CONSTITUTIONAL LAW I

August 4, 2015
References:
The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines: A Commentary, 2009
Constitutional Structure and Powers of Government: and Cases (Part 1), 2010
I. Read following chapters in the References:
A. Introduction
B. Preamble
WE, THE SOVEREIGN FILIPINO PEOPLE, IMPLORING THE AID OF
ALMIGHTY GOD, IN ORDER TO BUILD A JUST AND HUMANE SOCIETY AND
ESTABLISH A GOVERNMENT THAT SHALL EMBODY OUR IDEALS AND
ASPIRATIONS, PROMOTE THE COMMON GOOD, CONSERVE AND DEVELOP OUR
PATRIMONY, AND SECURE TO OURSELVES AND OUR POSTERITY THE
BLESSINGS OF INDEPENDENCE AND DEMOCRACY UNDER THE RULE OF LAW
AND REGIME OF TRUTH, JUSTICE, FREEDOM, LOVE, EQUALITY, AND PEACE, DO
ORDAIN AND PROMULGATE THIS CONSTITUTION.
1. Function of Preamble in the Constitution
Sets down the origin, scope and purpose of the Constitution
Useful as an aid in ascertaining the meaning of ambiguous provisions in the body of
the Constitution
A source of light
2. Scope and Purpose of the Constitution
Origin: the will of the sovereign Filipino people
Scope and Purpose: to build a just and humane society and to establish a government
that shall embody our ideals and aspirations, promote the common good, conserve and
develop our patrimony, and secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of
independence and democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom,
love, equality and peace.
3. Significance of the grammatical first person We
Stresses the active and sovereign role of the Filipino people as author of the Constitution in
comparison to the formerly used third person The Filipino people.
4. Reason for use of Almighty God
More personal and more consonant with personalist Filipino religiosity as compared to the
former Divine Providence.
5. Meaning of Common Good (formerly General Welfare)
Projects the idea of social order that enable every citizen to attain his or her fullest
development economically, politically, culturally, and spiritually.
General welfare could be interpreted as the greatest good for the greatest number
even if what the greater number wants does violence to human dignity.
6. Significance of the Specification of Equality
Emphasizes that a major problem in Philippine society is the prevalence of gross
economic and political inequalities
7. Other Significant Addition to Previous Preambles
Under the rule of law and regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality and
peace. - final phrase

 Love - inserted as a monument to the love that prevented bloodshed in the February
Revolution
Truth - a protest against the deception which characterized the Marcos regime
Peace - last as the fruit of the convergence of truth, justice, freedom, and love.
8. Importance of the rule of law
Expresses the concept that government officials have only the authority given them by
law and defined by law, and that such authority continues only with the consent of the
people.
C. Article I. National Territory
Section 1. The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the
islands and waters embraced therein, and all other territories over which the
Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial, fluvial, and
aerial domains, including its territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil, the insular
shelves, and other submarine areas. The waters around, between, and connecting
the islands of the archipelago, regardless of their breadth and dimensions, form part
of the internal waters of the Philippines.
D. Article II
II. Read the following cases/articles:
A. Article I. National Territory
1. Magallona v. Ermita [G.R. No. 187167, 16 Aug 2011]
Prof. Merlin M. Magallona v. Hon. Eduardo Ermita (Executive Secretary)
Ponente: CARPIO, J.
Issue: W/N RA 9522 is unconstitutional.
a. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III) has nothing to do with
the acquisition or loss of territory.
UNCLOS III is a multilateral treaty regulating, among others, sea-use rights over
maritime zones (i.e., the territorial waters [12 nautical miles from the baselines], contiguous
zone [24 nautical miles from the baselines], exclusive economic zone [ 200 nautical miles
from the baselines]), and continental shelves that UNCLOS III delimits.
UNCLOS III was the culmination of decades-long negotiations among United Nations
members to codify norms regulating the conduct of States in the worlds oceans and
submarine areas, recognizing coastal and archipelagic States graduated authority
over a limited span of waters and submarine lands along their coasts.
b. Archipelagic Baselines of the Philippines (Republic Act No. 9522); Baselines laws such
as RA 9522 are enacted by UNCLOS III States parties to mark-out specific base points
along their coasts from which baselines are drawn, either straight or contoured, to serve as
geographic starting points to measure the breadth of the maritime zones and
continental shelf.
Article 48 of UNCLOS III on archipelagic States like ours could not be any clearer:

