By: Jose Antonio Barroso

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW (CRUZ) Summary administrative agencies in the exercise of the QJ

powers)
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS (Chapter 1)
Distinguish Administration as a function and as an
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW is that branch of modern law institution.
under which the executive department of the As an Institution: refers to those persons who actually
government, acting in a quasi-legislative or quasi-judicial run the government during their prescribed terms of
capacity, interferes with the conduct of the individual for office.
the purpose of promoting the well-being of the As a Function: refers to the actual running of the
community, as under laws regulating public interest, government by the executive authorities through the
professions, trades and callings, rates and prices, laws for enforcement of laws and the implementation of policies.
the protection of public health and safety, and the
promotion of public convenience. (Dean Roscoe Pound) Distinguish internal from external administration
Internal Administration: Covers those tules defining the
What are the two major powers of the administrative relations of public functionaries inter se and embrace the
agency? whole range of the law of public officer.
1. Quasi-legislative Authority: Rule-making power Ex: provisions regarding the qualifications, selection,
2. Quasi-Judicial Power: Adjudication function powers, rights, duties and liabilities of public officers.
External Administration: Defines the relations of the
What is the primary function of the administrative public office with the public in general. It does not
agency? necessarily affect the personnel of the office but are
To enforce the law, which it can perform without promulgated for observance by those who have dealings
exercising QL and QJ authority. If the constitution or a or transactions with said office.
statute confers upon it, they may invoke said powers
only for the purposes of enhancing its enforcement Distinguish Law from Administration.
prerogative and only within the confines of the power Law Administration
granted to it by the constitution or the statute. Impersonal command Preventive rather the punitive
provided with sanctions
What is the doctrine of separation of powers? to be applied in case of
Under this doctrine, all rules of conduct are supposed to violation
be laid down directly by the legislature, subject to the Concerned only with Has a sympathetic regard for the
direct enforcement of the executive department and the obedience to its individual and seeks to spare him
mandate and not with from the punishments of the law
application or interpretation, also directly by the
circumstances or by persuading him to observe its
judiciary. excuses of the violator. commands.
May clarify certain ambiguous
What are the sources of Administrative Law? provisions in statutes through
1. Constitutional or Statutory Enactments creating the issuance of interpretative
administrative bodies. regulations meant to make it
2. Decisions of courts interpreting the charters of easier for people to understand
administrative bodies and defining their powers, and so obey the law.
rights, inhibitions among others, and the effects of
their determinations and regulations. ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES (Chapter 2)
3. Decisions and regulations issued by the
administrative bodies in pursuance of the purposes ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCY is a body endowed with quasi-
for which they were created. legislative and quasi-judicial powers for the purpose of
Ex: Omnibus Rules Implementing the labor code, enabling it to carry out laws entrusted to it for
circulars of the monetary board, regulations of the enforcement or execution.
BIR
4. Determinations and orders of the administrative Distinguish Agency, Government Instrumentality,
bodies in the settlement of controversies arising in Department and office.
their respective fields. (Adjudications of AGENCY Any of the various units of the
government, including a

department, bureau, office,
instrumentality or f GOCC
INSTRUMENTALITY Any agency of the national
government not integrated
within the department
framework, vested with special
functions or jurisdiction by law,
endowed with some if not all
corporate powers,
administering special funds, and
enjoying operational autonomy,
usually through a charter.
DEPARTMENT An executive department
created by law
BUREAU Any principal subdivision of any
department
OFFICE Any major functional unit of a
department or bureau including
regional offices
What are the three administrative relationships in the
Administrative code 1987?
1. Supervision and Control
2. Administrative Supervision
3. Attachment
 An attached agency has a larger measure of
independence from the department to which it is
attached than one which is under departmental
supervision and control or administrative
supervision.
Why? The attachment is merely for policy and program
coordination. The essential autonomous character of a
board is not negated by its attachment to a commission.
Distinguish a government agency, GOCC, GFI, GICP/GCE
and a Non-Chartered GOCC.
