NOTES IN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW I

Atty. H. J. F. MORALES

The 1987 PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION

Nature & Concept of a Constitution
*That written instrument enacted by direct action of the people by which the fundamental
powers of the government are established, limited and defined, and by which those powers are
distributed among the several departments for their safe and useful exercise for the benefit of
the body politics (Malcolm, Philippine Constitutional Law)
*The 1987 Philippine Constitution was drafted by the 1986 Constitutional Commission whose
members were appointed. It took effect on February 2, 1987. It is a written constitution, enacted
and rigid, i.e., difficult to amend.
Parts of a Constitution
1) Constitution of Government – provides for the structure and system of government;
provisions outlining the organization of the government, enumerating its powers, laying down
certain rules relative to its administration, and defining the electorate. (Arts. VI, VII, VIII, IX)
2) Constitution of Liberty – series of prescriptions 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. (Art. III)
3) Constitution of Sovereignty – provisions pointing out the mode or procedure in accordance
with which formal changes in the fundamental law may be brought about. (Art. XVII)

BASIC CONCEPTS
Doctrine of Constitutional Supremacy
*Since the Constitution is the fundamental, paramount and supreme law of the nations, if a law
or contract violates any norm of the Constitution, whether promulgated by the legislative or
entered into by private persons for private purposes, is null and void and without force and
effect. Thus, a Constitution is a unique document that towers above all laws and upon which all
governmental acts must, for purposes of validity, be predicated.

Declaration of Principles and State Policies

*REPUBLICAN DEMOCRACY - one where all government authority emanates from the people
and it is exercised by representatives chosen by the people.
Manifestations:
1) Government of laws and not of men
2) Regularity of elections
3) Separation of powers & checks and balances
4) Non-delegation of powers
5) People empowerment thru Bill of Rights
6) Prohibition on the passage of irrepealable laws

*INVIOLABILITY OF THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

Constitutional provisions to support the principle:
1) Non-establishment Clause (Sec. 5, Art. III)
2) various sectors may be represented in the HoR except religious sector (Par.2, Sec. 5, Art. VI)
3) Prohibition against the use of public funds for the benefit of any religion (Par. 2, Sec. 29, Art.
VI)
4) Religious groups shall not be registered as political parties (Par. 5, Sec. 2, Art. VI)

*INCORPORATION CLAUSE – the doctrine of incorporation states that the generally accepted
principles of international law automatically form part of the law of the land. Hence, no legislative
action is required to make them applicable to the country.
*CIVILIAN SUPREMACY – Two constitutional guarantee provisions:
1) Article II Sec. 3 which makes civilian authority supreme at all times (even in times of
war or martial law) over the military.
2) Article VII, Sec. 18 which makes the President the Commander-in- Chief of the AFP.
- The principle does not apply to the PNP, being civilian in character.
*Philippine jurisprudence leans towards the THEORY OF BENEVOLENT NEUTRALTY. Under this
theory, the “wall of separation” is meant to protect the church from the State.
*With respect to governmental actions, accommodation of religion may be allowed, not to
promote the government’s favored religion, but to allow individuals and groups to exercise their
religion without hindrance.
*It is not for the courts to exercise control over church authorities in the performance of their
discretionary and official functions. Courts should not touch doctrinal and disciplinary matters,
such as faith, practice, doctrine, form of worship, ecclesiastical law and customs and rule of
church. (Taruc v. Cruz)
*Sections 5, 11, 12, 13 and 17 of Article II, which deal with promotion of general welfare, are not
self-executing provisions and the disregard of which cannot give rise to a cause of action in the
courts. They do not embody judicially enforceable constitutional rights but guidelines for
legislation. (Kilosbayan, Inc. v. Morato) They are mere statements of policies which are not self-
executing. A law has to be passed to implement them. (Basco v. PAGCOR)
NATIONAL TERRITORY
The National Territory of the Philippines comprises of
1) The Philippine Archipelago, with all the islands and waters embraced therein
2) Other territories over which the Philippines exercises jurisdiction.
*consists of 1) terrestrial 2) Fluvial and 3) Aerial domains
including its 1) territorial sea 2) seabed 3) subsoil 4) insular shelves and 5) other submarine
areas
TERRITORIAL SEA
*Territorial sea is an adjacent belt of sea with a breadth of twelve nautical miles measured from
the baselines of a state and over which a state has sovereignty (Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention
on the Law of the Sea). Ships of all states enjoy the right of innocent passage through the
territorial sea. (Article 14 of the Convention on the Law of the Sea)

