LEGAL RESEARCH
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION TO LEGAL RESEARCH
A. Legal Research, Defined
It is the process of finding the laws, rules and
regulations that govern activities in human society.
It involves locating both the laws and rules which are
enforced by the State and the commentaries which
explain or analyze these rules.
Legal Research is also defined as the investigation
for information necessary to support legal decision
making. Legal Research includes each step of a
process that begins with analyzing the facts of a
problem and concludes with applying and
communicating
the results of the investigation.
B. The Need for Legal Research
In order to provide a competent representation
which requires the legal knowledge, skill,
thoroughness and preparation reasonably
necessary for the representation.
To uphold the standards of the legal profession
In order to become a competent practitioner
In order to conduct legal research effectively, a
lawyer should have:
a working knowledge of the nature of legal rules
and legal institutions
the fundamental tools of legal research, and
the process of devising and implementing a
coherent and effective research design
C. Sources of Legal Research
Legal research involves the use of a variety of
printed and electronic sources.
Printed sources:
· Constitution
· Statutes
· Court decisions
· Administrative rules
· Scholarly commentaries
Computer databases containing these and other
materials have dramatically changed the nature of
legal research and
improved its effectiveness.
D. Sources of Law - Three broad categories:
1. Primary Sources - those recorded laws and rules
which will be enforced by the State (pure laws)
- First major primary sources
- legislative actions
- codes
- statutes
- Second major category - judicial decisions
- Supreme Court
- Court of Appeals
- Trial Courts (RTC, MTC, MCTC)
- Third primary source
- administrative law, or the regulations and
decisions of government agencies
- state agencies promulgate regulations governing
behavior within their areas of expertise
- agencies also act in “quasi-judicial” capacity by
conducting hearings and issuing decisions to resolve
particular
disputes
2. Secondary Materials (commentaries and
annotations) – vary widely in purpose and quality,
ranging from authoritative treaties by great
academic scholars to superficial tracts by hack
writers. It can help analyze a problem and provide
research references to
both primary sources and other secondary materials
- Publications which are not primary authority but
which discuss or analyze legal doctrine are
considered secondary materials:
- Treatises
- Commentaries
- Encyclopedias
- Most influential legal writings
- academic journals (law reviewers of law schools)
- IBP journals and Lawyers Review
- secondary materials through the use of:
- law library catalog
- legal periodical indexes
- other bibliographic aids
- commentaries from the primary sources
3. Finding Tools – search materials to locate legal
sources; means of locating primary sources
- SCRA Quick Index-Digests
- PHILJURIS & LEX LIBRIS – computer based legal
research systems, provide the capability to search
for cases and other documents by using practically
any word or combination of words.
Chapter 2
THE LEGAL RESEARCH PROCESS
A. Systematic Approach to Legal Research - basic
steps are recommended:
1. Identify and Analyze the Significant Facts –
begins with compiling a descriptive statement of
legally significant facts.
The TARP Rule is a useful technique to analyze your
facts according to the following factors:
T – Thing or subject matter
A – Cause of Action or group of defense
R – Relief sought
P – Persons or parties involved
2. Formulate the Legal Issues to be Researched -
this is the initial intellectual activity that presumes
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some knowledge of
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the substantive law. The goal is to classify or
categorize the problem into general, and
increasingly specific, subject areas and to begin to
hypothesize legal issues.
- Consult general secondary sources for an overview
of all relevant subject areas, this can be used to
provide background information to help formulate
issues; they are tools NOT the objects of research
- Statement of the issues should be arranged in a
logical pattern to form an outline
3. Research the Issues Presented – begin to
research the issue
a. Organize and Plan – write down all sources to be
searched under each issue to be researched, even if
sources
are repeated
b. Identify, Read and Update All Relevant
Constitutional Provisions, Statutes and
Administrative Regulations – these primary sources
can be identified in several ways:
- Statutory Compilations – tables of contents and
indexes that list the subject and topics covered by
thestatutes
- Computer-Assisted Legal Research
- PHILJURIS and LEX LIBRIS
- Secondary Sources – treaties and commentaries
and law review articles, commonly cite relevant
constitutional provisions, statues, and
administrative regulations
c. Identify, Read and Update All Relevant Case Law –
note its full citation, the ponente, date of decision,
relevant facts, the holding, summary of the court’s
reasoning, and the sources cited by the Court
d. Refine the Search – expand your arguments
4. Update – consult the PHILJURIS or LEX LIBRIS to
determine whether the authorities have been
interpreted or altered in any way, or whether new
cases, statutes or regulations have been published;
law changes constantly; our Congress passes new
statutes and modify old ones; our Supreme Court
either refines the law or reaffirms the law or even
changes the interpretation of the law.
Chapter 3
FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH SKILL: CASE BRIEFING
AND SYTHESIS OF CASES
A. Case Briefing – process of digesting or the
condensation of a reported case. There is no one
“correct” form for a case brief
since it is a document that is created to meet the
student’s needs. The typical components of a case
brief are:
1. Facts –describe the events between the parties
leading to the litigation and tell how the case before
the court that is
now deciding it. Include those facts that are relevant
to the issue the court must decide and to the
reasons for it decision. You will not know which facts
are relevant until you know what the issue or issues
are.
State the plaintiff ad defendant
Basis for plaintiff’s suit
Plaintiff’s relief
Include the ruling of the Lower Court and Court of
Appeals
2. Issue(s) – question that the court must decide to
resolve the dispute between the parties in the case
before it.
Identify the rule of law that governs the dispute
and ask how it should apply to those facts
3. Ruling – court’s decision on the question that is
actually before it, but if they do not relate to the
question actually before it, they are dicta or dictum
(expression of opinion or a point other than the
precise issue involved in
determining a case).
* provides the answer to the question asked in the
issues
* supported by court’s reasoning explaining and
supporting the court’s decision
B. Synthesizing Cases – process of relating the cases
to each other. By this process, we can understand
the applicable area of law and then use the synthesis
to analyze the problem
1. Understand the applicable area of law
2. Use the synthesis to analyze the problem
3. Synthesizing is the step between your research
and your writing
Chapter 4
STATUTORY LAW
STATUTORY LAW consists mainly of the following:
1. The 1987 Constitution
2. Treaties and International Agreements
3. Statues enacted by Legislature
4. Administrative Rules and Regulations
5. Ordinances enacted by Autonomous Region
6. Ordinances enacted by Local Government Units
1. THE PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION – “law” and law
of the highest authoritativeness and obligation. As
“supreme law of the land”, it is the ultimate
authority to which reference must be made to
determine the validity of national laws,
administrative regulations, local ordinances and
executive actions.
a. Spanish Period
- Leyes Constitucionales de Espana
- Derecho Parliamentario Espanol (3 volumes)
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- Ponce, Efemerides Filipinas
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- Prologue, Filipinas en las Cortes
b. The Treaty of Paris
- Official Gazette, Vol. 1 (Appendix)
- U.S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 30
- Public Laws (Philippine Commission and Philippine
Legislative)
- Acts of Congress and Treaties Pertaining to the
Philippine Islands
c. The Malolos Constitution of 1899
- Heraldo de la Revolucion
- La Revolucion Filipina (Apolinario Mabini,
published by Bureau of Printing in 2 vols.)
