest of the State, in a development known as
direct State action

Doctrine of Parens Patriae
- guardian of the rights of the people
- one of the important tasks of the government

De J ure and De Facto Governments
- regardless of their form
De J ure government - has rightful title but no
power or control, either because this has been
withdrawn fro it or because it has not yet actually
entered into the existence thereof
De Facto government - a government of fact,
that is, actually exercises power or control but
without legal title
Sovereignty
- is the supreme and uncontrollable power
inherent in a State by which that State is
governed
2 kinds of sovereignty:
1. legal sovereignty the authority which has
the power to issue final commands
2. political sovereignty is the power behind the
legal sovereign, or the sum of the influences that
operate upon it.
*In our country, the Congress is the legal
sovereign, while the different sectors that mold
public opinion make-up the political sovereign.
Internal sovereignty refers to the power of the
State to control its domestic affairs
External sovereignty the power of the State to
direct its relations with other States, is also
known as independence

THE DOCTRINE OF STATE IMMUNITY

Rule: the State may not be sued without its
consent (Constitution)
- recognition of the sovereign character of the
State
- an express affirmation of the unwritten rule
insulating it from the jurisdiction of the courts of
justice
Basis:
- indiscriminate suits against the State will result
in the impairment of its dignity, besides being a
challenge to its supposed infallibility
- available to foreign States; one State cannot
assert jurisdiction over another because it would
unduly vex the peace of nations - par in parem
not habet imperium (Sovereign equality of
States)

Application
Rule: Actions are rarely instituted directly
against the RP
- because such a step will provoke resort to the
doctrine of State immunity and possible
dismissal of the complaint for lack of jurisdiction
Usual practice: to file such claims against the
officer of the government who is supposed to
discharge the responsibility or grant the redress
demanded
Note: determine if the State is the real party in
interest if the claim is proved will be a direct
liability of the State and not merely of the officer
impleaded

*A public officer may be sued in his official
capacity without the necessary of first obtaining
the consent of the State to be sued.
- a public offices may be impleaded to require
him to do a duty required by law, or to restrain
him from doing an act alleged to be
unconstitutional or illegal, or to recover from him
taxes unlawfully assessed or collected.

The test: assuming the decision is rendered
against the public officer impleaded, whether
enforcement thereof will require an affirmative
act from the State, such as the appropriation of
the needed amount to satisfy the judgment.
Yes - the suit is one against the State and its
inclusion as party defendant is necessary
No- the officer impleaded all by himself alone
comply with the decision of the court without the
necessity of involving the State, then the suit
can prosper against him and will not be
considered a claim against the State

- where a public officer acts without or in excess
of jurisdiction, any injury caused by him is his
own personal liability an cannot be imputed to
the State
Waiver of Immunity
- the doctrine is sometimes called the royal
prerogative of dishonesty
Rule: The State does not often avail itself of this
rule to take undue advantage of parties that may
have legitimate claims against it
Built-in qualification: The State may, if it so
desires, divest itself of its sovereign immunity
and thereby voluntarily open itself to suit
Exception to the rule: the State may be sued if it
gives consent

Forms of Consent
Express or Implied
Express may be manifested either thru a
general law or a special law

Suits Against Government Agencies
Incorporated Agency has a charter of its own
that invests it with a separate juridical
personality
e.g. SSS, UP, City of Manila,etc.
e.g. DOJ, Bureau of Mines, Government Printing
Office, etc.
Rule: If the agency is incorporated, it is suable if
its charter says so, regardless of the functions it
is performing
e.g. Municipal corporations provinces and
cities
- are agencies of the State when they are
engaged in governmental functions and
therefore should enjoy the sovereign immunity
from suit
- Nevertheless, they are subject to suit even in
the performance of such functions because their
charter provides that they can sue and be sued

- The important thing was that the charter of the
college provided that it could sue and be sued,
which meant that, even assuming that the
function involved was public, the State had
thereby waived its immunity.
Unincorporated Agency has no separate
juridical personality but is merged in the general
machinery of the government
- any suit filed against it is necessarily an action
against the PG of which it is a part.
- it is necessary to determine the nature of the
functions in which the agency is engaged
Rule:
Proprietary - suable
Governmental not suable
(primary function)

