FACTS:

Corry, creadted EO 51 or the milk code, the respondents created an IRR to implement
the Milk Code, the RIRR contains provisions that bans the the promotion and
advertising of breast milk substitutes. Hence, the herein Petitioners filed an action
questioning the validity of the said RIRR.

Petitioner Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines sought to

nullify Administrative Order No. 2006-0012 or the Revised Implementing Rules and
Regulations of the Executive Order No. 51 or the Milk Code (RIRR). The Petitioner
alleged that the RIRR is invalid because it contains provisions that are not constitutional
and go beyond the law it is supposed to implement. Specifically, the RIRR prohibits
advertising, promotion, sponsorships, or marketing breastmilk substitutes for infants
and young children. Through the RIRR, the Respondents Department of Health officials
amended and expanded the Milk Code.

In its defense, the Respondents countered that the RIRR implements not only the Milk
Code, but also various international agreements and instruments regarding infant and
young child nutrition, specifically Article 11 of the International Code of Marketing of
Breastmilk Substitutes (ICMBS) adopted by the World Health Assembly (WHA). For
them, these international agreements are deemed part of the law of the land under the
Doctrine of Incorporation as provided by the Constitution, and therefore must be
implemented through the RIRR.

ICMBS - International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes

Issue:

1. Whether or not the international agreements as mentioned by the Respondents are part of the law
of the land and may be implemented through the RIRR.
2. Whether the DOH may implement the provisions of the WHA Resolutions by virtue of its
powers and functions under the Revised Administrative Code even in the absence of a
domestic law.

Held:

1. under Article 23, recommendations of the WHA do not come into force for members, in
the same way that conventions or agreements under Article 19 and regulations under
Article 21 come into force. Article 23 of the WHO Constitution. WHO constitution provides
that its resolutions, conventions etc are merely recommendatory.

International law can become part of the sphere of domestic law either
by transformation or incorporation. Treaties or conventional international law must go
through a process prescribed by the Constitution for it to be transformed into municipal law
that can be applied to domestic conflicts. The ICMBS and WHA Resolutions are not
treaties. However, the ICMBS which was adopted by the WHA in 1981 had been
transformed into domestic law through local legislation, the Milk Code. Consequently, it
is the Milk Code that has the force and effect of law in this jurisdiction and not the ICMBS per
se. The Milk Code is almost a verbatim reproduction of the ICMBS, but it is well to
emphasize at this point that the Code did not adopt the provision in the ICMBS absolutely
prohibiting advertising or other forms of promotion to the general public of products within
the scope of the ICMBS. Instead, the Milk Code expressly provides that advertising,
 promotion, or other marketing materials may be allowed if such materials are duly
authorized and approved by the Inter-Agency Committee (IAC).

WHA Resolution adopting the ICMBS and subsequent WHA Resolutions urging member
states to implement the ICMBS are merely recommendatory and legally non-binding. It is
propounded that WHA Resolutions may constitute "soft law" or non-binding norms, principles
and practices that influence state behavior. "Soft law" does not fall into any of the categories
of international law Statute of the International Court of Justice. It is, however, an expression
of non-binding norms, principles, and practices that influence state behavior.

2. In view of the enactment of the Milk Code which does not contain a total ban on the
advertising and promotion of breastmilk substitutes, but instead, specifically creates an IAC
which will regulate said advertising and promotion, it follows that a total ban policy could be
implemented only pursuant to a law amending the Milk Code passed by the constitutionally
authorized branch of government, the legislature.

In view of the enactment of the Milk Code which does not contain a total ban on the
advertising and promotion of breastmilk substitutes, but instead, specifically creates an IAC
which will regulate said advertising and promotion, it follows that a total ban policy could be
implemented only pursuant to a law amending the Milk Code passed by the constitutionally
authorized branch of government, the legislature. only the provisions of the Milk Code,
but not those of subsequent WHA Resolutions, can be validly implemented by the DOH
through the subject RIRR.