Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Assoc. v.

DILG
Secretary,

- can only be invoked if it is against the government

1.Impairment of contracts
Any law which introduces a change into the express
terms of the contract, or its legal construction, or its
validity, or its discharge, or the remedy for its
enforcement, impairs the contract.
or when the government intervenes in contract
between the parties.
Pacific Wide Realty and Development Corp. v. Puerto
Azul Land, Inc., G.R. No. 180893, November 25,
2009)

2. Mere technical change does NOT impair the 7. additional inapplicability

obligation of contracts
3. . A valid exercise of police power is superior to
obligation of contracts.
4. . The law impairs the obligation of contracts
if:
1. It changes the terms and conditions of a legal
contract either as to the time or mode of
performance; or
2. It imposes new conditions or dispenses with
those expressed if it authorizes for its satisfaction
something different from that provided in its
terms.
5. how to apply
-It is NOT absolute and is NOT to be read with
literal exactness.
-It is restricted to contracts with respect to
property or some object of value and which
confer rights that may be asserted in a court of
justice;
-it has no application to statutes relating to public
subjects within the domain of the general
legislative powers of the State
- it has no application involving the public rights
and public welfare of the entire community
affected by it.
- franchises, privileges, licenses, etc. Bec These are
subject to amendment, alteration or repeal by
Congress when the common good so requires.
- neither public interest involved nor a law that
supports the claim.
8. The non-impairment clause always yields to the
police power of the state–and even to the power of
taxation and eminent domain
9. police power may not be bargained away
through the medium of a contract, or even that of
a treaty.
10.Mutuality of contracts
-v GR: Valid contracts should be respected by the
legislature and not tampered with by subsequent
laws that will change the intention of the parties or
modify their rights and obligations.
- XPN: Enactment of laws pursuant to the exercise of
police power because public welfare prevails over
private rights

6.applicability

-the obligation of contract is impaired by legislative

act (statute, ordinance, etc

-should be legislative in nature

-the impairment must be substantial.

 Bill of attainder

EX POST FACTO LAW 1.It is a legislative act that inflicts punishment

without trial, its essence being the substitution of
legislative fiat for a judicial determination of guilt.
1.An ex post facto law is any law that makes an
(People v. Ferrer, G.R. Nos. L-32613-14, December
action, done before the passage of the law, and
27, 1972)
which was innocent when done, criminal, and
punishes such action. (United State v. Vicente Diaz 2.Applicable
Conde and Apolinaria R. De Conde, G.R. No. L-18208,
February 14, 1922) (1990 Bar) It is only when a statute applies either to named
individuals or easily ascertainable members of a
2. Kinds of ex post facto law group in such a way as to inflict punishment on them
without a judicial trial that it becomes a bill of
It can be a law that:
attainder.
1. Makes an act, which was innocent when done,
criminal and punishes such action;
3. Two kinds of bill of attainder
2. Aggravates a crime or makes it greater than
when it was committed;
1. Bill of attainder proper (legislative imposition of
3. Changes the punishment and inflicts a greater
the death penalty); and
punishment than the law annexed to the crime
2. Bill of pains and penalties (imposition of a lesser
when it was committed;
penalty.
4. 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. Assumes to regulate civil rights and remedies
only. In effect imposes penalty or deprivation of a Non imprisonment for debts
right for something which when done was lawful;
and 1. What is the basis of non imprisonment of
6. Deprives a person accused of a crime of some debts?
lawful protection to which he has become entitled, No person shall be imprisoned for debt or
such as the protection of a former conviction or
acquittal, or a proclamation of amnesty. (Nuñez v. non-payment of a poll tax. (1987 Constitution,
Sec. 20, Art. III) (1993, 1997, 2000, 2002 Bar)
Sandiganbayan and People, G.R. Nos. L-50581-
50617, January 30, 1982)

3. Characteristics of ex post facto law 2. What is Debt?

-It is any civil obligation arising from contract.

The ex post facto law must:

1. Refer to criminal matters; 3. What is Poll tax?
2. Be retroactive in its application; and - A specific sum levied upon any person
3. To the prejudice of the accused. belonging to a certain class without regard to
property or occupation (e.g. community tax).

4. Is tax a debt? What is the result of non

payment?
NOTE: A tax is not a debt since it is an
obligation arising from law. Hence, its non-
 payment maybe validly punished with
imprisonment.
5. What happens if an accused fails to pay
fines?
If an accused fails to pay the fines imposed
upon him, this may result in his subsidiary
imprisonment because his liability is ex delicto
and not ex contractu.
6. Could a debtor who failed to pay debt be
imprisoned?
Generally, a debtor cannot be imprisoned for
failure to pay his debt. However, if he
contracted his debt through fraud, he can be
validly punished in a criminal action as his
responsibility arises not from the contract of
loan but from commission of a crime. (Lozano
v. Martinez, G.R. No. L-63419, December 18,
1986)
INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE
1.Basis of Involuntary servitude?
-It is the condition where one is compelled by
force, coercion, or imprisonment, and against
his will, to labor for another, whether he is
paid or not.
2. GR: No involuntary servitude shall exist.
(1993 Bar)
3. XPNs: (P-S-E-C-O-M)
1. Punishment for a crime for which the party has
been duly convicted;
2. Personal military or civil service in the interest
of national defense;
3. In naval enlistment, a person who enlists in a
merchant ship may be compelled to remain in
service until the end of a voyage;
4. Posse comitatus or the conscription of able-
bodied men for the apprehension of criminals;
5. Return to work order issued by the DOLE
Secretary or the President;
6. Minors under patria potestas are obliged to
obey their parents.
WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS
1. What is a writ of Habeas Corpus?
It is an order from the court
commanding a detaining officer to
inform the court:
1. If he has the person in custody; and
2. State his basis in detaining that person
2. What is the privilege of the writ?
It is that portion of the writ requiring the
detaining officer to show cause why he
should not be tested. It is the privilege
that is suspended, not the writ itself. The
duration of the suspension shall not
exceed 60 days unless extended by the
Congress.
3. When writ available?
-It is that portion of the writ requiring the
detaining officer to show cause why he
should not be tested. It is the privilege
that is suspended, not the writ itself. The
duration of the suspension shall not
exceed 60 days unless extended by the
Congress.
-It may be availed of as a post-conviction
remedy or when there is an alleged
violation of the liberty of abode (Ibid.).
-It may not be used as a means of
obtaining evidence on the whereabouts
of a person, or as a means of finding out
who has specifically abducted or caused
the disappearance of a certain person.
When forcible taking and disappearance–
not arrest and detention–have been
alleged, the proper remedy is not habeas
corpus proceedings, but criminal
investigation and proceedings. Habeas
corpus generally applies to all cases of
illegal confinement or detention by which
any person is deprived of his liberty or by
which the rightful custody of any person
is withheld from the person entitled
 thereto (Martinez v. Mendoza, G.R. No.
153795, August 17, 2006).
-If the detainee’s incarceration is by
virtue of a judicial order in relation to
criminal cases subsequently filed against
them, the remedy of habeas corpus no
longer lies (Ilagan v. Enrile, G.R. No.
70748, October 21, 1985).
-The writ applies only to persons judicially
charged for rebellion or offenses inherent
in or directly connected with invasion and
anyone arrested or detained during
suspension must be charged within 3
days. Otherwise, he should be released.

4. Requisites for the valid suspension of the

privilege of the writ of habeas corpus.

1. There must be an actual invasion,

insurrection or rebellion; and
2. Public safety requires the suspension.