ADMINISTRATIVE LAW NOTES

Political Law
-That branch of public law which deals with the
organizations and operations of the governmental
organs of the State and defines the relations of the
State with the inhabitants of its territory

Scope and Divisions of Political Law
1. Constitutional Law
2. Adminitrative Law
3. Law on Municipal Competition
4. Law of Public Officers
5. Election Laws

Definition of administrative law
-The branch of public law that fixes the organization
of the government and determines competence of
authorities who execute the law and indicates to
individual remedies for the violations of his rights.
Difference between Admin Law and
Constitutional Law

CONSTITUTIONAL
LAW
ADMINISTRATIVE
LAW
Prescribes the general
plan or framework of
governmental
organization
Gives and carries out the
general plan or
framework of
governmental
organization in its
minutest details
Treats of the rights of the
individual
Treats the rights of the
individual from the
standpoint of the powers
of the government
Stresses upon the rights Emphasizes the powers
of government and duties
of the citizens
Prescribes limitations on
the powers of the
government to protect the
rights of individuals
against abuse in their
exercise
Indicates to individuals
remedies for the
violation of rights
Supplements
constitutional law
Complements
constitutional law insofar
as it determines the rules
relative to the activity of
the administrative
authorities

Law on Public Administration
-it has to do with the practical management and
direction of the various organs of the State and the
execution of state policies by the executive and
administrative officers entrusted with such functions.
Purpose
Administrative agencies defined
-Term used generally to describe an agency
exercising some significant combination of
executive, legislative, and judicial powers
-It is a government body charged with administering
and implementing particular legislation

Difference between Admin Body and Court
ADMINISTRATIVE
BODIES/AGENCIES
COURT
Generally a large
organization staffed by
men who are deemed to
become something of
experts in their particular
fields
Is a tribunal which is
presided by one or more
jurist learned in law
Performs a variety of
functions
Has only one function-
judicial
Uses a varying degree of
discretion in arriving at
decisions
More or less governed
by fixed rules in arriving
at its decisions
often proceeds without
being bound by technical
rules
Bound by rules that no
final adjudication is to
be made until after due
notice to the parties with
opportunity for a full
and fair hearing

Basic constitutional concepts

Doctrine of Separation of Powers
-The Philippines is a republic with a presidential
form of government wherein power is equally
divided among its three branches: executive,
legislative, and judicial.
One basic corollary in a presidential system of
government is the principle of separation of powers
wherein legislation belongs to Congress, execution to
the Executive, and settlement of legal controversies
to the Judiciary.
Case:
Eastern Shipping Lines vs POEA 166 SCRA
533

Facts: Davao pilot association filed a petition
against the Eastern shipping lines for sum of
money and attorneys fee claiming that herein
respondent rendered pilotage service to
petitioner, the lower court ruled in favor of the
respondent; herein petition for certiorari assailing
the decision of the CA.

The factual antecedents of the controversy are
simple. Petitioner insists on paying pilotage fees
prescribed under PPA circulars. Because EO
1088 sets a higher rate, petitioner now assails its
constitutionality.

Issue: won EO 1088 is unconstitutional

Ruling: it is axiomatic that administrative agency
like Philippine port authority has no discretion
whether or not to implement the law. Its duty is
to enforce the law, thus, there is a conflict
between PPA circular and a law like EO 1088,
the latter prevails. Petition is dismissed.

Doctrine of Non- Delegation- Art VI sec. 1
-The legislative power shall be vested in the
Congress of the Philippines which shall consist of a
Senate and a House of Representatives, except to the
extent reserved to the people by the provision on
initiative and referendum.

Permissive delegation of Legislative Power:

P- people (Initiative and referendum)
E- Emergency power of the President
T- Tariff (Art. VI sec 28)
A- Administrative Power
L- Local Government

