Constitutional Law 1

Chapter 3
THE CONCEPT OF THE STATE

Definition
“State”
- Is a community of persons, residing in a fixed territory, having an organized
government to which the people render habitual obedience.
“Nation”
- In relation of birth or origin, also implies to a common race, characterized by
a community of language and customs.
State is commonly used in a legal concept while Nation is used in racial or ethnic
settings.

Elements
1. People
- Inhabitants of the state
- Numerous enough to suffice themselves with their needs and be able to
defend themselves.
- Small enough to be administered upon and sustained.

2. Territory
- Fixed portion of the inhabited surface by the people of the state.
- Not to big to be difficult to administer and defend nor too small as to be
unable to provide for the needs of the population.
- Terrestrial domain, maritime and fluvial domain, and aerial domain.
Territories of the Philippines:
a. Those ceded to the US by virtue of the Treaty of Paris of Dec. 10, 1898.
b. Treaty of US and Spain Nov. 7, 1900, Cagayan, Sulu, Sibuto.
c. Treaty on Jan. 2, 1930 between US and Great Britain, Turtle and
Mangsee islands.
d. Batanes in 1935 Constitution.
e. Included in the phrase “belonging to the Philippines by historic right or
legal title” in the 1973 Constitution.

3. Government
- An instrument to which the will of State is formulated, expressed, and
realized.
 - Philippines is a democratic and republican state
- If injury is inflicted and need of replacement of the government by
revolution, known as direct State action.
- The mandate of the government from the State is to promote the welfare of
the people.
- Direct state action – Replacement of the government by revolution.

A. Functions
To wit, the constituent and the ministrant.
 Constituent Functions:
1. The keeping order and providing for the protection of persons and
property from violence and robbery;
2. The fixing of the legal relations between husband and wife and between
parents and children;
3. The regulation of the holding, transmission and interchange of property,
and the determination of its liabilities for debt or for crime;
4. The determination of the contractual rights between individuals;
5. The definition and punishment of crimes;
6. The administration of justice in civil cases;
7. The administration of political duties, privileges and relations of citizens;
and
8. The dealing of the State with foreign powers, the preservation of the
State from external danger or encroachment and the advancement of its
international interests.
 Ministrant Functions:
1. Advance the general interests of society, such as public works, public
charity, and regulation of trade and industry.
2. Basic functions in maintaining peace and order.

B. Doctrine of Parens Patriae

Parens Patriae means “Guardian of the rights of the people.”
- Means parent of his or her country
- The role of the State as ‘sovereign’
- The State in its capacity as a provider of protection to those unable to care
for themselves.

C. De Jure and De Facto Governments

De Jure government has rightful title but no power or control, either because this
has been withdrawn from It or because it has not yet actually entered into the
exercise thereof.
De facto government, is a government of fact, that is, it actually exercises power or
control but without legal title.

D. Government of the Philippines

- Defined as “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 arm 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.”

E. Administration
- Group of persons in whose hands the reins of government are for the time
being.
- The administration runs the government, like a machinist who operates his
machine.
- Administration is transitional whereas the government is permanent.

4. Sovereignty
- Is the supreme and uncontrollable power inherent in a State by which that
State is governed.
- SC defined sovereignty as, “the possession of sovereign power, while
jurisdiction is the conferment by law of power and authority to apply the
law. “
Two kinds of sovereignty:
a. Legal – the authority which has the power to issue final commands
b. Political – is the power behind legal sovereign, or the sum of influences
that operate upon it.
The Congress is the legal sovereign, while the different sectors that mold public
opinion make up the political sovereign.
a. Internal – refers to the power of the State to control its domestic affairs.
b. External – the power of the State to direct its relations with other States,
also known as Independence.
Sovereignty is permanent, exclusive, comprehensive, absolute, indivisible,
inalienable, and imprescriptible.
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.
- Cannot be questioned or made the subject of legal proceedings in a court of
law.

Chapter 4
THE DOCTRINE OF STATE IMMUNITY