INTERNAL WATERS
*Internal waters, on the other hand, are the waters on the landward side of baselines from which
the breadth of the territorial sea is calculated. The internal waters of the Philippines consist of
the waters around, between and connecting the islands of the Philippine Archipelago, regardless
of their breadth and dimensions, including the waters in bays, rivers and lakes. (Section 1, Article
I, Philippine Constitution) No right of innocent passage for foreign vessels exists in the case of
internal waters.

CONTIGUOUS ZONE
*Contiguous zone is a zone contiguous to the territorial sea and extends up to twelve (12) nautical
miles from the territorial sea and over which the coastal state may exercise control necessary to
prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its
territory or territorial sea. (Article 33 of the Convention on the Law of the Sea)

EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE

*The exclusive economic zone is a marine area, which lies between the territorial sea and the
High Seas, that includes the subjacent sea-bed, the subsoil beyond and adjacent to the territorial
sea, extending up to 200 nautical miles from the baseline of the territorial sea of a state. It gives
the coastal state sovereign rights overall economic resources of the sea, seabed and subsoil .
Sovereign rights (not of sovereignty) are the rights which fall short of absolute sovereignty
because in the EEZ, all States, whether coastal or land-locked, generally enjoy freedom of
navigation and overflight and of the laying of submarine cables and pipelines and “other
internationally lawful uses of the sea related to this freedoms.”

CONTINENTAL SHELF
*It comprises the seabed and subsoil l of the submarine areas that extend beyond its territorial
sea throughout the natural prolongation of its land territory to the outer edge of the continental
margin or to a distance of 200 nautical miles beyond the baseline from which the breadth of the
territorial sea is measured if the edge of the continental margin does not extend up that distance.

*EXTENDED CONTINENTAL SHELF

However, if the coastal state succeeds in its application for an extended continental shelf, it may
extend to not more than 350 nautical miles. A coastal state has the inherent right to explore its
continental shelf that constitute a natural prolongation of its land territory and under the sea by
virtue of its sovereignty over the land, and as an extension of it in an exercise of sovereign rights
for thee purpose of exploring the seabed and exploring its natural resources. Furthermore, a
coastal state shall have the exclusive right to authorize and regulate drillings on the continental
shelf.

*Rights of the Coastal State in the Exclusive Economic Zone

A) Sovereign rights:
1) for the purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the living and non-
living resources in the super adjacent waters of the seabed and the resources of the
seabed and subsoil
2) with respect to the other activities for the economic exploitation an exploration of the EEZ,
such as production of energy from water currents and winds
B) Jurisdictional rights:
1) with respect to establishment and use of artificial islands
2) as to protection and preservation of the marine environment and
3) over marine scientific research.
C) Other rights and duties provided for in the Law of the Sea Convention.

REGIME OF ISLANDS under UNCLOS & RA 9522

*The Regime of Islands Doctrine as embodied in the new archipelagic baseline law of the
Philippines modifies the Archipelagic Principle by excluding two disputed territories, namely, the
Kalayaan Islands Group and the Scarborough Shoal from the country’s archipelagic baseline but
they remain as parts of Philippine territory and considered as regime of islands consistent with
Article 121 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS).
*It adopts a mix formula that combines archipelagic baselines for the main archipelago, and
“regime of islands” for the disputed islands with the option to fix normal baselines in the islands
we claim in the disputed Spratly islands group. Under the “regime of islands” principle, baselines
will be drawn on an island-to-island basis rather than a package deal-type “archipelago.”
*RA 9522 converts the internal waters into archipelagic waters but will not risk the Philippines
because an archipelagic state has sovereign power that extends to the waters enclosed by the
archipelagic baseline, regardless of their depth or distance from the coast. The Philippines is
subject to UNCLOS III which grants innocent passage rights over the territorial sea or archipelagic
waters, thus, the right of innocent passage, being a customary international law is automatically
incorporated in the corpus of Philippine law. (Magallona v. Ermita, GR No. 187167, July 16, 2011)