1. Delegation to the people
Art VI Sec. 32-The Congress shall, as early as
possible, provide for a system of initiative and
referendum, and the exceptions therefrom, whereby
the people can directly propose and enact laws or
approve or reject any act or law or part thereof passed
by the Congress or local legislative body after the
registration of a petition therefor signed by at least
ten 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 thereof.
Art VI sec. 1-The legislative power shall be vested in
the Congress of the Philippines which shall consist of
a Senate and a House of Representatives, except to
the extent reserved to the people by the provision on
initiative and referendum.
2. Emergency Powers to the President
Art VI Sec 23(2)- In times of war or other national
emergency, the Congress may, by law, authorize the
President, for a limited period and subject to such
restrictions as it may prescribe, to exercise powers
necessary and proper to carry out a declared national
policy. Unless sooner withdrawn by resolution of the
Congress, such powers shall cease upon the next
adjournment thereof.
3. Tariff Powers to the President
Art VI Sec 28 (2)- The Congress may, by law,
authorize the President to fix within specified limits,
and subject to such limitations and restrictions as it
may impose, tariff rates, import and export quotas,
tonnage and wharfage dues, and other duties or
imposts within the framework of the national
development program of the Government.
4. Delegation to Administrative Bodies
-The power of subordinate legislation
5. Delegation to Local Government Units
People v Vera- Such legislation (by local
governments) is not regarded as a transfer of general
legislative power, but rather as the grant of the
authority to prescribe local regulations, according to
immemorial practice, subject, of course, to the
interposition of the superior in case of necessity.
- this recognizes the fact that the local legislatures are
more knowledgeable than the national law making
body on matters of purely local concern, and are in a
better position to enact appropriate legislative
measures thereon.

Test to determine Validity of Delegation
(applies to the power to promulgate administrative
regulations )
1. COMPLETENESS test. This means that the
law must be complete in all its terms and
conditions when it leaves the legislature so
that when it reaches the delegate, it will have
nothing to do but to enforce it.
2. SUFFICIENT STANDARD test. The law
must offer a sufficient standard to specify the
limits of the delegates authority, announce
the legislative policy and specify the
conditions under which it is to be
implemented.

Powers of Administrative Agencies
1. Quasi-legislative power / Power of subordinate
legislation
2. Quasi-judicial power/Power of adjudication
3. Determinative powers (Note: Senator Neptali
Gonzales calls them incidental powers)
Definition of Quasi-legislative power
-It is the authority delegated by the law-making body
to the administrative body to adopt rules and
regulations intended to carry out the provisions of a
law and implement legislative policy.
Distinctions between Quasi-legislative
power and legislative power
1. LEGISLATIVE power involves the discretion
to determine what the law shall be. QUASI-
legislative power only involves the discretion
to determine how the law shall be enforced.
2. LEGISLATIVE power CANNOT be
delegated. QUASI-legislative power CAN be
delegated.

Definition of Quasi-Judicial Power
It is the power of administrative authorities to make
determinations of facts in the performance of their
official duties and to apply the law as they construe it
to the facts so found. The exercise of this power is
only incidental to the main function of administrative
authorities, which is the enforcement of the law.

Determinative Powers

1. ENABLING powers
Those that PERMIT the doing of an act which the
law undertakes to regulate and would be unlawful
without government approval.
Ex. Issuance of licenses to engage in a particular
business.

2.DIRECTING powers
Those that involve the corrective powers of public
utility commissions, powers of assessment under the
revenue laws, reparations under public utility laws,
and awards under workmens compensation laws,
and powers of abstract determination such as
definition-valuation, classification and fact finding

3. DISPENSING powers
Exemplified by the authority to exempt from or relax
a general prohibition, or authority to relieve from an
affirmative duty. Its difference from licensing power
is that dispensing power sanctions a deviation from a
standard.

4. SUMMARY powers
Those that apply compulsion or force against person
or property to effectuate a legal purpose without a
judicial warrant to authorize such action. Usually
without notice and hearing.
Ex. Abatement of nuisance, summary destraint, levy
of property of delinquent tax payers

5. EQUITABLE powers
Those that pertain to the power to determine the law
upon a particular state of facts. It refers to the right
to, and must, consider and make proper application of
the rules of equity.

Ex. Power to appoint a receiver, power to issue
injunctions
Limitations of the Rule Making Power of Admin
Bodies

Cases:
1. Holy Spirit Homeowners Association vs.
Secretary Defensor, G.R. No. 163980, 3
August 2006
Quasi- legislative power is the power to
make rules and regulations which results in
delegated legislation that is within the
confines of the granting statute and the
doctrine of non delegability and separation of
powers.

2. Philippine Association of Service Exporters,
Inc. vs. Torres, 212 SCRA 298
Rules and regulations issued by
administrative authorities pursuant to the
powers delegated to them have the force and
effect of law; they are binding on all persons
subject to them, and the courts will take
judicial notice of them.
Both letters of instruction and executive
orders are presidential issuances; one may
repeal or otherwise alter, modify or amend
the other, depending on which comes later.

3. Land Bank v CA, 249 SCRA 149
The Court nullified DAR Adm. Circular No
9, which allowed the opening of a trust
account in behalf of the landowner as
compensation for the property taken, because
Sec 16 (e), RA 6657, is specific that the
deposit must be made in cash or in land
bank bonds. The implementing regulation
cannot outweigh the clear provision of the
law.

