Law Defined

Law is a science of principles by which civil society is regulated and held together, by
which right is enforced, and wrong is detected and punished.

It is also a body of rules governing the conduct of persons living in association with
others, under the guaranty of social compulsion.

It is a rule of conduct, just, obligatory, promulgated by legitimate authority, and of

common observance and benefit.

Sources of Law in the Philippines

1. The Constitution

"The Constitution is the fundamental and paramount law of the nation to which all
other laws must conform and in accordance with which all private rights must be
determined and all public authority administered. Laws that do not conform to the
Constitution shall be stricken down for being unconstitutional." ( Macalintal v.
COMELEC, G.R. No. 157013, July 10,2003)

Purpose: 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 principles on which the government is founded

Classification:

a. Written or Unwritten
• Written constitution is one whose precepts are embodied in one document
or set of documents
• Unwritten constitution consists of rules which have not been integrated into
single, concrete form but are scattered in various sources, such as statutes of
a fundamenta character, judicial decisions, commentaries of publicists,
customs and traditions, and certain common law principles.

b. Enacted (Conventional) or Evolved (Cumulative)

• A conventional constitution is enacted, formally struck off at a definite time
and place following a conscious and deliberate effort taken by a constituent
body or ruler
• Cumulative constitution is the result of political evolution, not inaugurated at
any specific time but changing by accretion rather than by any systematic
method.

c. Rigid or Flexible
 • Rigid constitution is one that can be amended only by a formal and usually
difficult process.
• Flexible constitution is one that can be changed by ordinary legislation.

Qualities of a good WRITTEN Constitution

1. Broad
- Not just because it provides for the organization of the entire
government and covers all persons and things within the territory of the
State but because it must be comprehensive enough to provide for every
contingency
2. Brief
- It must confine itself to basic principles to be implemented with
legislative details more adjustable to change and easier to amend
3. Definite
- To prevent ambiguity in its provisions which could result in confusion and
divisiveness among people

e.g. The 1987 Philippine Constitution

The 1935 and 1973 Philippine Constitution

2. Statutes
-include laws passed by Congress, municipal ordinance, court rules, administrative rules
and orders, legislative rules and presidential issuances

e.g. Republic Act No. 9593 or the Tourism Act of 2009

3. Judicial Decisions/ Jurisprudence

-under Art. 8 of the New Civil Code judicial decisions applying or interpreting the laws or
the Constitution shall form a part of the legal system of the Philippines.

e.g. Supreme Court Decisions

4. International agreements and treaties

-Section 2, Art. II of the 1987 Constitution provides that “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

e.g. Paris Agreement on Climate Change

Geneva Convention

5. Customs
 - Section 5 Art. XII provides that the Congress may provide for the applicability of
customary laws governing property rights or relations in determining the ownership
and extent of ancestral domain
- The State shall recognize, respect, and protect the rights of indigenous cultural
communities to preserve and develop their cultures, traditions, and institutions. It
shall consider these rights in the formulation of national plans and policies (Art. XIV,
Sec. 17, 1987 Constitution)
- Example of law enacted for the application of customary law is the Indigenous
Peoples’s Right Act of 1997;
- The application of customary law is limited to disputes concerning property rights or
relations in determining the ownership and extent of the ancestral domain, where all
the parties involved are members of indigenous peoples, specifically, of the same
indigenous group. It therefore follows that when one of the parties to a dispute is a
nonmember of an indigenous group, or when the indigenous peoples involved
belongto different groups, the application of customary law is not required. (Unduran
et.al v. Aberasturi, G.R. No. 181284, April 18, 2017)

WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF BILL OF RIGHTS?

The establishment of Bill of Rights is to protect the people from the government. The bill
of rights is a guarantee that there are certain areas in person’s life, liberty, and property which
governmental power may not touch.