Exemption from Legal Requirements
Rule: When the State litigates, either directly or
thru its authorized officers:
- not required to put up a bond for damages, or
an appeal bond, since it can be assumed that it
is always solvent
- cannot be asked to pay the legal fees
prescribed in the Rules of Court of the costs of
the suit
- Interest is not chargeable against it
Exception:
- when it has expressly stipulated to pay it or
- when interest is allowed by an act of the
legislature or
- in eminent domain cases where damages
sustained by the owner take the form of interest
at the legal rate
Rule: Statutes of limitation do not run against the
State
Exception: the contrary is expressly provided by
law, although this rule is not observed where the
State is engaged in private business

Suability vs. Liability
Rule: Waiver of immunity by the State does not
mean concession of its liability
Suability the result of the express or implied
consent of the State to be sued
Liability determined after hearing on the basis
of the relevant laws and the established facts
- When the State allows itself to be sued, all it
does in effect is to give the other party an
opportunity to prove, if it can, that the State is
liable.
- in many cases, the State may be suable but
not liable

A Republican government?
It is a representative government, a
government run by and for the people.
- not a pure democracy (where people
govern themselves directly)
- Essence of republicanism:
o Representation
o Renovation the selection by the
citizenry of a corps of public
functionaries who derive their mandate
from the people and act on their behalf,
serving for a limited time only, after
which they are replaced or retained at
the option of their principal.
- It is a responsible government whose
officials hold and discharge their position
as a public trust and shall, accdg. To the
Constitution, at all times be accountable to
the people
- Purpose: promotion of common welfare
accdg. To the will of the people
themselves.
- A government of laws and not of men
- The ascendancy of the law is axiomatic in
a republic
o Must be recognized by every public
official no matter how exalted
- No person is above the law; all must bow
to its majesty
- Every official act must be based upon and
conform to the authority of a valid law,
lacking which the act must be rejected.
- Nobility of intention insufficient to
validate an unauthorized act

Blending of Powers
- There are instances under the
constitution when powers are not
confined exclusively within one
department but are in fact assigned to or
shared by several departments.

- Difficulty: classifying whether its
legislative, executive or judicial

Checks and Balances
- Doctrine especially workable due to
the corollary system of checks and
balances
o One department is allowed to
resist encroachments upon its
prerogatives as to rectify
mistakes or excesses
committed by the other
departments.
Not itself an arrogation
Constitution provides for
the system of
counteraction
Theory: ends of govt.
are better achieved
through the exercise by
its agencies of only the
powers assigned to
them, subject to
reversal in proper cases
by those constitutionally
authorized.
When the Constitution permits it, it should be
followed:
- Expressly lodged in congress
o Power to impeach (essentially
executive)
o Power to try and decide
impeachment cases (essentially
judicial)
o Power of Investigation (more
executive or judicial than legislative)
- Supreme court can exercise executive
power over removal judges of inferior
courts; appointed by the president too
- President - authorized by the Congress
to exercise tariff and emergency powers
(legislative in nature)
Justiciable and Political Questions
- Power of the Judiciary to review official
action to check whether the act in
question had been performed in
accordance with the rules laid down by
the Constitution.
o Justiciable Courts have
jurisdiction to intervene
Judiciary in such case would
not be encroaching upon
exclusive functions of another
dept.
As its role focused on
ensuring proper
observance of the norms
of action prescribed in the
Constitution
o Political Question Where matters
fall under the discretion of other
departments, and consequently may
not be the subject of judicial review
Considerations affecting
wisdom and efficacy or
practicability of a law should
come under the exclusive
jurisdiction of the Congress
Interpretations on certain
provisions as well (e.g. Other
high crimes for impeachment
grounds)
o President may propose
Constitutional amendments
If the President has been legitimately
discharging the legislative functions of the
interim Assembly, there is no reason why he
cannot validly discharge the function of that
Assembly to propose amendments to the
Constitution, which is but an adjunct, although
peculiar, to its gross legislative power.
Political Questions under the New
Constitution
- Political Question constricted to new
constitution
- Judicial power (latest definition)
includes the duty to determine
whether or not there has been a grave
abuse of discretion amounting to lack or
excess of jurisdiction on the part of any
branch of the Govt.
o Duty and Power is available even
against the executive and legislative
depts.., including the President and
Congress, in the exercise of
discretionary powers.
DOCTRINE OF SEPARATION OF POWERS
-potestas delegate non delegari potest or what
has been delegated cannot be delegated
-ethical principle that such delegated power
constitutes not only a right but a duty to be
performed by the delegate through his own
judgment and not the intervening mind of
another
-applicable to all the three major powers of the
government
-most important in the case of the legislative
branch
TESTS OF DELEGATION
-whether or not the delegation has been validly
made
-to be valid, the legislation itself must be
circumscribed by legislative restrictions not a
roving commission that will give the delegate
unlimited legislative authority
THE COMPLETENESS TEST
-Ideally, the law must be complete in all its
essential terms and conditions when it leaves
the legislature so that there will be nothing left
for the delegate to do when it reaches him
except enforce it.
-Gaps lead to the enforcement of legislative task
by the delegate to repair the omissions, which is
an invalid legislation.
THE SUFFICIENT STANDARD TEST
-Intended to map the boundaries of the
delegate's authority be defining the legislative
policy and indicating the circumstances under
which it is to be pursued or effected.
-to prevent a total transference of legislative
power from the lawmaking body to the delegate.
DELEGATION OF LEGISLATIVE POWERS:
1. Delegation of Tariff Powers to the President
2. Delegation of Emergency Powers to the
President
3. Delegation to the People at Large
4. Delegation to Local Governments
5. Delegation to administrative bodies