4. Commissioners of Internal Revenue v. CA,
240 SCRA 368
Administrative issuances must not override,
but must remain consistent with the law they
seek to apply and implement. They are
intended to carry out, not to supplant nor
modify, the law.

5. Ople v Torres 293 SCRA 141
What is Administrative Power?

Held: Administrative power is concerned
with the work of applying policies and
enforcing orders as determined by proper
governmental organs. It enables the
President to fix a uniform standard of
administrative efficiency and check the
official conduct of his agents. To this end, he
can issue administrative orders, rules and
regulations. (Ople v. Torres, G.R. No.
127685, July 23, 1998 [Puno])

What is an Administrative Order?

Held: An administrative order is an
ordinance issued by the President which
relates to specific aspects in the
administrative operation of government. It
must be in harmony with the law and should
be for the sole purpose of implementing the
law and carrying out the legislative policy.
(Ople v. Torres, G.R. No. 127685, July 23,
1998 [Puno])

- An administrative order is an ordinance
issued by the president which relates to
specific aspects in the administrative
operation of the Govt. it cannot be argued
that AO 308 (prescribing a National
Computerized Identification Reference
System) merely implements Administrative
Code of 1987. Such national computerized
ID reference system requires a delicate
adjustment of various contending State
policies, the primacy of national security, the
extent of privacy against dossier- gathering
by the government, and the choice of
policies. It deals with a subject which should
be covered by the law, not just and
administrative order
Different powers of Administrative agencies

a. Supplementary or detailed legislation-
rules and regulations to fix the details in
the execution and enforcement of a policy
set out in law. E.g. Rules and regulations
implementing the Labor Code.
b. I nterpretative legislation-
-they are rules and regulations construing or
interpreting the provisions of a statute to be
enforced and they are binding on all
concerned until they are changed. They have
in their favour the presumption of legality.
c. Contingent legislation-
-they are the rules and regulations made by
an administrative authority on the existence
of certain facts or things upon which the
enforcement of the law depends.

Internal Rules versus External Rules
o I nternal Rules- treats of the legal relations
between the government and its administrative
officers and of legal relations that one
administrative officer or organ bears to another.
-it comprehends such topics as the nature of
public office
-it considers the legal aspects of public
administration on its institutional side
o External Rules- concerned with the legal
relations between administrative authorities and
private interests

Requisites for validity of Administrtive Rules
and Regulation:

1. Issued under aauthority of law
2. Within the scope and purview of the law
3. Reasonable
4. Publication in the Official Gazette or in a
newspaper of general circulation.
5. Promulgated under prescribed procedure

Requisites for Validity of Administrative
Rules With Penal Sanctions:
1. law itself must declare as punishable the
violation of administrative rule or regulation;
2. law should define or fix penalty therefor; and
3. rule/regulation must be published.

Limitations on the Rule- Making Power
1. It may not make rules and regulations which
are inconsistent with the Constitution or a
statute, particularly the statute it is
administering ot which created it, or which
are in derogation of, or defeat, the purpose of
a statute.
2. It may not, by its rules and regulations,
amend, alter, modify, supplant, enlarge, or
limit the terms of the statute
3. The power of administrative officials to
promulgate rules in the implementation of
the statute is necessarily limited to what is
provided I the legislative enactment
4. A rule or regulation must should be uniform
in operation, reasonable, and not unfair or
discriminatory.

Doctrine of Subordinate Legislation
-power of administrative agency to promulgate rules
and regulations on matters of their own
specialization.

Concept of contemporaneous construction
ADMINISTRATIVE CONSTRUCTION; EFFECT:
Administrative construction is not necessarily
binding upon the courts. Action of an administrative
agency may be disturbed or set aside by the judicial
department if there is an error of law, or abuse of
power or lack of jurisdiction or grave abuse of
discretion clearly conflicting with either the letter or
the spirit of a legislative enactment.
1. Public Schools District Supervisors
Association vs. Hon. Edilberto de Jesus, G. R.
No. 157299, 19 June 2006
The power of administrative officials to
promulgate rules in the implementation of a
statute is necessarily limited to what is
provided for in the legislative enactment. The
implementing rules and regulations of a law
cannot extend the law or expand its coverage,
as the power to amend or repeal a statute is
vested in the legislature. However,
administrative bodies are allowed under their
power of subordinate legislation, to
implement the broad policies laid down in
the statute by filling in the details. All that
is required is that the regulation be germane
to the objectives and purposes of the law;
that the regulation does not contradict but
conforms with the standards prescribed by
law.