LAW OF THE SEA

Resolution of Disputes under the UNCLOS
*Parties who are signatories to the UNCLOS are obligated to resolve their disputes involving the
interpretation or application of the terms of the Convention by peaceful means and to seek
solutions in accordance with Section 33, paragraph 1 of the UN Charter, or the parties may adopt
the dispute resolution mechanism it has agreed to apply by virtue of a general, regional or
bilateral agreement. If bilateral settlement fails, the dispute must be submitted for compulsory
procedure to any of the following tribunals, the decision of which shall be binding on the parties.
These are: The International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas, the International Court of Justice,
an arbitration tribunal or a special arbitration tribunal.

SEPARATION OF POWERS
Two elements of Separation of Powers:
1) governmental powers are allocated and shared by the 3 branches of the government,
Executive (implementation of laws), Legislative (making of laws) and Judiciary
(interpretation of laws) - Tripartite System and
2) no encroachment on field allocated to the other branches of the government.

Exceptions: 1) Checks and balances 2) Blending of powers

CHECKS AND BALANCES - any excessive exercise of the power given to a branch may be checked
by the others in accordance with the mode prescribed by the Constitution, ie, veto power,
overriding the veto, declaration of unconstitutionality of an act or a law.

The purposes of CB
1) to prevent excesses of one department
2) to make the erring department keep itself within the boundaries as mandated by the
Constitution.

BLENDING OF POWER – certain acts, for purposes of perfection and validity, require the
performance of another act by a person or organ of the government to complete and validate
the act, ie., approval of a bill, concurrence of treaties and grant of amnesty.

STATE IMMUNITY
There can be no legal right against the authority which makes the law on which the right depends.
Hence, the State cannot be sued without its consent. Consent may either be:
i) express thru a general law where money claims must be first filed with the COA before
suit is instituted or ii) thru special law where consent must be embodied in a statute and not
given by a mere counsel or
ii) implied thru certain acts of the State, such as entering into a business contract, or
initiating a suit or commencing a litigation.

Scope of Consent: Consent to be sued does not include consent to the execution of judgment
against it. Such execution will require another waiver. Garnishment is not allowed because
corresponding appropriation is required by law’ except agencies that can sue and be sued.
Test if suit is against the State – if the decision is against a public officer or agency impleaded
there must be an affirmative act from the State such as appropriation of the needed amount to
satisfy judgment.
Suit against Government Agencies
i) if incorporated, see charter if it can sue or be sued;
ii) if unincorporated, see the principal function, if governmental, no suit without consent,
if proprietary, suit will lie even if there is no consent.

*Suability is not equated with outright liability because the latter shall be subject to the
determination of the court on the basis of evidence and applicable laws.
NON-DELEGATION OF POWER
Potestas delegate non delegare potest.
The Doctrine applies to all branches of the government, strictly to the legislative and judicial
branches, but with moderation to the Executive because of the Doctrine of Qualified Political
Agency.

Exception: Permissible delegation of legislative powers

1) when the Constitution permits the delegation, ie.,emergency power [Sec. 23(2), Art. VI] and
tariff power [Sec. 28(2), Art. VI]
2) Delegation to local governments. (Art. 10, PC & RA 7160)
3) Delegation to administrative bodies. (EO 292)
4) Delegation to the people at large. (RA 6735)

Tests of valid delegation:

1) Completeness Test – when the statute leaves the legislative mill complete in all its terms
and provisions so that nothing is left to the judgment of the delegate.
2) Sufficient Standard Test - ie., public interest, public welfare, simplicity, public convenience,
justice and equity