Police Power

That inherent and plenary power in the State which enables it to prohibit all that is hurtful
to the comfort, safety, and welfare of society.
It is the most pervasive, the least limitable, and the most demanding of the three powers.
The justification is found in the Latin Maxims: “Salus populi est suprema lex” (Welfare of
the people is the supreme law), and “sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas” (Use your property
in such a way that you do not damage others)

Note:
- Regulates both liberty and property; eminent domain and taxation affect
only property rights
- Police power and taxation are exercised only by government; eminent
domain may be exercised by private entities
- Property taken in police power is usually noxious or intended for a noxious
purpose and may thus, be destroyed; while in eminent domain and
taxation, the property is wholesome and devoted to public use or purpose.
- Compensation in police power is the intangible, altruistic feeling that the
individual has contributed to the public good; while in eminent domain it
is the full and fair equivalent of property taken; while in taxation, it is the
 protection given and/or public improvements instituted by government
for the taxes paid
Note:
- Police power cannot be bargained away through the medium of a treaty
or a contract
- The taxing power may be used as an implement of police power
- Eminent domain may be used as an implement to attain the police
objective
-
WHO EXERCISE POLICE POWER?
- It is inherently vested in the Legislature (Congress)
- Congress MAY validly delegate this power to the President, to
administrative bodies and to lawmaking bodies of local government units

Requisites of a valid exercise of Police Power

1. Lawful Subject
-The interests of the public generally, as distinguished from those of a particular class,
require the interference by the state.
-This means that the activity or property sought to be regulated affects the general
welfare; if it does, then the enjoyment of the rights flowing therefrom may have yield
to the interests of the great number
2. Lawful Means
-The means employed are reasonably necessary for the attainment of the object
sought and not unduly oppressive upon individuals

Power of Eminent Domain

Inherent power of a nation or a sovereign state to take, or sanction the taking of, private
property for a public use without the owner’s consent, conditioned upon payment of just
compensation.

Just compensation- is the full and fair equivalent of the property taken from its owner by
the expropriator, the true measure of which is not the taker’s gain but the owner’s loss. It does
not only refer to the payment of the correct amount but also the payment within a reasonable
time from its taking because without prompt payment, the compensation cannot be considered
just. It pertains to the timely or prompt payment of an adequate value sufficient to recopu the
loss suffered by the property owner.

Power of taxation

Who exercises police power?

 The national government, through the legislative department, exercises police power. But
police power is also delegated within limits, to local governments.

BILL OF RIGHTS (ARTICLE III OF THE CONSTITUTION)

Sec. 1 No person shall be deprive of life, liberty or property without due process of law
xxx xxx

1. RIGHT TO LIFE, LIBERTY AND PROPERTY

2. DUE PROCESS CLAUSE

Right to life

The constitutional protection of the right to life is not just a protection of the right
to be alive or to the security of one’s limb against physical harm. The right to life is the
right to a good life.

While the right to life under Article III, Section 1 guarantees essentially the right
to be alive—upon which the enjoyment of all other rights is preconditioned—the right to
security of person is a guarantee of the secure quality of this life, viz.: "The life to which
each person has a right is not a life lived in fear that his person and property may be
unreasonably violated by a powerful ruler. Rather, it is a life lived with the assurance that
the government he established and consented to, will protect the security of his person
and property. The ideal of security in life and property . . . pervades the whole history of
man. It touches every aspect of man's existence." In a broad sense, the right to security
of person "emanates in a person's legal and uninterrupted enjoyment of his life, his limbs,
his body, his health, and his reputation. It includes the right to exist, and the enjoyment
of life while existing, and it is invaded not only by a deprivation of life but also of those
things which are necessary to the enjoyment of life according to the nature, temperament
and lawful desires of the individual. (Secretary of National Defense et al. v. Manalo et al.)

