Constitutional Law I

August 14, 2023

Personal Notes

Constitution - the 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 politic.

Purpose: to prescribe the permanent framework of a system of government, to assign

to the several departments their respective powers and duties, and to establish certain
first fixed principles on which government is founded.

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It should be stressed that when it comes to certain basic individual rights, such
as religious freedom, it is not the Constitution that creates or confers them. The
correct view is that the Constitution merely recognizes and protects these rights
and does not bring them into existence.

The Constitution is not “the origin of private rights; it is not the fountain of law nor
the incipient state of government; it is not the cause but the consequence of personal
and political freedom.”

Supremacy of the Constitution

The Constitution is the basic and paramount law to which all other laws must
conform and to which all persons, including the highest officials of the land, must defer.

Essential Parts of the Written Constitution

A good written constitution contains three essential substantive parts. These

are known as the constitution of liberty, the constitution of government, and the
constitution of sovereignty.

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 The first consists of a series of prescriptions setting forth the fundamental civil
and political rights of the citizens and imposing limitations on the powers of government
as a means of securing the enjoyment of those
rights. These are found principally in Article III of our Constitution, and also in Articles II,
IV, V, and XII.

The second consists of a series of provisions outlining the organization of the

government, enumerating its powers, laying down certain rules relative to its
administration, and defining the electorate.3 These are found in Articles VI to XI of our
Constitution.

The third consists of the provisions pointing out the mode or procedure in
accordance with which formal changes in the fundamental law may be brought about.
These are found in Article XVII of our Constitution.

Self-executing and Non-self executing provisions

Of particular importance also is the rule that, in case of doubt, the constitution
should be considered self-executing rather than non-self-executing; mandatory rather
than directory; and prospective rather than retrospective.

A self-executing provision is a rule that by itself is directly or indirectly

applicable without need of statutory implementation. Examples are the provisions found
in the Bill of Rights, which may be invoked by proper parties independently of or even
against legislative enactment. Thus, in Collector of Customs v. Villaluz,'' the Supreme
Court held that judges derive directly from Article III, Section 2, of the Constitution the
authority to conduct preliminary investigations to determine probable cause for the
issuance of a search warrant or warrant of arrest, which power may not be withdrawn
or restricted by the legislature. A similar observation has been made in a number of
cases concerning the President's power of control overall the departments as directly
conferred upon him by Article VII, Section 17,

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 A non-self-executing provision is one that remains dormant unless it is
activated by legislative implementation. An example is Article II, Section 4, which
provides that in the fulfillment of the prime duty of defending the State “all citizens may
be required under conditions provided by law to render personal military or civil service.”
Such a requirement cannot be imposed until and unless the legislature so wills, through
the passage of a law specifying the conditions. Another example is Article IV, Section 3,
providing that “Philippine citizenship may be lost or reacquired in the manner provided
by law.” This provision does not cause the loss or recovery of citizenship. It is the
implementing statute that will.

Unless the contrary is clearly intended, the provisions of the constitution should
be considered self-executing, as a contrary rule would give the legislature discretion to
determine when, or whether, they shall be effective.

These provisions would be subordinated to the will of the law-making body,

which could make them entirely meaningless by simply refusing to pass the needed
implementing statute.

Amendment or Revision

Change in the constitution may be effected by a mere modification in its

interpretation by the courts of justice. Where the provisions of the constitution are
ambiguously worded—perhaps deliberately so—judges may read out of them, in the
light of altered conditions, meanings that at an earlier time were considered heretical.

One illustration will suffice. In People v. Pomar™ decided in 1924, our Supreme
Court declared unconstitutional a law granting maternity leave privileges to female
employees on the ground that it impaired the obligationof contracts. At present,
however, although the impairment clause has not undergone any change in language
since then, such privileges are a commonplace. Social legislation has been sustained
under the expanded concept of the police power as a valid limitation of the freedom of
contract.

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 There are provisions of the Constitution, though, which arc not as malleable to
judicial interpretation, what Cooley calls the “iron rules,” because they cannot be altered
except by formal amendment. Examples are the provisions for the age qualifications of
certain officers or for their term of office. The composition of the Commission on Audit,
to take another illustration, cannot be reduced or increased by a mere court decision.

Modification of such provisions may be effected either by amendment or revision

as provided in Article XVII.

Amendment means isolated or piecemeal change only, as distinguished from

revision, which is a revamp or rewriting of the whole instrument.

Thus, there was mere amendment of the Constitution of 1935 when the term of
office of the President of the Philippines was changed from six to four years. But there
was a revision when the Constitutional Commission of 1986 rewrote the Marcos charter
and produced what is now the Constitution of 1987.

The Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines

PREAMBLE

ARTICLE I National Territory

ARTICLE II Declaration of Principles and State Policies

ARTICLE III Bill of Rights

ARTICLE IV Citizenship

ARTICLE V Suffrage

ARTICLE VI Legislative Department

ARTICLE VII Executive Department

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ARTICLE VIII Judicial Department

ARTICLE IX Constitutional Commissions

ARTICLE X Local Government

ARTICLE XI Accountability of Public Officers

ARTICLE XII National Economy and Patrimony

ARTICLE XIII Social Justice and Human Rights

ARTICLE XIV Education, Science and Technology, Arts, Culture and Sports

ARTICLE XV The Family

ARTICLE XVI General Provisions

ARTICLE XVII Amendments or Revisions

ARTICLE XVIII Transitory Provisions

Lecture Notes

Constitution

- Authored by the people.

- United Kingdom: Major country with an unwritten constitution.
- Constitutional Monarchy: Belgium, England, Netherlands.
- Evolutionary vs Convention
- Convention: enacted by a convention.
- If we do not have a Constitution of Liberty, the government will have no limits.
- Article III: Constitution of Liberty.
- Article XVII: Constitution of Sovereignty.

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 Modalities to Amend the Constitution
1, Constituent Assembly – ¾ votes (Lambino Case: 6M = 12% total number of
registered voters; 3% total number of district voters).
2, Constitutional Convention

California Test
1. Quantitative Test (Lambino Case: you count the number of provisions that
will be affected by the proposal. Higher number – Revision, Lower number –
amendment).
2. Qualitative Test

Sep 1

- Preamble
- Article I, II, XVII
- All of the 7 cases