SOVEREIGNTY
*It is the supreme and uncontrollable power inherent in a state by which that State is governed.
It may be legal or political; Internal or External
*Dominium refers to the capacity to own or acquire property, including lands held by the State
in its proprietary capacity, while Imperium is the authority possessed by the State embraced in
the concept of sovereignty.
Jurisdiction
1) Territorial – power of the State over persons and things within its territory
2) Personal – power of the State over its nationals even if outside its territory
i) status of a person ii) taxation
3) Extraterritorial - power exercised by the State beyond its territory

Fundamental Powers of the State

POLICE POWER It is the enactment of laws designed to promote general welfare. It is the most
demanding, the most exacting, most pervasive, most insistent and the least limitable of all the
inherent powers of the State

EMINENT DOMAIN It s the inherent power of the State to take private property for public use
subject to the payment of just compensation
TAXATION is the inherent power of the State to exact enforced proportional contributions from
persons and property for the support of the government and for public needs.
Being inherent in nature, there is no need for an express grant by the Constitution before the
government can exercise them. The constitutional provisions merely provide certain limitations
in the exercise of these powers.

AMENDMENTS OR REVISIONS TO THE PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION

Who may propose amendments or revisions
1) Congress (as a constituent assembly) by a vote of ¾ of all its members, i.e., ¾ of Senate and
¾ of House of Representatives
2) Constitutional Convention
i) by 2/3 vote of all members of Congress,
ii) or if such vote is not obtained, by a majority vote of all members of Congress with the
question of whether or not to call a convention to be resolved by the people in a
plebiscite.
3) People’s Initiative
Requisites of People’s Initiative:
i) at least 12% of the total number of registered voters, of which every legislative district must
be represented by at least 3% of the registered voters therein, should directly sign the entire
proposal.
ii) A people’s initiative to change the Constitution applies only to amendments of the
Constitution and not to revisions to Constitution. Only Congress or a Constitutional
Convention may propose revisions to the Constitution.
*In Lambino v. COMELEC, the Qualitative Test was applied, i.e., a shift from a bicameral
presidential to unicameral parliamentary system involving the abolition of the Office of the
President and abolition of one chamber of Congress, is beyond doubt a revision, not a mere
amendment.
iii) The draft of the proposed amendments must be embodied in the petition.
iv) There must be an enabling law because the constitutional provisions on amendments via
People’s Initiative are not self-executory. (Defensor Santiago v. COMELEC) RA 6735 covers
only initiative on statutes and initiative on local legislation.
Steps in the Amendatory Process
1. Proposal by Congress, or by a Constitutional Convention, or by the People
through Initiative
2. Ratification by the people in a plebiscite
Judicial Review of Amendments: The validity of the process of amendment is not a political
question because the Court must review if constitutional processes were followed. (Lambino v.
COMELEC)
Doctrine of Proper Submission: The entire Constitution must be submitted for ratification at one
plebiscite only. The people must have a proper “frame of reference” in arriving at their decision.
No “piecemeal submission” is allowed. (Lambino v. COMELEC, supra).

Interpretation of the Constitution

1) whenever possible, the words used in the Constitution must be given their ordinary meaning
except where technical terms aree mployed
2) where there is ambiguity, the words of the Constitution should be interpreted to give effect
to the intention of the framers
3) in case of doubt
i) provisions shall be examined in the light of the history of the times and the conditions
and circumstances under which the Constitution was framed,
ii) provisions should be considered self-executing;
mandatory rather than directory; and prospective rather than retroactive.

