Chapter 1: GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

Political Law – the organization and operations of the government of the State and defines its relations with the inhabitants of its territory.
Constitutional Law I – a study of the structure and powers of the government.
NECESSITY FOR THE STUDY:
“Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them.”
BASIS OF THE STUDY:
Constitutional Law I – based on the 1935, 1973, and 1987 Philippine Constitutions, as well as the Constitution of the United States with rulings
of its Supreme Court like the Bill of Rights.
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY:
Inhabitants of the Philippines – originally, were disparate tribes, and they were governed by laws promulgated by the datu or a council of elders.
1521 – Magellan discovered the Philippines, and Spain ruled its people for more than 300 years.
June 12, 1898 – proclamation of Philippine Independence.
December 10, 1898 – conclusion of the Treaty of Paris which provided for the cession of the Philippines by Spain to the United States.
January 21, 1899 – the First Philippine Republic was established with Aguinaldo as President.
Malolos Constitution – the first democratic constitution in Asia with the President and not the Prime Minister as head of the government.
Schurman Commission – the First Philippine Commission that was created to make a fact-finding survey of the Philippines and submit
appropriate recommendations to the U.S. Congress.
Taft Commission – the Second Philippine Commission which took over all the legislative powers and some of the executive and judicial powers
of the military governor.
July 4, 1901 – pursuant to the Spooner Amendment, civil government was established in the Philippines with William Howard Taft as the first
governor.
1907-1916 – by virtue of the Philippine Bill of 1902, the Philippine Assembly was created in 1907 to sit with the Philippine Commission in a
bicameral legislature; in 1907, Sergio Osmeña was elected Speaker of the Philippines until 1916; in 1916, the Philippine Autonomy
Act, popularly known as the Jones Law, was promulgated which established a Philippine Legislature consisting of a Senate and a
House of Representatives; Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio Osmeña were elected President and Speaker respectively.
1916-1935 – from 1916, the Jones Law continued until 1935 when it was supplanted by the Tydings-McDuffie Act which authorized the
establishment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines; toward this end, a Constitutional Convention framed the Constitution of
1935 which was ratified on May 14, 1935 and led to the inauguration of the Commonwealth Government on November 15, 1935;
Quezon was the Commonwealth Government’s first President with Osmeña as Vice-President.
1935-1946 – the Tydings-McDuffie Act promised independence to the Filipinos if they could prove their capacity for democratic government
during a ten-year transition period – they were to demonstrate this competence in the councils of peace, during World War II, and
in the Second Republic of the Philippines headed by President Jose P. Laurel during the Japanese occupation of our country.
July 4, 1946 – the United States withdrew its sovereignty over the Philippines; President Manuel A. Roxas asserted the freedom of the Filipinos
and proclaimed the Republic of the Philippines.
1971 – Constitutional Convention of 1971 was convoked and started deliberations on the revision of the 1935 Constitution and the fashioning of
the Constitution of 1973.
September 21, 1972 – President Ferdinand E. Marcos issued Proclamation No. 1081 placing the entire Philippines under martial law.
November 30, 1972 – the draft of the 1973 Constitution was approved by the Constitutional Convention.
January 10-15, 1973 – the draft of the 1973 Constitution was submitted to the Citizens Assemblies for ratification.
January 17, 1973 – President Marcos issued Proclamation No. 1102 in which he announced that the Constitution of 1973 has been ratified.
Ratification Cases – cases about the issue of the validity of the 1973 Constitution which was dismissed by the Supreme Court.
Habeas Corpus Cases – cases about the proclamation of martial law which was upheld by the Supreme Court.
January 17, 1981 – President Marcos issued Proclamation No. 2045 lifting martial law; however, he retained his “standby legislative powers”
under several decrees he had promulgated earlier, principally the National Security Code and the Public Order Act.
1985 – President Marcos submitted a resignation that was to be effective on the tenth day following the proclamation of the winners in the
“snap” election; the election was challenged in the case of Philippine Bar Association vs. Commission on Elections but the Supreme Court
denied the petition and sustained the resignation and the call.
February 7, 1986 – the election was upheld, and Marcos and his running-mate, Artuto Tolentino, were proclaimed President-elect and Vice-
President-elect respectively; this, however, was followed by a massive outcry from the people who felt that the real winners
were the Opposition candidates.
February 22, 1986 – Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and General Fidel V. Ramos began the “people power” revolution that led to the ouster
of President Marcos.
February 25, 1986 – the induction of President Corazon C. Aquino and Vice-President Salvador H. Laurel.
February 2, 1987 – held the plebiscite of the draft of the 1987 Constitution which was submitted to the people.
May 11, 1988 – held the elections for the revived Congress of the Philippines.
May 11, 1992 – held the elections for the President and Vice-President, 24 senators, all elective members of the House of Representatives, and
local officials; Fidel V. Ramos and Joseph Estrada were elected President and Vice-President respectively.
1998 – Joseph Estrada was elected President of the Philippines.
January 20, 2001 – Joseph Estrada was impeached and forced out of office by a massive people power demonstration at Edsa; Vice-President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo took the oath the same day as Estrada’s constitutional successor.
Chapter 2: THE CONSTITUTION OF THE PHILIPPINES