Art. 48. Measurement of the breadth of the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the
exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf shall be measured from
archipelagic baselines drawn in accordance with article 47.
c. Baselines laws are nothing but statutory mechanisms for UNCLOS III States parties to
delimit with precision the extent of their maritime zones and continental shelves.
In turn, this gives notice to the rest of the international community of the scope of the
maritime space and submarine areas within which States parties exercise treaty-based
rights, namely:
the exercise of sovereignty over territorial waters (Article 2);
the jurisdiction to enforce customs, fiscal, immigration, and sanitation laws in the
contiguous zone (Article 33);
and the right to exploit the living and non-living resources in the exclusive economic
zone (Article 56) and continental shelf (Article 77).
d. RA 9522 increased the Philippines total maritime space by 145,216 square nautical
miles.
Petitioners assertion of loss of about 15,000 square nautical miles of territorial waters
under RA 9522 is similarly unfounded both in fact and law.
On the contrary, RA 9522, by optimizing the location of basepoints, increased the
Philippines total maritime space (covering its internal waters, territorial sea and exclusive
economic zone) by 145,216 square nautical miles.
e. UNCLOS III; Congress decision to classify the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) and the
Scarborough Shoal as Regimes of Islands manifests the Philippine States responsible
observance of its pact sun servanda obligation under UNCLOS III.
Far from surrendering the Philippines claim over the KIG and the Scarborough Shoal,
Congress decision to classify the KIG and the Scarborough Shoal as Regimes of Islands
under the Republic of the Philippines consistent with Article 121 of UNCLOS III manifests the
Philippine States responsible observance of its pact sunt servanda obligation under
UNCLOS III.
Under Art. 121 of UNCLOS III, any naturally formed area of land, surrounded by water,
which is above water at high tide, such as portions of the KIG, qualifies under the category of
regime of islands, whose islands generate their own applicable maritime zones.
f. The recognition of archipelagic States archipelago and the waters enclosed by their
baselines as one cohesive entity prevents the treatment of their islands as separate islands
under UNCLOS III.
Separate islands generate their own maritime zones, placing the waters between islands
separated by more than 24 nautical miles beyond the States territorial sovereignty,
subjecting these waters to the rights of other States under UNCLOS III.
g. UNCLOS III creates a sui generis maritime space the exclusive economic zone in
waters previously part of the high seas.
UNCLOS III favors States with a long coastline like the Philippines. UNCLOS III grants new
rights to coastal States to exclusively exploit the resources found within this zone up to
200 nautical miles.
UNCLOS III, however, preserves the traditional freedom of navigation of other States that
attached to this zone beyond the territorial sea before UNCLOS III.

h. Absent an UNCLOS III compliant baselines law, an archipelagic State like the Philippines will
find itself devoid of internationally acceptable baselines from where the breadth of its
maritime zones and continental shelf is measured.
This is a recipe for a two-fronted disaster:
First, it sends an open invitation to the seafaring powers to freely enter and exploit the
resources in the waters and submarine areas around our archipelago;
And second, it weakens the countrys case in any international dispute over Philippine
maritime space. These are consequences Congress wisely avoided.
i. Archipelagic Baselines of the Philippines (RA 9522); the enactment of UNCLOS III compliant
baselines law for the Philippines archipelago and adjacent areas, as embodied in RA 9522,
allows an internationally-recognized delimitation of the breadth of the Philippines
maritime zones and continental shelf.
RA 9522 is therefore a most vital step on the part of the Philippines in safeguarding its
maritime zones, consistent with the Constitution and our national interest.
2. PHs Statement of Claim re WPS [22 Jan 2013]*
3. The South China Sea Dispute, Justice Antonio T. Carpio [July 2015]*
*Not provided by the Office
/
B. Article II. Declaration of Principles and State Policies
1. BCDA v. COA [580 SCRA 295 (2009)]
Bases Conversion and Development Authority v. Commission on Audit

Section 1.
The Philippines is a democratic and republican State. Sovereignty resides in
the people and all government authority emanates from them.
1. People v. Gozo - 53 SCRA 476 [1973]