I.

PRELIMINARIES
A. CONSTITUTION
1. Definition:
 The body of rules and maxims in accordance with which the powers of
sovereignty are habitually exercised.
2. Purpose:
a. To prescribe the permanent framework of a system of government;
b. To assign to the several departments their respective power and duties;
c. To establish certain first principles on which the government is founded.
3. Effect if an act is not in accordance with the constitution
 An unconstitutional act is not a law; it confers no rights; it imposes no duties; it
affords no protection; it creates no office; it is inoperative as if it had not
been passed at all. (See Art 7 Civil Code)
B. STATE
1. Definition:
 A community of persons, more or less numerous, permanently occupying a
definite portion of the territory, independent of external control, and
possessing a government to which a great body of inhabitants render habitual
obedience.
2. Distinguished from nation:
 State is a legal or juristic concept, while nation is an ethnic or racial concept.
3. Distinguished from Government:
 Government is merely an instrumentality of the State through which the will of
the State is implemented and realized.
4. Elements of a State
a. 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.
b. Territory
 Components: Terrestrial; Fluvial; Maritime; Aerial domains
c. Government
 The agency or instrumentality through which the will of the State is
formulated, expressed, and realized.
 Government of the Philippines is the corporate governmental entity
through which the functions of the government are exercised
throughout the Philippines, including, save as the contrary appears
from the context, the various arms through which political authority
is made effective in the Philippines, whether pertaining to the
autonomous regions, the provincial, city, municipal, or barangay
subdivisions or other form of local government. (Sec 2(1),
Administrative Code)
d. Sovereignty
 The supreme and uncontrollable power inherent in a State by which the
State is governed.
5. Principal Forms of Government
a. As to number of persons exercising sovereign powers
1. Monarchy
 One in which the supreme and final authority is in the hands of a single
person without regard to the source of his election or the nature or
duration of his tenure.
2. Aristocracy
 One in which political power is exercised by a few privileged class.
3. Democracy
  One in which political power is exercised by a majority of the people.
b. As to extent of powers exercised by the central or national government
1. Unitary Government
 One in which the control of national and local affairs is exercised by the
central or national government.
2. Federal Government
 One in which powers of government are divided between two set of
argans, one for national affairs and the other for local affairs, each
organ being supreme in its own sphere.
c. As to relationship between the executive and the legislative branches of
government
1. Parliamentary Government
 Essential Characteristics:
a. The members of the government or cabinet or executive arm are, as
a rule, simultaneously members of the legislature;
b. The government or cabinet, consisting of political leaders of the
majority party or of a coalition who are also members of the
legislature, is in effect a committee of legislature;
c. The government or cabinet has a pyramidal structure at apex of
which is the Prime Minister or his equivalent;
d. The government or cabinet remains in power only for as long as it
enjoys the support of the majority of the legislature;
e. Both government and legislature are possessed of control devices
with which each can demand of the other immediate political
responsibility. In the hands of the legislature is the vote of non-
confidence (censure) whereby a government may be ousted. In
the hands of the government is the power to dissolve the
legislature and call for new elections.
2. Presidential Government
 Its principal identifying feature is separation of powers. Legislative
power is given to the Legislature; Executive power is given to a
separate Executive; Judicial power is held by an independent
Judiciary.
 The system is founded on the belief that by establishing equilibrium
among the three power holders, harmony will result, power will not
be concentrated, and thus tyranny will be avoided.
 Designated as such because of the prominent position which the system
gives to the president as Chief Executive.
 Philippine government is a presidential government.
C. Other Basic Concepts
1. Presidential vs. Parliamentary Government
 The principal distinction is that in a presidential government, there is separation
of executive and legislative powers; while in parliamentary government,
there is fusion of both executive and legislative powers in Parliament,
although the actual exercise of the executive powers is vested in a Prime
Minister who is chosen by, and accountable to, Parliament.
2. Basic principles and concepts under a presidential form of government
a. Separation of Powers
 Purpose: To prevent concentration of authority in one person or group
of persons that might lead to an irreversible error or abuse in its
exercise to the detriment of republican institutions; To secure action,
to forestall overaction, to prevent despotism, and to obtain efficiency.
b. Principle of Blending of Powers
  Instances when powers are not confined exclusively within one
department but are assigned to or shared by several departments, e.g.,
enactment of general appropriations law.
c. Principle of Checks and Balances
 This allows one department to resist encroachment upon its
prerogatives or to rectify mistakes or excesses committed by the
other departments, e.g., veto power of the President as check on
improvident legislation.
3. State is a corporate entity; government is the institution through which the state
exercises power; administration consists of the set of people currently running the
institution.
 The transitions from the 1935 Constitution to the 1973 Constitution to the 1987
Constitution involved changes of government but not of state. The transition
from President Estrada to President Arroyo did not involve a change of
government but only of administration.
II. THE 1987 PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION
 Effectivity: February 2, 1987, the date of the plebiscite when the people ratified the
Constitution.
A. PREAMBLE
1. Function of the Preamble in the Constitution
 The Preamble is not a source of rights or of obligations. However, because it
sets down the origin, scope, and purpose of the Constitution, it is useful as an
aid in the construction (interpretation) of the Constitution.
2. Origin, scope, and purpose of the Constitution as set out in the Preamble
 Its origin, or authorship, is the will of the sovereign Filipino people.
 Its scope and purpose is to build a just and humane society and establish a
government that shall embody our ideals and aspirations, promote the
common good, conserve and develop our patrimony, and secure to ourselves
and our posterity the blessings of independence and democracy under the rule
of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality and peace.
B. ARTICLE I- THE NATIONAL TERRITORY
1. Binding effect in international law of the definition of national territory in the
constitution
 A constitution is a municipal law. As such, it binds only the nation
promulgating it. A definition of national territory in the constitution will bind
internationally only if it is supported by proof that can stand in international
law. Unilateral assertions in a constitution which is municipal law, by
themselves do not establish an international right to a territory.
2. The Philippine Archipelago
 That body of water studded with islands which is delineated in the Treaty of
Paris of December 10, 1898, as modified by the treaty of Washington of
November 7, 1900, and the Treaty with Great Britain of January 2, 1930.
These are the same treaties which delineated Philippine territory in the 1935
Constitution.
3. Straight Baseline Method
 The method used to delineate the territorial sea.
 Imaginary straight lines are drawn joining the outermost points of the outermost
islands of the archipelago without departing to any appreciable extent from
the general configuration of the archipelago. The waters within the baselines
shall be considered internal waters; while the breadth of the territorial sea
shall then be measured from the baselines.
 12 miles from the baseline is the territorial sea.
4. Archipelagic Doctrine
 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. This is based on the principle that an archipelago, which
consists of a number of islands separated by bodies of water, should be
treated as one integral unit.
5. Contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone
 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea provides for a contiguous zone of 12
miles from the end of the territorial sea and exclusive economic zone of 200
miles from the baseline.
 Although the contiguous zone and most of the exclusive economic zone may
not, technically, be part of the territory of the State, nonetheless, the coastal
State enjoys preferential rights over the marine resources found within these
zones.
6. Significance of the national territory in criminal law
 As a rule, penal laws of the Philippines are enforceable only within its territory.
 Exception: Article 2 of the Revised Penal Code
Penal laws of the Philippines can also be enforced outside its territory against
those who:
a. Should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or airship
b. Should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippine
Islands or obligations and securities issued by the Government of the
Philippine Islands;
c. Should be liable for acts connected with the introduction into these
islands of the obligations and securities mentioned in the preceding
number;
d. While being public officers or employees, should commit an offense in
the exercise of their functions; or
e. Should commit any of the crimes against national security and the law
of nations, defined in Title One of Book Two of the Revised Penal
Code.
C. ARTICLE II- DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES AND STATE POLICIES
1. Meaning and significance:
 It is a statement of the basic ideological principles and policies that underlie the
Constitution. As such, the provisions shed light on the meaning of the other
provisions of the Constitution and they are guide for all departments of the
government in the implementation of the Constitution.
2. Basic concepts
Under Section 1
a. Republican State
 One wherein all government authority emanates from the people and is
exercised by representatives chosen by the people.
b. The Philippines is not only a representative or republican state but also shares
some aspects of direct democracy such as initiative and referendum.
Under Section 2
a. The kind of war renounced is aggressive, not, defensive war.
b. Relate to Section 23, Article VI
 While the Constitution gives to the legislature the power to declare the
existence of war and to enact all measures to support the war, the
actual power to make war is lodged in the executive power. The
executive power, when necessary, may make war even in the absence
of a declaration of war.
