CONSTITUTIONAL LAW is the study of the maintenance of the proper balance between authority as

represented by the three inherent powers of the State and liberty as guar anteed by the Bill of Rights.

The fundamental powers of the State are:

1. the police power

2. the power of eminent domain
3. the power of taxation.

Safeguards in the Bill of Rights are:

1. the right to due process and equal protection

2. the prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures
3. freedom of expression
4. the impairment clause
5. the guarantees against injustice to the accused

CONSTITUTION
"That body of rules and maxims in accordance with which the powers of sovereignty are habitually
exercised”

Constitution of the Philippines

"The written instrument enacted by direct action of the people by which the fundamental powers of the
government are established, limited and defined, and by which those powers are distributed among the
several departments for their safe and useful exercise for the benefit of the body politic."

Purpose of the Constitution:

To prescribe the permanent framework of a system of government, to assign to the several departments
their respective powers and duties, and to establish certain first fixed principles on which government is
founded

Constitutions are classified into written or unwritten, evolved or enacted, and rigid or flexible.

Essential Qualities of the Written Constitution

A good written constitution must be broad, brief and definite.

Essential Parts of the Written Constitution

A good written constitution contains three essential substantive parts. These are known as the
constitution of liberty, the constitution of government, and the constitution of sovereignty.

1. Constitution of liberty
-consists of a series of prescriptions setting forth the fundamental civil and political rights of the
citizens and imposing limitations on the powers of government as a means of securing the
enjoyment of those rights

- Article II, III, IV,V, and XII.

 2. Constitution of the government
-consists of a series of provisions outlining the organization of the government, enumerating its
powers, laying down certain rules relative to its administration, and defining the electorate
- Articles VI to XI

3. Constitution of sovereignty
- consists of the provisions pointing out the mode or procedure in accordance with which formal
changes in the fundamental law may be brought about
- Article XVII

Interpretation of Constitution
*should be read in accordance with the usual rules on interpretation and construction
*the canon that it should be interpreted in such a way as to give effect to the intendment of the framers

Should the constitution be petrified or progressive?

-the Constitution must change with the changing times lest it impede the progress of the people with
antiquated rules grown ineffective in a modern age

Important Rules (in case of doubt)

The constitution should be considered
1. self-executing rather than non-self-executing;
2. mandatory rather than directory; and
3. Prospective rather than retrospective.

Self-executing provision is a rule that by itself is directly or indirectly applicable without need of
statutory implementation
e.g. Bill of Rights

Non-self-executing provision is one that remains dormant unless it is activated by legislative

implementation
e.g. Article II, Section 4; Article IV, Section 3

Rationale of Self-executing as general rule:

To prevent the legislature discretion to determine when, or whether, they shall be effective, and make
them entirely meaning less by simply refusing to pass the needed implementing statute

Amendment or Revision
Amendment means isolated or piecemeal change only.

Revision means revamp or rewriting of the whole instrument.

Two steps are involved in the amendment or revision of our Constitution:

A. Proposal
3 methods of Proposal: constitutional convention, legislative action, and People’s initiative
-generally made either directly by the Congress or by a constitutional convention
-a mere amendment or change of particular provisions only, the proposal is better made by
direct legislative action
-overhaul of the entire Constitution, it will be advisable to entrust the task to a constitutional
convention
-the choice of the method of proposal is discretionary upon the legislature (n Occena v. Commis
sion on Elections)
- (Imbong vs COMELEC):
* The Congress, acting as a constituent body: to call constitutional convention by 2/3 votes of
their members
*Congress, acting this time as a legislative body, may pass the necessary implementing law
providing for the details of the constitutional convention, such as the number, qualifications,
and compensation of its members
-Section 2 of Article XVII: Amendments to this Constitution may likewise be directly proposed by
the people through initiative upon petition of at least twelve per centum of the total number of
registered voters, of which every legislative district must be represented by at least three per
centum of the registered voters therein –THIS IS NOT SELF-EXECUTING AND ONLY APPLIES TO
AMENDMENTS (see Santiago vs COMELEC, PIRMA vs COMELE)

3 Theories on the Position of the Constitutional Convention:

1. Theory of Conventional Sovereignty

Loomis v. Jackson: the constitutional convention is supreme over the other departments of the
government because the powers it exercises are in the nature of sovereign powers
2. Wood's Appeal-
-the constitutional convention inferior to the other departments of the government since it is
merely a creation of the legislature
3. Frantz v. Autry:
-declares that as long as it exists and confines itself within the sphere of its jurisdiction, the
constitutional convention must be considered independent of and co-equal with the other
departments of the government ----this theory is most widely accepted in this jurisdiction since
the case of Mabanag v.Lopez Vito

B. Ratification
-any amendment to or revision shall be valid when ratified by a majority of the votes cast in a
plebiscite held not earlier than sixty days nor later than ninety days after the approval of such
change by the Congress or the constitutional convention or after the certification by the
Commission on Elections of the sufficiency of the petition under Section 2
-requirement for ratification thus involves the people themselves