CONSTITUTIONAL LAW I
REVIEWER
Political Law – a branch of public law
 By nature, it regulates the
relationship between the citizens and
the State. Thereby, organizing both
sides
 The parties and its effect:
o Binding between the parties
only
o Abrogated with Transfer of
Sovereignty
Constitutional Law –
 Subject
o Powers and Function of the
State
o Structure and Organization of
the state
o Limitations and liberties
 Nature
o Apportioning: apportionment
to
o Delimiting: delimits the
power and scope of each
department and branch
o Determining: Who can
exercise what power?
 Extent
o Express provisions
o Implications: implied matters,
principles, and policies that
exist in the Constitution
o Interpretation: of the text
above
Constitution
 Nature
o Body of rules
o In accordance which powers are
exercised habitually
 Purpose
o It prescribes the framework
of a system of government
o It assigns powers
 Effect
o Foundation: necessary
o Superior than
statutes/rules/ordinances
Module 1: Introductory Concepts and
Discussions
The Philippines has had a total of six
constitutions since the Proclamation of
Independence on June 12, 1898. In 1899, the
Malolos Constitution, the first Philippine
Constitution—the first republican
constitution in Asia—was drafted and
adopted by the First Philippine Republic,
which lasted from 1899 to 1901.
During the American Occupation, the
Philippines was governed by the laws of the
United States of America. Organic Acts were
passed by the United States Congress for the
administration of the Government of the
Philippine Islands. The first was the
Philippine Organic Act of 1902, which
provided for a Philippine Assembly
composed of Filipino citizens. The second
was the Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916,
which included the first pledge of Philippine
independence. These laws served as
constitutions of the Philippines from 1902 to
1935.
In 1934, the United States Congress passed
the Philippine Independence Act, which set
the parameters for the creation of a
constitution for the Philippines. The Act
mandated the Philippine Legislature to call
for an election of delegates to a
Constitutional Convention to draft a
Constitution for the Philippines. The 1934
Constitutional Convention finished its work
on February 8, 1935. The Constitution was
submitted to the President of the United
States for certification on March 25, 1935. It
was in accordance with the Philippine
Independence Act of 1934. The 1935
Constitution was ratified by the Filipino
people through a national plebiscite, on May
14, 1935 and came into full force and effect
on November 15, 1935 with the inauguration
of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
Among its provisions was that it would
remain the constitution of the Republic of
the Philippines once independence was
granted on July 4, 1946.
In 1940, the 1935 Constitution was amended
by the National Assembly of the Philippines.
The legislature was changed from a
unicameral assembly to a bicameral
congress. The amendment also changed the
term limit of the President of the Philippines
from six years with no reelection to four
years with a possibility of being reelected
for a second term.
During World War II the Japanese-sponsored
government nullified the 1935 Constitution
and appointed Preparatory Committee on
Philippine Independence to replace it. The
1943 Constitution was used by the Second
Republic with Jose P. Laurel as President.
Upon the liberation of the Philippines in
1945, the 1935 Constitution came back into
effect. The Constitution remained unaltered
until 1947 when the Philippine Congress
called for its amendment through
Commonwealth Act No. 733. On March 11,
1947 the Parity amendment gave United
States citizens equal rights with Filipino
citizens to develop natural resources in the
country and operate public utilities. The
Constitution, thereafter, remained the same
until the declaration of martial law on
September 23, 1972.
Before President Marcos declared Martial
Law, a Constitutional Convention was
already in the process of deliberating on
amending or revising the 1935 Constitution.
They finished their work and submitted it to
President Marcos on December 1, 1972.
President Marcos submitted it for ratification
in early January of 1973. Foreseeing that a
direct ratification of the constitution was
bound to fail, Marcos issued Presidential
Decree No. 86, s. 1972, creating citizens
assemblies to ratify the newly drafted
constitution by means of a Viva Voce vote in
place of secret ballots. Marcos announced
that it had been ratified and in full force and
effect on January 17, 1973. Although the
1973 Constitution had been “ratified” in this
manner, opposition against it continued.
Chief Justice Roberto V. Concepcion in his
dissenting opinion in the case of Javellana v.