 War being a question of actualities, the President was bound to meet it
in the shape it presented itself, without waiting for Congress to
baptize it with a name; and no name given to it by him or them could
change the fact.
c. As applied in most countries, the doctrine of incorporation dictates that rules of
international law are given equal standing with, and are not superior to,
national legislative enactments.
d. Some principles of international law acknowledged by the Court as part of the
law of the land:
1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
 It would be a violation of said international law to detain an alien for an
unreasonable length of time since no vessel from his country is
willing to take him. (Mejoff v Director of Prisons, 90 Phil 70)
2. The right of a country to establish military commissions to try war
criminals. (Kuroda v Jalandoni, 83 Phil 171)
3. Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals
 Involves the use of early warning devices.
4. Duty to protect the premises of embassies and legations.
Under Section 3
a. The principle of civilian supremacy is institutionalized by the provision which
makes the President, a civilian and precisely a civilian, commander-in-chief
of the armed forces. (See Section 18, Article 7)
 But this does not mean that civilian officials are superior to military
officials. Civilian officials are superior to military officials only when a
law makes them so.
Under Section 4
 Take note of the prime duty of the government.
Under Section 6
 To be discussed under the Bill of Rights (Article III, Sec 5)
Under Section 10
a. Meaning of Social Justice
 The equalization of economic, political, and social opportunities with
special emphasis on the duty of the state to tilt the balance of social
forces by favoring the disadvantaged in life.
 How promotion of social justice carried out in all phases of national
development – See Article XIII
Under Section 12
a. Legal meaning and purpose of the protection that is guaranteed for the unborn
 This is not an assertion that the life of the unborn is placed exactly on the
level of the life of the mother. When necessary to save the life of the
mother, the life of the unborn may be sacrificed; but not when the
purpose is merely to save the mother from emotional suffering, for which
other remedies must be sought, or to spare the child from a life of
poverty, which can be attended to by welfare institutions.
Under Section 14
a. This provision is so worded as not to automatically dislocate the Civil Code
and the civil law jurisprudence on the subject. What it does is to give impetus
to the removal, through statutes, of existing inequalities. The general idea is
for the law to ignore sex where sex is not a relevant factor in determining
rights and duties. Nor is the provision meant to ignore customs and traditions.
Under Section 15 and 16
a. The right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology is an enforceable
right.
Under Section 17
a. This does not mean that the government is not free to balance the demands of
education against other competing and urgent demands
Under Section 18
 a. “Labor as a primary social economic force” means that human factor has
primacy over non-human factors in production.
 Rights of workers – See Art XIII
Under Section 26
a. The purpose of this provision is to give substance to the desire for equalization
of political opportunities. However, the definition of political dynasty is left
to the legislature.
Under Section 28
 Take note of the policy of full public disclosure.
D. ARTICLE IV- CITIZENSHIP
1. Definition:
 It is personal and more or less permanent membership in a political community.
It denotes possession within that particular political community of full civil
and political rights subject to special disqualifications such as minority.
Reciprocally, it imposes the duty of allegiance to the political community.
2. Modes of Acquiring Citizenship
a. Jus sanguinis – acquisition of citizenship on the basis of blood relationship;
b. Jus soli – acquisition of citizenship on the basis of place of birth;
c. Naturalization – the legal act of adopting an alien and clothing him with the
privilege of a natural-born citizen.
3. Other basic concepts
a. Basic Philippine law follows the rule of jus sanguinis and provides for
naturalization.
 The principle of jus sanguinis is applied in the 1987 Constitution under Art
IV, Sec 1(2).
b. Effect of naturalization of a father on legitimate minor children
 In general, the minor children become citizens of the Philippines.
c. Effect on the wife of the naturalized husband
 She becomes a Filipino citizen, provided she shows, in an administrative
procedure for the cancellation of her alien certificate of registration, that
she has none of the disqualifications found in CA 473.
d. The law can not treat natural-born citizens and naturalized citizens differently
except in instances where the Constitution itself makes a distinction.
Otherwise, there would be a violation of the equal-protection clause.
Under Section 5
a. Dual citizenship, as a disqualification from running for any elective position
under the Local Government Code, must refer to citizens with dual
allegiance. Persons with mere dual citizenship do not fall under this
disqualification.
 For candidates (to an elective office) with dual citizenship, it is enough that
they elect Philippine citizenship upon the filing of their certificate of
candidacy, to terminate their status as persons with dual citizenship. The
filing of a certificate of candidacy sufficed to renounce foreign
citizenship, effectively removing any disqualification as a dual citizen.
This is so because in the certificate of candidacy, one declares that he/she
is a Filipino citizen and that he/she will support and defend the
Constitution of the Philippines and will maintain true faith and allegiance
thereto.
b. Because Philippine law has no control over citizenship laws of other countries,
dual citizenship can be unavoidable under the present Constitution.
 Example: (1) A child of a Filipina mother is a Filipino and might also have
his alien’s father’s citizenship; (2) A Filipina married to an alien remains
a Philippine citizen but might also require her alien husband’s
citizenship.
 c. The specific target of Sec 5 is not dual citizenship but dual allegiance arising
from, e.g., mixed marriages or birth in foreign soil. To the extent, however,
that dual citizenship also imports dual allegiance, then it must also dealt with
by law. The Constitution leaves the disposition of the problem of dual
citizenship and dual allegiance to ordinary legislation.
E. ARTICLE V- SUFFRAGE
1. Definition:
 It is the right to vote in elections.
2. Basic concepts
a. Congress has been given the discretion to create disqualifications. However,
Congress is prohibited from prescribing any literacy, property, or other
substantive requirements.
F. ARTICLE VI- LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT
1. Legislative Power
 It is the authority to make laws and to alter or repeal them.
2. Qualifications of Senators (See Section 3)
a. Natural-born Filipino citizen;
b. At least 35 years old on the day of the election;
c. Able to read and write;
d. Registered voter;
e. Resident of the Philippines for not less than 2 years immediately preceding the
day of the election.
3. Qualifications of Members of House of Representatives
a. Natural-born Filipino citizen;
b. At least 25 years old on the day of the election;
c. Able to read and write;
d. Registered voter in the district in which he shall be elected;
e. Resident of said district for not less than 1 year immediately preceding the day
of the election.
4. Limits on Legislative Power
a. Substantive Limits curtail the contents of a law. For example, no law may be
passed which impairs freedom of speech.
b. Procedural limits curtail the manner of passing laws. For example, a bill must
generally be approved by the President before it becomes law.
5. Other basic concepts
a. Provided that the substantive and procedural limitations found in the
Constitution are observed, the Congress may legislate on any subject matter.
In other words, the legislative power of Congress is plenary.
b. Congress can not pass irrepealable laws. The power of present and future
legislatures must remain plenary. When one attempts to pass an irrepealable
law, to that extent it attempts to limit the power of future legislatures. The
power of any legislature can be limited only by the Constitution.
c. Congress cannot delegate its legislative power. Legislative power must remain
where the people have lodged it. However, there are two exceptions to this
rule:
d. By immemorial practice legislative power may be delegated to local
governments;
e. The Constitution itself might in specific instances allow delegation of
legislative power. (See Section 28, paragraph 2)
f. A local ordinance must not violate law passed by Congress.
Under Section 4
a. A senator may serve for more than two terms, provided that the terms are not
consecutive.
Under Section 7
 a. A member of the House may serve for more than three terms, provided that the
terms are not consecutive.
Under Section 11
a. The privilege from arrest is available while the Congress is in session,
whether regular or special and whether or not the legislator is actually
attending a session. Hence it is not available while Congress is in recess.
 Since the purpose of the privilege is to protect the legislator against
harassment which will keep him away from legislative session, there is
no point in extending the privilege to the period when Congress is not in
session.
 When is Congress in session? See Section 15
b. Members of Congress are not exempt from detention for crime. They may be
arrested, even when the house is in session, for crimes punishable by a
penalty of more than six years.
c. Scope of the parliamentary privilege of speech
 The privilege is a protection only against forums other that the Congress
itself. It does not protect the assemblyman against the disciplinary
authority of the Congress but it is an absolute protection against suits for
libel.
 To come under the privilege, it is not essential that the Congress be in
session when the utterance is made. What is essential is that the utterance
must constitute legislative action, that is, it must be part of the
deliberative and communicative process by which legislators participate
in committee or congressional proceedings in the consideration of
proposed legislation or of other matters which the Constitution has
placed within the jurisdiction of the Congress.
Under Section 21
a. Purpose of legislative investigation
 The power of inquiry – with process to enforce it – is an essential and
appropriate auxiliary to the legislative function. A legislative body
cannot legislate wisely or effectively in the absence of information
respecting the conditions which the legislation is intended to affect or
change; and where the legislative body does not itself possess the
requisite information – which is not infrequently true – recourse must be
had to others who do possess it.
b. The requirement that the investigation be in aid of legislation is not difficult to
satisfy. It is not necessary that every question propounded to a witness must
be material to a proposed legislation. In other words, the materiality of the
question must be determined by its direct relation to the subject of the inquiry
and not by its indirect relation to any proposed or possible legislation. The
reason is that the necessity or lack of necessity for legislative action and the
form and character of the action itself are determined by the sum total of the
information to be gathered as a result of the investigation, and not by a
fraction of such information elicited from a single question.
c. “The rights of persons appearing in or affected by such inquiries shall be
respected” is just another way of saying that legislative investigations must
be subject to the limitations placed by the Constitution on governmental
action. Such limitations being principally found on the bill of rights.