ARTICLE XVII- AMENDMENTS OR
REVISIONS

Definitions:

1) Amendment - an alteration of one or a few
specific provisions of the Constitution. Its main
purpose is to improve specific provisions of the
Constitution. The changes brought about by
amendments will not affect the other provisions
of the Constitution.

2) Revision- An examination of the entire
Constitution to determine how and to what
extent it should be altered. A revision implies
substantive change, affecting the Constitution
as a whole.

Three (3) steps necessary to give effect to
amendments and revisions:

1) Proposal of amendments or revisions by the
proper constituent assembly;

2) Submission of the proposed amendments or
revisions; and

3) Ratification

Proposal of amendments:

Amendments may be proposed by:

A. Congress, acting as a constituent
assembly, by a 3/4 vote of all its members.

- The power of Congress to propose
amendments is NOT part of its
ordinary legislative power.
- The only reason Congress can
exercise such power is that the
Constitution has granted it such power.

B. Constitutional Convention (ConCon):

1) How a Constitutional Convention may be
called

a). Congress may call a ConCon by a 2/3 vote
of all its members; or

b). By a majority vote of all its members,
Congress may submit to the electorate the
question of whether to call a ConCon or not.

2) Choice of which constituent assembly (either
Congress or ConCon) should initiate
amendments and revisions is left to the
discretion of Congress. In other words, it is a
political question.

3) BUT: The manner of calling a ConCon is
subject to judicial review, because the
Constitution has provided for vote
requirements.

4) If Congress, acting as a constituent
assembly, calls for a ConCon but does not
provide the details for the calling of such
ConCon, Congress exercising its ordinary
legislative power may supply such details.
But in so doing, Congress (as legislature)
should not transgress the resolution of
Congress acting as a constituent assemble.

5) Congress, as a constituent assembly and
the ConCon have no power to appropriate
money for their expenses. Money may be
spent from the treasury only to pursuant to an
appropriation made by law.

C. Peoples Initiative

1) Petition to propose such amendments must
be signed be at least 12% of ALL registered
voters.

2) Every legislative district represented by at
least 3% of the registered voters therein.

3) Limitation:

It cannot be exercised oftener than once every
5 years.

JUDICIAL REVIEW OF THE AMENDING PROCESS

- Nature of Power to Amend the Constitution:
1. not included in the general grant of
legislative powers to Congress.
2. part of the inherent powers of the people--
as the repository of sovereignty in a republican
state-- to make, and hence, to amend their own
fundamental law.
- Congress may propose amendments to the
Constitution because the same explicitly grants
such power. Hence, when exercising the
same, it is said that Senators and Members of
the House of Reps. act, not as members of
Congress but as competent elements of a
constituent assembly. When acting as such,
members of Congress derive their authority
from the Constitution, unlike the people, when
performing the same function, for their
authority does not emanate from the Consti.--
they are the very source of all powers of govt,
including the Constitution itself.
- Members of Congress do not have the final
say on whether or not their acts are within or
beyond constitutional limits. Otherwise, they
could brush aside and set the same at naught,
contrary to the basic tenet that ours is a govt of
laws and not of men, and to the rigid nature of
our Consti.
- Judicial power to nullify executive or
legislative acts is not violative of principle of
separation of powers.