ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 2018 Class: LLB 2B

Lecturer: Atty. Sahara Alia J. Silongan Thursdays, 6:30-8:30 P.M.

I. Introduction

Administrative Law embraces all the law that controls, or is intended to control, the
administrative operations of government. It is that branch of modern law under which the executive
department of the government, acting in a quasi-legislative or quasi-judicial capacity, interferes with
the conduct of the individual for the purpose of promoting the well-being of the community, as
under laws regulating public interest, professions, trades and callings, rates and prices, laws for the
protection of public health and safety, and the promotion of public convenience.

 Sources of Administrative Law

1) Constitutional or statutory enactments creating administrative bodies.

Examples: Article IX of the Constitution on the Constitutional Commissions; the Social

Security Act which established the Social Security Commission; and the Administrative
Code of 1987.

2) Decisions of courts interpreting the charters of administrative bodies and defining their
powers, rights, inhibitions, among others, and the effects of their determinations and
regulations.

Examples: Aratuc v. Commission on Elections; Maceda v. Energy Regulatory Board

3) Rules and regulations issued by the administrative bodies in pursuance of the purposes
for which they were created.

Example: Omnibus Rules Implementing the Labor Code, as promulgated by the DOLE

4) Determinations and order of the administrative bodies in the settlements of

controversies arising in their respective fields.

Example: the awards of the NLRC with respect to money claims of employees

 Origin and development in relation to the Doctrine of Separation of Powers

Under the Doctrine of Separation of Powers, all rules of conduct are supposed to be laid down
directly by the legislature, subject to the (likewise) direct enforcement of the executive
department, and the application or interpretation, also directly, by the judiciary.

It was felt that the legislative and judicial departments no longer had either the time or the
needed expertise to attend to these new problems, not to mention the lack of interest,
particularly in the legislature, as most of these problems did not immediately affect the
constituents of its members.

The obvious solution was delegation of power. The legislature began authorizing certain
specialized bodies to lay down rules for the regulation of matters entrusted to their jurisdiction
and, additionally, to apply these rules in the adjudication of factual issues relating to these
matters.

 Administrative framework

 Government of the Republic of the Philippines: refers to the corporate governmental entity
through which the functions of government are exercised throughout the Philippines.

Sources: AGPALO. Administrative Law. 2005 ed.; CRUZ. Philippine Administrative Law. 2007 ed.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 2018 Class: LLB 2B
Lecturer: Atty. Sahara Alia J. Silongan Thursdays, 6:30-8:30 P.M.

 Agency: refers to any of the various units of Government, including a department, bureau,
office, instrumentality, or government-owned or controlled corporation, or a local
government or a distinct unit therein.

 Instrumentality: refers to 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. This term includes regulatory agencies, chartered
institutions and government-owned or controlled corporations.

 Incorporated agencies: sometimes with and at other times without capital stock, are vested
by law with a juridical personality distinct from the personality of the Republic.
Ex: National Power Corporation, Phil. Ports Authority, National Housing Authority. Phil.
National Oil Company

 Non-incorporated agencies: are those not vested with a juridical personality distinct from
the Republic, endowed by law with some if not all corporate powers.
Ex: Sugar Regulatory Administration which is not a GOCC but an agency under the OP.

* Incorporated and non-incorporated agencies or instrumentalities are all agents or delegates of

the Republic of the Philippines.

 Chartered institution: refers to any agency organized or operating under a specific charter,
and vested by law with functions relating to specific constitutional policies or objectives.

 Administration: refers to the aggregate of those persons in whose hand the reins of
government are for the time being.

II. Administrative Agencies

 Administrative agencies, boards and commissions are public offices.

The term “public office” refers to the right, authority and duty created and conferred by law, by
which, for a given period either fixed by law or enduring at the pleasure of the appointing
power, an individual is invested with some portion of the sovereign functions of the
government, to be exercised by that individual for the benefit of the public.

A public office is a public trust or responsibility.

 Reasons for creation of administrative agencies

This field of law is a recent development, being a consequence of the ever-increasing

complexities of society and the proliferation of problems of government that cannot readily or
effectively be addressed by the traditional public agencies or solved by the other disciplines of
public law.