Under Section 32
a. Congress does not have the exclusive right to pass national legislation. Sec 32
has introduced the concept of “initiative and referendum” whereby the people
themselves can legislate. The enabling law is RA 6735, the Initiative and
Referendum Law.
G. ARTICLE VII- THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT
1. Executive Power
  It is the power to administer the laws, which means carrying them into practical
operation and enforcing their due observance.
2. Qualifications of the President and Vice-president (See Section 2 & 3)
a. Natural-born Filipino citizen;
b. Registered voter;
c. Able to read and write;
d. At least 40 years old on the day of the election;
e. Resident of the Philippines for at least 10 years immediately preceding the
election.
3. Other basic concepts
a. The powers of the President are not limited to what are expressly enumerated in
the article on the Executive department and in scattered provisions of the
Constitution. The duty of government to serve and protect the people as well
as to see to the maintenance of peace and order, the protection of life, liberty,
and property, and the promotion of the general welfare argue towards the
existence of residual unstated powers.
 Hence, although there is no statute authorizing the President to ban the
return of Mr. Marcos, the President has the power to impose the ban.
b. President enjoys immunity from suit during tenure. Once out of office,
however, even before the end of the six year term, immunity is lost.
Under Section 4
 Take note of the sentence: “The President shall not be eligible for any
reelection.”
Under Section 18
a. Specific military powers given to the President by the Constitution
1. To call out the armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence,
invasion, or rebellion;
2. To suspend the privilege of the writ habeas corpus;
3. To place the Philippines or any part thereof under martial law.
b. Martial Law
 Under martial law, police power is exercised by the executive with the aid
of the military and in place of certain governmental agencies which for
the time being are unable to cope with existing conditions in a locality
which remains subject to the sovereignty. It authorizes the military to act
vigorously for the maintenance of an orderly civil government.
 It is the exercise of the power which resides in the executive branch of the
government to preserve order and insure the public safety in times of
emergency, when other branches of the government are unable to
function, or their functioning would itself threaten the public safety. It is
the law of necessity to be prescribed and administered by the executive
power. Its object, the preservation of the public safety and good order,
defines the scope, which will vary with the circumstances and necessities
of the case. The exercise of the power may not extend beyond what is
required by the exigency which calls it forth.
 Martial law depends on two factual bases: (1) the existence of actual
invasion or rebellion; (2) the requirements of public safety. Necessity
creates the conditions for martial law and at the same time limits the
scope of martial law. Necessarily, therefore, the degree and kind of
vigorous executive action needed to meet the varying kinds and degrees
of emergency could not be identical under all conditions.
c. In general, the limits that have been formulated on the power to suspend the
privilege of the writ and the power to impose martial law are:
1. A time limit of sixty days;
2. Review and possible revocation by Congress;
 3. Review and possible nullification by Supreme Court.
Under Section 19
a. Purpose of the grant of the power of executive clemency:
 It is a tacit admission that human institutions are imperfect and that there
are infirmities in the administration of justice. The power therefore exists
as an instrument for correcting these infirmities and for mitigating
whatever harshness might be generated by a too strict application of the
law.
b. Forms of executive clemency
1. Reprieve
 Postpones the execution of an offense to a day certain.
2. Commutation
 A remission of a part of the punishment; a substitution of a less penalty
for the one originally imposed.
3. Pardon
 It is an act of grace, proceeding from the power entrusted with the
execution of the laws, which exempts the individual on whom it is
bestowed from the punishment the law inflicts for a crime he has
committed.
4. Remission of fines and forfeitures
 Remission of fines and forfeitures prevents the collection of fines or the
confiscation of forfeited property.
5. Amnesty.
 Commonly denotes the general pardon to rebels for their treason and
other high political offenses, or the forgiveness which one sovereign
grants to the subjects of another, who have offended by some breach
of the law of nations.
c. Constitutional limits on executive clemency
1. It cannot be exercised over cases of impeachment;
2. A grant of amnesty must be with the concurrence of the majority of all the
members of Congress;
3. In addition, Article IX-C, Section 5: no pardon, amnesty, parole, or
suspension of sentence for violation of election laws, rules, and
regulations shall be granted by the President without the favorable
recommendation of the Commission on Elections.
H. ARTICLE VIII- THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT
1. Judicial Power
 It is the authority to settle justiciable controversies or disputes involving rights
that are enforceable and demandable before the courts of justice or the
redress of wrongs for violation of such rights.
 It includes the duty of the courts of justice settle actual controversies involving
rights which are legally demandable and enforceable, and 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 or instrumentality of the
government.
2. Power of Judicial Review
 It is the Supreme Court’s power to declare a law, treaty, international or
executive agreement, presidential decree, proclamation, order, instruction,
ordinance, or regulation unconstitutional.
 This does not make the Supreme Court superior to Congress and the President.
It shows the superiority of the Constitution over all.
3. Other basic concepts
a. Role of legislature in the judicial process
  Although judicial power is vested in the judiciary, the proper exercise of
such power requires prior legislative action: (1) defining such
enforceable and demandable rights and prescribing remedies for
violations of such rights; and (2) determining the court with jurisdiction
to hear and decide controversies or disputes arising from legal rights.
b. Courts cannot exercise judicial power when there is no applicable law.
I. ARTICLE IX- CONSTITUTIONAL COMMISSIONS
1. The constitutional commissions and their general functions
a. Civil Service Commission
 As the central personnel agency of the government, the CSC shall establish
a career service and adopt measures to promote morale, efficiency,
integrity, responsiveness, progressiveness, and courtesy in the civil
service. (See Article IX-B, Section 3)
b. Commission on Election
 The COMELEC shall administer all laws and regulations relative to the
conduct of an election, plebiscite, initiative, referendum, and recall. (See
Article IX-C, Section 2)
c. Commission on Audit
 It is the function of the Commission on Audit to examine the accuracy of
the records kept by accountable officers and to determine whether
expenditures have been made in conformity with law.
2. Basic concepts
a. The Civil Service Commission, Commission on Audit, and the Commission on
Elections perform key functions in the government. In order to protect their
integrity, they have been made constitutional bodies.
 Because they perform vital functions in the government, it is essential that
their independence be protected against outside influences and political
pressures. Hence, they enjoy independent powers of appointment; they
enjoy fiscal autonomy; the salary of the Commissioners may not be
diminished during their continuance in office; the Commissioners have a
fixed term; and they are removable only by impeachment.
J. ARTICLE X- LOCAL GOVERNMENT
1. Basic concepts
a. Significance of the declaration of local autonomy: It is meant to free local
governments from the well-nigh absolute control by legislature.
b. Autonomy does not transform local governments into kingdoms unto
themselves.
K. ARTICLE XI- ACCOUNTABILITY OF PUBLIC OFFICERS
1. Basic concepts
a. Meaning of “public office is a public trust”
 The basic idea of government in the Philippines is that of a representative
government, the officers being mere agents and nor rulers of the people,
one where no one man or set of men has a proprietary or contractual right
to an office, but where every officer accepts office pursuant to the
provisions of law and holds the office as a trust for the people whom he
represents.
 Take note of the second sentence of Section 1.
b. Who may be impeached? (See Section 2)
1. President;
2. Vice-President;
3. Members of the Constitutional Commissions;
4. Ombudsman
c. The list of officers subject to impeachment found in Section 2 is exclusive.
 d. The purpose of impeachment is not to punish but only to remove an officer
who does not deserve to hold office.
L. ARTICLE XII- NATIONAL ECONOMY AND PATRIMONY
1. Basic Concepts
a. Regalian Doctrine
 See 1st sentence of Section 2.
 If a person is the owner of agricultural land in which minerals are
discovered, his ownership of such land does not give him the right to
extract or utilize the said minerals without the permission of the State to
which such minerals belong. This is an application of the Regalian
Doctrine.
Thus, once minerals are discovered in the land, whatever the use to
which it is being devoted at the time, such use may be discontinued by
the State to enable it to extract the minerals therein in the exercise of its
sovereign prerogative. The land is thus converted to mineral land. For the
loss sustained, the owner is entitled to compensations under the Mining
Law or in appropriate expropriation proceedings.
b. The following may acquire private lands:
1. Filipino citizens;
2. Filipino corporations and associations as defined in Section 2;
3. Aliens, but only by hereditary succession; and
4. Natural-born citizen of the Philippines who has lost Philippine citizenship,
subject to limitations provided by law.
c. The ban on aliens is intended to preserve the nation’s land for future
generations of Filipinos. The aim is achieved when the alien subsequently
becomes a citizen of transfers the land to a citizen.