Executive Secretary, exposed the fraud that
happened during the citizen’s assembly
ratification of the 1973 Constitution on
January, 10 – 15, 1973. However, the final
decision of this case was that the ratification
of the 1973 Constitution was valid and was
in force.
For every constitutional change the
Philippines has experienced, a
corresponding proclamation was issued in
order to celebrate the date that each charter
was put into full force and effect—with the
exception the 1943 Constitution.

Module 7: Declaration of Principles and
Policies
PREAMBLE
 The preamble is included in the
constitution during our general
education studies, although it does
not contain any rights. Since the
preamble is merely meant to serve as
an introduction, it in no way confers
any legally enforceable rights or
obligations.
 It encapsulates our goals and efforts
and is akin to a condensed version of
our constitution.
 It should be noted that the preamble
is the only part of the constitution to
begin with the first-person singular,
"we." It is to underline that the
people are ultimately responsible for
the constitution and not the framers,
our public officials, or our
government.
PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES
 Policies and principles are not the
same thing:
 A principle and a policy are intended
to be different, according to the
constitution's records.
o A principle is an underlying
reality or philosophical
precept that forms the basis
of all others.
o Policies are programs that are
intended to be implemented
to uphold a principle.
 Whether it's a policy or a philosophy,
the court stated that the requirements
in Article 2 are generally non-self
executory in many situations.
 The clauses throughout this article
cannot serve as the foundation for
actionable rights because they are not
self-executory. The application of
these clauses requires the existence
of enabling laws.
 These are declared in the constitution
because they are intended to be just
mere guides for carrying out
governmental plans, formulating and
legislating and in interpreting the
constitution itself.
 PRINCIPLES can be broken down
into 6 major groups:
o Philippines is a democratic
and Republican State
o Philippines renounces war as
a matter of state policy and
adheres to the generally
accepted principles of
International Law and also
adheres to International
Amity
o Adheres to civilian
supremacy
o Adheres to the government as
the protector of the people
and the people as the
protector of the state
o Adheres to promotion of
general welfare
o Adheres to the separation of
church and state
Philippines is a democratic and Republican
State
Section 1, Article 2 provides: The
Philippines is a democratic and republican
State. Sovereignty resides in the people and
all government authority emanates from
them. It is Republican because our
government is not directly run by the people
but by the representatives of the people
(Representative government). It’s not that
we do not have any sovereignty or power,
it’s that we surrender our power with
conditions- conditional surrender to our
representatives in order for them to carry out
the governmental functions necessary to
promote public welfare. So that ideally, we
elect those people as our representatives in
order to promote our public interest., but
then realistically, it’s not so much about us,
but it’s so much about them.
In the 1935 and 1973 Constitution, because
they are inspired so much by the American
government, emphasis has been put too
much in our Republican government, so
much so that our democratic part is
diminished, especially during the martial
law era. Because of the inspiration of the
EDSA Power, the democratic part of our
constitution was emphasized, we now have
provisions that allow people to directly
exercise their sovereignty
Renunciation of War and International
Amity
Section 2, Article 2:
The Philippines renounces war as an
instrument of national policy, adopts the
generally accepted principles of
international law as part of the law of the
land and adheres to the policy of peace,
equality, justice, freedom, cooperation, and
amity with all nations.
This provision only covers aggressive wars,
meaning, the Philippines will not participate
in wars that are for the purpose of conquest,
acquiring territory or attaining political
objectives (ex: Turkey attacking the borders
of Syria). Rightly so, our armed forces are
not sufficient.
Note however: This provision does not
renounce defensive wars. Because as matter
of international law and common sense,
defensive wars are subsumed into the very
existence and sovereignty of a nation.
Civilian Supremacy
-in our government, it is the civilian who has
supremacy over the military
-exactly why our president is a civilian but
he is the commander in chief of the armed
forces of the Philippines which exhibits that
civilians have supremacy over the armed
forces of the Philippines- we are a civilian of
the government.
Protector of the people
-government protects the people while the
people is the protector of the state
-because when we are invaded- the people
will defend the state, so when there are
emergencies, civilians may be compelled to
render military or civil service
Separation of Church and State
-when the constitution said that the
separation of church and state is inviolable,
it pertains only to these two:
1. Non-establishment of religion
2. Free exercise of religion
In the case of North Province of Cotabato
Vs. The Government of the Philippines, it
said that Section 28 was intended by the
framers as a splendid symmetry to the
right to information under the bill of
rights.