 Creation

The administrative body or public office may be created by the Constitution or by statute or by
an officer or tribunal to which the power to create the office has been delegated by the
legislature.

If created by the Constitution itself, the administrative body can be altered or abolished only by
constitutional amendment.

But where the body was created only by statute, the legislature that breathed life into it can
amend or even repeal its charter, thereby resulting in its abolition.
2

Sources: AGPALO. Administrative Law. 2005 ed.; CRUZ. Philippine Administrative Law. 2007 ed.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 2018 Class: LLB 2B
Lecturer: Atty. Sahara Alia J. Silongan Thursdays, 6:30-8:30 P.M.

 Power to Reorganize

Reorganization is the process of restructuring the bureaucracy’s organizational and functional

set-up, to make it more viable in terms of economy, effectiveness, and make it more responsive
to the needs of its public clientele as authorized by law.

An administrative body created by law may be reorganized pursuant to said law providing for its
establishment or another law authorizing said reorganization.

The legislature usually exercises the power to create or abolish by delegating it to the President
or to another executive officer or body. The means by which the legislature makes the
delegation is by authorizing reorganization.

 Types of Administrative Agencies

1. Agencies created to function in situations wherein government is offering some gratuity,

grant, or special privileges.
2. Agencies created to function in situations wherein government is seeking to carry on certain
governmental functions.
3. Agencies created to function in situations wherein government is performing some business
for the public.
4. Agencies created to function in situations wherein government is seeking to regulate
business affected with public interest.
5. Agencies created to function in situations wherein government is seeking under the police
power to regulate private business and individuals.
6. Agencies created to function in situations wherein government is seeking to adjust
individual controversies because of some strong social policy involved.
7. Agencies created to function in situations wherein government is seeking to conduct
investigations and gather evidence for information, recommendation or prosecution of
crimes.

 Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations v. Government Instrumentality

 Manila International Airport Authority v. City of Pasay (April 2, 2009)

 Funa v. Manila Economic and Cultural Office and COA (Feb. 04, 2014)
 Boy Scouts of the Philippines v. COA (June 7, 2011)
 Veterans Federation of the Philippines v. Angelo Reyes (Feb. 28, 2006)
 Philippine Fisheries Development Authority v. Court of Appeals (July 31, 2007)
 Feliciano v. Gison (August 25, 2010)
 City of Lapu-Lapu v. Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Nov. 26, 2014)
 Republic v. City of Parañaque (July 18, 2012)

 Powers

It is a settled principle of law that in determining whether an administrative agency has certain
powers, the inquiry should be from the law itself and the authority given should be liberally
construed in the light of the purposes for which it was created, and that which is incidentally
necessary to a full implementation of the legislative intent should be upheld as being germane
to the law. Necessarily, too, where the end is required, the appropriate means are deemed
given.

 Liberal construction is adopted to enable administrative agencies to discharge their

assigned duties in accordance with the legislative purpose or intent.

 Express and Implied Powers

Sources: AGPALO. Administrative Law. 2005 ed.; CRUZ. Philippine Administrative Law. 2007 ed.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 2018 Class: LLB 2B
Lecturer: Atty. Sahara Alia J. Silongan Thursdays, 6:30-8:30 P.M.

Public officials possess powers, not rights. There must be a grant of authority, whether
express or implied, to justify any action taken by them. A public official exercises power
within the law which grants it. The government itself is merely an agency through which
the will of the state is expressed and enforced. Its officials therefore are likewise agents
entrusted with the responsibility of discharging its functions. As such, there is no
presumption that they are empowered to act. There must be a delegation of such
authority, either express or implied.

Jurisdiction. Settled is the rule that jurisdiction to hear and decide cases, which involves
the exercise of adjudicatory power, is conferred only by the Constitution or by statute. It
cannot be conferred by the Rules of Court. Jurisdiction over the subject matter must exist
as a matter of law and cannot be fixed by agreement of the parties. An administrative
agency cannot grant itself jurisdiction to decide a particular matter by issuing the
appropriate rules and regulations in the exercise of its quasi-legislative power, where the
enabling statute does not confer.