M. ARTICLE XIII- SOCIAL JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS
1. Basic concepts
a. The import of social justice that has developed in various decisions is that when
the law is clear and valid, it simply must be applied; but when the law can be
interpreted in more ways than one, an interpretation that favors the
underprivileged must be favored.
N. ARTICLE IV- EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, ARTS, CULTURE, AND
SPORTS
1. Take note of Article XIV, Section 3, paragraph 1
O. ARTICLE XV- THE FAMILY
1. Basic concepts
a. Policy of the Constitution regarding annulment of marriage:
 The constitutional policy is for the protection and strengthening of the
family as the basic autonomous social institution. It recognizes marriage
as the foundation of the family. Thus, any doubt should be resolved in
favor of the validity of the marriage.
P. ARTICLE XVI- GENERAL PROVISIONS
1. Doctrine of state immunity from suit – The State may not be sued without its
consent. (See Section 3)
a. Reasons for the rule that the State cannot be sued without its consent
 It is based on the juridical and practical notion that the State can do no
wrong.
b. On the logical and practical ground that there can be no legal right as against
the authority that makes the law on which the right depends.
c. The people gave their consent to the rule when they ratified the Constitution.
d. For practical considerations. A continued adherence to the doctrine of non-
suability is not to be deplored for as against the inconvenience that may be
caused private parties; the loss of governmental efficiency and the obstacle to
 the performance of its multifarious functions are far greater if such a
fundamental principle were abandoned and the availability of judicial remedy
were not thus restricted.
e. How consent to be sued is given by the State:
1. There is express consent when there is a law (general or special law)
expressly granting authority to sue the State or any of its agencies.
2. There is implied consent:
a. When the State enters into a private contract, unless the contract is
merely incidental to the performance of a governmental function;
b.When the State enters into an operation that is essentially a business
operation, unless the business operation is merely incidental to the
performance of a governmental function.
c. When the State sues a private party, unless the suit is entered into
only to resist a claim.
f. The doctrine of governmental immunity from suit cannot serve as an instrument
for perpetrating an injustice on a citizen.
Q. ARTICLE XVII- AMENDMENTS OR REVISIONS
1. Basic Concepts
a. Amendment vs. Revision
 Both amendment and revision signify change in the Constitutional text.
 An amendment envisages an alteration of one or a few specific and isolated
provisions of the constitution. Its guiding original intention is to improve
specific parts or to add new provisions or to suppress existing ones
accordingly as addition or subtraction might be demanded by existing
conditions.
 In revision, however, the guiding intention and plan contemplates a re-
examination of the entire document or an important cluster of provisions
in the document to determine how and to what extent it should be altered.
 The end product of a revision can be an important structural change in the
government or a change which affects several provisions of the
Constitution.
b. Generally, a constitution may not be changed without following the process
prescribed by the existing constitution, because by adopting the article on
amendments and revision, the people themselves have imposed on
themselves a constitutional limitation on their capacity to dispose of the
Constitution.
c. However, since the people are the ultimate legal sovereign, they may in
extraordinary circumstances decide to disregard the constitution. When they
do so, the change they effect is neither amendment nor revision in the
constitutional sense but “revolution.”
 The ratification of the 1973 Constitution was done in an extra-constitutional
way. Similarly, the Freedom Constitution was promulgated by President
Aquino under her revolutionary authority conferred by the people
through the EDSA event.
d. Required steps if the constitutional change is to be effected by amendment or
by revision (In general)
1. There must be proposal of amendments or revision, that is, the formulation
of the changes contemplated;
2. Submission of the proposed amendments of revision to the people;
3. Ratification.
e. The following may propose amendments to or revision of the Constitution:
1. Congress, upon a vote of three-fourths of all its members;
2. Constitutional Convention;
3. The electorate, through popular initiative (but only amendment)
 f. How Congress propose amendments to the Constitution – See Section 1
g. How a constitutional convention comes to existence – See Section 3
h. How proposal of amendments by initiative and referendum done
1. Through the initiative phase, the people propose the amendments. There is
valid proposal when a proposition has received the approval of at least
3% of the registered voters of each district and 12% of the total number
of registered voters nationwide.
2. This is followed by the referendum phase where the people vote to reject or
ratify the proposal.
 But there must first be an enabling law. The SC declared RA 6735
inadequate to cover the system of initiative to amend the Constitution.
i. A revision of the Constitution may not be effected through initiative and
referendum. The change authorized by Sec 2 can only be amendment.
 Reason: Formulation of provisions revising the Constitution requires
both cooperation and debate which can only be done through a
collegial body.
j. Effectivity of the amendment or revision – See Section 4
k. Essential requisites of a valid ratification
 Ratification of amendments must be: (1) held in a plebiscite (or election)
under the election law; (2) supervised by the independent Commission on
Election; and (3) where only franchised voters take part.
l. The above requirements apply to amendments and revision under the
Constitution. When, however, the people in the exercise of their sovereignty
decide that they no longer wish to be bound by the amendatory process of the
Constitution, there is legally nothing to prevent them from adopting a new
Constitution in a novel extra-constitutional manner.
 In other words, a new constitution can come into being extra-
constitutionally, that is, by revolution. The 1973 Constitution was a
product of a bloodless revolution. The Freedom Constitution of 1986 was
also a product of revolution.
R. ARTICLE XVIII- TRANSITORY PROVISIONS
1. Basic Concept
a. Meaning and purpose of transitory provisions
 Transitory provisions of a constitution are schedules and ordinances
forming part of, or appended to provide for the transition from the old
government to the new and put the provisions of the new Constitution
into effect, or to qualify, restrict, or limit some permanent provisions for
a limited period.
 Their main purpose is to obviate confusion which would otherwise arise
during the transition period. They have temporary or transient operation.
S. ARTICLE III- BILL OF RIGHTS
1. Significance of the Bill of Rights
 Government is powerful. When unlimited, it becomes tyrannical. The Bill of
Rights is a guarantee that there are certain areas of a person’s life, liberty, and
property which governmental power may not touch.
2. Three inherent powers of the government
 The totality of governmental power is contained in three great powers: police
power, power of eminent domain, and power of taxation. These powers
are considered inherent powers because they belong to the very essence of
government and without them, no government can exist. A Constitution can
only define and delimit them and allocate their exercise among various
government agencies. A Constitution does not grant them.
a. Police Power
  The power vested in the legislature by the constitution to make, ordain, and
establish all manner of wholesome and reasonable laws, statutes,
ordinances, either with penalties or without, not repugnant to the
constitution, as they shall judge to be for the good and welfare of the
commonwealth, and the subjects of the same.
 The power of promoting public welfare by restraining and regulating the
use of liberty and property.
 It is the most pervasive, the least limitable, and the most demanding of the
three powers. The justification is found in the Latin maxims: salus populi
est suprema lex, and sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas. (The welfare of
the people is the supreme law; one should use his own property in a
manner in such a manner as not to injure that of another.)
 Scope: Police power rests upon public necessity and upon the right of the
State and of the public to self-protection. For this reason, its scope
expands and contracts with changing needs.
b. Power of Eminent Domain (See discussion under Article 3, Section 9)
 The power of the State to take (or expropriate) private property for public
use upon paying to the owner a just compensation to be ascertained
according to law.
c. Power of Taxation
 The power of the State to impose charge or burden upon persons, property,
or property rights, for the use and support of the government and to
enable it to discharge its appropriate functions.
3. Other basic concepts
a. Tests for the valid exercise of police power (Limitations of police power)
1. Lawful subject
- The interests of the public in general, as distinguished from those of
a particular class, require the exercise of the power;
2. Lawful means
- The means employed are reasonably necessary for the
accomplishment of the purpose, and not unduly oppressive upon individuals.
b. Rights protected by the Bill of Rights
 In very general terms, the right to life, liberty, and property.
c. One’s employment, profession, or trade, or calling is a property right and the
wrongful interference therewith is an actionable wrong.
4. Section 1
a. Two aspects of due process
1. Substantive
 As a substantive requirement, it is a prohibition of arbitrary laws.
2. Procedural
 As a procedural requirement, it relates chiefly to the mode of procedure
which government agencies must follow in the enforcement and
application of laws. Its essence was expressed by Daniel Webster as
a law which hears before it condemns.
b. Basic concepts on due process
1. Due process is not necessarily judicial process. It can be administrative.
2. The requirement of substantive due process is not a rigid concept. The
heart of substantive due process is the requirement of reasonableness or
absence of exercise of arbitrary power.
c. Equal protection of laws
 The equal protection clause guarantees legal equality or the equality of all
persons before the law.
 The guaranty of the equal protection of the laws is not violated by a
legislation based on reasonable classification. The classification to be
 reasonable: (1) must rest on substantial distinctions; (2) must be germane
to the purpose of the law; (3) must not be limited to existing conditions
only; and (4) must apply equally to all members of the same class.
