Statutory Construction

Final Examination
Atty. Jack Andrew O. Miranda

I. Expound/explain briefly the following statements in not more than 4

sentences.
1. The legislative history of a bill is akin to the life cycle of a bill.
A bill is carried forward through all the stages of the legislative process
which must be adopted by the Congress before the bill becomes law.
These cycle constitute a simple and logical process in which each stage
transcends the one immediately before it, so that although the basic that
the bill be read a first (second or third) time ostensibly are the same, and
seem repetitious, they have very different meaning. Moreover, the House
does not commit itself conclusively in favor of a bill until the final stage,
when it takes a decision to let the bill pass from the House or not.
2. Whether a law should be given a strict or liberal construction depends on
the nature of the law itself.
Strict construction occurs when ambiguous language is given its exact
and technical meaning, and no other equitable considerations or
reasonable implications are made. Strict construction is the opposite of
liberal construction, which permits a term to be reasonably and fairly
evaluated so as to implement the object and purpose of the document.
3. Only laws passed by Congress needs to be published to have forced and
effect.
Under the Tañada vs Tuvera case, the petitioners invoked their right to
information on matters of public concern under Article IV, Section 6 of
the 1973 Constitution,4 and the principle that laws to be valid and
enforceable must be published in the Official Gazette or otherwise
effectively promulgated. They sought to compel the respondent public
officials to publish or cause to be published in the Official Gazette various
presidential decrees, letters of instruction, general orders, proclamations,
executive orders, letters of implementation and administrative orders.
Therefore, not only the law passed by the Congress need to be published
to enforce the law.
4. All acts of Congress could be the subject of statutory construction.
It is well settled that the principles of Constitutional construction: first,
verba legis, that is, wherever possible, the words used in the Constitution
should be given their ordinary meaning except where technical terms are
employed; second, where there is ambiguity, ratio legis est anima,
meaning that the words of the Constitution should be interpreted in
accordance with the intent of its framers; and third, ut magis valeat quam
pereat, meaning that the Constitution is to be interpreted as a whole
5. All issuances of the Executive offices could be the subject of statutory
construction.
It is a rule in statutory construction that every part of the statute must be
interpreted with reference to the context, i.e., that every part of the
statute must be considered together with the other parts, and kept
subservient to the general intent of the whole enactment.9 Because the
law must not be read in truncated parts, its provisions must be read in
relation to the whole law. The statute's clauses and phrases must not,
consequently, be taken as detached and isolated expressions, but the
whole and every part thereof must be considered in fixing the meaning of
any of its parts in order to produce a harmonious whole.10 Consistent
with the fundamentals of statutory construction, all the words in the
statute must be taken into consideration in order to ascertain its meaning
 6. Legislative intent is akin to legislative purpose which is the spirit of the
law.
The legislative intent is determined principally from the language of the
statute. When the language of a statute is clear and unambiguous, the
law is applied according to its express terms and interpretation would be
resorts to only where a literal interpretation would lead to an injustice. In
line with this, the courts have power to declare that a case which falls
within the letter of a statute is not governed by the statute because it is
not within the spirit and reason of the law the plain intention of the
legislature.

7. The Constitution and all laws passed by Congress stands on the same
footing.
It explained that the equal footing doctrine is generally a limitation upon
the terms by which Congress admits a state. That is, states must be
admitted on an equal footing in the sense that Congress may not exact
conditions solely as a tribute for admission, but it may, in the enabling or
admitting acts or subsequently impose requirements that would be or are
valid and effectual if the subject of congressional legislation after
admission. Thus, Congress may embrace in an admitting act a regulation
of commerce among the states or with Indian tribes or rules for the care
and disposition of the public lands or reservations within a state. “[I]n
every such case such legislation would derive its force not from any
agreement or compact with the proposed new State, nor by reason of its
acceptance of such enactment as a term of admission, but solely because
the power of Congress extended to the subject, and, therefore, would not
operate to restrict the State’s legislative power in respect of any matter
which was not plainly within the regulating power of Congress.
8. Statutory Construction entails both the act of interpreting and construing
a law.
Interpretation and Construction are not the same, however these two
terms may often used interchangeably. The difference between the
interpretation is is the art of finding out the true sense of any form of
words, that is, the sense which their author intended to convey, and
enabling others to derive from them the same idea which the author
intended to convey, while construction is the drawing of conclusions,
respecting subjects that lie beyond the direct expressions of the text, form
elements known from and given in the text, conclusions which are in the
spirit, though not within the letter, of the text. Given their difference of
the two, the purpose
9. The Senate and the House could on their own initiative take consideration
of any propose legislative measure.
This means that the
10. The spirit of the law may prevail over letter of the law.
It means that the statutes may be extended to cases not within the literal
import of their terms, if plainly meant to be included; for that which is
within the intention of the legislature, in the framing of the statute, is as
much within the statute as if it were within its letter. It is where the
statute is free from ambiguity and plainly shows what the legislature
meant, the letter of it is not be disregarded under the pretest of pursuing
its spirit and exceptions not made by the legislature cannot be read into
it.