 Ministerial Duty and Discretionary Power

 A ministerial duty is one which is so clear and specific as to leave no room for
the exercise of discretion in its performance. It is one which an officer or
tribunal performs in a given state of facts, in a prescribed manner, in obedience
to the mandate of legal authority, without regard to the existence of his own
judgment, upon the propriety or impropriety of the act done.

 If the law imposes a duty upon a public officer, and gives him the right to decide
how or when the duty shall be performed, such duty is discretionary and not
ministerial.

If the duty is ministerial, mandamus may lie to compel performance; if the duty is
discretionary, a petition for certiorari may lie where there is grave abuse of discretion
amounting to lack of jurisdiction on the part of the official or administrative agency.

 Mandatory and Directory Duties and Powers

A mandatory statute is a statute which commands either positively that something be

done, or performed in a particular way, or negatively that something be not done,
leaving the person concerned no choice on the matter except to obey. A mandatory
statute is one that contains words of command or of prohibition, the omission to follow
which renders the proceeding to which it relates illegal and void, or the violation of
which makes the decision therein rendered invalid. Acts executed against the
provisions of mandatory or prohibitory laws shall be void, except when the law itself
authorizes their validity. (Art. 5, NCC)

 Quasi-Legislative

 The quasi-legislative power may be 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.

Distinguished from Legislative Power: The discretion to determine what the law
shall be is exclusively legislative and cannot be delegated. What is employed in
the promulgation of administrative regulations is not this kind of discretion but
the discretion to determine how the law shall be enforced.

 Quasi-Judicial

Sources: AGPALO. Administrative Law. 2005 ed.; CRUZ. Philippine Administrative Law. 2007 ed.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 2018 Class: LLB 2B
Lecturer: Atty. Sahara Alia J. Silongan Thursdays, 6:30-8:30 P.M.

 The quasi-judicial power has been defined as 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.

Distinguished from judicial power: The judicial process focuses on the question
of law, with the questions of fact being regarded as of secondary importance
only. In judicial proceedings, the executive acts last, after judgment is made and
all legal questions are settled, whereas in the exercise of quasi-judicial power,
the executive acts first, with the courts acting later, whenever warranted, to
review its legal findings.

o Errors in exercise of powers

 Government not bound by errors of public officers.

The government can do no wrong. It authorizes only legal acts by its officers. Its
officers and agents do wrong or commit unauthorized acts. And when they do,
they are not errors or acts of the government.

o Presumption of regularity

 Government officials are presumed to perform their functions with regularity

and strong evidence is necessary to rebut this presumption.

III. Power of Control, Supervision and Investigation

The President and other executive or administrative agencies or bodies are granted powers
and functions by the Constitution or by statutes to enforce the laws and to carry out the
governmental functions, as well as policies and objectives provided in statutes creating
them. Among such powers are those of control, supervision and investigation.

 Executive Power of the President

 Marcos v. Manglapus (Oct. 27, 1989)

 President’s power of control

The President’s power of control means his power to alter or modify or nullify or
set aside what a subordinate officer had done in the performance of his duties and
to substitute his judgment with that of the latter.

The presidential power of control over the executive branch of the government
extends to all executive officers from cabinet secretary to the lowliest clerk in the
executive department. He is the Chief Executive, the head of government and the
chief administrative officer.

 Araneta v. Gatmaitan (April 30, 1957)

 Limitations

Generally speaking, the power of control does not include the following: (1) the
abolition or creation of an executive office, (2) the suspension or removal of career
executive officials or employees without due process of law, and (3) the setting
aside, modification, or supplanting of decisions of quasi-judicial agencies, including
that of the Office of the President, on contested cases that have become final
pursuant to law or ti rules and regulations promulgated to implement the law.

Sources: AGPALO. Administrative Law. 2005 ed.; CRUZ. Philippine Administrative Law. 2007 ed.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 2018 Class: LLB 2B
Lecturer: Atty. Sahara Alia J. Silongan Thursdays, 6:30-8:30 P.M.