Example: A law providing that a police officer under
investigation may be preventively suspended beyond the usual 90 days
and until the case is decided does not deny equal protection to police
officers. The reason why members of the PNP are treated differently
from the other classes of persons charged criminally or administratively
insofar as the application of the rule on preventive suspension is
concerned is that policeman carry weapons and the badge of the law
which can be used to harass or intimidate witnesses against them.
5. Section 2
a. Purpose
 To protect the privacy and sanctity of the person and of his house and other
possessions against arbitrary intrusions by the State.
b. Searches and seizures are normally unreasonable unless authorized by a validly
issued search warrant or warrant of arrest.
c. Only judges can issue warrants.
d. Essential Requisites of a Valid Warrant
1. It must be issued upon probable cause;
2. Probable cause must be determined personally by the judge;
3. Such judge must examine under oath or affirmation the complainant and
the witnesses he may produce;
 Or such judge must personally evaluate the resolution of the prosecutor
and its supporting evidence.
4. The warrant must particularly describe the place to be searched and the
persons and things to seized.
e. Lawful warrantless arrests: (Section 5, Rule 113 of the Rules of Court)
A peace officer or a private person may, without a warrant, arrest a
person:
1. When, in his presence, the person to be arrested has committed, is actually
committing, or is attempting to commit an offense;
2. When an offense has just been committed and he has probable cause to
believe based on personal knowledge of facts and circumstances that the
person to be arrested has committed it;
3. When the person to be arrested is a prisoner who has escaped from penal
establishment or place where he is serving final judgment or is
temporarily confined while his case is pending, or has escaped while
being transferred from one confinement to another.
f. Lawful warrantless searches:
1. Warrantless search incidental to a lawful arrest;
2. Search of evidence in plain view;
 Elements: (1) Prior valid intrusion based on the valid warrantless arrest
in which the police are legally present in the pursuit of their official
duties; (2) the evidence was inadvertently discovered by the police
who had the right to be where they are; (3) the evidence must be
immediately apparent; (4) plain view justified mere seizure of
evidence without further search
3. Search of a moving vehicle
 The vehicle’s inherent mobility reduces expectation of privacy
especially when its transit in public thoroughfares furnishes a highly
reasonable suspicion amounting to probable cause that the occupant
committed a criminal activity.
4. Consented warrantless search
  To constitute a waiver constitutional right, it must appear: (1) the right
exists; (2) that the person involved had knowledge, either actual or
constructive, of the existence of such right; (3) that said person had
actual intention to relinquish the right.
5. Customs searches or seizure of goods concealed to avoid duties.
6. Stop and frisk;
7. Exigent and emergency circumstances;
g. Related concepts
1. Probable Cause
 It means such facts and circumstances antecedent to the issuance of a
warrant that are in themselves sufficient to induce a cautious man to
rely upon them.
 Probable cause for an arrest or for the issuance of a warrant of
arrest would mean such facts and circumstances which would lead a
reasonably discreet and prudent man to believe that an offense has
been committed by the person sought to be arrested.
 Probable cause for a search would mean such facts and circumstances
which would lead a reasonably discreet and prudent man to believe
that an offense has been committed and the objects sought in
connection with the offense are in the place sought to be searched.
 Evidence required to establish guilt is not necessary.
2. The constitutional proscription against unlawful searches and seizures
applies as a restraint directed only against the government and its
agencies tasked with the enforcement of the law. It does not protect
citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures perpetrated by private
individuals.
3. Regarding checkpoints:
 Checkpoints are not illegal per se. Under exceptional circumstances, as
where the survival of organized government is on the balance, or
where the lives of the people are in grave peril, checkpoints may be
allowed to be installed by the government. Implicit in this
proposition is, that when the situation clears and such perils are
removed, checkpoints will have no absolute reason to remain.
 Checkpoints, for the purpose of implementing a gun ban during election
period are allowed. Not all checkpoints are illegal. Those which are
warranted by the exigencies of public order and are conducted in a
way least intrusive to motorists are allowed. For as long as the
vehicle is neither searched nor its occupants subjected to body
search, and the inspection of the vehicle is limited to a visual search,
said routine checks cannot be regarded as violative of individual’s
right against unreasonable search. Badges of legitimacy of
checkpoints may be inferred fro their fixed location and their
regularized manner in which they are operated.
 Routine inspection at checkpoints and a few questions do not constitute
unreasonable searches. If the inspection becomes more thorough to
the extent of becoming a search, this can be done when there is
deemed to be probable cause. In the latter situation, it is justifiable as
a warrantless search of a moving vehicle.
4. Search incidental to arrest is limited to a search of the person and may not
be extended to a place other than that of the arrest.
5. While probable cause is not required to conduct a “stop and frisk” it
nevertheless holds that mere suspicion or a hunch will not validate a
“stop and frisk.” A genuine reason must exist, in light of the police
officer’s experience and surrounding conditions, to warrant belief that the
person detained has weapons concealed about him.
 6. “Stop and frisk” serves a two-fold interest: (1) The general interest of
effective crime prevention and detection; (2) the more pressing interest of
safety and self-preservation.
7. Circumstances justifying warrantless search arising from exigent
circumstances:
a. Reasonable ground to believe that a crime was being committed;
b.No opportunity to apply for and secure search warrant from the
courts.
8. Search incidental to a valid arrest
 As to subject, the warrantless search is sanctioned only with respect to
the person of the suspect, and things that may be seized from him are
limited to dangerous weapons or anything which may be used as
proof of the commission of the offense.
 With respect the time and place of the warrantless search, it must be
contemporaneous with the lawful arrest. Search must have been
conducted at about the time of the arrest or immediately thereafter
and only at the place where the suspect was arrested, or the premises
or surroundings under his immediate control.
 The item to be searched must be within the arrestee’s custody or area of
immediate control.
9. The essential requisite of probable cause must still be satisfied before a
warrantless search and seizure can be lawfully conducted.
10. Failure to obtain a warrant when the officers had all the time to obtain it
makes the warrantless search and seizure invalid.
11. Where marijuana sticks fall before the eyes of a police officer from an
object a person is carrying, seizure of the sticks would not require a
warrant. They are evidence in “plain view.” Where, however, police
officers find an object only after making some search, the “plain view”
rule cannot be applied.
12. A person charged with rebellion, subversion, conspiracy or proposal to
commit such crimes or offenses committed in furtherance thereof may be
arrested without a warrant since these are continuing crimes and therefore
are assumed to be always continuing the offense.
6. Section 3
a. Basic Concepts
1. The privacy of communication and correspondence covers letters,
messages, telephone calls, telegrams, and the like.
2. For the court to allow intrusion into the privacy of communication and
correspondence, the requirement of probable cause in Sec 2, Art 3 must
be followed. The privacy right is but an aspect of the right to be secure in
one’s person.
3. Requisites when intrusion is made without judicial order:
a. It would have to be based upon a government official’s assessment
that public safety and order demand such intrusion;
 Public order and safety were defined as the security of human
lives, liberty, and property against the activities of invaders,
insurrectionists, and rebels.
b. The discretion of the public officer, moreover, must be exercised
as prescribed by law.
 The exercise of this power by an executive officer is subject to
judicial review.
c. Other than the President, other executive officers should first be
properly authorized.
  To hold otherwise would be to opt for a government of men
and not of laws. Every police agent would feel authorized to
snoop.
4. The right to privacy of communication and the inadmissibility of evidence
was applied to evidence taken by the wife.
5. The defense of inadmissibility of evidence under Sec 3(2) is purely
personal.
6. In the absence of governmental interference, the constitutional right against
unreasonable search and seizure cannot be invoked against the State. The
protection against unreasonable search and seizure cannot be extended to
acts committed by private individuals so as to bring it within the ambit of
alleged intrusion by the government.
7. Section 4
 Speech, expression, and press include every form of expression, whether oral,
written, tape or disc recoded. It also includes movies as well as what is
referred to as symbolic speech such as wearing of arm band as a symbol of
protest. Peaceful picketing had also been included within the meaning of
speech.
a. Basic Prohibitions of the Free Speech and Press Clause
1. Prior restraint
 It means official government restrictions on the press or other forms of
expression in advance of actual publication or dissemination.
 Examples: (1) movie censorship, although not placed on the same level
as press censorship; (2) judicial prior restraint which takes the form
of an injunction against publication.
2. Subsequent punishment
 This has the effect of unduly curtailing expression. For indeed, if prior
restraint were all that the constitutional guarantee prohibited and
government could impose subsequent punishment without restraint,
freedom of expression would be a mockery and delusion.
b. Standards/Tests for allowable subsequent punishment of expression:
1. Dangerous tendency test
 Speech may be curtailed or punished when it creates dangerous
tendency which the State has a right to prevent. All that it requires,
for speech to be punishable, is that there be a rational connection
between the speech and the evil apprehended.
 Example: If the intention and effect is seditious
2. Clear and present danger test
 Whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such
a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring
about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent. It is a
question of proximity and degree.