II. Briefly discuss the process on how a bill becomes a law.

 Filing/Calendaring for First Reading
A bill is filed in the Office of the Secretary where it is given a corresponding
number and calendared for First Reading.

First Reading
Its title, bill number, and author’s name are read on the floor, after which it
is referred to the proper committee.

Committee Hearings/Report
Committee conducts hearings and consultation meetings. It then either
approves the proposed bill without an amendment, approves it with
changes, or recommends substitution or consolidation with similar bills
filed.

Calendaring for Second Reading

The Committee Report with its approved bill version is submitted to the
Committee on Rules for calendaring for Second Reading.

Second Reading
Bill author delivers sponsorship speech on the floor. Senators engage in
debate, interpellation, turno en contra, and rebuttal to highlight the pros
and cons of the bill. A period of amendments incorporates necessary
changes in the bill proposed by the committee or introduced by the
Senators themselves on the floor.

Voting on Second Reading

Senators vote on the second reading version of the bill. If approved, the bill
is calendared for third reading.

Voting on Third Reading

Printed copies of the bill’s final version are distributed to the Senators. This
time, only the title of the bill is read on the floor. Nominal voting is held. If
passed, the approved Senate bill is referred to the House of Representatives
for concurrence.

At the House of Representatives

The Lower Chamber follows the same procedures (First Reading, Second
Reading and Third Reading).

Back to the Senate

If the House-approved version is compatible with that of the Senate’s, the
final version’s enrolled form is printed. If there are certain differences, a
Bicameral Conference Committee is called to reconcile conflicting
provisions of both versions of the Senate and of the House of
Representatives. Conference committee submits report on the reconciled
version of the bill, duly approved by both chambers. The Senate prints the
reconciled version in its enrolled form.

Submission to Malacañang
Final enrolled form is submitted to Malacañang. The President either signs
it into law, or vetoes and sends it back to the Senate with veto message.

III. How should the following laws be construed and why?

a. Criminal Laws
Criminal laws must be strictly construed, that is, they cannot be
enlarged or extended by intendment, implication, or by any equitable
 considerations. In other words, the language cannot be enlarged
beyond the ordinary meaning of its terms in order to carry into effect
the general purpose for which the statute was enacted. Only those
persons, offenses, and penalties, clearly included, beyond any
reasonable doubt, will be considered within the statute's operation.
They must come clearly within both the spirit and the letter of the
statute, and where there is any reasonable doubt, it must be resolved
in favor of the person accused of violating the statute; that is, all
questions in doubt will be resolved in favor of those from whom the
penalty is sought.
b. Labor and Social Legislation
This concept of liberal approach is enshrined both in the Labor Code
and the Civil Code. More specifically, the Labor Code declares that all
doubts in the implementation and interpretation of the provisions of the
Code, including its implementing rules and regulations, shall be
resolved in favor of labor. The Civil Code likewise pronounces that “in
case of doubt, all labor legislation and all labor contracts shall be
construed in favor of the safety and decent living for the laborer.
This concept, however, should not apply where the pertinent
provisions of the Labor Code leave no room for doubt either in their
interpretation or application.
c. Tax Laws
Tax laws should be strictly construed, and, if any ambiguity be found to
exist, it must be resolved in favor of the citizen. But in statutes levying
taxes the literal meaning of the words employed is most important, for
such statutes are not to be extended by implication beyond the clear
import of the language used. If the words are doubtful, the doubt must
be resolved against the Government and in favor of the taxpayer.
d. Rules of Court
Under the Rules of Court, provides that the Rules should be liberally
construed in order to promote their objective of securing a just, speedy
and inexpensive disposition of every action and proceeding. Rules of
procedure are tools designed to facilitate the attainment of justice, and
courts must avoid their strict and rigid application which would result
in technicalities that tend to frustrate rather than promote substantial
justice.

IV. In the diagram/template I gave you - hierarchy of laws -- how would you
relate one to the other? Explain.