 Ang-Angco v. Castillo (Nov. 30, 1963)

 Camarines Norte Electric Cooperative, Inc. v. Torres (Feb. 27, 1998):
 Fortich v. Corona (April 24, 1998)

 Doctrine of Qualified Political Agency

Under the Doctrine of Qualified Political Agency, all executive and administrative
organizations are adjuncts of the executive department, the heads of the various
executive departments are assistants and agents of the Chief Executive, and, except
in cases where the Chief executive is required by the Constitution or the law to act
in person or the exigencies of the situation demand that he act personally, the
multifarious executive and administrative functions of the Chief Executive are
performed by and through the executive department secretaries as his alter egoes,
and the acts of the secretaries of such departments, performed and promulgated in
the regular course of business, are, unless disapproved or reprobated by the Chief
Executive, pre-emptively the acts of the Chief Executive.

 By authority of the President

The Executive Secretary or his Deputy or Assistant Executive Secretary or any

cabinet secretary, who acts and signs “By Authority of the President,” acts not for
himself but for the President. Thus, acts or contracts executed by the Executive or
Deputy Executive Secretary “By Authority of the President” are presumed valid and
performed in behalf of the President and should thus be accorded due respect.

 President’s power of supervision

The constitutional provision that the “President shall have control of all the
executive departments, bureaus and offices” implies that he may not have the
power of control over agencies which are not categorized as executive departments,
bureaus and offices, unless the law creating them provides that he shall have such
power. In absence of such law, the President may have only the power of
supervision, which is only overseeing or the power to see that the officials
concerned perform their duties,, and if they later fail or neglect to fulfil them, to
take such action or steps as prescribed by law to make them perform their duties.

 Rodriguez v. Montinola (May 14, 1954)

 Taule v. Santos (Aug. 12, 1991)
 Pimentel v. Aguirre (July 19, 2000)

 Control, supervision and review by other executive officials

The department secretary exercises control, supervision and review of acts done by
subordinate officials and employees in his department. In turn, a head of a bureau
or office exercises such powers over his subordinate personnel. The power of
control in that sense, means the power of an officer to alter, modify or nullify or set
aside what a subordinate officer had done in the performance of his duties and to
substitute the judgment of the former for that of the latter.

Supervision means overseeing or the power or authority of an officer to see that

their subordinate officers perform their duties. If the latter fail or neglect to fulfil
them, the former may take such action or steps as prescribed by law to make them
perform their duties.

Review, on the other hand, is a reconsideration or re-examination for purposes of

correction. The power of review is exercised to determine whether it is necessary to
6

Sources: AGPALO. Administrative Law. 2005 ed.; CRUZ. Philippine Administrative Law. 2007 ed.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 2018 Class: LLB 2B
Lecturer: Atty. Sahara Alia J. Silongan Thursdays, 6:30-8:30 P.M.

correct the acts of the subordinate. If such correction is necessary, it must be done
by the authority exercising control over the subordinate or through the
instrumentality of the courts of justice, unless the subordinate motu proprio
corrects himself after his error is called to his attention by the official exercising the
power of supervision and review over him.

 Drilon v. Lim (Aug. 4, 1994)

 Phil. Gamefoul Commission v. IAC (Dec. 17, 1986)

The department secretary’s supervision and control over all bureaus and offices
under his jurisdiction is limited to the bureaus and officers under him, but does not
extend to agencies attached to the department.

 Power of Investigation

Investigatory or “inquisitorial” power consists in gathering, organizing, and

analyzing evidence, which is a useful aid or tool in an administrative agency’s
performance of its rule –making or quasi-judicial functions.

Purposes: The investigatory powers of some agencies are limited to only

information gathering, as basis to recommend appropriate action by other
government agencies or to focus public opinion on matters of vital concern, like the
CHR; other agencies are granted investigatory powers for prosecution purposes,
such as the offices of public prosecutor and the Ombudsman; still others exercise
investigatory powers in aid in the exercise of other powers granted them, like the
SEC in the regulation of private corporations. The enabling act defines the extent of
such investigatory powers.