CITIZENSHIP
Kinds of Citizenship
1) Natural-born Filipino
i) jus sanguinis or ii) jus soli
*Natural-born citizens are those who are citizens of the Philippines from birth without
having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship. The act
referred to here is by NATURALIZATION, not by ELECTION, not by REPATRIATION.
2) Naturalized Filipino
i) by legislative act
ii) judicial act CA 437
iii) administrative act RA 9139
Who are citizens of the Philippines
1) those who are citizens at the time of the adoption of this Constitution
2) whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines
3) Those born before January 17, 1973, of Filipino mothers, who elect Philippine citizenship upon
reaching the age of majority.
4) Those who are naturalized in accordance with law.
Modes of Acquiring Citizenship
1) by birth, ie., jus sanguinis; illegitimate child of a Filipino mother is a FILIPINO since birth
2) by naturalization, ie., judicial, legislative, administrative
*DERIVATIVE NATURALIZATION under Sec.15 of CA 437 extends the grant of Philippine
citizenship to the minor children of the one naturalized thereunder.
Requisites:
1) legitimate children of petitioner
2) born in the Philippines and
3) still minors when petitioner was naturalized as Filipino citizen
*Marriage is not a mode of acquiring Filipino citizenship

Citizenship by Election
*The constitutional and statutory requirements of electing Filipino citizenship apply only to
legitimate children and not to one who was concededly an illegitimate child, as her Chinese father
and Filipino mother were never married. Being an illegitimate child of a Filipino mother,
respondent is a Filipino since birth, without having to elect Filipino citizenship when she reaches
the age of majority. (Republic vs. Lim, GR No. 153883, January 13, 2004)

Who can acquire citizenship under RA 9139 or Administrative Naturalization Law?

1) aliens born in the Philippines and
2) residing therein since birth

Effect of the exercise of suffrage upon citizenship

*Mere registration of a voter does not confer upon him the right to vote. It is a condition
precedent to the exercise of the right to vote. It is a form of regulation, not a qualification.
Likewise, the mere exercise of suffrage, continuous and uninterrupted stay in the Philippines,
and other similar acts showing exercise of Philippine citizenship cannot take the place of election
of Philippine citizenship. (Republic v. Sagun, February, 15, 2012)

Modes of Losing and Reacquiring Citizenship

1) By substitution, ie., naturalization in a foreign country
2) By express renunciation of citizenship made known distinctly and explicitly and not
mere left to inference.
*But obtention of a Portuguese passport and signing of a commercial document as a
Portuguese were construed as renunciation of Philippine citizenship.
*And the continued use of foreign passport renounces natural-born Philippine citizenship
reacquired under RA 9225.
*Marriage to a foreigner is not a mode of losing citizenship.
 3) By subscribing to an oath of allegiance to support the Constitution or laws of a foreign
country.
4) By rendering service to or accepting commission in the armed forces of a foreign
country.
5) By cancellation of the certificate of naturalization.
6) By having been declared by competent authority a deserter of the AFP in time of war,
unless plenary pardon or amnesty has been granted.

Reacquisition of Lost Philippine citizenship

1) RA 8171 – covered under this law are:
i) Filipino women who lost their Philippine citizenship by marriage to aliens, and
ii) natural-born Filipinos who have lost their Philippine citizenship on account of political
or economic necessity, including minor children.
*Minors who lost their Filipino citizenship by derivative naturalization are not eligible for
repatriation under this law.

*Natural-born Filipinos who lost and reacquired such lost Filipino citizenship shall be considered
natural-born Filipino citizens.

*Those who reacquire lost Filipino citizenship under this law will lost their previously acquired
foreign citizenship, hence, NOT A DUAL CITIZEN.

2) RA 9225 – allows former natural-born Filipino citizens who have lost their Philippine citizenship
by reason of their naturalization as citizens of a foreign country. It allows a Filipino citizen
to retain his Filipino citizenship even if he acquired citizenship in a foreign country, and
becomes a DUAL CITIZEN.

Reacquisition under the two laws is accomplished simply by

1) taking an oath of allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines
2) registering said oath in the Local Civil Registry of the place where the person concerned resides
or last resided, and
3) registration of the Certificate of Repatriation in the Bureau of Immigration is a prerequisite in
effecting the repatriation of a citizen. (Altarejos v. COMELEC) But in Tabasa, the Supreme
Court ruled that petition for repatriation shall be filed with the Special Committee on
Naturalization (SCN) which was designated to process petitions for repatriation
pursuant to AO 285.

*No judicial proceedings is required.