City of Manila v. Laguio, Jr. reiterated the broad conception of the right to life and liberty:

[T]he right to exist and the right to be free from arbitrary restraint or servitude.
The term cannot be dwarfed into mere freedom from physical restraint of the person of
the citizen, but is deemed to embrace the right of man to enjoy the faculties with which
he has been endowed by his Creator, subject only to such restraint as are necessary for
the common welfare. (Emphasis supplied, citation omitted)

The rights to life and liberty are inextricably woven. Life is nothing without liberties.
Without a full life, the fullest of liberties protected by our constitutional order will not
happen. Again, in City of Manila:
 While the Court has not attempted to define with exactness the liberty ...
guaranteed [by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments], the term denotes not merely
freedom from bodily restraint but also the right of the individual to contract, to engage in
any of the common occupations of life, to acquire useful knowledge, to marry, establish a
home and bring up children, to worship God according to the dictates of his own
conscience, and generally to enjoy those privileges long recognized ... as essential to the
orderly pursuit of happiness by free men. In a Constitution for a free people, there can be
no doubt that the meaning of "liberty" must be broad indeed.

"Life," then, is more appropriately understood as the fullness of human

potential: not merely organic, physiological existence, but consummate self-
actualization, enabled and effected not only by freedom from bodily restraint but
by facilitating an empowering existence. "Life and liberty," placed in the context of
a constitutional aspiration, it then becomes the duty of the government to facilitate
this empowering existence. This is not an inventively novel understanding but one
that has been at the bedrock of our social and political conceptions. As Justice
George Malcolm, speaking for this Court in 1919, articulated:

Right to property

The protected property includes all kinds of property found in the civil code. It has
been deemed to include vested rights such as a perfected mining claim, or a perfected
homestead or a final judgment. It also includes the right to work and the right to earn a
living.

Right to liberty

There is no one phrase or combination that can capture what it means to be free.
Liberty is not merely freedom from imprisonment or restraint. Liberty may be said to
mean that measure of freedom which may be enjoyed in a civilized community,
consistently with the peaceful enjoyment of like freedom in others. The right to liberty
guaranteed by the Constitution includes the right to exist and the right to be free from
arbitrary personal restraint or servitude. The term cannot be dwarfed into mere freedom
forom physical restraint of the person of the citizen, but is deemed to embrace the right
of man to enjoy the faculties with which he has been endowed by his Creator, subject
only to such restraints as are necessary for the common welfare.

3. DUE PROCESS CLAUSE

It entails the opportunity to be heard at a meaningful time and in a meaningful

manner.

TWO ASPECTS OF DUE PROCESS

A. SUBSTANTIVE

It is a prohibition of arbitrary laws; because, if all the due process clause required
were proper procedure, then life, liberty, or property could be destroyed
arbitrarily provided formalities are observed.

REQUIREMENTS:

1. The interference must be for the interest of the general public.

(Reasonableness)
2. The means are reasonably necessary for the accomplishment of the purpose,
and not unduly oppressive upon individuals (Arbitrariness)
NOTE: The legislature may not, under the guise of protecting the public
interest, arbitrarily interfere with private business or impose unusual and
unnecessary restrictions upon lawful occupations

B. PROCEDURAL

It relates chiefly to the mode of procedure which government agencies must

follow in the enforcement and application of laws. It is a guarantee of procedural
fairness. “Law which hears before it condemns”

Procedural due process in courts requirements:

1. There must be a court or tribunal clothed with judicial power to hear and
determine the matter before it;

e.g. (a) There was denial of due process when Commissioner Opinion, who was
formerly a law partner, obstinately insisted in participating in the case, thus,
denying the petitioner “the cold neutrality of an impartial judge”
(b) When the Court cross-examined the accused and witnesses, it acted
with over zealousness, assuming the role of both magistrate and advocate

2. Jurisdiction must be lawfully acquired over the person of the defendant or

over the property which is the subject of the proceedings;

(a) It should be emphasized that the service of summons is not only

required to give the court jurisdiction over the person of the defendant
but also to afford the latter the opportunity to be heard on the claim
made against him. Thus, compliance with the rules regarding the
service of summons is as much an issue of due process as of
jurisdiction;
 (b) While jurisdiction over the person of the defendant can be acquired by
the service of summons, it can also be acquired by the voluntary
appearance before the court, which includes submission of pleading
compliance with the order of the court or tribunal;

