Constitutional

Law 1
Atty. Judith A. Dongallo-Chicano
GENERAL
PRINCIPLES
Political Law
-isthat branch of public law which
deals with the organization and
operations of the government organs
of the State and defines the relations
of the State with the inhabitants of its
territory.
Every citizen, regardless of calling,
should understand the mechanics and
motivations of his/her government. This
must be so because “sovereignty
resides in the people and all
government authority emanates from
them.” It is upon the active involvement
in public affairs of every Filipino that the
success of the Republic of the
Philippines will depend.
Basis of the Study
The principal basis of the study of
Constitutional Law 1is the present
Constitution of the Philippines as
adopted on Feb. 2, 1987. in addition,
we will also consider pertinent
statutes, executive orders and
decrees, and judicial decisions, as
well as current political events.
Scope
Political Law embraces the following:
1) Constitutional Law I;
2) Constitutional Law II;
3) Administrative Law, Law on Public
Officers and Election; and
4) Law on Public Corporations
Constitutional Law
• is a study of the structure and
powers of the Government of the
Republic of the Philippines. It also
deals with certain basic concepts
of Political Law, such as the nature
of the State, the supremacy of the
Constitution, the separations of
powers, and the rule of majority.
Basis of Study
1) 1987 Philippine Constitution
2) 1973 Philippine Constitution
3) 1935 Philippine Constitution
4) Constitution of the US (Bill of Rights)
PHILIPPINE
CONSTITUTION
The 1987 Constitution
History
The 1987 Constitution was the 4th
fundamental law to govern the
Philippines. First, was the
Commonwealth Constitution in 1935.
The second was the 1973
Constitution which was enforced
during the Marcos regime. The third
was the Freedom Constitution. And
the fourth is the 1987 Constitution.
 Constitution
-The written instrument enacted by
-
direct action of the people by which
the fundamental powers of the
government are established, limited,
and defined, by which those powers
are distributed among the several
departments for their safe and useful
exercise for the benefit of the body
politic (Justice Malcolm).
Constitution
• The Constitution is the basic and
paramount law to which all other laws
must conform and to which all other
persons, including the highest officials of
the land, must defer.
• The Constitution must ever remain
supreme.
• The Constitution must be quintessential
rather than superficial, the root and not
the blossom, the base and framework only
of the edifice that is yet to arise.
Constitution
• - are classified into written or
unwritten, evolved or enacted, and
rigid or flexible.
• The Constitution of the Philippines is
written, conventional and rigid.
Written – is one whose precepts are
embodied in one document or set of
documents.
Constitution
• Conventional – an enacted
constitution formally “struck off” at
a definite time and place following
a conscious or deliberate effort
taken by a constituent body or
ruler.
• Rigid – can be amended only by
formal and usually difficult process.
Constitution
• Essential Qualities of a Written
Constitution:
• A) Broad –it must embody the past,
reflect the present and anticipate
the future.
• B) Brief – confine itself to basic
principles to be implemented with
legislative details more adjustable
to change and easier to amend.
Constitution
• Clear – lest ambiguity in its provisions result in
confusion and divisiveness among the people
, and perhaps even physical conflict.
• Essential Parts of a Written Constitution:
• A) Constitution of Liberty – setting forth the
fundamental civil and political rights of the
citizens and imposing limitations on the
powers of the government as a means of
securing the enjoyment of those rights (Article
II, III, IV and XII).
• B) Constitution of Government – provisions
outlining the organization of the government,
Constitution
• Enumerating its powers, laying down
certain rules, relative to its
administration, and defining the
electorate (Articles VI to XI).
• C) Constitution of Sovereignty –
provisions pointing the mode or
procedure in accordance with which
formal changes in the fundamental
law may be brought about (Article
XVII).
Constitution
• Permanence of the Constitution –
one advantage of a written ,
conventional and rigid constitution
is its permanence or its capacity to
resist capricious or whimsical
change dictated not by the
legitimate needs but only by
passing fancies, temporary passions
or occasional infatuations of the
people with ideas or personalities
Constitution
• Interpretation
• The constitution should be interpreted in
such a way as to give effect to the
intendment of the framers. This intention is
discoverable either in the document itself
or through the use of extrinsic aids, such as
the records of the of the constitutional
convention.
• The constitution must change with the
changing times lest it impede the progress
of the people with antiquated rules grown
ineffective in a modern age.
Constitution
• In case of doubt, the constitution
should be considered self-executing
rather than non-self-executing;
mandatory rather than directory;
prospective rather than retroactive.
• A self-executing provision is rule that
by itself is directly or indirectly
applicable without need of statutory
implementation.
Amendment or Revision
• Modification of provisions of the
constitution may be effected either
by amendment or revision.
• Amendment – isolated or
piecemeal change only.
• Revision – which is a revamp or
rewriting of the whole instrument.
Amendment or Revision
• Two steps are involved in the amendment
or revision of our Constitution.
• 1) Proposal – is usually made either directly
by the Congress or by a constitutional
convention. A special case is provided for
where the proposal may be made directly
by the people through initiative. It should
be noted that through the method of
initiative, the people may propose only
amendments and not revision.
Amendment or Revision
• 2) Ratification – it is now required
that the plebiscite be held not
earlier than sixty (60) days nor later
than ninety (90) days after the
approval of such proposal.
CONCEPT OF
THE STATE
Definition of State
State – is 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.
Concept of State
• Nation – indicates a relation of birth
or origin and implies a common
race, usually characterized by
community of language and
customs.
• The State is a legal concept while
nation is only a racial or ethnic
concept.
Concept of State
• Justice Malcolm defines a nation as
a people bound together by
common attractions and repulsions
into a living organism possessed of
a common pulse, , a common
intelligence and inspiration, and
destined apparently to have a
common history and common
fate.
Concept of a State
• The government is only an element
of the State. The State is the
principal, the government its agent.
The State itself is an abstraction; it is
the government that externalizes
the State and articulate its will.
Essential Elements of a
State
1.People (permanent population) –
the inhabitants of the State. While
there is no legal requirement as to
their number, they must be numerous
enough to be self-sufficing and to
defend themselves and small
enough to be easily administered
and sustained. Obviously, the people
must come from both sexes to be
able to perpetrate themselves.
Elements
2. Territory – is the fixed portion of the surface of
the earth inhabited by the people of the State.
It must be neither too big as to be difficult to
administer and defend nor too small as to
unable to provide for the needs of the
population.
A. Philippine Territory