The President’s investigatory power emanates from his power of supervision and
control over all executive departments, bureaus, and offices; his power of
supervision over LGUS; and his power of appointment of presidential appointees,
which are conferred upon him by the Constitution. His investigatory power also
comes from powers delegated to him by the legislature. In the exercise of his
investigatory power, the President may do so thru an executive officer, or create a
body or committee to conduct the investigation, empower said officer, body or
committee to issue subpoena and subpoena duces tecum for the purpose, and to
make recommendations, on the basis of which he will make his appropriate action.

 Evangelista v. Jarencio (Nov. 27, 1975)

An investigatory body with the sole power of investigation does not exercise judicial
functions and its power is limited to investigating the facts and making findings in
respect thereto. The test whether an administrative body is exercising judicial
functions or merely investigatory functions is: if the only purpose of investigation is
to evaluate evidence submitted before it based on facts and circumstances
presented to it, and if the agency is not authorized to make a final pronouncement
affecting the parties, then there is an absence of judicial discretion and judgment.

There are administrative agencies which are granted only investigatory powers. Ex:
CHR and NBI.

 Cariño v. Commission on Human Rights (Dec. 2, 1991)

IV. Quasi-Legislative Power

Sources: AGPALO. Administrative Law. 2005 ed.; CRUZ. Philippine Administrative Law. 2007 ed.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 2018 Class: LLB 2B
Lecturer: Atty. Sahara Alia J. Silongan Thursdays, 6:30-8:30 P.M.

 Legislative power is the power to make, alter and repeal laws. The essential feature
of the legislative function is the determination of the legislative policy and its
formulation and promulgation as a defined and binding rule of conduct.

The doctrine of separation of power prohibits the delegation of purely legislative

power. (Bar Question) It does not, however, absolutely prohibit delegation of
legislative power. The prohibition does not embrace every power the legislature
may properly exercise. What the doctrine precludes is the delegation of those
powers which are strictly or inherently and exclusively legislative such as
determining what the law shall be, to whom it may be applied, or what acts are
necessary to effectuate the law. In other words, the power to declare whether or
not there shall be a law, to determine the general purpose or policy to be achieved
by the law, and to fix the limits within which the law shall operate is a power which
is vested in the legislature and may not be delegated.

The latest in our jurisprudence indicates that delegation of legislative power has
become the rule and its non-delegation the exception. The reason is the increasing
complexity of modern life and many technical fields of governmental functions.

The Constitution itself makes the delegation of legislative power to the President,
the Supreme Court, and the local government units.

 Delegation of legislative power to the President is permitted in Sections 23(2) and

28(2) of Article VI of the Constitution. The Administrative Code of 1987 also
delegates to the President certain ordinance powers, in the form of presidential
issuances. This ordinance power of the President involves the issuance of the
following:

1. Executive Orders. - Acts of the President providing for rules of a general or

permanent character in implementation or execution of constitutional or
statutory powers shall be promulgated in executive orders. 

2. Administrative Orders. - Acts of the President which relate to particular

aspect of governmental operations in pursuance of his duties as
administrative head shall be promulgated in administrative orders. 

3. 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, shall be
promulgated in proclamations which shall have the force of an executive
order. 

4. Memorandum Orders. - Acts of the President on matters of administrative

detail or of subordinate or temporary interest which only concern a
particular officer or office of the Government shall be embodied in
memorandum orders. 

5. 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 offices of the
Government, for information or compliance, shall be embodied in
memorandum circulars. 

6. General or Special Orders. - Acts and commands of the President in his

capacity as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines shall
be issued as general or special orders.

Sources: AGPALO. Administrative Law. 2005 ed.; CRUZ. Philippine Administrative Law. 2007 ed.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 2018 Class: LLB 2B
Lecturer: Atty. Sahara Alia J. Silongan Thursdays, 6:30-8:30 P.M.

 Delegation of legislative power to the Supreme Court. The Constitution vests in the
Supreme Court the power to “Promulgate rules concerning the protection and
enforcement of constitutional rights, pleadings, practice, and procedure in all
courts, the admission to the practice of law, the Integrated Bar, and legal assistance
to the underprivileged. The power vested in the Supreme Court, as above provided,
empowers it not only to promulgate rules of procedure but also to repeal
procedural laws, such as those which prescribe the method of enforcing rights or
obtaining redress for their invasion. Parts of statutes which deal with procedural
aspects can be modified or repealed by the Supreme Court by virtue of ots
constitutional rule-making powers.