3. The defendant must be given an opportuity to be heard;

(a) Due process is satisfied as long as the party is accorded the opportunity
to be heard. If it is not availed of, it is deemed waived or forfeited
without violative of the constitutional guarantee
E.g. Lim v. CA, the Supreme Court said that the closure of Bistro
violated the due process clause, instead of arbitrarily closing down the
establishment’s business, Mayor Lim should have given Bistro an
opportunity to rebut allegations that it violated the conditions of its
license
4. Judgment must be rendered upon lawful hearing.
(a) Due process demands that parties to a litigation be informed how the
case was decided with explanation of the factual and legal reasons that
led to the conclusions of the court

Procedural due process in administrative cases:

1. The right to actual or constructive notice of the institution of proceedings

which may affect a respondent’s legal rights;
2. A real opportunity to be heard personally or with the assistance of counsel, to
present witnesses and evidence in one’s favor, and to defend one’s rights;
3. A tribunal vested with competent jurisdiction and so constituted as to afford
a person charged administratively a reasonable guarantee of honestly as well
as impartiality;
4. A finding by said tribunal which is supported by substantial evidence
submitted for consideration during the hearing or contained the records or
mae known to the parties affected.

4. EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE

Sec. 1 xxx xxx xxx nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.

The equality it guarantees is legal equality or, as it is usually put, the equality of all
persons before the law. Under it, each individual is dealt with as an equal person in the
law, which does not treat the person diffently because of who he is or what he is or what
he possesses.

Requirements for reasonable classification

1. Must rest on substantial distinctions;

 e.g. R.A. 9262

- There is unequal power relationship between men and women; the fact
that women are more likely than men to be victims of violence; and the
widespread gender bias and prejudice against women, all make real
differences justifying the classification

2. Must be germane to the purpose of the law;

- The law address violence committed against women and children

3. Must not be limited to existing conditions only;

- The classification was not limited to existing conditions only, and the law
applies equally to all members. The application of R.A. 9262 is not limited
to existing conditions when it was promulgated, but to future conditions
as well, for as long as the safety and security of women and their children
are threatened by violence and abuse.

4. Must apply equally to all members of the same class

- The law applies equally to all women and children who suffer violence and
abuse.

5. RIGHT AGAINST UNREASONABLE SEARCHES AND SEIZURES

Sec. 2 The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects
against unreasonable searches and seizures of whatever nature and for any purpose shall
be inviolable, and no search warrant or warrant of arrest shall issue except upon probable
cause to be determined personally by the judge after examination under oath or
affirmation of the complainant and the witnesses he may produce, and particularly
describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.

Purpose:
The purpose of the provision is to protect the privacy and sanctity of the person
and of his house and other possessions against arbitrary intrusions by State Officers.

What is the so-called “Zones of Privacy”

- Any discussion of the right to privacy
- The zones of privacy guarantees the (1) the right against unreasonable
searches and seizures, which is the basis of the right to be let alone; and
(2) the right to privacy of communication.

Categories of Privacy:

1. Decisional Privacy
 - Involves the right to independence in making certain important decisions
2. Informational Privacy
- Refers to the interest in avoiding disclosure of personal matters

TWO ASPECTS:

a. The right not to have private information disclosed

b. The right to live freely without surveillance and intrusion

TWO-FOLD TEST:
1. Subjective test- where one claiming the right must have an actual
or legitimate expectation of privacy over a certain matter.
2. Object test- where his or her expectation of privacy be one society
is prepared to accept as objectively reasonable.

Who are protected of such right?

1. It is available to all persons, including aliens, whether accused of a crime or not.
Artificial persons are also entitled to the guarantee, although they may be required ro
open their books of accounts for examination of the State in the exercise of police and
taxing powers.