Government Agency Any of the various units of the
government of the Republic of the
Philippines, including a department,
bureau, office, instrumentality, or
government owned or controlled
corporation or a local government
or a distinct unit therein
Government Owned Any agency organized as a stock or
or Controlled non-stock corporation vested with
Corporation functions relating to public needs
whether governmental or
proprietary in nature and owned by
the government of the Republic of
the Philippines directly or through
its instrumentalities either wholly,
By: Jose Antonio Barroso
or where applicable as in the case of
stock corporations, to the extent of
at least a majority of its outstanding
capital stock; provided that GOCC
includes GFIs, and GICP/GCEs
Government Refer to financial institutions or
Financial corporations in which the
Institutions government directly or indirectly
owns majority of the capital stock
which are either:
1. Registered with or directly
supervised by the BSP
2. Collecting or transacting funds
or contributions from the public
and places them in financial
instruments or assets such as
deposits, loans, bonds, and
equity such as GSIS, and SSS
Government Refer to instrumentalities or
Instrumentalities agencies of the government, which
with Corporate are neither corporation nor agencies
powers/ integrated within the departmental
Government framework but vested by law with
Corporate Entities some if not all corporate powers,
administering special funds, and
enjoying operational autonomy
usually through a charter including,
but not limited to, the following:
MIAA, Philippine Ports Authority,
PDIC and MWSS
Non-Chartered Refers to a GOCC organized and
GOCC operating under BP 68 (Corporation
Code of the Philippines)
In MIAA v. City of Pasay how did the SC classify MIAA and
how did it distinguish a GOCC from a Government
Instrumentality.
SC held that MIAA is a government instrumentality that
does not qualify as a GOCC. Government
Instrumentalities are broader than GOCCs. Government
Instrumentalities may include GOCCs, but there may be
a Government Instrumentality that will not qualify as a
GOCC.
 UP is a Government Instrumentality that is loosely
called government corporate entity (GCE) but not a
GOCC in the strict sense. (UP v. Dizon)
 When the legislature creates through special
charters corporations that perform economic or
commercial activities, such entities are known as
GOCCs. They must meet the test of Economic
Viability because they compete in the market place.
(Republic of the Philippines v. City of Paranaque)
 Philippine Reclamation Authority is not a GOCC
because it is neither stock or non-stock and although

it has a capital stock divided into no par value shares,
it is not authorized to distribute dividends, surplus
allotments or profits to stockholders. (Republic of
the Philippines v. City of Paranaque)
 Boy Scouts of the Philippines is both a GOCC with an
original charter and an instrumentality within the
meaning of Article IX (B)(2)(1) of the constitution.
(BSP v. NLRC)
 PNRC is not a GOCC. (Liban v. Gordon)
 CTA is a special court that is part of the judicial
system as per RA 1125.
How is an administrative body created and abolished?
 CREATED by the constitution (Ex: CSC, COMELEC,
COA,) or statute (Ex: PRC, NLRC)
 If created by the constitution, it can be abolished
only by constitutional amendment. If created by
statute, the legislature can amend or repeal its
charter.
Can an administrative body created by law be
reorganized?
Yes. It may pursuant to said law providing for its
establishment or another law authorizing said
reorganization. PROVIDED, the reorganization would not
involve abolition or transfer of offices and is carried out
in good faith by the person, usually the president,
authorized to effect the same, the validity of the same
would have to be upheld.
Can the president delegate the his power to reorganize
administrative bodies?
Through the doctrine of qualified political agency, the
power of the president to reorganize the national
government may validly be delegated to his cabinet
members exercising control over a particular executive
department.
How are the types of administrative bodies generally
classified?
Those set up to offer some gratuity, Philippine Veterans
grant or special privileges Administration
To carry on certain the actual Bureau of Customs
business of government
To perform some business service Bureau of Posts
for the public
To regulate business affected with LTFRB
public interest
To regulate private business and SEC
individuals under the police power
To adjust individual controversies NLRC
because of some strong social
policy involved
By: Jose Antonio Barroso
To make the government a private GSIS
property
POWERS OF ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES (Chapter 3)
What are the two general classifications of the powers of
administrative agencies?
1. Quasi-Legislative— Known as the power of
subordinate legislation. It permits the body to
promulgate rules intended to carry out the
provisions of particular laws.
2. Quasi-Judicial— Known as the power of
adjudication. It enables the administrative body to
resolve, in a manner essentially judicial, factual and
sometimes even legal questions incidental to its
primary power of enforcement of the law.
 Rules and regulations promulgated by administrative
agencies are products of a delegated legislative
power to create new and additional legal provisions
that have the effect of law.
 It should be within the scope of the statutory
authority granted by the legislative authority.