 Delegation of legislative power to local governments. Section 48 of the Local

Government Code of 1991 provides that “Local legislative power shall be exercised
by the sangguniang panlalawigan for the province; the sangguniang panlungsod for
the city; the sangguniang bayan for the municipality; and the sangguniang
barangay for the barangay.

 Rule-making power of administrative agencies refers to the power to issue rules

and regulations which result from delegated legislation in the administrative level.

 Distinguished from quasi-judicial power

Quasi-Legislative Quasi-Judicial
Applicability Operates in the future to Enforcement of liabilities as they
govern the public at large. stand on present or past facts and
under existing laws; Applies to
specific situations or to specific
persons or entities, or pertains
exclusively to a named entity and
to no other.
Doctrine of Not applicable in Applicable in questioning an act
Exhaustion of questioning the validity or performed pursuant to quasi-
Administrative constitutionality of a rule judicial function.
Remedies or regulation.
Requirement of Not required in the Required in adjudication of
notice and issuance of rules and controversies at least the
hearing regulations unless opportunity to be heard on the
required by the statute part of the affected person as a
making the delegation. prerequisite for the validity of the
decision.
Doctrine of Not applicable. Applicable.
Primary
Jurisdiction

 The Central Bank of the Philippines v. Cloribel (April 11, 1972)

Held: Then, too, the Central Bank is supposed to gather relevant data and
make the necessary study, but has no legal obligation to notify and hear
anybody, before exercising its power to fix the maximum rates of interest
that banks may pay on deposits or any other obligations. Previous notice
and hearing, as elements of due process, are constitutionally required for
the protection of life or vested property rights, as well as of liberty, when its
limitation or loss takes place in consequence of a judicial or quasi-judicial
proceeding, generally dependent upon a pastact or event which has to be
established or ascertained. It is not essential to the validity of general rules
or regulations promulgated to govern future conduct of a class of persons
or enterprises, unless the law provides otherwise, and there is no statutory

Sources: AGPALO. Administrative Law. 2005 ed.; CRUZ. Philippine Administrative Law. 2007 ed.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 2018 Class: LLB 2B
Lecturer: Atty. Sahara Alia J. Silongan Thursdays, 6:30-8:30 P.M.

requirement to this effect, insofar as the fixing of maximum states of

interest payable by banks is concerned.

 Kinds of rule-making power

1. Rule-making by reason of particular delegation of authority
 This refers to the power to issue rules and regulations which have the
force and effect of law.
2. Rule-making by the construction and interpretation of a statute being
administered
 The interpretation is of three kinds:
a) Interpretation as incident of the execution of a law;
b) Interpretation handed down by the Secretary of Justice upon
request of a government agency or official; and
c) Interpretation in adversary proceedings.
3. Determination of facts under a delegated power as to which a statute shall
go into effect
 This refers to the ascertainment of facts which will form the basis for
the enforcement of a statute.

 Power of subordinate legislation: administrative bodies may implement the broad

policies laid down in a statute by “filling in” the details which the Congress may not
have the opportunity or competence to provide. This is effected by their
promulgation of what are known as supplementary regulations, which have the
force and effect law law.

 Tests to determine validity of delegation (Bar Question)

 completeness test: Ideally, 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 to enforce it. If there are gaps in the
law that will prevent its enforcement until they are first filled, the delegate
will have the opportunity to repair the omission through the exercise of the
discretion to determine what the law shall be which, as earlier noted, is
essentially legislative.

A statute may be complete when the subject, the manner, and the extent of
its operation are stated in it. It must describe what must be done, who must
do it, and the scope of authority.