- Reports of the Philippine Commission to the
President (Gov’t Printing Office, 4 vols.)
- Mis Memorias Sobre La Revolucion (Calderon)
- La Constitucion de Malolos (Kalaw)
- Archivo del Bibliofilo Filipino (Retana)
- Documentos para la Historia de Filipinas (Calderon)
- Planes Constitutionales para Filipnas (Kalaw)
- Resena Veridica de la Revolucion (Aguinaldo)
- Philippine Constitutional Law (Malcolm)
- The Philippine Islands (Blair and Robertson)
d. The American Period
a. Organic Laws
- Pres. McKinleys’s Instructions of April 7, 1900
- Official Gazette (Vol. 1 – Preliminary Number)
- Public Laws (Philippine Commission, Vol. 1)
- Reports to the Philippines Commission to the
President (Vol. 1)
- The Spooner Amendment of March 2, 1901
- U.S. Statues at Large – Vol. 31
- The Philippine Bill of 1902
- U.S. Statutes at Large – Vol. 32
- U.S. Code – Titles 2 and 48
- The Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916
- U.S. Statutes at Large – Vol. 39
- U.S. Code – Titles 2, 39 and 48
b. The Commonwealth Period
- The Tydings-McDuffie Law of 1934
- U.S. Statutes at Large – Vol. 48
- U.S. Code – Title 48
- Discussed in the Philippine Charter of Liberty by
Osias and Baradi
- The 1935 Philippine Constitution
- Public Laws of the Philippines (Vol. 30 – Appendix)
- Official Gazette – Vol. 34
- Messages of the President – Vol. 1 revised edition
(1936)
- Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention of
1935 by Sen. Jose P. Laurel (7 vols.)
- Journal of the 1935 Constitutional Convention (3
vols.)
- Journal of the Constitutional Convention of the
Philippines (7 volumes)
- Framing of the Philippine Constitution - 2 vols.
- Constitutional Convention Records (11 vols.)
- Secondary sources:
- Philippine Constitutional Law (Malcolm and Laurel,
Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Co., Manila,
1936)
- Constitution of the Philippines (Tanada and
Fernando, 1952)
- Philippine Constitutional Law (Martin, Rev. Ed.,
Philaw Publishing, Manila, 1954)
- Constitutional History (Francisco, East Publication,
Manila, 1956)
- Political Law of the Philippines (Tanada and
Carreon, 1956)
- Philippine Constitutional Law (Sinco, Community
Publishing, Manila, 2nd Ed., 1960)
- Philippine Annotated Laws (The Lawyers
Cooperative Publishing Co., 1956)
e. The Japanese Period (1943 Constitution)
- Official Gazette (Vol. 2 – Special Number 9-A)
f. Period After Philippine Independence in 1946
a. Martial Law Declaration
b. The 1973 Constitution
- Official Gazette (Vol. 68, No. 50; Vol. 69 No. 4)
- Constitutional Convention Archives – U.P. Law
Library
- From McKinley’s Instruction to the Constitution:
Documents on the Philippine Constitutional System,
Central Book Supply, Inc., Manila, 1978
- Secondary sources
- Constitution of the Philippines (Fernando, Central
Book Supply, Inc., 1973 Ed.)
- Philippine Constitutional Law (Gonzales, 4th Ed.,
Rex Book Store, Manila, 1975)
c. The Amendments to the 1973 Constitution
d. The Provisional Constitution of 1986 – Freedom
Constitution
- Vital Legal Documents in the New People’s
Government – Central Book Supply, Inc.
- Constitutionalism in the Philippines, 1997 (Rufus
Rodriguez)
e. The 1987 Constitution
- Official Gazette
- The New Constitution of the Philippines (Noledo)
- Constitutionalism in the Philippines (R. Rodriguez)
- Record of the Philippine Constitutional
Commission (5 vols.) and its 3-vol. Journals
- Secondary sources
- The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines with
Comments and Cases
- The Aquino Presidency and the Constitution
- The Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines
– A Commentary – 1996
- Textbook on the New Philippine Constitution, 1999
- Constitutional Law
- Human Rights: An Introduction Course
- Constitutional Law, Text and Cases
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- Principles, Comments and Cases in Constitutional
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Law
2. TREATIES AND INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS – 3. Compilation of Laws Initiated by the Council
a compact made between two or more independent 4. The Codigo Ovandino
nations with a view 5. General Compilation by Aguilar y Acuna and
to the public welfare Pinelo
- Official Gazette 6. The recopilacion de Leyes de los reynos de Indias
- Treaty Series 7. Compilations Subsequent to the Recopilacion
- Acts of Congress and Treaties Pertaining to the c. Evaluation of the Laws in the Philippines During
Philippine Islands the Spanish Period
- Philippine Treaty Series d. Materials on the Spanish Laws
- Philippine Treaties Index 1. Primary Materials
- The Lawyer’s Review, International La Documents a. Boletin Oficial
- Law of the Sea b. Gaceta de Manila
- Philippine Yearbook of International Laws – Vols. IX c. Archivo de Bibliofilo Filipino (5-vol., 1895-1905)
to XV d. Codigo Penal de Filipinas y Ley Provisional
- Documents in Contemporary International Law – 2 e. Codigo Comercio
vols. f. Codigo Penal
- Vital ASEAN Documents 2. Secondary Materials
- The Ocean Law and Policy Series a. Civil law
- Philippine Trade and Economic Agreements b. Criminal law
- World Bulletin c. Commercial law
- Secondary materials e. Legislation in the Philippines during the Spanish
- Cases and Materials on International Law period
- Public International Law – 1974 3. The period of the Philippine Revolution
- International Law – 1998 Ed. (Coquia Jr. and 4. The American Period
Santiago) 5. The Commonwealth Period
- International Law – 1998 Ed. (Cruz, I.A.) 6. The Japanese Period
- International Law, with Philippine Cases and 7. The Period after Independence
Materials and Asean Instruments – 1999 Ed. 8. The Martial Law Period
3. STATUTES ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE 9. Aquino’s Revolutionary Government
a. Legislation in General – is the formal enactment 10. Period under 1987 Constitution
of laws by competent authority and in the proper c. Publication on Philippine Statutes, in general
manner d. Summary of Philippine Legislation
1. Constitutional Provisions
2. Types of Legislation
3. Form of Statutes
4. The Enactment of Statutes
5. The Construction of Statutes
b. History of Philippine Legislation
1. Pre-Spanish Period
2. Spanish Period
a. Spanish Laws Made Applicable to the Philippines
1. The system of law in Spain and its antecedents
a. The Code of Euric and the Brevarium of Alaric
b. Fuero Juzgo
c. Fuero Real
d. Las Siete Partidas
e. Leyes de ToroNueva Recopilacion
f. Novisima Recopilacion
2. Modern Spanish Codes
a. Codigo de Comercio of 1885
b. Codigo Penal of 1870
c. The Codes of Civil and Criminal Procedure
d. Codigo Civil of 1889
b. Laws Specially Enacted for the Colonies
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1. Legislation for the Colonies

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2. First Collection of Laws Relating to the Colonies

4. ADMINISTRATIVE RULES AND REGULATIONS
a. Administrative acts and commands of the
President of the Philippines touching on the
organization or mode of operation of the
government of the rearranging or readjustment of
the districts, divisions, part or parts of the
Philippines and all acts and commands governing
the general performance of duties by public
employees or disposing of issues of general concern
are made effective by the issuance of Executive
Orders. Those orders fixing the dates when specific
laws, resolutions or orders are to have or cease to
take effect and any information concerning matters
of public moment determined by law, resolution, or
executive orders, take the form of proclamations.
