PHILIPPINE POLITICAL LAW

Chapter 1
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

SCOPE OF THE STUDY involvement to public affairs

of every Filipino.
 Political Law is a branch of public
law which deals with the BASIS OF THE STUDY
organization and operations of the
 Constitutional Law I’s principal basis:
governmental organs of the state
1987 consti of the Phil. (adopted
and defines the relations of the state
Feb. 2, 1987)
with the inhabitants of its territory.
o Students should also
 PL embraces Consti Law I and II,
consider the ff whether the
Administrative Law, the Law of
purposes of the law are
Public Officers, Election Law, and
applied or misapplied:
the Law on Municipal Corporations.
1. Pertinent statutes
 Constitutional law I is a study of the
2. Executive orders and
structure and powers of the
decrees
government of the republic of the
3. Judicial decisions
Philippines.
4. Current political
 Consti Law I is the subject of
events
Philippine Political Law, a book by
 Constis of 1973 and 1935 serve as
mIsagani Cruz.
the working drafts of the new
o Consti and PL basic
constitution. Some of its provisions
concepts:
are still being used in toto and/or
1. Nature of the state
modified. These are an integral part
2. Supremacy of the
of the study.
Constitution
o New word: in toto –
3. Separation of powers
“completely/ in total”
4. Rule of the majority
 Like the two consti above, consti of
NECESSITY FOR THE STUDY the Us is also used because the
1987 consti incorporated some parts
 “Sovereignty resides in the people of it, like the Bill of Rights, an some
and all government authority relevant rulings of the US SC.
emanates from them.” o Rationale: Imported
o Since power comes from the provisions are interpreted in
Filipino people, everyone the understanding of its
should understand the country of origin.
mechanics and motivations o “Giving credit or
of the government because acknowledgement”
not doing or neglecting so
would result to a fallible and BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
unsatisfying government.
 Before the colonization of Spain and
o Success of the Republic will
the Us, there are existing laws in the
depend on the active
Philippines. Those laws, however,
 aren’t on a national level. Each tribe
is under a datu and within its territory
applies specific set of laws. This is
called the balangay system.
 June 12, 1898. Philippines
Independence Day from the Spanish
Colonization.
 January 21,1899. First Philippine
Republic was established with
Aguinaldo as its President.
o Under Aguinaldo’s
presidency was the Malolos
constitution which was the
first democratic constitution
promulgated in the whole
Asia.
o Established a parliamentary
system but with the President
as its head of the
government and not the
Prime Minister.
 December 10, 1898 was when the
Treaty of Paris were signed by the
belligerents which provided cession
of the Philippine Islands by Spain to
the United States.
o New word: Belligerents – a
nation or person engaged in
a war or conflict, as
recognized by international
law.
 Americans first organized a military
government, but consolidation of
exec, legis, and judi authority in the
military governor provoked protests
from American Libertarians
concerned over the non-observance
of the doctrine of separation of
powers. As a result, steps were
taken for the transition from military
to civilian rule.
 First of these steps was the creation
of the Schurman Commission, aka a
First Phil. Commission, to make a
fact-finding survey of the Phil Islands
and submit appropriate
recommendations to the US
congress.
o Schurman commission was
later substitutued by Taft
commission, aka second
Philippine commission, which
took over legis powers and
some exec and judi powers
of the military governor.
 July 4,1901, Spooner Amendment,
civil government was established
with William Howard Taft as the first
governor.
 Philippine bill of 1902, Philippine
Assembly was created in 1907 to sit
with the Philippine Commission in a
bicameral legislature.
o Sergio Osmena – elected
speaker of the Philippine
Assembly.
o Dissolved in 1916
 In 1916, Philippine Autonomy Act or
Jones Law, established inter alia a
phil legislature consisting of senate
and house of representatives.
o Sergio Osmena – elected
speaker of the house
o Manuel quezon – elected
senate president
o Continued until 1935
o New word: inter alia – among
other things
 Tydings-Mcduffie Act, establishment
of commonwealth of the phil.
Towards this end, a consti
convention framed the consti 1935
which was ratified on may 14 of that
year,
o Inauguration of
commonwealth gov’t on nov.
15, 1935.
o Quezon was the first pres
o Osmena as vice pres
 Tydings-Mcduffie act promised
independence to the Filipinos if they
could prove their capacity for
 democratic gov’t during a ten-year
transition period.
o Competence of the filipinos
were demonstrated on the
councils of peace, the world
war 2, and up to the 2n
republic of the Phil during