 In each case, courts must ask whether the gravity of the evil, discounted
by its improbability, justified such invasion of free speech as is
necessary to avoid the danger.
3. Balancing of interest test
 It rests on the theory that it is the Court’s function in the case before it
when it finds public interests served by legislation on the one hand
and constitutional freedoms affected by it on the other, to balance the
one against the other and to arrive at a judgment where the greater
weight shall be placed.
 It rests on the basis that constitutional freedoms are not absolute and
that they may be abridged to some extent to serve appropriate and
important interests.
c. Unprotected speech:
 1. Libel
 A libel is a public and malicious imputation of a crime, or of a vice or
defect, real or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status, or
circumstance tending to cause the dishonor, discredit, or contempt of
a natural or juridical person, or to blacken the memory of one who is
dead.
2. Obscenity
Tests for obscenity:
 Whether the average person, applying contemporary community
standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the
prurient interest.
 Whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way,
sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law.
 Whether the work, taken as whole, lacks serious literary, artistic,
political, or scientific value.
d. Related concepts
1. Exit polls and the dissemination of their results through mass media
constitute an essential part of the freedom of speech and of the press. The
ban does not satisfy the clear and present danger rule because the evils
envisioned are merely speculative.
2. X-rating a TV series for mere criticisms of some of the deeply held dogmas
and tenets of other religions violates freedom of speech. Any act that
restrains speech is hobbled by the presumption of invalidity.
3. A resolution of the COMELEC prohibiting columnists, commentators, and
announcers from using their columns or radio or television time to
campaign for or against the plebiscite during the period of campaign is
unconstitutional. Plebiscite issues are matters of public concern and the
people’s right be informed must be preserved. Moreover, the people’s
choice of forum of discussion should not be restricted.
4. The right of peaceable assembly (and petition) is a right cognate to those of
free speech and free press and is equally fundamental. The standards for
allowable impairment of speech and press are also used for assembly and
petition.
5. To justify limitations on freedom of assembly, there must be proof of
sufficient weight to satisfy the clear and present danger test.
8. Section 5
a. Two principal parts:
1. Non-establishment clause
- Prohibits the establishment of any religion.
2. Free exercise clause
- Guarantees the free exercise of religion.
b. Meaning of non-establishment of clause
 The State can not set up a church. Neither can it pass laws which aid one
religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another. Neither can
it openly or secretly participate in the affairs of any religious
organizations or groups and vice versa. In the words of Jefferson, the
clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect a
wall of separation between Church and State.
c. To be allowable, government aid that might redound to the benefit of religion:
1. Must have a secular legislative purpose;
2. Must have primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion;
3. Must not require excessive entanglement with recipient institutions.
d. Constitutionally created exceptions of the non-establishment clause
1. Art VI, Sec 28(3)
 2. Art VI, Sec 29(2)
3. Art XIV, Sec 3(3)
e. Meaning of free exercise of religion
 The constitutional inhibition on legislation on the subject of religion has a
double aspect:
1. Freedom to believe
 It forestalls compulsion by law of the acceptance of any creed or
the practice of any form of worship. Freedom of conscience and
freedom to adhere to such religious organization or form of
worship as the individual may choose cannot be restricted by
law.
 It is absolute.
2. Freedom to act
 It safeguards the free exercise of the chosen form of religion.
 In the nature of things, it cannot be absolute.
f. Double aspect of freedom of religion:
 The absoluteness of freedom to believe carries with it the corollary that the
government, while it may look into the good faith of a person, cannot
inquire into a person’s religious pretensions. Heresy trials are foreign to
our Constitution. Men may believe what they cannot prove. The moment,
however, belief flows over into action, it becomes subject to
governmental regulation.
g. Purpose of the prohibition of religious tests
 To render the government powerless to restore the historically and
constitutionally discredited policy of probing religious beliefs by test
oaths or limiting public offices to persons who have or profess to have a
belief in some particular kind of religious concept. For indeed, to allow
religious tests would have the effect of formal or practical establishment
of particular religious faiths with consequent burdens imposed on the free
exercise of the faiths of non-favored believers.
h. Other related concepts
1. Whether an act is immoral within the meaning of the statute is not to be
determined by the accused’s concept of morality. Congress has provided
a standard. The offense is complete if the accused intended to perform,
and did in fact perform, the act which the statute condemns.
2. The State cannot require a license for the dissemination of a religious
literature unless the dissemination is done as a business operation for
profit. The constitutional guarantee of the free exercise and enjoyment of
religious profession and worship carries with it the right to disseminate
religious information. Any restraint of such right can only be justified
like other restraints of freedom of expression on the grounds that there is
clear and present danger of a substantive evil which the State has a right
to prevent.
3. Solicitation of contributions in general, which may include contributions
for religious purposes, may be regulated by general law for the protection
of the public.
4. The Flag Salute Law requiring compulsory participation by public school
students in flag ceremonies violates either the free exercise or the non-
establishment clause. Freedom of religion requires that protesting
members be exempted from the operation of the law.
9. Section 6
a. Liberty guaranteed
1. Freedom to choose and change one’s place of abode;
2. Freedom to travel within the country and outside.
b. Related concepts
 1. Liberty of abode may be impaired only upon lawful order of the court and
within the limits prescribed by law. The right to travel, however, may be
curtailed even by administrative authorities, such as passport officers, in
the interest of national authority, public safety or public health and as
may be provided by law.
2. A court may prevent a person admitted to bail from leaving the country.
This is a necessary consequence of the function of a bail bond which is to
secure a person’s appearance when needed.
 Art III, Sec 6 should by no means be construed as delimiting the
inherent power of the courts to use all means necessary to carry their
orders into effect in criminal case pending before them. When by
law, jurisdiction is conferred on a court or judicial officer, all
auxiliary writs, process and other means necessary to carry it into
effect may be employed by such court or judicial officer.
10. Section 7
a. Rights guaranteed
1. Right to information on matters of public concern;
2. Corollary right of access to official records and documents.
b. Recognized limitations to the exercise of the right to information and the State
policy of public disclosure:
1. National security matters;
2. Trade secrets and banking transactions;
3. Criminal matters or classified law enforcement matters such as those
relating to the apprehension, the prosecution and the detention of
criminals, which courts may not inquire into prior to such arrest,
detention, and prosecution;
4. Other confidential matters.
 RA 6713 prohibits public officials and employees from using or
divulging confidential or classified information officially known to
them by reason of their office and not made known available to the
public.
 Other acknowledged limitations include diplomatic correspondence,
closed door cabinet meetings and executive sessions of either house
of Congress, and the internal deliberations of Congress.
c. Related concepts
1. The rights guaranteed under this section are political rights available to
citizens only.
2. The standards that have been developed for the regulation of speech and
press and of assembly and petition and of association are applicable to
the rights of access to information. These, after all, are cognate rights, for
they all commonly rest on the premise that it is an informed and critical
public opinion which alone can protect the values of democratic
government.
3. The right of access to official records is subject to limitations imposed by
law. Moreover, it is subject to reasonable regulation for the convenience
of and order in the office that has custody of the documents.
 While public officers in custody or control of public records have the
discretion to regulate the manner in which such records may be
inspected, examined or copied by interested persons, such discretion
does not carry with it the authority to prohibit access, inspection,
examination, or copying.
11. Section 8
a. Basic concepts
1. All these means is that the right to form associations shall not be impaired
without due process of law. It is therefore an aspect of the general right
 of liberty. More specifically it is an aspect of freedom of contract; and in
so far as associations may have for their object the advancement of belief
and ideas, freedom of association is an aspect of freedom of expression
and of belief.
2. The guarantee also covers the right not to join an association.
12. Section 9
a. Power of Eminent Domain
 The ultimate right of sovereign power to appropriate, not only the public,
but even private property of all citizens within the territorial sovereignty,
to public purposes.
 The power of eminent domain is possessed inherently by the State and is
exercised by the national government. By delegation, it may also be
possessed by local governments, other public entities, and public utilities.
b. Elements of the exercise of the power of eminent domain
1. There is taking of private property;
2. The taking must be for public use;
3. There must be just compensation;
c. To constitute taking, the following circumstances must concur:
1. The expropriator must enter upon the private property;
2. The entry must not be for a momentary period, that is, the entry must be
permanent;
3. The entry must be under warrant or color of legal authority;
4. The property must be devoted to public use or otherwise informally
appropriated or injuriously affected;
5. The utilization of the property must be in such a way as to oust the owner
and deprive him of all beneficial enjoyment of the property.
d. Distinction as to manner in which police power and eminent domain affect the
right of private property
 By police power, property is regulated. By eminent domain, property is
taken.
 The distinction is important because regulation is not compensable whereas
taking must be compensated. Moreover, for purpose of compensation, the
value of property is fixed as of the time of taking.
e. Public use
 It includes any use that is of utility, advantage or productivity for the benefit
of the public generally. It is equivalent to public welfare in police power.
f. Just compensation
 The just and complete equivalent of the loss which the owner of the thing
expropriated has to suffer by reason of expropriation; the market value of
the property.