2. Commissioner of internal revenue v CA 261
SCRA 236
-the administrative rule is in the nature of
subordinate legislation designed to
implement a law by providing its details
(CIR v. Court of Appeals, 261 SCRA 236).
-An administrative rule in the nature of
subordinate legislation is designed to
implement a law by providing its details, and
before it is adopted there must be hearing
under the Administrative Code of 1987.
When an administrative rule substantially
adds to or increases the burden of those
concerned, and administrative agency must
accord those directly affected a chance to be
heard before its issuance.

LEGISLATIVE v. INTERPRETATIVE RULE:

A legislative rule is in the nature of
subordinate legislation, designed to
implement a primary legislation by providing
the details thereof. In the same way that laws
must have the benefit of public hearing, it is
generally required that before a legislative
rule is adopted there must be hearing.

3. Philippine Consumers Foundation, Inc. vs.
Secretary of Education, 153 SCRA 622

-The function of prescribing rates by an
administrative agency may be either a
legislative or an adjudicative function. If it
were a legislative function, the grant of prior
notice and hearing to the affected parties is
not a requirement of due process. As regards
rates prescribed by an administrative agency
in the exercise of its quasi-judicial function,
prior notice and hearing are essential to the
validity of such rates.

4. Ang Tibay v CIR
(Cardinal Primary Requirement of
Administrative Due Process)

1. The right to a hearing which includes the right to
present ones case and submit evidence
2. The tribunal must consider the evidence
presented
3. The decision must have something to support
itself
4. The evidence must be substantial
5. The decision must be based on the evidence
presented at the hearing
6. The tribunal or body of any judges must act on its
own independent consideration of the law and
facts of the controversy
7. The board or body should in all controversial
questions, render its decision in such manner that
the parties to the proceeding can know the
various issues involves and reason for the
decision rendered

Doctrine of Primary Jurisdiction
This doctrine states that courts cannot or will not
determine a controversy which requires the expertise,
specialized skills and knowledge of the proper
administrative bodies because technical matters of
intricate questions of fact are involved.
Relief must first be obtained in an administrative
proceeding before a remedy will be supplied by the
court even though the matter is within the proper
jurisdiction of a court.

Doctrine of Prior Resort
When a claim originally cognizable in the courts
involves issues which, under a regulatory scheme are
within the special competence of an administrative
agency, judicial proceedings will be suspended
pending the referral of these issues to the
administrative body for its view.
Note: The doctrines of primary jurisdiction and prior
resort have been considered to be interchangeable.

Doctrine of Exhaustion of Administrative
Remedies
Under this doctrine, an administrative decision must
first be appealed to the administrative superiors up to
the highest level before it may be elevated to a court
of justice for review.
Reasons :
1. to enable the administrative superiors to
correct the errors committed by their
subordinates.
2. courts should refrain from disturbing the
findings of administrative. bodies in deference
to the doctrine of separation of powers.
3. courts should not be saddled with the review
of administrative cases
4. judicial review of administrative cases is
usually effected through special civil actions
which are available only if there is no other
plain, speedy and adequate remedy.

Exceptions
o when the question raised is purely legal,
involves constitutional questions
o when the administrative body is in estopped
o when act complained of is patently illegal
o when there is urgent need for judicial
intervention
o when claim involved is small
o when irreparable damage is involved
o when there is no other plain, speedy ,
adequate remedy
o when strong public interest is involved
o when the subject of controversy is
private land
o -in quo warranto proceedings
o -When the administrative remedy is
permissive, concurrent
o -utter disregard of due process
o -long-continued and unreasonable delay
o -amount involved is relatively small
o -when no administrative review is provided
o -respondent is a department secretary
(DOCTRINE OF QUALIFIED POLITICAL
AGENCY ALTER EGO DOCTRINE)

Doctrine of Finality

Courts are reluctant to interfere with action of an
administrative agency prior to its completion or
finality, the reason being that absent a final order or
decision, power has not been fully and finally
exercised, and there can usually be no irreparable
harm.

EXCEPTIONS:
o Interlocutory order affecting the merits of a
controversy;
o Preserve status quo pending further action by
the administrative agency;
o Essential to the protection of the rights
asserted from the injury threatened;
o Officer assumes to act in violation of the
Constitution and other laws;
o Order not reviewable in any other way;
o Order made in excess of power