NOTE:

1. The right to privacy is personal.

MEANING: It may be invoked only by the person entitled to it.
2. The right may be waived.
MEANING: It be invaded as long as the person having such right, expressly or
impliedly, allowed such invasion.
3. The right to privacy applies only as a distraint directed only against government and
its agencies tasked with the enforcement of the law. The protection cannot extend to
acts committed by private individuals so as to bring them within the ambit of alleged
unlawful intrusion by the government.
MEANING: The violation of the right to privacy can only be committed by government
officers.

What is a search warrant?

- It is an order in writing issued in the name of the People of the Philippines
signed by a judge and directed to a peace officer, commanding him to
search for personal property described therein and bring it before the
court.

Requisites of a valid Search Warrant

 1. it must be issued upon "probable cause";

What is probable cause for the issuance of a warrant of arrest?

It means those facts and circumstances which would lead a reasonably discreet and
prudent man to believe that an offense has been committed by the person sought to
be arrested

Probable Cause for a Search

It means those facts and circumstances which would lead a reasonably discreet and
prudent man to believe that an offense has been committed and that the objects
sought in connection with the offense are in the place sought to be searched

2. probable cause must be determined personally by the judge;

MEANING:
a. The judge shall personally evaluate the report and supporting documents
submitted to him by police officers and on the basis thereof he may make
personal determination of the existence of probable cause;
b. If he is not satisfied that probable cause exists, he may disregard the report and
require supporting affidavits of witnesses to aid him in arriving at a conclusion as
to the existence of probable cause
3. such judge must examine under oath or affirmation the complainant and the
witnesses he may produce;
4. the warrant must particularly describe the place to be searched and the persons or
things to be seized
MEANING:
- The search warrant must particularly describe the place to be searched and
the things to be search. This is to prevent abuse by the officer enforcing it
by leaving to him no discretion as to who or what to search or seize.

WHAT IS EXCLUSIONARY RULE?

This means that any evidence obtained through an invalid search warrant is inadmissible for any
purpose in any proceeding.

VALID WARRANTLESS SEARCHES

1. Warrantless search incidental to a lawful arrest;
TESTS:
a. The item to be search was within the arrestee’s custody or area of immediate control
b. The search was contemporaneous with the arrest
2. Seizure of evidence in “Plain View”;
REQUISITES:
1. A prior valid intrusion into a place;
2. The evidence was inadvertently discovered by the police who had the right to be
where they are;
 3. The illegality of the evidence must be immediately apparent;
4. Is noticed without further search
3. Search of a moving vehicle
There must be a highly reasonable suspicion amounting to probable cause that the
occupant committed a criminal activity.
4. Consented Warrantless search
Requisites:
1. That the right exist;
2. That the person involved had knowledge, either actual or constructive, of the
existence of such right;
3. That said person had an actual intention to relinquish such right.
5. Customs Search or Seizure of Goods concealed to avoid duties
6. Stop and Frisk
- The justification for and allowable scope of “stop and frisk” as a limited
search of outer clothing for weapons.
TWO TESTS:
a. The general interest of effective crime prevention and detection, which underlies the
recognition that a police officer may, under appropriate circumstances and in an
appropriate manner, approach a person for purposes of investigating possible
criminal behaviour even without probable cause;
b. The more pressing interest of safety and self-preservation which permit the police
officer to take steps to assure himself that the person with whom he deals is not
armed with a deadlt weapon that could unexpectedly and fatally be used against the
officer
7. Exigent and Emergency Circumstances

WARRANTLESS ARREST

A peace officer or a private person may, without warrant arrest a person:

a. When in his presence, the person to be arrested has committed, is actually committing,
or attempting to commit an offense;

b. When an offense has in fact has been committed, and he has personal knowledge of facts
indicating that the person to be arrested has committed it;

c. When the person to be arrested is a prisoner who has escaped from a penal establishment
or place where he is serving final judgment or temporarily confined while his case is
pending, or has escaped while being transferred from one confinement to another.