 The regulation must be germane to the objects
and purposes of the law
 Must be in conformity and not in contradiction
with the standards prescribed by law. (Smart
Communications Inc. v. NTC)
 While it is a fundamental rule that an administrative
agency has only such powers as are expressly
granted to it by law, it is a settled rule that they have
powers as are necessarily implied in the exercise of
its express powers. (Laguna Lake Development
Authority v. CA)
What are the five types of powers and functions that
administrative agencies have? (Soriano v. Laguardia)
1. Administrative
2. Investigatory
3. Regulatory
4. Quasi-Legislative
5. Quasi-judicial
6. Mixture of the other five
 Administrative agencies have only such powers as
are granted or delegated expressly or impliedly by
law.
A. Quasi-Legislative Power
 Defined as the authority delegated by the law-
making body to the administrative body to adopt

rules and regulations intended to carry out the
provisions of a law and implement legislative policy.
 Issuances of administrative agencies are not iron-
clad norms and may be reviewed and nullified by the
courts if found to have been issued not in compliance
with the requisites for their validity.
What is an administrative rule? (Admin Code of 1987)
It is any agency statement of general applicability that
implements or interprets a law, fixes and describes the
procedure in, or practice requirements of, an agency,
including its regulations.
*The term includes memoranda or statements
concerning internal administration or management of an
agency not affecting the rights of or procedure available
to, the public.
 Distinguished from Legislative Power, administrative
regulations are intended only to implement the law
and to carry out the legislative policy.
 Discretion to determine what the shall be is
exclusively legislative and cannot be delegated.
What is employed by administrative agencies in
the exercise of its quasi-legislative power is the
discretion to determine how the law shall be
enforced.
Can a PD vest the Videogram Regulatory Board the
power to solicit or to enlist the support of other
governmental agencies to enforce its broad powers to
regulate the video industry? (Tio v. Videogram
Regulatory Board)
YES. Such grant is not a delegation of power to legislate
but merely a conferment of authority or discretion.
Distinction must be made between delegation of power
to make the law which involves discretion as to what it
shall be (cannot be done) and conferring authority or
discretion as to it execution (can be done/ no valid
objection may be made)
Can administrative agencies grant franchises to private
entities?
Yes. See Radio Communication of the Philippines v. NTC.
What is the source of the power to promulgate
administrative regulations?
It is derived from the legislature by virtue of a valid
delegation either expressly or impliedly.
 There must not be total abdication of legislative
power to the delegate.
By: Jose Antonio Barroso
 To achieve this, the delegation must be
circumscribed by legislative restrictions.
What are the two tests of a valid delegation of the power
to promulgate administrative regulations?
1. Completeness Test— The law must be complete in
all its terms and conditions when it leaves the
legislature so that when it reaches the delegate, it
will have nothing to do but enforce it.
 If there are gaps in the law that prevents its
enforcement, the delegate has the opportunity
to repair the omission through exercise of
discretion in determining what the law shall be.
2. Sufficient Standard Test— The law must offer a
sufficient standard to specify the limits of the
delegate’s authority, announce the legislative policy,
and specify the conditions under which it is to be
implemented.
Ex: public interest, simplicity, economy, efficiency,
public welfare.
B. Quasi-Judicial Power
 Defined ad the power of the administrative
authorities to make determinations of facts in the
performance of their official duties and to apply the
law as they construe it to the facts so found.
 Determination of legal questions in their exercise of
their quasi-judicial power is subject to review by the
courts of justice.
 Revocation of registration of securities and permit to
sell them to the public is not an exercise of QJ power
by SEC but of its regulatory powers. (SEC v. Universal
Right-Field Property Holding Inc.)
 Licensing and regulatory powers of PAGCOR are not
QJ in character. (PAGCOR v. Fontana)
 A resolution of the COMELEC which constitutes
determination on its part of the merits of a pre-
proclamation part is an exercise of QJ power.
(Patalinghug v. COMELEC)
Does a Mayor have adjudicatory power?
Yes. The power to issue demolition notice requires the
affording of due process and as such the mayor has to
exercise QJ powers. (City Engineer of Baguio v.
Baniqued)
 QJ power is incidental to the power of regulation
vested in the administrative body but is often
expressly conferred by the legislature through
specific provisions in the charter of the agency
(source)

What are the determinative powers of administrative
agencies?
Determinative powers are the enabling powers and the
directive powers which includes the dispensing,
examining and summary powers.