Ordinarily, administrative orders are confined to the
exercise by the President of the Philippines of his
power deciding administrative cases. Sometimes
they may contain regulations for the conduct of
subordinate officers in the executive department in
the performance of their official duties.
During the Commonwealth Period, the
administrative acts and orders of the President were
published in the:
Executive Orders – 4 volumes
Proclamations – 7 volumes, covering period from
1935 to 1941
b. Executive Orders and Proclamations of the
Governor-General during the American period were
published annually in a set entitled “Executive
Orders and Proclamations”. Thirty-three volumes
were published until 1935, by the Bureau of
Printing.
Official Gazette and
Public Laws as appendices
c. Government agencies may also be grouped
together in accordance with their powers and
functions:
1. Agencies with implied quasi-legislative powers –
they have administrative rules and regulations
which have not been expressly directed by law to be
issued, but they are necessary in the proper
discharge of the functions of the agency.
Bureau of Forestry
Bureau of Prisons
National Bureau of Investigation
Bureau of Tourism Services
Department of Social Welfare and Development
2. Agencies with express quasi-legislative powers –
they are specifically authorized by law to
promulgate
implementing rules and regulations
Government Service Insurance System
Social Security System
Department of Labor and Employment
Bureau of Internal Revenue
Philippine Medical Care Commission
Board of Investments
3. Publications on Administrative Rules and
Regulations – usually published in Official Gazette;
each department, bureau or agency issuing orders
imposing penalty for their violation, rules and
regulations are expected to keep official records and
files thereof and mimeograph copies are usually
made available to the public.
General studies made of administrative offices and
their rule-making power include:
Administrative Law – Carreon
Administrative Law – Fernando & Fernando
Administrative Law and Revised Administrative
Code – Martin
Administrative Law of the Philippines – Rivera
4. Materials containing Administrative Rules and
Regulations are also found in The National
Administrative Register – containing rules and
regulations, circulars, memoranda and other official
issuance issued by different government agencies,
published quarterly; Vols. 1 to 12 (1990-2001) by the
UP Law Complex
5. Publications by the particular administrative
agencies:
a. Civil Service Commission
Book V of the Revised Administrative Code of 1987
on the Civil Service Commission – lays down the basic
policies and provisions of the law on the CSC as the
central personnel agency of the government. It also
presents the systems and procedures by which the
operation of the civil service are to be based
including personnel administration.
Omnibus Rules Implementing Book V of Exec.
Order 292 and Other Pertinent Civil Service Laws –
lays down the implementing rules adopted and
prescribed by the CSC to carry out the provisions on
civil service embodied in Book V of the Revised
Administrative Code of 1987. Also includes the
revised rules on appointments and other personnel
action and new rules on leave.
Uniform Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil
Service – embodies the uniform rules of procedure
in the conduct/adjudication of all administrative
proceedings, either disciplinary or non-disciplinary,
in the civil service both at the commission and
agency levels. It also contains the revised schedule
of penalties for the classifications of administrative
offenses.
Rules implementing the Code of Conduct and
Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees
(RA 6713) – lays down the prescribed rules set by the
CSC in the application/implementation of the
provisions of RA 6713 otherwise known as the Code
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of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials
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and Employees. Includes the full text of RA 6713.
 Revised Omnibus Rules on Appointment and Other
Personnel Actions – consolidated general rules and
policies on appointments and other personnel and
other personnel actions in the civil service. This
manual also lays down the responsibilities of the
human resources management officer/personnel
officer, certain modes of separation from the service
and prohibitions.
Omnibus Rules on Leave – a handbook containing
pertinent policies and implementing rules and
regulations governing leave administration. Also
includes a listing of leave privileges/benefits and
their corresponding entitlement and availment;
illustration of how to compute leave credits and
monetization.
Personnel Officers Manual – outlines the
responsibilities of the personnel officer in the
different areas of human resource management and
development such as recruitment and examination,
promotion, performance evaluation, appointments
preparation, leave administration, retirement,
personnel relations, discipline, benefits, rewards,
incentives and career development. It also discusses
the legal authority and objectives of the Council of
Personnel Officers.
Revised Policies on Performance Evaluation System
– presents a comprehensive discussion of the
revised policies on performance evaluation in the
civil service adopted by the CSC to install and
implement performance-based security of tenure.
The PES aims to draw up an objective assessment of
employee performance.
Agency Performance Evaluation System (A Model)
– a model for the development of PES designed by
the CSC. The pES Model will help or guide agencies
in preparing their respective PES based on
corresponding policies and its proper application.
Compliance with the revised PES by agencies is
crucial as it will serve as the basis for all agency
personnel actions such as promotion and grant of
productivity incentive bonus.
Memorandum Circulars 1992-2000 – an annual
compilation of all memorandum circulars issued by
the CSC in book form. Memorandum Circulars are
complied per year.
Qualification Standards Manual – contains an
alphabetical listing of roughly 4,000 positions in
government service with corresponding
educational, experience, training and eligibility
requirements. It also includes the positions’
respective salary grade level, and sector
classification. The qualifications listed in this level,
and sector classification. The qualifications listed in
this manual are the minimum requirement set by
the CSC for each position; agencies are not
precluded from setting higher standards that will
suit their needs.
CSC Memo Circulars Index (1988-1998) – contains
a listing of all memo circulars issued by the CSC
covering the period 1988-1998, classified according
to subject. It also indicates the newspaper and date
of publication for circulars which were published to
ascertain their respective dates of effectivity.
Manual on Definitions of Administrative Offenses
in the Civil Service – a handbook of definitions to
serve as aid for legal practitioners as well as
government workers involved in handling
administrative cases and other legal matters.
b. Securities and Exchange Commission
a. SEC POLIO, 1946 -1976
b. SEC BULLETIN
c. SEC WEEKLY BULLETIN
c. Central Bank
a. Financial journal
b. Central bank annual reports and compilations
d. Department of Labor and Employment
a. Rules and regulations implementing the labor
code
e. Department of Agrarian Reform
a. Comprehensive agrarian reform program and
presidential issuances
f. Department of Justice
a. Department of justice, revised circulars 1963
g. Dangerous Drugs Board
a. Dangerous drugs board regulations 1988
h. Board of Investments
a. Omnibus Investments code and implementing
Regulations 1989
i. Office of The Insurance Commission
a. Insurance Reporter
5. ORDINANCES ENACTED BY THE AUTONOMOUS
REGION – the 1987 Constitution created the
Autonomous Regions in Muslim Mindanao and in
the Cordillera. The legislative assemblies of these
autonomous regions enact ordinances to govern the
region and may create administrative agencies to
operate in the regions.
6. ORDINANCES ENACTED BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT
UNITS – the basic local government units are the
provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays. Each
of these units have lawmaking powers to pass what
is commonly called ordinances” (to distinguish them
from statutes enacted by Congress) which are
usually of local interest only. A local ordinance is
legally ineffective if inconsistent with statutes
enacted by Congress.
COMPUTERIZED LEGAL RESEARCH SERVICES – the
text of the Constitutions and statutes above
mentioned may be sourced from two computerized
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legal research services.
Page
1. Lex Libris – produced by CD Asia, Inc., with the
following databases:
a. Laws (Philippine Edition), Vol. I;
b. Taxation (Phil. Edition), Vol. II;
c. Jurisprudence (The Phil. Supreme Court Reports),
Vol. III
d. Department of Justice (Opinions of the Secretary),
Vol. IV
e. Local Autonomy and Local Government, Vol. V
f. Environment and Natural Resources, Vol. VI
g. Labor and Social Legislation, Vol. VII
h. Elections, Vol. VIII
i. Trade, Commerce and Industry, Vol. IX
j. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Vol. X
k. Securities and Exchange Commission, Vol. XI
2. Philjuris – produced by Gigabytes Research
Systems, Inc. also has a database on all laws of the
Philippines.
Chapter 5
CASE LAW
While statute law is derived from the lawmaking
agencies of the government, case law comes from
the judicial authorities of the State.
Case law may be divided into:
1. Decision Proper
a. Decisions of the Supreme Court
b. Decision of the Court of Appeals
c. Decisions of the Sandiganbayan
d. Decisions of the Court of Tax appeal
e. Decisions of the Regional Traila courts
f. Decisions of the Municipal, Municipal Circuit and
Metropolittan trial courts
2. Subordinate Decisions
a. Decisions of the Senate electoral tribunal and
house of representative electoral tribunal
b. Decisions of administrative agencies exercising
qausi judicial powers, such as:
i. Commission on Elections
ii. Civil Service Commission
iii. Commission on Audit
iv. National Labor relation commission
v. Insurance commission
vi. Housing and land Use regulatory board
vii. Department of Agrarian Adjudication board
THE PHILIPPINE JUDICIAL SYSTEM
A. PRE-SPANISH PERIOD – trials were held publicly
and decisions were rendered promptly. The accuser
and the accused faced each other with their
respective witnesses. The latter, to show their
honesty and sincerity, took an oath to this effect….
The disputants then began presenting their
arguments, buttressed by the testimonies of their
respective witnesses. The chieftain listened
attentively and the elders took mental notes of the
arguments. The disputant with more witnesses to
his side was adjudged as winner. In this case, the
chieftain, acting as Judge and executive, enforced
his judgment by siding openly with the winner and
compelling the defeated party to respect the
judgment of the honorable court. Under such
circumstances, the defeated party had no other
recourse than to bow to the inevitable.
B. SPANISH PERIOD – Magellan’s arrival in the
Philippines in 1521 became the basis for Spain to
claim and colonize the islands. Three Spanish
expeditions were sent to the islands which all ended
in failure. Finally on November 21, 1564, Miguel
Lopez de Legaspi sailed from Navidad, Mexico to the
“islands of the West towards the Moluccas” and
subsequently landed in the Visayan islands and
founded the City of Cebu in 1565. Manila was later
founded as a capital city in 1571. The foundation of
Spanish sovereignty over the Philippines had been
laid.
a. In General
Five components:
a. The law – to govern the conduct of the people and
regulate the relations among individuals and
between the individual and the sovereign.
b. The judiciary – which provided the mechanism for
the adjudication of disputes among individuals and
between the individual and the government of
state.
c. The law enforcement agencies – to uphold the
law and enforce the decisions rendered by judiciary.
- Cuerpo de Cuadrilleros – the municipal police
under the local government officials
- Guardia Civil – the national constabulary, the
forces of which were assigned to particular
provinces under the provincial commanders who
reported directly to the governor and captain
general
d. The prison system – for public punishment of
those who violated the law.
- Municipal jails
- Provincial jails
- Major penitentiaries such as the Bilibid Prison and
those in Cavite, Zamboanga and Marianas
- Penal farms or colonies in Palawan, Davao,
Cotabato and Zamboanga
e. Legal profession – group of persons with legal
training manned the judicial posts and acted as
advocates of individuals in protecting their rights.
- Lawyers who were either appointed to the
judiciary and public prosecution or were the
practicing lawyers
- Those who had some legal training who were
either notaries or clerks appointed to assist the
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courts
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Hierarchical structure of the judicial system:
The Crown
- King is the unquestioned head of Spanish
government
- As an absolute ruler, had the power to reverse the
rulings of the Council of the Indies
The Council of the Indies
- Decisions of the Real Audencia in certain cases
were appealable to the Council of the Indies in
Serville, Spain
- When the Council was abolished in 1834, its judicial
functions were assumed by a newly created Tribunal
Suprema de Espana de Indias
- Creation of the King – the unquestioned head of
Spanish government
The Real Audiencia
- Supreme tribunal in the Philippines
- Both had civil and criminal jurisdiction in cases of
appeal from the alcalde mayor or Corregidor
- Performed other functions aside from its judicial
duties
- The Governor had supreme judicial powers in the
Philippines. Even after the establishment of the
Audencia, the Governor continued participating in
the judicial affairs as President of the Audencia
The Alcaldes-Mayores (CFI)
- Alcalde mayor in pacified areas
- Corregidor in unpacified areas
- Acted as appellate judge for suits originating from
the gobernadorcillo
The Gobernadorcillos (Justice of the Peace Courts)
- base of the judicial structure;
- who governed the town or pueblo;
- had jurisdiction over all civil cases arising among
Indios, Chinese mestizos and Chinese that involve
small sums and petty criminal cases
Special Courts:
a. Ecclesiastical Courts – for the religious
b. Army and Navy Courts – for military personnel
c. Commercial Court – for merchants
d. Contentious Court – complaints against the
administration of the government
e. Treasury Court – for cases involving the royal
treasury, including cases of smuggling, etc.
f. Probate Court – adjudication of probate cases
The judicial system included the Department of
Public Prosecution which represented the
government and its institutions in the enforcement
of the law and in all civil and criminal actions to
which the state was a party.
Publication during the Spanish Period:
Jurisprudencia Civil
Jurisprudencia Criminal
C. THE AMERICAN PERIOD – with the establishment
of the American military government following the
surrender of Manila to the American army, provost
courts and military commissions were created. At
the same time, civil courts were
recognized for certain civil purposes. Subsequently,
by Act No. 136 of the Philippine Commission, the
existing courts were abolished and in their place
were substituted the courts provided in said act..
Thereafter, Congress of the United States, through
the Philippine Bill and. Later, the Jones Law,
approved and confirmed the organization of the
courts thus established. As ultimately evolved, the
judiciary system instituted was substantially
modeled upon English and American prototypes.
However, no division was made of the tribunals into
courts of law and courts of equity as they were
known and distinguished in England and most
jurisdictions of the United States. The same tribunal
dispenses both legal and
equitable relief.
The Audiencia Territorial de Manila (Supreme
Court)
o Chief Justice
o Eight Associate Justices
Court of First Instance
The Municipal and the Justice of the Peace Courts
Note: The uncivilized part of the Archipelago were
wholly unfitted to exercise the right of trial by jury.
D. THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM AT PRESENT
I. TRIAL COURTS OF LIMITED JURISDICTION –
limited to civil suits involving relatively smaller
amounts of money and to minor violations of
criminal laws. These are the tribunals in which most
of the controversies that occur in the community are
heard and at least provisionally decided. They are
the courts closest to the people. In this level, justice
be administered fairly and with dignity.
a. Metropolitan trial courts
b. Municipal trial courts
c. Municipal circuit trial courts
II. TRIAL COURTS OF GENERAL JURISDICTION –
involves an amount of money or a potential criminal
sentence, beyond the jurisdictions of the MTC,
MCTC, MTC.
a. Regional Trail Courts (Court of First Instance)
b. Shari’a courts under the Muslim code.
III. THE INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURT – is the
body that generally has exclusive appellate
jurisdiction over the decisions of the Regional Trial
Courts and other quasi-judicial agencies.
a. Court of Appeals
i. Presiding Justice
ii. 50 Associate Justice
8
b. Special appellate courts:
Page
 The Sandiganbayan – appellate jurisdiction over
certain criminal cases decided by the Regional
Courts, and also original jurisdiction over certain
types of criminal cases
Court of Tax appeals – act only on protests of
private persons adversely affected by the tax and
customs laws.
IV. THE COURT OF LAST RESORT (Supreme Court) –
at the top of the hierarchy which determines with
finality what the law is and should be. It has the
power to review on appeal or certiorari final
judgments and order of lower courts in certain cases
such as when errors or questions of law are invoked
and where the Constitution or validity of statues are
involved. It has original jurisdiction over petitions for
certiorari, prohibition, mandamus, quo warranto
and habeas corpus.
i. Chief Justice
ii. 14 Associate Justice
DOCTRINE OF PRECEDENT
a. STARE DECISIS, ET NO QUITA MOVERE – what has
been settled must not be disturbed.
RES JUDICATA – a matter finally decided on its
merits by a court having competent jurisdiction and
not subject to litigation again between the same
b. REVERSAL – has reference to the action of the
Supreme Court on a lower court judgment in the
same particular controversy. When the Supreme
court reviews the judgment of the lower court in a
case and concludes the lower court reached an
erroneous result in the case, it will reverse, set aside
the lower court’s judgment.
OVERRULES – one of the past decisions of the
Supreme court, the conclusiveness of that earlier
decision as a settlement of its particular controversy
is not affected, but the overruled decision is no
longer an authoritative precedent for other cases
that may arise in the future.
c. RATIO DECIDENDI - is the holding of the principle
of law on which a case was decided. It sets the
precedent and is binding on courts in the future.
OBITER DICTUM – is the language in a decision that
is not necessary to the decision.
d. BINDING – also called mandatory; when it comes
from the decisions of Supreme Court and it is the
ratio decidendi of the case.
PERSUASIVE – if the dicta comes from a respected
justice, it may be persuasive to the Court. Persuasive
authority can come from decisions of appellate
courts in other jurisdictions.
FORMS OF DECISIONS
MAJORITY OPINION / UNANIMOUS
CONCURRING
SEPARATE CONCURRING OPINION
SEPARATE OPINION
DISSENTING
CASE LAW MATERIALS
1. Decision proper
a. Decisions of the Supreme Court Official:
i. Advance Sheet – after the finality of the decision,
they are published in mimeographed form; made
available to the bench and the bar at the earliest
date possible, much earlier than their publication
ii. Official Gazette – official publication of the
government printed by the Bureau of Printing; the
decisions of the Supreme Court are published under
the section “Decisions of the Supreme Court”
iii. Philippine Reports – from August 8, 1901, printed
by the Bureau of Printing, now the Government
Printing Office; arranged according to dates of their
promulgation
iv. Philippine Reports (Reprints) – the destruction of
libraries and reserve copies of Philippine Reports in
the Bureau of Printing during the war necessitated
the reprinting of these reports and the undertaking
was entrusted by the Supreme Court to the Lawyer’s
Cooperative Publishing Co.
v. Jurisprudence Filipina – Spanish edition of the
Philippine Reports, also printed by the Bureau of
Printing; arranged in the same order as that of the
Philippine Reports
Unofficial:
a. Philippine Decisions
b. Philippine Reports Annotated
c. Philippine Reports Annotated (Central)
d. Supreme Courts Reports Annotated (SCRA)
e. Supreme Court Decisions (SCD)
f. Philippine Law and Jurisprudence (PHILJUR)
g. Supreme Court Unpublished Decisions (SCUD)
h. Supreme Court Advance Decisions (SCAD)
i. Supreme Court Excerpts (SCEX)
j. Summary of Supreme court’s Rulings
k. Citations: excerpts of Supreme Court Decisions
l. Title Index to Supreme Court Decisions 1945 –
1978
m. Supreme Court Decisions Title Index 1982-1985
n. The Sandiganbayan Reporter
o. The PCGG Reporter
b. Decision of the Court of Appeals
i. Appellate Court Reports
ii. Advance Sheets
iii. Official Gazette
iv. Courts of Appeals Reports
v. Court of Appeals Reports Annotated
c. Decisions of the Sandiganbayan
i. Sandiganbayan Reports
ii. Sandiganbayan Reporter
d. Decisions of the Court of Tax appeal
i. Official Gazette
9
ii. Court of Tax appeals Digest of Cutoms and Real
Page
Property Tax cases
iii. Court of Tax appeals Digest of internal Revenue
Cases by Colon Publication
e. Decisions of the Regional Trail courts
f. Decisions of the Municipal, Municipal Circuit and
Metropolitan Trial Courts
2. Subordinate Decisions
a. Decisions of the Senate electoral tribunal and
house of representative electoral tribunal
1. HRET Reports: Final Orders, Resolutions and
Decisions – 7 vols.
b. Decisions of administrative agencies exercising
quasi-judicial powers
Agencies with implied quasi-judicial powers –
agencies mostly with investigative functions:
i. Department of Foreign Affairs
ii. Commission on Immigration and Deportation
iii. Office of the President
iv. Secretary of Justice
v. National Wages Council
vi. Philippine Patens Office
vii. Bureau of Land Transportation
viii. Civil Service Commission
ix. Professional Regulatory Commission
x. Tanodbayan (Ombudsman)
Agencies with express quasi-judicial powers –
agencies given judicial functions over cases which
would otherwise go the regular courts of justice
were it not for the grant of such powers to these
agencies.
i. Insurance Commission
ii. National Labor Relations Commission
iii. Commission on Elections
iv. Government Service Insurance System
v. Social Security System
vi. National Seamen Board
vii. Commission on Audit
1. COA Regulations and Jurisprudence by Central
book Supply
viii. Employee’s Compensation Commission
ix. Civil Aeronautics Board
Administrative Bodies and Agencies exercising
quasi-judicial functions prepared by UP Law Center
1. Department of Finance
a. Bureau of Internal Revenue
b. Bureau of Customs
c. Insurance Commission
d. Central Board of Assessment Appeals
e. Fiscal Incentives Review Board
f. Phil. Export and Foreign Loan Guarantees Corp.
g. Phil. Crop Insurance Corp.
2. Department of Justice
a. Land Registration Authority
b. Commission on Immigration and Deportation
(now Bureau of Immigration)
3. Department of Agriculture
a. Sugar Regulatory Authority
b. National Irrigation Administration
c. National Meat Inspection Commission
d. National Food Authority
e. Quedans Guarantee Fund Board
f. Phil. Coconut Authority
g. Bureau of Plant Industry
4. Department of Public Works and Highways
a. Bureau of Research and Standards
b. Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System
c. Local Water Utilities Administration
5. Department of Labor and Employment
a. National Labor Relations Commission
b. Phil. Overseas and Employment Administration
c. National Manpower and Youth Council
d. National Maritime Polytechnic
e. Employee’s Compensation Commission
f. National Wages Council
g. Bureau of Labor Relations
h. Bureau of Working Conditions
i. National Conciliation and Mediation Board
6. Department of Health
a. Bureau of Food and Drugs
b. Phil. Medical Care Commission
c. Dangerous Drugs Board
d. Bureau of Research and Laboratories
e. Bureau of Licensing and Regulation
7. Department of Trade and Industry
a. Bureau of Trade Regulation and Consumer
Protection
b. Videogram Regulatory Board
c. Board of Investments
d. Bureau of Patents, Trademark and Technology
e. Export Processing Zone Authority
f. Garments and Textile Export Board
g. Bureau of Product Standards
8. Department of Environment and Natural
Resources
a. Land Management Bureau
b. Environment Management Bureau
c. Forest Management Bureau
d. Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau
e. National Electrification Administration
f. National Quarantine Office
9. Department of Transportation and
Communication
a. Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory
Board
b. Maritime Industry Authority
c. Philippine Ports Authority
d. Toll Regulatory Board
e. Civil Aeronautics Board
f. National Telecommunications Bureau
g. Bureau of Air Transportation (Air Transportation
10
Office)
10. Others
Page
a. Professional Regulatory Commission
b. Security and Exchange Commission
c. Social Security Commission
d. Central Bank
e. Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board
f. National Bureau of Investigation
g. National Land Titles and Deeds Authority
h. Register of Deeds
c. Publications of Administrative Agencies Exercising
Quasi-Judicial Functions
2. Commission on Elections
- The COMELEC has not published its decisions
3. Civil Service Commission
- Civil Service Board of Appeals have been published
by author Rivera
- annually
4. Commission on Audit
- COA Regulations and Jurisprudence – 1998 by JV
Go published by Central Book Supply
- COA Decisions Digest (1994-2000) by Reynaldo
Montalbo
5. National Labor Relations Commission
- Has not published its decisions
6. Insurance Commission
- Has not published its decision
7. Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board
- Human Settlements Regulatory Commission Legal
Digest, 1981, 3 vols.
8. Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication
Board
- Book entitled Jurisprudence on Agrarian Relations
by Ibay, 1973
9. Securities and Exchange Commission
- SEC Decisions, 1977-1981, published by Legal
Database Systems
- The decision making powers of the SEC were
transferred to the regular courts by virtue of the
Securities Regulation Code, RA 8799
10. Bureau of Internal Revenue
- Complete Numbered BIR Rulings by the Career
Development Center
- Digest of BIR Rulings by E.O. Ordono, 1986 to 1998
11. Intellectual Property Office
- The IPO has not published its decision
d. Computerized Legal Research Services
1. Lex Libris – produced by CD Asia, Inc., with the
following databases:
a. Laws (Philippine Edition), Vol. I;
b. Taxation (Phil. Edition), Vol. II;
c. Jurisprudence (The Phil. Supreme Court Reports),
Vol. III
d. Department of Justice (Opinions of the Secretary),
Vol. IV
e. Local Autonomy and Local Government, Vol. V
f. Environment and Natural Resources, Vol. VI
g. Labor and Social Legislation, Vol. VII
h. Elections, Vol. VIII
i. Trade, Commerce and Industry, Vol. IX
j. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Vol. X
k. Securities and Exchange Commission, Vol. XI
2. Philjuris – contains a digitized compilation of the
decisions and resolutions of the Supreme Court. It is
produced by Gigabytes Research Systems, Inc.
Chapter 6
LAW BOOKS OF SECONDARY AUTHORITY
Works which are not primary authority but which
digest, discuss or analyze legal provisions, judicial
decisions or define and explain legal doctrines and
terms are considered secondary materials. These
secondary sources can help analyze a problem and
provide research references to both primary sources
and other secondary materials.
A. CASE DIGESTS – are compilations of paragraphs
containing concise summaries of points in cases,
grouped under appropriate headings, the chief of
which are alphabetically arranged. Each paragraph
in case digests is complete in itself when it has
concisely and accurately stated the point decided
with reference to precise facts.
1. Philippine Digest – this publication of Lawyers
Coop. was designed as a companion set to the
Philippine Reports. It has a general scheme of
digesting cases and a system of numerous
references of such American counterparts as those
of the Lawyer Reports Annotated, the American Law
Reports, and the United States Court Reports with
modifications to suit Philippine law.
2. Republic of the Philippines Digest – this
publication also by the Lawyers Coop., dubbed
“Republic Digest” for short, starts from where the
Philippine Digest leaves off, cover all decisions of the
Supreme Court from July 4, 1946 through
September 1958, published and unpublished. The
set comprises Volumes 1 to 7 of digest paragraphs,
classified under pertinent topics, and Volume 8
devoted to an alphabetically arranged table of cases.
Vols. 9-17 cover decisions from 1958 to 1966.
3. Velayo’s Digest – covers not only decisions of
Supreme Court but also those of the Court of
Appeals. The main set of 25 vols. Covers the leading
cases of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals
from 1942 to 1960
4. SCRA Quick-Index Digest – this publication by
Central Lawbook Supply, Inc. has three volumes. The
first two volumes condenses Volumes 1 to 36 of
SCRA, while the third volume covers Volumes 37 to
61 also of SCRA up to 1974. Every year thereafter,
yearly digests have been coming out
11
5. Compendium of Philippine Jurisprudence –
authored by Celso L. Magsino and published by Rex
Page
Book Store, it has 12 volumes containing digests of 36 . Muslim Law
decisions of the Supreme Court from 1945 to 1980 37 . Natural Resources
6. Other Digests – the other digests are: 38 . Negotiable Instruments Law
a. Armando C. Castillo, Digest of Supreme Court 39 . Obligations and Contracts
Decisions, 9 vols. (1951-1964) 40 . Parliamentary Law
b. Napoleon Garcia, Complete Monthly Digest of 41 . Partnership
Supreme Court Decisions 42 . Persons and Family Relations
c. Navarrete, Digest-Index (of Supreme Court 43 . Philosophy, Legal
Decisions), for 1957 and 1959 44 . Political Law
d. Jurado, Leading Cases in Civil Law (Supreme 45 . Property
Court), for 1958-1960 46 . Rental Law
e. Daniel T. Martinez, Summary of Supreme Court 47 . Roman Law
Rulings, starting from 1986 following the topic 48 . Rules of Court
classification in 49 . Sales
the bar examination 50 . Securities Act
f. Jesus M. Elbinias, Philippine Judicial Weekly 51 . Statutory Construction
g. Supreme Committee, Supreme Court Digest 52 . Succession, Wills
B. TREATISES AND TEXTBOOKS – expositions by 53 . Tariff and Customs Code
legal writers on statutory law and case law 54 . Taxation
pertaining to a particular subject and published in 55 . Torts and Damages
book form. 56 . Transportation, Admiralty and Maritime Law
1 . Administrative Law 57 . Trial Practice
2 . Agency C. BAR REVIEWERS – bar review materials are very
3 . Agrarian Reform helpful to fourth year law students and those
4 . Arbitration Law reviewing for the bar. They are also very important
5 . Banking to legal researchers because they present a concise
6 . Building Code presentation of the law, legal doctrines and leading
7 . Business Law Supreme Court decisions in capsulized form. They
8 . Church Law are usually very current and include the latest SC
9 . Citizenship decisions.
10 . Civil Law Florenz Regalado’s Remedial Law compendium
11 . Civil Procedure (see Rules of Court) Albano Civil Law reviewer
12 . Civil Service Law Bernas The 1987 Philippine constitution –reviewer
13 . Commercial Law primer
14 . Constitutional Law Francisco Pre-week Memory Aidfd in all Bar
15 . Construction Law subjects 1997 edition
16 . Cooperative D. LEGAL PERIODICALS – the most serious and
17 . Corporation Law highly reputed legal periodical are the academic law
18 . Credit Transactions reviews are published by virtually all accredited law
19 . Criminal Law (Penal Code) schools as training grounds for student editors. They
20 . Education Act contain both articles by established scholars
21 . Election Law and student-written comments and case notes. Both
22 . Evidence lead articles and comments are marked by extensive
23 . Firearm Law footnotes, making them useful research tools.
24 . Insurance In addition to general law reviews, there is an ever
25 . Intellectual Property growing number of specialized academic journals,
26 . International Law (Public and Private) focusing on topics from ecology to industrial
27 . Introduction Law relations. Most of these are student-edited, but a
28 . Agrarian Reform (With Taxation and Coops.) few specialized scholarly journals, such as the
29 . Investments Law American Journal of Legal History and the Journal of
30 . Judges and Courts Legal History and the Journal of Legal Studies, are
31 . Labor and Social Legislation edited by faculty.
32 . Land Titles and Deeds Legal Periodicals - Ateneo Law Journal
12

33 . Legal Ethics Court of Agrarian Relations Journal

34 . Legal Medicine Far Eastern Law Review
Page

35 . Legal Research and Writing Francisco College of Law Journal

Integrated Bar of the Philippines Journal
Lawyers Journal
The Lawyers Review
Lyceum Law Review
MLQ Law Quarterly
Philippine International Law Journal
Philippine Labor Law Journal
Philippine Law Journal (of UP)
Philippine Lawyers Association Journal
Philippine Tax Journal
San Beda Law Journal
Tax Quarterly of the Philippines
The Law Review (UST)
University of the East Law Journal
University of Manila Law Gazette Journal
University of San Carlos Law Review
Leading Law Journal in the Philippines – Philippine
Law Journal of the UP College of Law which has been
in existence since 1910. It is distinguished by its
scholarly articles, reviews and commentaries. It is
exchanged with leading universities in the United
States and Europe and its articles by leading Filipino
academicians and students of the College of Law are
recorded in bibliographic listings around the world
Newspapers daily case digests – started by Justice
Federico B. Moreno
Manila Times
Daily Mirror
Bulletin Today
Times Journal
Daily Express
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Philippine Star
Business Day
E. LEGAL ENCYCLOPEDIA – while a textbook deals
with one subject or phrase of a subject of the law,
encyclopedia treats of all subjects. It is a
comprehensive treatise of the entire field of the law.
This whole field of the law is divided into topics
arranged in alphabetical order. It presents in concise
form, brief but comprehensive statements of the
current law upon said topics.
A legal encyclopedia as distinguished from law
dictionaries is a subject-book which presents to the
user the means of making his own definitions. It
deals with a whole field of law as distinguished from
treatise which treats of a portion of the subject. It
gives a literary statement of the law as distinguished
from digests which presents isolated summaries of
points of law.
Cyclopedia of Philippine Law – first attempt to
publish a legal encyclopedia in the Philippines, to be
authored by Alvir & Associates. However, only the
first volume containing a textual treatment of the
law from A to C was publish.
Encyclopedia of Philippine Law and Jurisprudence
(Pedro Venida) – only its first volume had been
published
Philippine Tax Reporters – specialized
encyclopedia on taxation; advertised as a 25-volume
cyclopedia, with annual supplements; deals
extensively with the National Internal Revenue
Code, special tax laws, tax rulings, circulars,
decisions and treatises. After three volumes, it
stopped.
The Philippine Legal Encyclopedia – Jose Agaton
R. Sibal; published by Central Law Book Publishing
Co.
F. LAW DICTIONARIES – are useful for identifying
the definitions of words in their legal sense or use.
For each word or phrase, a short definition is given.
Some also provide a citation to a court case or other
reference having the source of the word or
phrase.
Diccionario de Administracion de las Islas
Filipinas – published in 1887
Diccionario Juridico Recopilador – Martinez de
San Agustin, 1922; a study which included
chronological and alphabetical indexes of Philippine
legislation and jurisprudence.
Philippine Law Dictionary – Federico B. Moreno,
1972; it defined legal terms and phrases that, as part
of our law and jurisprudence, was necessary to a law
practitioner. Those definitions are related to
Philippine codes or statues and/or the authoritative
court decisions where they may be found by citation
to specific provisions of law or to reported cases.
Dictionary of International Law and Diplomacy –
Gamboa
Philippine Labor Dictionary – Isidro (1966)
Dictionary of Insurance Terms and Phrases –
Tiopanco (1976)
Chapter 7
SEARCH MATERIALS AND FINDING TOOLS
There have been a large volume of statutory law and
case law that have been churned out by our
legislative mill and judicial branch of government
since 1900 and the legal researcher needs some
means of subject access into this large body of law.
The effective operation of the doctrine of precedent
requires that prior decisions be easily available.
Without a topical approach to legal sources,
researchers could not find existing decisions or
statues on point. We therefore need search
materials and finding tools for legal research. The
purpose of these materials and tools is not to
persuade, nor do they themselves have any primary
13
or persuasive authority. They are only means for
locating primary sources. It is then necessary to read
Page
those primary sources to determine their
applicability to a particular situation. In legal
research, as in other sense of relevance – a keen
appreciation of which sources are legally and
factually relevant to the specific inquiry.
A. CITATORS – supply references to decisions in
which other cases have been cited, reviewed,
affirmed, reversed, overruled, criticized or
commented upon, and to cases in which statutes
have been construed, and to statutes in which prior
acts have been amended, renewed or repealed.
Philippine Citations – first citator published in the
Philippines; Dizon (1937); 2 volumes which contain
complete citations found in Vols. 2 to 64 of the
Philippine Reports and in the Official Gazette to April
1947 (including occupation issues) of the decisions
of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals as
well as of Philippine laws, including Royal Decrees
and Orders, Ordinances of the City of Manila, and
other matters. This citatory provides the researcher
with knowledge at a glance whether a given
reported Philippine decision has been overruled,
criticized, limited in its application, distinguished or
followed in subsequent reported decisions.
Likewise, by consulting the citations to codes and
statutes, the researcher will have before him all
reported Philippine decisions wherein a particular
Philippine statute has been cited, invoked, applied,
construed or discussed.
Philippine Citations – next citatory publish in the
Philippines in 1964 by Paras; 2 vols., Volume 1 deals
with citations covering Vols. 1 to 82 of the Philippine
Reports and issues of the Official Gazette from 1942
to 1962. Volume 2 contains code citations, statute
citations, and citations of administrative rules as
well as Spanish laws applied to the Philippines.
Philippine Citator – contained in Volume 11 of the
Philippine Digest. It lists all the citations in the
Philippine Reports, the Supreme Court of Spain, the
United States Supreme Court, the other Federal
Courts, and the courts of various states and
territories of the United States. Citations in the
decisions of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals,
and Court of Tax Appeals, reported in Vol. 52 of the
Official Gazette are contained in the Citator which
forms part of the 1956 Official Gazette Desk Book.
For 1959 Supreme Court Decisions, a citatory is
offered in Navarrete’s Digest-Index. Citations are
also included in each volume of the
Philippine Reports.
B. INDEXES – usually means a subject-index which is
like the index found in textbooks, statutes, etc. A
subject index is an alphabetically arranged topical
words in which, by means of references under each
topic, materials relating to these topics
expressed in appropriate words is digested.
1. Indexes to the “Public Laws of the Philippine
Islands
2. Indexes to the Public Laws of the Commonwealth
3. Laws and Resolutions Index
4. Philippine Annotated Laws (P.A.L.) Index
5. Index to Republic Acts – Moran
6. Subject Index to Presidential Decrees and other
Presidential Issuances (until 1978)
7. Index Guide of Vital Legal Documents
8. Index – Isabelo Moran (Presidential Decrees)
9. Index in the Philippine Permanent and General
Statutes
10. Commonwealth Acts Annotated – Guevarra
11. Public Laws of the Commonwealth – Jacobo
12. Guevarra’s Annotated Laws
13. Philippine Treaties Index
Philippine Digest – Vols. 18-19
Republic of the Philippines Digest – Vols. 6, 9 11
and 13
Ateneo de Manila Libraries’ Index – covering 1911
to 1975 of Supreme Court Decisions
Title Index to Supreme Court Decisions – Milagros
Santos Ong; 1945-1978 with 1978-1982 supplement
SCRA Quick-Index
UP Law Library – with card indexes to legal
periodicals
C. BIBLIOGRAPHIES – a list of descriptions of
published materials either relating to a given
subject, or by a given author. A Pbibliography of law
books may refer to a list of an author’s legal works,
or of the literature bearing on a particular subject or
field
of law.
1. Philippine Legal Bibliography – Justice Federico B.
Moreno (1973)
2. Handbook on Legal Bibliography – Andres Soriano
(11984)
3. A Guide to Philippine Legal Materials – Fortunato
Gupit and Daniel Martinez (1993)
14
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