ARTICLE I National Territory

The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the
islands and waters embraced therein, and all other territories over
which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its
terrestrial, fluvial, and aerial domains, including its territorial sea, the
seabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves, and other submarine areas.
The waters around, between, and connecting the islands of the
archipelago, regardless of their breadth and dimensions, form part of
the internal waters of the Philippines.
Archipelagic Doctrine –we connect the
outermost points of our archipelago with
straight baselines and consider all the waters
enclosed thereby as internal waters. Maritime
Zone (Archipelagic waters) are as follows:
1)Territorial waters – 12 nautical miles from the
baselines.
2) Contiguous zone – 24 nautical miles from the
baselines.
3) Exclusive economic Zone – 200 nautical miles
from the baselines.
Elements
3. Government – is the agency or
instrumentality through which the will
of the State is formulated, expressed
and realized. No particular form of
government is prescribed, provided
only that the government is able to
represent the State in its dealings with
other States. Our Constitution,
however requires our government to
be democratic and republican.
Elements
• The mandate of the government from
the State is to promote the welfare of
the people. Whatever, good is done
by the government is attributed to the
State but every harm inflicted on the
people is imputed not to the State but
to the government alone. Such injury
may justify the replacement of the
government by revolution,
theoretically at the behest of the
State of the State, in a development
known as direct State action.
Element
• A. Functions – the government
performs two kinds of functions, to wit:
• 1) Constituent functions – constitute
the very bonds of society and are
therefore compulsory.
• 2) Ministrant functions – are those
undertaken to advance the general
interests of society, such as public
works, public charity, and regulation
of trade and industry.
Elements
• B. Doctrine of Parens Patriae – guardian of
the rights of the people.
• C. Classifications/Kinds
– 1) De jure government – has rightful
title but no power of control, either because
this has been drawn from it or because it has
not yet actually entered into exercise thereof.
2) De facto government – is a government of
fact, that is, it actually exercises power or
control but without legal title.
Elements
• D. Government of the Philippines – the
corporate governmental entity through
which the functions of government are
exercised throughout the Philippines,
including, save as the contrary appears
from the context, the various arms
through which political authority is
made effective in the Philippines,
whether pertaining to the autonomous
regions, the provincial, city, municipal or
barangay subdivisions or other form of
local government.
Elements
• E. Administration – the group of
persons in whose hands the reins of
government are for the time being.
Administration is transitional
whereas the government is
permanent.
Elements
• 4) Sovereignty – is the supreme and
uncontrollable power inherent in a
State by which that State is
governed.
a. Legal Sovereignty - is the authority
which has the power to issue final
commands.
b. Political Sovereignty – is the power
behind the legal sovereignty, or the sum
of the influences that operate upon it.
Elements
• In our country, the Congress is the legal
sovereign, while the different sectors that
mold public opinion make up the political
sovereign.
• Sovereignty may also be internal or
external sovereignty. Internal sovereignty
refers to the power of the State to control
its domestic affairs. External sovereignty is
the power of the State to direct its
relations with other States. It is also know
as independence.
Elements
• Sovereignty is permanent, exclusive,
comprehensive, absolute, indivisible,
inalienable and imprescriptible.
• When there is no change of sovereignty
during a belligerent occupation, the
political laws of the occupied territory are
merely suspended, but the non-political
laws are deemed continued, since they
are intended to govern the relations of
individuals as among themselves and are
not generally affected by changes in
regimes or rulers.
Elements
• However, where there are change of
sovereignty, the political laws of the
former sovereign are not merely
suspended but abrogated.
• Act of State – is 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 State
cannot be questioned or made the
subject of legal proceedings in a
court of law.