 It includes not only the correct determination of the amount to be paid to the
owner of the land but also payment of the land within a reasonable period
of time from its taking.
g. Related concepts
1. In assessing just compensation, the controlling factor is the value of the
land at the time of the taking and not its future potential.
2. Compensation need not be in money. However, it must be in some form
that embodies certainty of value and of payment, such as government
bonds.
3. Expropriation is not proper as a substitute for the enforcement of a valid
contract. Expropriation lies only when it is made necessary by the
opposition of the owner to the sale or by the lack of any agreement as to
price. Where there is valid and subsisting contract between the owners of
 the property and the expropriating authority, there is no reason for the
expropriation.
13. Section 10
a. Instances when a law may be said to have impaired the obligations of contracts:
1. When it changes the terms of legal contract between parties, either in the
time or mode of performance;
2. When it imposes new conditions;
3. When it dispenses with those expressed;
4. When it authorizes for its satisfaction something different from that
provided in its terms.
b. Related concepts
1. A valid exercise of police power is superior to the obligations of contracts.
14. Section 11
a. Basic concepts
1. Those protected include low paid employees, domestic servants, and
employers. They need not be persons so poor that they may be supported
at public expense. It suffices that plaintiff is indigent. And the difference
between paupers and indigent persons is that the latter are persons who
have no property or sources of income sufficient for their support aside
from their own labor though self-supporting when able to work and in
employment.
15. Section 12
a. Rights made available to persons under investigation:
1. Right to remain silent;
2. Right to competent and independent counsel preferably of his own choice;
3. Right to be informed of such rights.
b. Procedures, guidelines, and duties which the arresting, detaining, inviting, or
investigating officer or his companions must do and observe at the time of
making an arrest and again at and during the time of his custodial
interrogation in accordance with the Constitution, jurisprudence, and RA
7438 (People v Mahinay, Feb 1, 1999, updating the Miranda rights)
1. The person arrested, detained, invited, or under custodial investigation
must be informed in language known to and understood by him of the
reason for the arrest and he must be shown the warrant of arrest, if any;
every other warnings, information, or communication must be in a
language known to and understood by said person;
2. He must be warned that he has a right to remain silent and that any
statement he makes may be used as evidence against him;
3. He must be informed that he has a right to be assisted at all times and have
the presence of an independent and competent lawyer, preferably of his
own choice;
4. He must be informed that if he has no lawyer or cannot afford the services
of a lawyer, one will be provided for him; and that a lawyer mat also be
engaged by any person on his behalf, or may be appointed by the court
upon petition of the person arrested or one acting in his behalf;
5. That whether or not the person has a lawyer, he must be informed that no
custodial investigation in any form shall be conducted except in the
presence of his counsel or after a valid waiver has been made;
6. The person arrested must be informed that, at any time, he has the right to
communicate or confer by the most expedient means – telephone, radio,
letter or messenger – with his lawyer (either retained or appointed), any
member of his immediate family, or any medical doctor, priest or
minister chosen by him or by any one of his immediate family or by his
counsel, or be visited by/confer with duly accredited national or
 international non-government organization. It shall be the responsibility
of the officer to ensure that this is accomplished;
7. He must be informed that he has the right to waive any of said rights
provided it is made voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently and ensure
that he understood the same;
8. In addition, if the person arrested waives his right to a lawyer, he must be
informed that it must be done in writing and in the presence of counsel,
otherwise he must be warned that the waiver is void even if he insist on
his waiver and chooses to speak;
9. That the person arrested must be informed that he may indicate in any
manner at any time or stage of the process that he does not wish to be
questioned with warning that once he makes such indication, the police
may not interrogate him if the same had not yet commenced, or the
interrogation must cease if it has already begun;
10. The person arrested must be informed that his initial waiver of his right to
remain silent, the right to counsel or any of his rights does not bar him
from invoking it at any time during the process, regardless of whether he
may have answered some questions or volunteered some statements
11. He must be informed that any statement or evidence, as the case may be,
obtained in violation of any of the foregoing, whether inculpatory or
exculpatory, in whole or in part, shall be inadmissible in evidence.
c. Circumstances in which the rights are available:
 The rights under custodial investigation begin to be available where the
investigation is no longer a general inquiry into an unsolved crime but
has begun to focus on a particular suspect, the suspect has been taken to
police custody, and the police carry out a process of interrogation that
lends itself to eliciting incriminating statements.
 These rights are available after a person has been taken into custody or
otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way.
 The rights are not available before police investigators become involved.
 The rights begin to be available only when the person is already in custody.
d. Circumstances not covered:
 The right to counsel attaches upon the start of an investigation, that is, when
the investigating officer starts to ask questions to elicit information
and/or admissions from the respondent/accused. This is normally not the
situation in police line-up.
However, the moment there is a move or even an urge of said
investigators to elicit admissions or confessions or even plain information
which may appear innocent or innocuous at the time, from said suspect,
he should then and there be assisted by counsel, unless he waives the
right; but the waiver shall be made in writing and in the presence of
counsel.
 The applicability of the provision on custodial investigation does not seem
to contemplate cases where no written confession is sought to be
presented in evidence as a result of the formal custodial investigation.
What was testified to was only what appellant told the police why he is
surrendering to them. It can hardly be said that under such circumstance,
the surrenderee is already under investigation within the meaning of the
constitutional provision. If he admits the killing and it was precisely
because he surrendered to admit the killing (sic), the constitutional
safeguard to be informed of the rights to silence and to counsel may not
be invoked.
 Section 12 pars. (1) and (3), At III, of the Constitution do not cover verbal
confessions to a radio announcer. What the Constitution bars is
compulsory disclosure of incriminating facts or confessions. The rights
 enumerated under Sec 12 are guaranteed to preclude the slightest
use of coercion by the State as would lead the accused to admit
something false, not to prevent him from freely and voluntarily
telling the truth.
 Sec 12 does not cover a situation where the accused repeated his sworn
statement to a private party who in turn testified about it.
 The admission of the accused to Prosecutor Zarate not in the course of an
investigation, but in connection with Maqueda’s plea to be utilized as
State witness is admissible.
 When the accused talked with the mayor as confidant and not as a law
enforcement officer, his uncounselled admission is admissible.
 Investigation by an administrative body is not covered by Sec 12. Such
inquiries are conducted merely to determine whether there are facts that
merit disciplinary measure against erring public officers and employees,
with the purpose of maintaining the dignity of the government service.
 Constitutional procedures on custodial investigation do not apply to a
spontaneous statement, not elicited through questioning by the
authorities, but given in an ordinary manner whereby the accused orally
admitted having committed the crime.
Hence, when the accused, while in police custody, verbally and
spontaneously admitted his guilt and pointed out the mastermind of the
robbery, the evidence is admissible.
 An interview recorded on video showing the accused unburdening his guilt
willingly, openly, and publicly in the presence of the newsmen is
admissible. Such confession does not form part of the custodial
investigation as it was not given to police officers but to media men in
attempt to elicit sympathy and forgiveness from the public.
However, we should never presume that all media confessions
described as voluntary have been freely given.
e. Right to be informed of his rights
 The right of a person under custodial investigation to be informed implies a
correlative obligation on the part of the police investigator to explain, and
contemplates an effective communication that results in understanding
what is conveyed. Short of this, there is denial of the right, as it cannot
truly be said that the person has been informed of his rights.
f. Related concepts
1. The accused’s waiver of his rights and signification of willingness to make
a confession are ceremonies that require the presence of counsel.
2. The right to counsel is a right to effective counsel from the first moment of
questioning and all throughout.
3. The confession is not admissible when, at the time the accused made the
extrajudicial confession, he was not informed that if he could not get a
lawyer, the State would provide him one to assist him in the
investigation.
4. Infractions of the Miranda rights render inadmissible only the extrajudicial
confession or admission made during the custodial investigation. The
admissibility of other evidence, provided they are relevant to the issue
and is not otherwise excluded by law or rules, is not affected even if
obtained or taken in the course of custodial investigation.
16. Section 13
a. The security given for the release of a person in custody of the law, furnished
by him or a bondsman, to guarantee his appearance before any court. Bail
may be given in the form of corporate surety, property bond, cash deposit, or
recognizance.
b. Why bail is awarded to the accused
 1. To honor the presumption of innocence until his guilt is proven beyond
reasonable doubt; and
2. To enable him to prepare his defense without being subject to punishment
prior to conviction.
c. Implicit limitations on the right to bail
1. The person claiming the right must be under actual detention;
2. The constitutional right is available only in criminal cases, not, e.g., in
deportation proceedings.
d. Related concepts
1. All persons actually detained, except those charged with offenses
punishable by reclusion perpetua or death when evidence of guilt is
strong, shall before conviction, be bailable by sufficient sureties.