Japanese occupation,
headed by Pres. Jose P.
Laurel.
o July 4, 1946, US formally
withdrew it sovereignty over
the Phil.
 President Manuel Roxas asserted
the freedom of the Filipino People
and proclaimed the Republic of the
Philippines.
 Discontents from the people
(corrupted by those who are in and
have power) of the new republic
made the constitutional convention
of 1971 convoked and started
deliberations on the revision of the
1935 consti and the fashioning of
1973 consti.
 September 21, 1972. Pres. Marcos
issued proclamation no. 1081
placing the Philippines under martial
law.
o Cause: intensification of
subversive movement of
communist-oriented groups
 November 30, 1972, the draft of the
1973 consti was formally approved
by the consti convention.
o Series of meetings were held
during January 10-15, 1973,
was “submitted” to the
citizens assemblies for
ratification.
o January 17, 1973 issued
proc. No. 1102, in which he
announced that the consti of
1973 had been ratified by an
“overwhelming majority” of
the people.
o The issue of validity was later
raised in ratification cases
which were dismissed by the
supreme court.
o In the habeas corpus cases,
the supreme court
unanimously upheld the
proclamation of martial law
by the pres of the phil.
o January 17, 1981, Pres.
Marcos issued proclamation
no. 2045 lifting martial law.
 In 1985, seeking a “fresh mandate”
from the people, marcos submitted a
questionable resignation following
the proclamation of the winners in
the snap election to be called by the
legislature on the strength of such
resignation.
o Article VII, Section 9, of the
1973 constitution which
would justify the call of a
special presidential election
before the expiration of
President Marcos’ term in
1987 was supposed to occur
before and not after the said
election. Predictably, the
then SC denied the petition
and sustained the resignation
and the call.
 Feb, 7, 1986, amid charges of the
irregularities of the ruling party,
resulted to marcos and his running-
mate, Arturo Tolentino, winning the
elections.
o This was followed by a
massive outcry from the
people who felt that the eal
winners were the opposition
candidates.
 Feb 22, 1986, Defense minister
Enrile and General Ramos initited
the “people power” revolution that
led t the ouster of President Marcos
and his replacement by Pres. Cory
Aquino with V.P. Salvado Laurel as
 her running-mate. Both were
inducted on Feb. 25, 1986.
 Cory’s first acts was the
promulgation of the “Freedom
Constitution”.
o The new constitution was
submitted to the people at a
plebiscite held on February
2, 1987.
o 16,605,425 – in favor
o 4, 949, 901 – against
 May 11, 1988 – revival of congress
of the Phil by elections.
o Later that year for the local
offices
o Reorganization of the rest
conformably to the changes
of the consti
 May 11, 1992. General elections
were held for Pres, VP, 24 senators,
all elective members of the house of
rep and local officials.
o Fidel Ramos – Pres
o Joseph Estrada – V.P.
 Estrada was elected as Pres in 1998
and was impeached two years later
and forced out of the office by a
massive people power
demonstration at EDSA on January
20, 2001.
o Gloria Arroyo took the oath
with her consti successor
 Arroyo declared “state of rebellion”
when the protesters , whom are
sympathizers of Estrada, attempted
to storm and express violence in
malacanang.
 During arroyo’s first term, she faced
a but quelled quickly the oakwood
mutiy mounted by disgruntled
military officers on corruption issues.
o New word: Quell – to silence
some; to put an end (usually
by force)
 Arroyo sought another term in 2004.
She was th proclaimed winner,
notwithstanding allegations of
widespread cheating and electoral
fraud.
o Garci Tapes heightened
street protests in which the
tapes included her allged
telephone cnversations with
a former COMELEC
commissioner to which she
had purportedly given explicit
instructions to rig or fix the
elections in her favor.
o This and with other
corruption charges, were
invoked with at least three
impeachment cases which
were quickly dismissed by
the house of
representatives—composed
largely by her political allies.
 2006, arroyo was besieged by
military “coup de’ ta”. She declared a
state of emergency.
 By the end of Arroyo’s second term,
she ran for and won in 2010 as a
member of the house of
representatives constituting her
home district in Pampanga despite
of her constant and persistent
charges of graft and corruption.
 Her cases instituted shortly after the
assumption into office of her
successor, Benigno Simeon C.
Aquino Jr.
o Pnoy s criticized for his lack
of executive abilities and his
lackluster performance as a
member of the house of
representatives and the
senate,
o It was believe that he was
elected not by his qualities as
a public functionary but more
as a rejection of the Arroyo
regime, as an affirmation of
the continuing popularity of
his mother, who passed
 away only months before the
2010 elections.

