CONSTITUTIONAL LAW 1 REVIEWER | PALPY NOTES

POLITICAL LAW PRINCIPLES

- Branch of public law which deal with the A. Ratio Legis – Whenever possible, the words
organization and operations of the State and used in the Constitution must be given their
defines the relations of the State with the ordinary meaning except where technical terms
inhabitants of its territory [People v. Perfecto, 43 are employed.
Phil. 887] B. Ratio legis et anima – The words of the
constitution should be interpreted in accordance
SUBJECTS OF POLITICAL LAW with the intent of its framers.
1. Constitutional Law 1 & 2 C. Ut magis valeat quam pereat – The constitution
2. Administrative Law is to be interpreted as a whole.
3. Law on Municipal Corporations
4. Law of Public Officers KINDS OF CONSTITUTION
5. Election Law A. Written or Unwritten
a. Written
BASIS OF THE STUDY  one whose precepts are
1. 1935, 1973, 1987 Constitutions embodied in one document or
2. Philippine Bill of 1902, Jones Law of 1916, set of documents
Tydings-McDuffie Law of 1934 b. Unwritten
3. Statutes, EOs & Decrees, and Judicial Decisions  Consists of rules which have not
4. US Constitution been integrated into a single,
concrete form but are scattered
in various sources, such as
CONSTITUTION statutes of a fundamental
character, judicial decisions,
DEFINITION commentaries of publicists,
- A constitution is a system of fundamental laws customs and traditions, and a
for the governance and administration of a certain common law practice
B. Enacted (Conventional) or Evolved (Cumulative)
nation. It is supreme, imperious, absolute and
a. Enacted (Conventional)
unalterable except by the authority from which  Formally struck off at a definite
it emanates. It has been defined as the time and place following a
fundamental and paramount law of the conscious or deliberate effort
nation. It prescribes the permanent framework taken by a constituent body or
of a system of government, assigns to the ruler
b. Evolved (Cumulative)
different departments their respective powers
 The result of political evolution,
and duties, and establishes certain fixed not inaugurated at any specific
principles on which government is founded. The time but changing by accretion
fundamental conception in other words is that it rather than by any systematic
is a supreme law to which all other laws must method
conform and in accordance with which all private C. Rigid or Flexible
a. Rigid
rights must be determined and all public
 Can be amended only by a
authority administered [MANILA PRINCE HOTEL formal and usually difficult
VS. GSIS, 267 SCRA 408] process.
b. Flexible
PURPOSE  Can be changed by ordinary
a. To prescribe the permanent framework of a legislation.
system of government
b. To assign to the several departments their QUALITIES OF A GOOD WRITTEN CONSTITUTION
respective powers and duties 1. Broad
c. To establish certain first principles on which the 2. Brief
government is founded [11 Am. Jur. 606] 3. Definite
 CONSTITUTIONAL LAW 1 REVIEWER | PALPY NOTES
ESSENTIAL PARTS OF A GOOD WRITTEN
CONSTITUTION
1. Constitution of Liberty - The series of
prescriptions setting forth the fundamental civil
and political rights of the citizen and imposing
limitations on the powers of government as a
means of securing the enjoyment of those rights,
e.g., Art. III
2. Constitution of Government – The series of
provisions outlining the organization of the
government, enumerating its power, laying down
certain rules relative to its administration, and
defining the electorate, e.g., Arts. VI, VII, VIII, IX.
3. Constitution of Sovereignty – The provisions
pointing out the mode or procedure in accordance
with which formal changes in the fundamental law
may be brought about, e.g., Art.XVII.
DOCTRINE OF CONSTITUTIONAL SUPREMACY
- If a law or a contract violates any norm of the
Constitution, that law or contract, whether
promulgated by the legislative or the executive
branch of the Government or entered into by
private persons for private purposes, is null and
void, and without any force and effect. Since the
Constitution is the fundamental and supreme law
of the land, it is deemed written in every statute
and every contract. [Manila Prince Hotel v. GSIS,
G.R. No. 122156, February 3, 1997]
1987 CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE
PHILIPPINES
Proclamation of the Freedom Constitution
a. On February 25, 1986, as result of the people
power upheaval that deposed President Marcos,
Cory Aquino assumed power together with Laurel
as his Vice President.
b. Proclamation No. 3 announced the promulgation
of the Freedom Constitution, pending the drafting
and ratification of a new Constitution.
Adoption of the 1987 Constitution
a. Proclamation No. 9 , creating the Constitutional
Commission of 50 members headed by Justice Cecilia
Munoz-Palma
b. Approval of the draft Constitution by the Constitutional
Commission on October 12, 1986, and signed on October
15, 1986, at the Plenary Hall, National Government
Centre, Quezon City
c. Plebiscite held on February 2, 1987
d. Proclamation No. 58, proclaiming the
ratification of the Constitution.
Effectivity of the 1987 Constitution
- February 2, 1987, the date of the Plebiscite when
the people ratified the Constitution [De Leon v.
Esguerra, G.R. No. 78059, August 31, 1987]
An outstanding feature of the 1987 Constitution is the
expansion of the democratic space giving the people
greater power to exercise their sovereignty. Thus, under
the 1987 Constitution, the people can directly exercise
their sovereign authority through the following modes,
namely: (1) elections; (2) plebiscite; (3) initiative; (4)
recall; and (5) referendum. Through elections, the people
choose the representatives to whom they will entrust the
exercise of powers of government. In a plebiscite, the
people ratify any amendment to or revision of the
Constitution and may introduce amendments to the
constitution. Indeed, the Constitution mandates Congress
to “provide for a system of initiative and referendum, and
the exceptions therefrom, whereby the people can directly
propose and enact laws or approve or reject any law or
part thereof passed by the Congress or local legislative
body. . .” It also directs Congress to “enact a local
government code which shall provide for effective
mechanisms of recall, initiative, and referendum.”
Pursuant to this mandate, Congress enacted the Local
Government Code of 1991 which defines local initiative as
the “legal process whereby the registered voters of a local
government unit may directly propose, enact, or amend
any ordinance through an election called for the purpose.”
Recall is a method of removing a local official from office
before the expiration of his term because of loss of
confidence. In a referendum, the people can approve or
reject a law or an issue of national importance. Section
126 of the Local Government Code of 1991 defines a local
referendum as “the legal process whereby the registered
voters of the local government units may approve, amend
or reject any ordinance enacted by the sanggunian.”
[Tolentino vs. Commission on Elections, 420 SCRA 438,
G.R. No. 148334 January 21, 2004]
PREAMBLE
We, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of
Almighty God, in order to build a just and humane society,
and establish a Government that shall embody our ideals
and aspirations, promote the common good, conserve
and develop our patrimony, and secure to ourselves and
our posterity, the blessings of independence and
democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth,
 CONSTITUTIONAL LAW 1 REVIEWER | PALPY NOTES

justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace, do ordain and

promulgate this Constitution.

SELF-EXECUTING PROVISIONS
- A provision which is complete in itself and
becomes operative without the aid of
supplementary or enabling legislation, or that
which supplies a sufficient rules by means if
which the right it grants may be enjoyed or
protected.
- a provision, which is complete in itself and
becomes operative without the aid of
supplementary or enabling legislation, or that
which supplies sufficient rule by means of which
the right it grants may be enjoyed or protected, is
self-executing. Thus a constitutional provision is
self-executing if the nature and extent of the right
conferred and the liability imposed are fixed by
the constitution itself, so that they can be
determined by an examination and construction
of its terms, and there is no language indicating
that the subject is referred to the legislature for
action. [Manila Prince Hotel v. GSIS, G.R. No.
122156, February 3, 1997]

NON-SELF EXECUTING PROVISIONS

- A provision which lays down a general principle.
- Admittedly, some constitutions are merely
declarations of policies and principles. Their
provisions command the legislature to enact laws
and carry out the purposes of the framers who
merely establish an outline of government
providing for the different departments of the
governmental machinery and securing certain
fundamental and inalienable rights of citizens. A
provision which lays down a general principle,
such as those found in Art. II of the 1987
Constitution, is usually not self-executing [Manila
Prince Hotel v. GSIS, G.R. No. 122156, February
3, 1997]
- Section 26, Article II of the Constitution neither
bestows a right nor elevates the privilege to the
level of an enforceable right. Like the rest of the
policies enumerated in Article II, the provision
does not contain any judicially enforceable
constitutional right but merely specifies a
guideline for legislative or executive action. The
disregard of this provision does not give rise to
any cause of action before the court. [Pamatong
v. COMELEC, G.R. No. 161872, April 13, 2004]