2. A soldier under court martial does not enjoy the right to bail. Because of
the disciplinary structure of the military and because soldiers are allowed
the fiduciary right to bear arms and can therefore cause great havoc,
tradition has recognized the non-existence of the right to bail.
17. Section 14
a. Due process in criminal cases
 The requirement that no person shall be held to answer for a criminal
offense simply requires that the procedure established by law be
followed. If that procedure fully protects life, liberty, and property of the
citizens in the State, then it will be held to be due process of law.
 Due process is satisfied if the accused is informed as to why he is proceeded
against and what charge he has to make, with his conviction being made
to rest on evidence that is not tainted with falsity after full opportunity for
him for rebutting it and the sentence being imposed in accordance with
law. It is assumed, of course, that the court that rendered the decision is
one of competent jurisdiction.
b. Rights of accused
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall be entitled to the following
rights:
1. To be presumed innocent until the contrary is proved beyond reasonable
doubt;
2. To be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him;
3. To be present and defend in person and by counsel at every stage of the
proceedings, from arraignment to promulgation of the judgment;
4. To testify as a witness in his own behalf but subject to cross-examination
on matters covered by the direct examination. His silence shall not in any
manner prejudice him;
5. To be exempt from being compelled to be a witness against himself;
6. To confront and cross-examine the witnesses against him at the trial;
7. To have compulsory process issued to secure the attendance of witnesses
and production of other evidence in his behalf;
8. To have speedy, impartial, and public trial;
9. To appeal in all cases allowed and in manner prescribed by law;
18. Section 15
a. Habeas corpus
 It is defined as a writ directed to the person detaining another commanding
him to produce the body of the prisoner at a designated time and place,
with the day and cause of his caption and detention, to do, submit to, and
receive whatever the court or judge awarding the writ shall consider in
that behalf.
 An essential requisite for the availability of the writ is actual deprivation of
personal liberty.
 b. Privilege of the writ of habeas corpus
 The right to have an immediate determination of the legality of the
deprivation of physical liberty.
c. Suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus
 The writ is never suspended. It always issues as a matter of course. What is
suspended is the privilege of the writ, i.e., once the officer making the
return shows to the court that the person detained is being detained for an
offense covered by the suspension, the court may not inquire any further.
 If the privilege of the writ is suspended, you can arrest a person even
without a warrant.
 It is the President who may suspend the privilege of the writ.
 The privilege of the writ may be suspended in cases of invasion or rebellion
when the public safety requires it. Two requisites: (1) the existence of
actual invasion or rebellion; (2) public safety requires the suspension.
 The suspension of the privilege does not suspend the right to bail.
d. Limitations on the power to suspend the writ- See Art VII, Section 7
e. Related concepts
1. Where there are grounds for grave doubts about the alleged release,
particularly where the standard and prescribed procedure in effecting
release has not been followed, the burden of proof falls on the
respondents in a petition for habeas corpus.
 Release is an affirmative defense, like self-defense, and each party must
prove his affirmative allegation.
 If the respondents have not satisfied the burden, the case must be
referred to the Commission on Human Rights.
19. Section 16
a. Basic concepts
1. Remedy of a person if there has been unreasonable delay in the resolution
of a case: Dismissal through mandamus.
2. Although no decision has yet been released ten years after trial, the delay
was neither the fault of the accused nor that of the prosecution. The case
should not be dismissed. Rehearing is justified in order to allow the new
judge to come to a decision. The rights involved are not just those of the
accused but also those of the public. (Guerrero v CA, Jun 28, 1996)
20. Section 17
a. Basic concepts
1. The guarantee against self-incrimination was established on the grounds of
public policy and humanity. Of policy, because, if the party were
required to testify, it would place the witness under the strongest
temptation to commit perjury; and of humanity, because it would prevent
the extorting of confession by duress.
2. What is prohibited by the constitutional guarantee is the use of physical or
moral compulsion to extort communication from the witness , not an
inclusion of his body as evidence, when it may be material.
 The substance emitting from the body of the defendant was received as
evidence in a prosecution for acts of lasciviousness.
 Since the kernel of the privilege was the prohibition of testimonial
compulsion, the Court was willing to compel a woman accused of
adultery to submit to the indignity of being tested for pregnancy.
 The taking of pictures of an accused even without the assistance of
counsel, being a purely mechanical act, is not a violation of his
constitutional right against self-incrimination.
21. Section 18
a. Involuntary servitude
  It is every condition of enforced or compulsory service of one to another no
matter under what form such servitude may be disguised.
b. Some exceptions to the rule against involuntary servitude
1. Involuntary servitude may be imposed as a punishment for a crime whereof
the party shall have been duly convicted; (Art III, Sec 18 par 2)
2. In the interest of national defense all citizens may be compelled by law to
render personal military or civil service; (Art II, Sec 4)
c. Other concepts
1. The State cannot hold “political prisoners” pursuant to Sec 18(1).
22. Section 19
a. Basic concepts
1. A penalty is cruel, degrading or inhuman when it is flagrantly and plainly
oppressive, wholly disproportionate to the nature of the offense as shock
the moral sense of the community.
 The fact that the punishment prescribed by the statute is severe does not
make it cruel and unusual.
2. The language of the provision does not abolish the death penalty but
merely prohibits the imposition of death.
 Congress may reimpose the death paenalty if it finds compelling
reasons involving heinous crimes.
 Conversely, Congress may also prohibit the imposition of death penalty
after it has reimposed it.
3. Death penalty per se is not cruel and unusual.
 The 1973 Constitution, by recognizing the death penalty, in that it made
the imposition of the death penalty automatically reviewable by the
SC implicitly admitted that per se, it is not cruel and unusual.
 The 1987 Constitution, by allowing the possibility of its restoration,
implicitly admits that it need not be cruel and inhuman.
 The circumstances under which a specific law may allow the death
penalty may make it cruel and unusual under such law.
4. Death by legal injection is not cruel and unusual punishment.
 Death penalty per is not a cruel, degrading, or inhuman punishment.
Punishment is so if it involves torture or lingering death. It implies
something inhuman and barbarous, something more than the mere
extinguishment of life.
5. A fine is excessive when under any circumstances it is disproportionate to
the offense.
23. Section 20
a. Basic concepts
1. The constitutional prohibition against imprisonment for debt, stated in full,
means this: No person may be imprisoned for debt in virtue of an order in
a civil proceeding, either as a substitute for satisfaction of a debt or as a
means for compelling satisfaction; but a person may be imprisoned as a
penalty for a crime arising from a contractual debt and imposed in a
proper criminal proceeding.
2. The “debt” in the provision means any liability to pay money growing out
of a contract, express or implied.
3. BP 22 (Bouncing Checks Law) does not violate the prohibition of
imprisonment for non-payment of contract. The gravamen of the offense
is not the non-payment of debt but the putting into circulation of a
worthless check.
4. Sec 13 of PD 115 on estafa does not violate the prohibition of
imprisonment for debt. The imprisonment here is not for the non-
payment of contractual obligation but for the criminal act.
 5. Poll Tax
 It can be understood as the cedula tax or residence tax. The Constitution
does not prohibit the cedula tax but it prohibits imprisonment for
non-payment of the cedula or residence tax.
 A poll tax may also be understood as a tax, the payment of which is
made a requirement for the exercise of the right of suffrage. The
imposition of the poll tax in this sense is prohibited by Art V, Sec 1,
which disallows literacy, property, or other substantive requirement
for the exercise of suffrage.
24. Section 21
a. Requisites for a valid defense of double jeopardy:
1. A first jeopardy must have attached prior to the second;
 Jeopardy attaches: (a) upon a good indictment (valid information); (b)
before a competent court; (c) after arraignment (valid arraignment);
(d) after plea.
2. The first jeopardy must have terminated;
 (a) By acquittal; (b) By final conviction; (c) By dismissal without the
express consent of the accused [And dismissal even with the consent
of the accused if the ground is insufficiency of evidence (demurrer to
evidence).]; (d) By dismissal on the merits.
25. Section 22
a. An ex post facto law has been defined as:
1. One which makes an action done, before the passing of the law and which
was innocent when done, criminal, and punishes such action;
2. One which aggravates a crime or makes it greater than when it was
committed;
3. One which changes the punishment and inflicts a greater punishment than
the law annexed to the crime when it was committed;
4. One which alters the legal rules of evidence and receives less or different
testimony than the law required at the time of the commission of the
offense in order to convict the defendant;
5. One which assumes to regulate civil rights and remedies only but in effect
imposes a penalty or deprivation of a right which when done was lawful;
6. One which deprives a person accused of a crime of some lawful protection
to which he has become entitled, such as the protection of a former
conviction or acquittal, or proclamation of amnesty.
b. Bill of attainder
 It is a legislative act which inflicts punishment without judicial trial.
 If the punishment be less than death, the act is termed a bill of pains and
penalties.
 Within the meaning of the Constitution, bills of attainder include bill of
pain and penalties.