OUTSTANDING FEATURES:
1987 Constitution – consists of 18 articles and is excessively long compared to the 1935 and 1973 Constitutions on which it was largely based.
1935 and 1987 Constitutions – provisions on the legislative and executive departments have been restored because of the revival of the
bicameral Congress and presidential system; the independence of the judiciary has been strengthened, with new
provisions for appointment thereto and an increase in its authority.
1973 and 1987 Constitutions – provisions on the Constitutional Commissions and local governments have been retained; the bill of rights of the
Commonwealth and Marcos Constitutions has been improved and even bolstered with the creation of a
Commission on Human Rights.
Flaw of the 1987 Constitution – the most notable flaw of the 1987 Constitution is its verbosity and prolixity; also, the inclusion of topics that
have no place in a Constitution like sports, love, drugs, advertising, rhythm and harmony of nature, and the
torturous language of some of its provisions.
THE SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION:
The Constitution is the basic and permanent law to which all other laws must conform; No act shall be valid if it conflicts with the Constitution;
Right or wrong, the Constitution must be upheld as long as it has not been changed by the sovereign people.
PROSPECTS OF THE CONSTITUTION:
The Constitution is the core of the dream that must take shape in the minds and hearts of the people – that it must grow with the society it
seeks to re-structure and must be kept a pulsing, living law attuned to the heartbeat of the nation.

Chapter 3: THE CONCEPT OF THE STATE

DEFINITION:
State – a community of persons, more or less numerous, permanently occupying a fixed territory, and possessed of an independent government
organized for political ends to which the great body of inhabitants render habitual obedience.
Nation – a relation of birth or origin and implies a common race, usually characterized by community of language and customs.
Government – the agency or instrumentality through which the will of the State is formulated, expressed, and realized.
State vs. Nation – the State is a legal concept while the nation is only a racial or ethnic concept. E.g. the United States of America being
composed of many nations, and the Arab nation being comprised of several states.
State vs. Government – the State is the totality while the government is only an element of the State; the State is the principal, the government
its agent; the State itself is an abstraction while it is the government that externalizes the State and articulates its will.
ELEMENTS:
(1) People – the inhabitants of the State. The people must be numerous enough to be self-sufficing and to defend themselves, and small enough
to be easily administered and sustained; the people are more comprehensive and less cohesive than the nation.
(2) Territory – the fixed portion of the surface of the Earth inhabited by the people of the State. The territory is classified into three domains: the
land mass or terrestrial domain; the inland and external waters or maritime and fluvial domain; and the air space above the land
and waters or aerial domain.
(3) Government – the agency or instrumentality through which the will of the State is formulated, expressed, and realized.
(A) Functions – constituent and ministrant functions: constituent functions constitute the very bonds of society and are therefore
compulsory, such as the definition and punishment of crimes, the administration of justice in civil cases, etc.; ministrant
functions are those undertaken to advance the general interests of society, such as public works, public charity, and
regulation of trade and industry. Ministrant functions are optional unless made compulsory in a Constitution.
(B) Doctrine of Parens Patriae – means the guardian of the rights of the people or the right of the government to file a case for the State.
(C) De Jure and De Facto Governments – a De Jure government has rightful title but no power or control while a De Facto government
exercises power or control but without legal title. E.g. the Corazon C. Aquino government was a
De Jure government, since the people have made the judgment of accepting it, and the
community of nations has recognized its legitimacy; the Second Republic of the Philippines was
a De Facto government, since it was a government established by the Japanese military through
paramount force and against the rightful authority of a lawful government.
(D) Government of the Philippines – the corporate governmental entity through which the functions of government are exercised
throughout the Philippines.
(E) Administration – the group of persons in whose hands the reins of government are for the time being.
Administration vs. Government – the administration is transitional whereas the government is permanent.
(4) Sovereignty – the supreme and uncontrollable power inherent in a State by which that State is governed.
Legal vs. Political – legal sovereignty is the authority which has the power to issue final commands whereas political
sovereignty is the power behind the legal sovereign, or the sum of the influences that operate upon it.
Internal vs. External – internal sovereignty refers to the power of the State to control its domestic affairs while external
sovereignty is the power of the State to direct its relations with other States, which is also known as independence.
Act of the State – an act done by the sovereign power of a country, or by its delegate, within the limits of the power vested in him. An act of the
State cannot be questioned or made the subject of legal proceedings in a court of law.