 United States v. Ang Tang Ho (Feb. 27, 1922)

Held: When Act No. 2868 is analyzed, it is the violation of the proclamation
of the Governor-General which constitutes the crime. Without that
proclamation, it was no crime to sell rice at any price. In other words, the
Legislature left it to the sole discretion of the Governor-General to say what
was and what was not "any cause" for enforcing the act, and what was and
what was not "an extraordinary rise in the price of palay, rice or corn," and
under certain undefined conditions to fix the price at which rice should be
sold, without regard to grade or quality, also to say whether a proclamation
should be issued, if so, when, and whether or not the law should be
enforced, how long it should be enforced, and when the law should be
suspended. The Legislature did not specify or define what was "any cause,"
or what was "an extraordinary rise in the price of rice, palay or corn,"
Neither did it specify or define the conditions upon which the proclamation
should be issued. In the absence of the proclamation no crime was
committed. The alleged sale was made a crime, if at all, because the
Governor-General issued the proclamation. 

10

Sources: AGPALO. Administrative Law. 2005 ed.; CRUZ. Philippine Administrative Law. 2007 ed.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 2018 Class: LLB 2B
Lecturer: Atty. Sahara Alia J. Silongan Thursdays, 6:30-8:30 P.M.

Act No. 2868, in so far as it undertakes to authorized the Governor-General

in his discretion to issue a proclamation, fixing the price of rice, and to make
the sale of rice in violation of the price of rice, and to make the sale of rice
in violation of the proclamation a crime, is unconstitutional and void.

 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. The standard is
usually embodied in the law itself.

Among the accepted sufficient standards are: public interest, promote

simplicity, economy and efficiency in government, public welfare, interest of
law and order, justice and equity, adequate and efficient instruction, public
safety, public policy, greater national interest, protect the local consumer by
stabilizing and subsidizing domestic pump rates, fair and equitable
employment practices.

Both tests are intended to prevent a total transference of legislative

authority to the delegate, who is not allowed to step into the shoes of the
legislature and exercise a power essentially legislative.

 Araneta v. Gatmaitan (supra)

 Ynot v. Intermediate Appellate Court (March 20, 1987)

 Pelaez v. Auditor General (Dec. 24, 1965)
 Eastern Shipping Lines, Inc. v. POEA (Oct. 18, 1988)
 People v. Rosenthal (June 12, 1939)
 Antamok Gold Fields v. CIR (June 28, 1940)
 Calalang v. Williams (Dec. 2, 1940)
 Cervantes v. Auditor General (May 26, 1952)

 Administrative Regulations
Rules and regulations are the product of subordinate legislation. If valid, the rules
and regulations issued by the administrative agencies to implement the law have
the force and effect of a law. Until set aside, the rules are binding upon executive
and administrative agencies.

 Kinds:
 Legislative: A legislative rule is in the matter of subordinate legislation, designed
to implement a primary legislation by providing the details thereof.
o Supplementary regulation: 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.

Example: “fee” in exchange for an offer or promise of employment

under the Labor Code. Under the IRR, the fee shall include the costs of
medical and psychological examination, inoculation certificate,
passport, placement fees, and the like.

o Contingent regulation: issued upon the happening of a certain

contingency which the administrative body is given the discretion to
determine. Administrative agencies are allowed to ascertain the
existence of particular contingencies.

 Cruz v. Youngberg (October 26, 1931)

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Sources: AGPALO. Administrative Law. 2005 ed.; CRUZ. Philippine Administrative Law. 2007 ed.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 2018 Class: LLB 2B
Lecturer: Atty. Sahara Alia J. Silongan Thursdays, 6:30-8:30 P.M.

 Interpretative: An interpretative rule, on the other hand, is designed to provide

guidelines to the law which the administrative agency is in charge of enforcing.
It does no more than interpret the statute being administered, to say what it
means. Examples: BIR and BSP circulars, legal opinions of administrative or
executive agency.

 Requisites of a valid administrative regulation

1) Its promulgation must be authorized by the legislature.

Ex: The National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) authorizes the Secretary of
Finance, upon recommendation of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, to
promulgate all needful rules and regulations for the effective enforcement of
the provisions of the NIRC.

The Corporation Code vests the Securities and Exchange Commission with the
power and authority to implement the Code and to promulgate rules and
regulations necessary to enable it to perform its duties thereunder.

2) It must be within the scope of the authority given by the legislature.

The regulation promulgated must not be ultra vires or beyond the limits of the
authority conferred. It is a fundamental rule that implementing rules cannot add
to or detract from the provisions of the law it is designed to implement. An
administrative agency cannot amend an act of Congress.