Enabling Powers— those that permit the doing of an act
which the law undertakes to regulate and which would
be unlawful without government approval. (Ex: Issuance
of License to operate a liquor store; Power of SEC to
approve AOI and by-laws of a corporation;)
Directing Powers— the doing or performance of
particular acts to ensure compliance with the law and are
often exercised for corrective purposes. (Ex: DENR
requiring factories to use certain chemicals to protect the
environment; DOTC requiring common carriers to install
safety devices for handicapped)
Dispensing Power— Allows the administrative officer to
relax the general operation of a law or exempt from the
performance of a general duty. (Ex: When a student may
be excused from P.E. requirements for health reasons)
Can COMELEC grant immunity from suit to those who
have committed election offenses given that they
volunteer to give information and testify on any violation
of election laws?
Yes. Said power is concomitant with its authority to
enforce election laws, investigate election offenses and
prosecute those committing the same. (COMELEC v.
Espanol)
Summary Powers— those involving the use by
administrative authorities of force upon persons or
things without the necessity of previous judicial warrant
(Ex: Padlocking of filthy restaurants by the Mayor’s
office; takeover by BSP of mismanaged banks,
confiscation by custom officials of prohibited articles)
Examining Power— enables administrative agencies to
inspect the records and premises and investigate the
activities of persons or entities coming under its
jurisdiction. This will include:
a. Issuance of Subpoenas
b. Swearing in of Witnesses
c. Interrogation of Witnesses
d. Calling for production of books, papers and
records
e. Requiring said documents be available for
inspection
f. Inspection of premises
By: Jose Antonio Barroso
g. Requiring written answers to questionnaires
h. Requiring periodic or special reports
i. Requiring the filing of statements
QUASI-LEGISLATIVE POWER (Chapter 4)
 Administrative Issuances may be either legislative or
interpretative.
INTERPRETATIVE RULE: designed to provide guidelines
to the law which the administrative agency is in charge
of enforcing.
 Do no more than interpret the statute being
administered. It is merely anticipating what
ultimately must be done by the courts. (Ex:
Circulars by BSP or BIR)
 Administrative regulations and policies enacted
by the administrative bodies to interpret the law
have the force of law and are entitled to great
respect and have in their favor a presumption of
legality.
LEGISLATIVE RULE: It is in the matter of subordinate
legislation. It is designed to implement a primary
legislation by providing the details thereof.
 Accorded by the courts or by express provision
of statute the force and effect of law
immediately upon going into effect.
 Intended to have the binding force and effect of
a law enacted by the legislature itself.
 Legislative Regulation is further classified into
supplementary and contingent.
SUPPLEMENTARY: Intended to fill in the details of the law
and to make explicit what is only general. Its purpose is
to enlarge upon a statute, subject only to the standards
fixed therein, to ensure its effective enforcement in
accordance with the legislative will.
CONTINGENT: It is issued upon the happening of a
certain contingency which the administrative body is
given the discretion to determine or ascertain, under and
pursuant to the law, some circumstances on which the
law, by its own terms, makes its own action depend, or
to find the facts or conditions properly prescribed under
which a law as passed will or will not operate, that is for
putting in effect, applying or suspending law.

What are the requisites of a valid administrative
regulation?
1. Its promulgation must be authorized by the
legislature
2. It must be within the scope of the authority given by
the legislature
3. It must be promulgated in accordance with the
prescribed procedure
4. It must be reasonable
A. Authorized by the legislature:
 A regulation is binding on the courts as long as the
procedure fixed for its promulgation is followed.
Even if the courts may not agree with its stated policy
or innate wisdom, it is nonetheless valid.
B. Within the scope of authority given by the legislature
 It is necessary that the authority delegated be
properly exercised. This means that the regulation
promulgated must not be ultra-vires or beyond the
limits of the authority conferred. Doing so would be
tantamount to amending an act of congress.
 The rule must be in harmony with the law.
 The administrative agency may not enlarge, alter or
restrict the provisions of the law it administers. It
cannot add additional requirements not
contemplated by the legislature.
 The president is not authorized to promulgate
decrees but is granted ordinance powers. (David v.
Arroyo)
 The ordinance powers of the president empowers
him to issue the following:
a. EXECUTIVE ORDERS: Acts of the president
providing for rules of a general or permanent
character in implementation or execution of
constitutional or statutory powers
b. ADMINISTRATIVE ORDERS: Acts of the president
which relate to particular aspects of
governmental operations in pursuance of his
duties as administrative head.
c. PROCLAMATIONS: Acts of the president fixing a
date or declaring a status or condition of public
moment or interest, upon the existence of which
the operation of a specific law or regulation is
made to depend and which shall have the force
of an executive order
d. MEMORANDUM ORDERS: Acts of the president
on matters of administrative detail or of
subordinate or temporary interest which only
By: Jose Antonio Barroso
concern a particular officer or office of the
government.
e. MEMORANDUM CIRCULARS: Acts of the
president on matters relating to internal
administration, which the president desires to
bring to the attention of all or some of the
departments, agencies, bureaus, or officers of
the government for information or compliance.
f. GENERAL OR SPECIAL ORDERS: Acts and
commands of the president in his capacity as
commander-in-chief of the AFP.
C. Promulgated under the prescribed procedure
 In the enactment of laws, the promulgation of
administrative regulations of general application
does not require previous notice and hearing EXCEPT
when the legislature itself requires it and mandates
that the regulation be based on certain facts as
determined at an appropriate investigation.
 Where the regulation is in effect a settlement of a
controversy between specific parties, it is considered
an administrative adjudication which will require
notice and hearing.
 Regulations fixing rates or toll charges are as a rule
allowed to be issued only after a full hearing and are
based on the results of that hearing.
 Although, it was established that the Public
Service Commission was empowered to
approve provisionally rates of utilities
without the necessity of a prior hearing ,as
these rates were necessarily proposed
merely until said commissioner approved
them.
 For publication, the applicable rule is now found in
EO 200 which provides that laws shall take effect
after fifteen days following the completion of their
publication either in the official gazette or in a
newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines
unless it is otherwise provided.
 Administrative Regulations require publication ONLY
if it is of general application and penal in nature.
 Interpretative regulations and those merely internal
in nature, that is, regulating only the personnel of the
administrative agency and not the public, need not
be published.
 As a rule circulars and regulations which prescribes a
penalty for its violation should be published before
becoming effective. This is based on the general
principle and theory that before the public is bound
by its contents, especially its penal provisions, a law,

regulation or circular must first be published. (Date
of release is considered not the printed date)
 The law at times may also require special publication.
 The Administrative code provides that every agency
shall file with the University of the Philippines Law
Center 3 certified true copies of every rule adopted
by it.
 Rules in force on the date of effectivity of this
code which are not filed within three months
from that date shall not be the basis of any
sanction against any person or persons.
 This rule applies only to administrative
agencies under the executive branch. As
such, JBC is not covered by such publication
requirements.
 Strict compliance with the requirements of
publication cannot be annulled by a mere
allegation that parties were notified of the
existence of the implementing rules concerned.
D. It must be reasonable
 Administrative regulations promulgated must
not be unreasonable or arbitrary as to violate
due process.
 To be valid, such rules and regulations must be
reasonable and fairly adapted to secure the end
in view
 If it is shown to bear no reasonable relation to
the purposes for which they are authorized to be
issued, then they must be held to be invalid.
 The regulation must involve the public welfare
and the method employed must be reasonably
related to the purposes o the rule and it must not
be arbitrary.
Are administrative authorities empowered to define and
punish crime?
No. Only the legislative may do so. It cannot be delegated
to the administrative authorities. The violation of
administrative regulation cannot give rise to criminal
prosecution UNLESS the legislature makes such violation
punishable and imposes the corresponding sanctions.
What are the special requisites of a valid administrative
regulation with a penal sanction?
1. The law itself must make a violation of the
administrative regulation punishable
2. The law itself must impose and specify the penalty
for the violation of the regulation
3. The regulation must be published.
By: Jose Antonio Barroso
How are Administrative Regulations construed and
interpreted?
 The regulation should be read in harmony with the
statute and not in violation of the authority
conferred on the administrative authorities
 They operate prospectively only unless the
legislative intent to the contrary is manifested in
express terms or by necessary implication
 Must contravene statute or constitution
 Their interpretation is given much respect
 The opinions of the secretary of justice are material
in the construction of statutes in pare materia
How are Administrative Regulations Enforced?
 The power to promulgate administrative regulations
carries with it the implied power to enforce them.
 This may be effected through judicial action
(Mandmaus or injunction) or through the sanctions
that the statute itself may allow the administrative
body to impose.
 The power to enforce includes the power to issue
opinions and rulings to enable the administrative
agency to properly execute said regulations.
Can administrative regulations be amended or repealed?
 Yes. By the authorities that promulgated them in the
first place
 It may also be changed by legislature directly
 A provision that requires congress or its members to
approve the implementing rules of a law after it has
already taken effect is unconstitutional because it is
a provision that allows congress to overturn any
directive or ruling made by the members of the
executive branch charged with the implementation
of the law.
THE QUASI-JUDICIAL POWER (Chapter 5)