-It would be absurd absurd according to the
courts because the right to information is
self- executory but the splendid symmetry in
Article 2 is not self executory, so how come
that this right conferring provision and this
provision which recognizes the duty of the
government to release information even of
no one demands them is no-self executory?
-According to the courts, necessarily, since
these two are symmetrical, Sec. 28 should
also be self-executory, its effectivity
therefore need not require the passing of an
enabling law.
Module 8: Principle of Separation of
Powers
 The Separation of Powers is the
building block for the existence of
Judicial Review
 In the case of Angara vs Electoral
Commission – the principles of
separation of powers is adhere to in
this jurisdiction not by virtue of an
express provision of its constitution;
you cannot find any provision, article
or section by the constitution that
says “section” of separation of
powers
 It is implied from the division of
powers of the branches of the
government by virtue of the
constitution
 And in the same case sc said (2nd
phrase stated above)
 There are instances or provisions in
the constitution, scenarios that some
powers if not all of the powers will
blend.
 Example: Power of Judicial Review
– expanded certiorari jurisdiction
o The court said: “the court
exercises the power of
judicial review is augmented
by the expanded certiorari
powers, it process the
borders, it process the lines
given by the constitution and
reaching out to that
instrumentality or branch of
the government for the very
purpose of ascertaining the
compliance of the
constitution or by the
presence of grave abuse of
discretion amounting to lack
or excess of its jurisdiction
o So separated but not to be
intended to be restrained or
independent of each other
(read 2nd paragraph)
Thus, delegations of powers by the
legislature is allowed in the following
instances:
1. Delegation of tariff power to the
president under sections 28 (2) of
article 6 of the constitution
 Congress by way of obstructions,
the President is allowed to be
delegated with tariff powers
because the President has more
competence in determining tariff
powers
 Tariff Powers – customs imposed
to the goods coming from other
countries
2. Delegation of emergency powers to the
presidents under section 23 (2) of
article 6 of the constitution
 Allows delegation of legislative
powers for limited purposes to
the president by virtue of
emergency powers
3. Delegation to the people at large
 We have discussed people’s
initiative, to propose amendment
to the constitution, legislation,
and total ordinance
 Case: Defensor Santiago vs
COMELEC
o “That law is insufficient
only as so far as
constitutional
amendments is
concerned”
o But it is sufficient for
legislative and local
ordinance (recognized in
the exception of
legislature to its
legislative power because
then if there is a people’s
initiative to pass a law,
the people would directly
passes a law without the
intervention of congress
4. Delegation to the local government
units
 Local government units have
their own delegated powers
o Example: delegated
police power, delegated
taxation (these are valid
exceptions to the rule)
5. Delegation to administrative bodies
 Now, Administrative bodies are
so called the experts on specific
concerns
o If you have concerns
about health, the experts
on health are the
Department of Health
(DOH)
o If you have concerns on
education, the experts are
Department of Education
(DOE)
 They are specialized
agencies because of their
specialization, they have
gained expertise in their field
 Because they have expertise
in every department for
example in the matter of
Health for DOH, they are
therefore given/granted
delegated powers by
Congress
 o The Congress, by the
Supreme Court, they
are not competent to
address and provide
specific solutions in
specific problems
requiring specific
knowledge/expertise
In order for the delegation of powers to
valid, there must be:
1. Law – because the delegation is from
the legislature. The law delegating such
power must be able to pass these tests which
are also important or the valid delegation of
powers – completeness test and sufficient
standard test.
2. Completeness Test – it means or
requires that the law must be complete in all
its terms and conditions when it leaves the
legislation, such that when it reaches the
delegate the only thing that he needs to do is
enforce it.
3. Sufficient Standard Test – the law
must provide for sufficient standards,
standards which may be vague and general
in nature, but sufficient enough that it gives
the delegate a limit to the exercise of the
delegated powers. It means adequate
guidelines or limitations in the law to
determine the boundaries of the delegate’s
authority and prevent the delegation from
running riot.