Chapter 2
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE PHILIPPINES

 Consti of 198 – fourth fundamental  49 members

law to govern the Phil. Since it
became independent on July 4,
1946 (from the Americans).
o Commonwealth Consti in
1935 – continued its
provisions to be operative
after the proclamation of the
republic of the phil.
o Consti of 1973 – enforce
during marcos regime
o Freedom consti – February
25, 1986
 Temporary
 To be effective upon
adoption of a
permanent consti
aimed at correcting
the shortcomings of
the previous contis
and specifically
eliminating all the
iniquitous vestiges of
the past regime.
 New word: iniquitous
– grossly unfair and
morally wrong
 New word: Vestiges –
remnant; remainder
that is disappearing.
o Consti of 1987
 Pursuant to Proc. No.
9, cory created a
constitutional
commission
composed of 50
members all
appointed by her.
accepted. Con Com
President is Justice
Cecilia Munoz-Palma
 Represented by
different sectors and
diverse persuasions
that why it did not
meet the initial
deadline, September
2, 1986, ad were able
to approve the final
draft on October 15,
1986.
 By resolution of the
commission, the
plebiscite took 3
months to give the
people more time and
opportunity to study it,
not sixty days as the
originally provided.
 Ratified on February
2, 1987 with 76.29%
in favor and 22.74%
against.
 Tho many are
dubious about the
consti but it has
prevailed them that
the new consti was
the only hope to
stabilize the country
as what that time
needs to be.
 OUTSTANDING FEATURES o Sports, love, drugs,
advertising, “the rhythm of
 New consti consists of 18 articles harmony and nature”
and is excessively long compared to
 Other is the prevalent circumlocution
1935 and 1973 on which it was
of the provisions such as in article
largely based.
xvi, section 10.
 Many provisions of the 1935 consti,
 To fix this mistakes, we may take a
exec and legis, were revived due to
second more critical look at the 1987
the bicameral congress of the phil
constitution, this time with aview to
and the presidential system.
its amendment or revision under its
 Independence of the judi has been Article xvii (amendment or
strengthened, w/ new provisions for revisions), in less and more amiable
appointment thereto, and an atmosphere.
increase in it authority
 Many provision from 1973 were SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION
retained like the con comm and local
 Consti is the basic paramount law to
gov’t.
which all other laws must conform
 Bill of rights of the commonwealth
and to which all persons, including
and 1973 has been improved.
the highest official, must defer.
o Legal basis for the creation
 Right or wrong, the consti must be
of commission on human
upheld as long as it has not been
rights.
changed by the sovereign people
 What has made the consti
lest its disregard result in the
excessively long is the inclusion of
usurpation of the majesty of law by
therein provisions,
the pretenders to illegitimate power.
o Most notable flaw is the
verbosity and prolixity of the PROSPECTS OF THE CONSTITUTION
document that has deterred
people from reading it.  Consti must be the base of and
o New word: verbosity – framework only of the edifice that is
wordiness yet to rise. It doesn’t need to be
o New word: prolixity – perfect as the way it is made. It
wordiness and boring, should seek restructuring and
o It’s full of platitudes progress along with the direction of
o New word: platitudes – using the society with regards to the
of overused, old remarks vicissitudes of history.
 Worse is the inclusion of certain
topics that have no place in a
constitution
 Chapter 3
THE CONCEPT OF THE STATE
DEFINITION
 The state is 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.
 Nation Vs. State
o Nation – “nasci” to be born; a
relation of birth or origin and
implies a common race,
usually characterized by
community of language and
customs; only racial or ethnic
concept.
o State – legal concept
o A nation may comprise of
several states; for ex. Egypt,
Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon,
each a separate state, all
belong to the Arab nation.
o Likewise, a state can be
made of more than one
nation. For ex. Malaysia,
whose population consists of
Malays and Chinese, UK
which is composed of
England, Scotland, Wales,
and Northern Ireland.
o However, a nation need not
to be a state at all. For ex.
The poles after their
dismemberment of their
country in 1975, Jews before
the creation of the state of
Israel.
 State vs. Government
o Gov’t is only an element of
the state.
o The state is the principal, the
gov’t its agent.
o The gov’t externalizes the
state and articulates its will.
ELEMENTS
 Essential elements of the state
o People
o Territory
o Government
o Sovereignty
 Added elements, but not generally
accepted
o Recognitions (de jure and de
facto)
o Possession of a sufficient
degree of civilization
1. People
a. Inhabitants of the state
b. Must be numerous enough to
be self-sufficing and to
defend themselves and small
enough to be easily
administered and sustained.
c. Must come from both sexes
to be able to perpetuate.
d. People becoming a nation:
o Start as an
amorphous group of
individuals inhabiting
the same territory, the
people may develop
and share certain
characteristics and
interests, such as set
of customs and
traditions that will
unite them into a
nation.
 e. What ever good is done by
2. Territory the gov’t is attributed to the
a. Territory is a fixed portion of state, but every harm inflicted
the surface of the earth by is imputed not to the state
the people of the state but to the gov’t alone.
b. As a practical requirement f. Direct state action –
only, must be neither too big replacement of the gov’t by
to administer and defend or revolution.
too small to be unable to
provide needs of the
population.
c. Legally, it can extend over a
vast expanse such as Russia
and china, or cover only a
small are such as Abu Dhabi.
d. Components
o Territorial domain
o Maritime or fluvial
domain
o Aerial domain
e. Article I of the constitution
talks about the national
territory. It references from
the 1973 consti with a few
minor changes, whereas the
1973 consti referenced from
the 1935 which referenced
from the pertinent treaties
concluded by the US.
f.

3. Government
a. Is the agency of the
instrumentality through which
the will of the state is
formulated, expressed and
realized.
b. From a viewpoint of
international law, no
particular form of government
is prescribed.
c. Our constitution requires our
gov’t to be democratic and
republican,
d. Mandate to the state:
promote the welfare of the
people.