Professional Documents
Culture Documents
IN TIMES OF NATIONAL
EMERGENCY
Dean J.P. VILLASOR
School of Law
University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos
Copyright ©2020 by Dean J.P. Villasor
All Rights Reserved
What is a national emergency?
A national emergency is an “emergency” that
is national in scope and magnitude, and
“connotes the existence of conditions
suddenly intensifying existing danger to life
or well being beyond the degree that is
accepted as normal.” As contemplated by the
Constitution, the Supreme Court said that
these conditions may include rebellion,
economic crisis, pestilence or epidemic,
typhoon, flood, or other similar catastrophe
of nationwide proportions or effect. (David
v. Arroyo, G.R. 171396, 3 May 2006, 489
SCRA 160)
Emergencies, as perceived by
legislature or executive in the United
Sates since 1933, have been occasioned
by a wide range of situations,
classifiable under three (3) principal
kinds: a)economic, b) natural
disaster, and c) national security.
((David v. Arroyo, G.R. No. 171396, 3
May 2006, 489 SCRA 160)
From a constitutional standpoint, a national
emergency is a crisis of national proportions that
threatens the peace, good order, security and safety
of a country. A national emergency requires a swift
and decisive response to meet the exigencies of the
moment. (Black’s Law Dictionary online at
https://thelawdictionary.org/national-
emergency/. Last accessed on 14 April 2020)
Which branch of government
does the Constitution is the
repository of emergency
powers?
Congress is the repository of
emergency powers. However,
Congress is authorized by the
Constitution to delegate such
powers to the President. The
constitutional basis is Art. VI,
§23(2).
Under what conditions can
emergency powers be
exercised?
The following conditions must concur to warrant
the exercise emergency powers:
• March 7, 2020
As applied challenge?
• “Cyber Incidents”
• “scams”
• “phishing”
• “fraudulent emails”
Republic Act No. 11469, §6(f)
Commercial speech
(b) The DOH and its local counterparts shall establish and
maintain functional disease surveillance and response systems,
which include coordination mechanisms, implementation
protocols for reporting and response, measures for data security
and confidentiality, and procedures and provision to ensure
safety of personnel conducting disease surveillance and response
activities;
(e) To perform their disease surveillance and response
functions, authorized health personnel from the DOH and
its local counterparts have the statutory and regulatory
authority to enforce the following:
(1) Establishment of public health information
system disease surveillance and response systems in private
and public facilities deemed necessary to protect the health
of the population in coordination with the DOH-
Epidemiology Bureau;
...
(4) Rapid containment, quarantine and isolation,
disease prevention and control measures, and product
recall;
(5) Response activities for events of public health
concern;
(f) The DOH and its local counterparts shall ensure that all
surveillance and response officers have adequate capacity
for mandatory reporting of notifiable diseases, risk
assessment, epidemiology, disease surveillance, and
response to epidemics and health events of public health
concern. It shall also ensure that the safety and protection
of all personnel directly involved in surveillance and
response activities are upheld; and
(g) All personnel of the DOH and its local counterparts, and
all other individuals or entities involved in conducting
disease surveillance and response activities shall respect, to
the fullest extent possible, the rights of people to liberty,
bodily integrity, and privacy while maintaining and
preserving public health and security.
• Section 7 of RA 11332 provides that the
President of the Republic of the
Philippines shall declare a State of Public
Health Emergency in the event of an
epidemic of national and/or international
concern which threatens national security
in order to mobilize governmental and
nongovernmental agencies to respond to
the threat.
Republic Act No. 11332, §9
Section 9. Prohibited Acts. -The following shall be
prohibited under this Act: