ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF LAW

LEGAL RESEARCH
FINAL PAPER

Submitted by:

HAZEL VIANCA I. ORTEGA

1F

Submitted to:

ATTY. CALOY CAJUCOM

Date of Submission:

DECEMBER 22, 2017

A. Sources

1. Official Gazette
The Official Gazette is the government of the Republic of the Philippines’ official public journal
and main publication. As such, the Official Gazette contains:

(1) all important legislative acts and resolutions of a public nature of the Congress of the
Philippines; (2) all executive and administrative orders and proclamations, except such as have
no general applicability; (3) decisions or abstracts of decisions of the Supreme Court and the
Court of Appeals as may be deemed by said courts of sufficient importance to be so published;
(4) such documents or classes of documents as may be required so to be published by law; and
(5) such documents or classes of documents as the President of the Philippines shall determine
from time to time to have general applicability and legal effect, or which he may authorize so
to be published: Provided, That for the purpose of this section every order or document which
shall prescribe a penalty shall be deemed to have general applicability and legal effect: And
provided, further, That the term “document” as used in this section shall include any order,
regulation, rule, certificate, license, notice, or similar instrument issued, prescribed, or
promulgated by any executive department, bureau, office, commission, independent board,
agency, or instrumentality of the administrative branch of the Government, but not the
legislative or judicial branch of the Government.1

It is published by the Director of Printing, as frequently as the public interest of the

Government may require.2 As a law student, in order to look for a specific topic in the Official
Gazette, I make use of the school’s library and access OPAC. Thereafter, I input words or topics
relevant to my research and include the Official Gazette in the search category in order to get
relevant data from such source. One may also make use of the index in order to look for a specific
topic in the Official Gazette.

2. Record of the Constitutional Commission Volume 1 of The Philippine Constitutional

Commission of 1986
The Constitutional Commission Record of 1986 keeps the compilation of records and journals of
the Constitutional Commission’s proceedings that lead to the accomplishment of the 1986
Constitution. Its frequency of publication solely rely on the frequency of revision in the Philippine
Constitution. All topic related to the Constitution are found here and in order to find for a specific
topic in the book, one may make use of the index and/or access the OPAC in the school library.

3. Treatise on Constitutional Law: Substance and Procedure Volume 3

Treatise on Constitutional Law by Ronald Rotunda, John Nowak and Jesse Nelson Young
provides for an up-to-date analysis and synthesis of federal constitutional law, which primarily focuses
on the Supreme Court, including origins of judicial review, sources of national authority, federal fiscal
powers, procedural due process, and equal protection.3 It is also based on American federal system.
This book is currently on its 5th edition. Since this book can be found in the library, one may look for it
by accessing OPAC and in looking for specific topics, one may browse in the Table of Contents.

4. Encyclopedia on Public International Law Volume 8

This book tackles about human rights and the individual in international law, including various
entries such as, extradition, hostages, (im)migration, kidnapping, minorities, missionaries, passports,

1
An Act to Provide for the Uniform Publication and Distribution of the Official Gazette, Commonwealth Act No. 638,
§ 1 (1941).
2
Commonwealth Act No. 638, § 2 (1941).
3
Yale Law School Lillian Goldman Law Library, Treatise on Constitutional Law: Substance and Procedure., available
at https://library.law.yale.edu/treatise-constitutional-law-substance-and-procedure (last accessed December 21, 2017).
plebiscites, etc.4 Generally, it relates to topics involving the United Nations and its well-settled rule in
international law. Its frequency on publication depends on the frequency of updates in public
international laws. Since this book can be found in the library, one may look for it by accessing OPAC
and in looking for specific topics, one may browse in the Table of Contents.

B. Citation Format

For the Official Gazette

{Volume number} {Oғғɪᴄɪᴀʟ Tɪᴛʟᴇ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ Rᴇᴄᴏʀᴅ ᴏʀ Jᴏᴜʀɴᴀʟ}, {Session number, if any}, {pinpoint
citation} ({year}).

For the Record of the Constitutional Commission Volume 1

{Volume number} {Oғғɪᴄɪᴀʟ Tɪᴛʟᴇ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ Rᴇᴄᴏʀᴅ ᴏʀ Jᴏᴜʀɴᴀʟ}, {pinpoint citation} ({year}).

For the Treatise on Constitutional Law: Substance and Procedure Volume 3

{Aᴜᴛʜᴏʀ}, Eᴛ ᴀʟ., {Tɪᴛʟᴇ} {pinpoint citation} ({year of publication}).

For the Encyclopedia on Public International Law Volume 8

{Aᴜᴛʜᴏʀ}, {Tɪᴛʟᴇ} {pinpoint citation} ({year of publication}).

4
Ko Swan Sik, Encyclopedia of Public International Law, North Holland Publ. Co., Amsterdam-New York: Instalment
8: Human Rights and the Individual in International Law; International Economic Law (1985), XVI + 551 pp.
Instalment 9: International Relations and Legal Cooperation in General; Diplomacy and Consular Relations (1986),
XVI + 425 pp., available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/netherlands-international-law-
review/article/encyclopedia-of-public-international-law-north-holland-publ-co-amsterdamnew-york-instalment-8-
human-rights-and-the-individual-in-international-law-international-economic-law-1985-xvi-551-pp-instalment-9-
international-relations-and-legal-cooperation-in-general-diplomacy-and-consular-relations-1986-xvi-425-
pp/57DDBB27E480C3EF0901AD2FA03B17C4 (last accessed December 21, 2017).
C. Research Paragraph

According to Bernhardt, individua’s rights and interests are in principle subject to protection by
national law and within the domestic jurisdiction.5 The Philippine Government highly recognizes the
value of every person’s rights, as expressed in the Article III of the 1987 Constitution. In fact, Fr.
Bernas, in his sponsorship speech, expressed that Article III concerns not about the relation between a
private individual to another individual, but governs about the relationship between the individual and
the state.6 An example of this is the freedom of speech. Generally, freedom of speech is one of the
many rights recognized not only by the Philippines but by the other countries as well. It is believed
that freedom of speech is something that must be rightfully exercised by individual because

...once we allow the government to restrict the freedom of speech, we may have taken a path
which is a ‘slippery slope’. Particularly so since a central value of the press, speech, and
assembly lies in “checking” the abuse of power by public officials. Linedrawing in such an
abstract area is always difficult and especially so when a government’s natural inclination is
moving the towards more suppression of criticism and unpopular ideas. Thus even if one could
distinguish between illegitimate and legitimate speech, it may still be necessary to protect all
speech in order to afford real protection for legitimate speech.7

However, although there is such recognition, the exercise to free speech is still one of the dangerous
things to exercise. This is true especially to the members of the media. The Duterte administration
admitted such by recognizing local journalists who are killed in the practice of their profession. 8 In
response thereto, our local government passed Administrative Order No. 01 in order to create a
presidential task force on violations of the right to life, liberty and security of the members of the
media.9

5
Rᴜᴅᴏʟғ Bᴇʀɴʜᴀʀᴅᴛ, Eɴᴄʏᴄʟᴏᴘᴇᴅɪᴀ ᴏғ Pᴜʙʟɪᴄ Iɴᴛᴇʀɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟ Lᴀᴡ 444 (1989).
6
1 Rᴇᴄᴏʀᴅ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ Cᴏɴsᴛɪᴛᴜᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟ Cᴏᴍᴍɪsɪᴏɴ, at 674 (1986).
7
Rᴏɴᴀʟᴅ D. Rᴏᴛᴜɴᴅᴀ, Eᴛ ᴀʟ., Tʀᴇᴀᴛɪsᴇ ᴏɴ Cᴏɴsᴛɪᴛᴜᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟ Lᴀᴡ: Sᴜʙsᴛᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴀɴᴅ Pʀᴏᴄᴇᴅᴜʀᴇ, at 15 (1986).
8
112 Oғғɪᴄɪᴀʟ Gᴀᴢᴇᴛᴛᴇ, No. 42, at 7094 (2016).
9
112 Oғғɪᴄɪᴀʟ Gᴀᴢᴇᴛᴛᴇ, 1986 Pʜɪʟ. Cᴏɴsᴛ., at 7093.