If a discrepancy occurs between the basic law and an implementing rule or

regulation, it is the former that prevails. This is because the law cannot be
broadened by a mere administrative issuance. Administrative rules and
regulations are intended to carry out, not supplant or modify, the law.

 Grego v. COMELEC (June 19, 1997)

 Bautista v. Juinio (Jan. 31, 1984)
 Metropolitan Traffic Command v. Gonong (July 13, 1990)

3) It must be promulgated in accordance with the prescribed procedure.

On notice and hearing:

 Philippine Consumers Foundation, Inc. v. Secretary of Education Culture

and Sports (Aug. 31, 1987)
 Balbuna v. Secretary of Education (Nov. 29, 1960)
 De Jesus v. COA (August 12, 1998)
 Senate of the Philippines v. Ermita (April 20, 2006)

Apart from publication, it is also required that the rules and regulations be filed
with the UP Law Center of the University of the Philippines.

4) It must be reasonable.

Like statutes, administrative regulations promulgated thereunder must not be

unreasonable or arbitrary as to violate due process.

In order to be valid, the administrative rules and regulations must be germane to

the objects and purposes of the law, conform to the standards that the law

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Sources: AGPALO. Administrative Law. 2005 ed.; CRUZ. Philippine Administrative Law. 2007 ed.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 2018 Class: LLB 2B
Lecturer: Atty. Sahara Alia J. Silongan Thursdays, 6:30-8:30 P.M.

prescribes, must be reasonable and must relate solely to carrying into effect the
general provisions of the law.

If the implementing rules and regulations are issued in excess of the rule-making
authority of the administrative agency, they are without binding effect upon the
courts. At best the same may be treated as administrative interpretations of the
law, and as such, they may be set aside by the Supreme Court in the final
determination of what the law means.

If 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.

 Lupangco v. CA (April 29, 1988)

 Taxicab Operators of Metro Manila v. Board of Transportation (Sept. 30,
1982)

 Rules constituting an offense

Administrative bodies have the authority to issue administrative regulations which
are penal in nature where the law itself makes the violation of the administrative
regulation punishable and provides for its penalty. The regulations may then validly
spell out the details of the offense.

On the other hand, where a law empowering an administrative agency to issue rules
and regulations does not provide that violation of such rules shall be unlawful and
punishable or even if it does, it does not prescribe the penalty for such violation, the
administrative agency tasked to execute the law has no power to penalize violation
of its rules and regulations. For the making of an act a crime is purely legislative,
which the legislature cannot delegate.

 People v. Maceren
 People v. Santos (August 15, 1936)
 United States v. Panlilio (Dec. 8, 1914)
 Pesigan v. Angeles (April 30, 1984)

In sum, the following are the special requisites of a valid administrative regulation
with a penal sanction:

1. The law itself must make 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.

 Prohibition against re-delegation

Doctrine of potestas delegata non delegari protest. What has been delegated
cannot be delegated. This doctrine is based on the ethical principle that such a
delegated power constitutes not only a right but a duty to be performed by the
delegate through the instrumentality of his own judgment and not through the
intervening mind of another. A further delegation of such power would negate the
duty in violation of the trust reposed in the delegate mandated to discharge it
directly.

 Kilusang Mayo Uno Labor Center v. Garcia, Jr. (Dec. 23, 1994)
 Aquino Sarmiento v. Morato (Nov. 13, 1991)

V. Quasi-Judicial Power

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Sources: AGPALO. Administrative Law. 2005 ed.; CRUZ. Philippine Administrative Law. 2007 ed.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 2018 Class: LLB 2B
Lecturer: Atty. Sahara Alia J. Silongan Thursdays, 6:30-8:30 P.M.

 Smart Communications, Inc. v. National Telecommunications Commission (Aug. 12,

2003)
2016 BQ No. VIII
VI. Doctrine of Primary Jurisdiction
VII. Doctrine of Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies
VIII. Judicial Review

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Sources: AGPALO. Administrative Law. 2005 ed.; CRUZ. Philippine Administrative Law. 2007 ed.