Constitution – supreme and fundamental law of the land, mother of all laws

- i s a m u n i c i p a l l a w ; i t i s b i n d i n g o n l y w i t h i n t h e t er r i t o r i a l l i m i t s o f t h e
sovereignty promulgating the constitution

* * F o r p u r p o s e s of s e t t l i n g i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o n f l i c t s , h o w e v e r, a l e g a l i n s t r u m e n t
p u r p o r t i n g t o s et o u t t h e t e r r i t o r i a l l i m i t s o f t h e st a t e m u s t b e s u p p o r t e d b y
s o m e r e c o g n i z e d pr i n c i p l e of i n t e r n a t i o n a l l a w.

P h i l i p p i n e s C o n s t i t u t i o n a l i s m – a c c e p t s t h e p r i n c i p l e t h at i t i s n o t t h e
c o n s t i t u t i o n w h i c h d e f i n i t e l y f i x e s t h e e x t e n t o f P h i l Te r r i t o r y

Constitutional Law
- d e s i g n a t e s t h e l a w e m b o d i e d i n t h e Constitution and
the legal principles growing out of the interpretation and application of its
provisions by the courts in specific cases.

THEORIES OF PHILOSOPHERS
1. Thomas Hobbes – man submitted himself voluntarily
- His power / authority will protect his life
- Governments are formed for the purpose of protecting one’s existence
2. John Locke – priority is given to the individuals than state
- If man is free, power of govt is limited
- Lead to bill of rights
3. Jean Jacques Rousseau – individual is part of sovereignty
- Man has to elect his representative to govern him
Nick Miles – strike balance between government power and individual freedom

FUNDAMENTAL POWERS OF GOVERNMENT (INHERENT POWER):

A. Police Power - power of the state to regulate liberty and property for the promotion of the
general welfare
B. Eminent Domain - enables the state to forcibly acquire private property, upon payment of
just compensation, for some intended public use
C. Power of Taxation - the state is able to demand from the members of society their
proportionate share or contribution in the maintenance of the government

CONCEPT OF CONSTITUTION:
1. Constitutional Government - is defined by the existence of a constitution—which may be
a legal instrument or merely a set of fixed norms or principles generally accepted as the
fundamental law of the polity—that effectively controls the exercise of political power
- Structure of government
2. Constitutional Liberty - that a person is free to make choices about, for example, what to
say or to do.
- Gave rise to bill of rights
3. Constitutional Sovereignty – amendatory / revision process
- It resides in the people
- People empower only themselves to revise them

Constitution - a written instrument by which the fundamental powers of the government are
established, limited, and defined, and by which those powers are disturbed among several
branches for their more safe and useful exercise for the benefit of the body

IMPORTANCE, NATURE AND PURPOSE OFCONSTITUTION

1. The people exercise d control of their government primarily through the Constitution which
protects from unjust exercise of governmental power and through periodic elections by
means of which they choose the officers to represent them.
2. A constitution is the supreme or fundamental law creating the government having been
enacted by the people themselves.
3. The purpose of the constitution is to draw framework or general outline of the system of the
government and to specific the respective powers and functions of the various branches of
government comprising this framework.

CONCEPTS OF CONSTITUTION:

1.) American or The Written Constitution (FROM US) – one which has been given definite
written form at a particular time usually by a specially constituted authority called constitutional
convention

a.) Generally the Americans conceive of a constitution as something that must be written, yet
this does not mean that the working or operation of the American government is based entirely
on the provisions of such written constitution.

b.) A constitution is the supreme law of the land which must serve as the basis of the acts of all
the different branches and officials in the government.

2.) English or The Unwritten Constitution (FROM GREAT BRITAIN) – no single modified
constitution; there are several parts of the constitution; laws are mostly from tradition used
throughout ages
- one which is entirely the product of political evolution ,consisting largely of amass of customs,
usages and judicial decisions together with a smaller body of statutory enactments of a
fundamental character, usually bearing different dates

a.) This means that it is a product of the gradual political growth and development, changing
slowly according to the demands of the times.

b.) A constitution is a mere formal law because its provisions are not superior to the acts of the
legislature or of the parliament.

Characteristics of a Good Constitution:

1.) Broad - A constitution must be broad in its scope because it outlines the organization of the
government for the whole state. A statement of provisions and functions of the government, and
of the relations between the governing body and the governed, requires a comprehensive
document.

2.) Brief - A constitution must be brief because it is not the place in which the details of
organization should be set forth. Some constitutions have been marred by the inclusion of pure
regulation.

3.) Definite - The constitution must be definite. In a statement of principles of underlying the
essential nature of a state any vagueness which may lead to opposing interpretations of
essential features may cause incalculable harm. Civil war and the disruption of the state may
conceivably follow from ambiguous expressions in a constitution.

Philippine Legal system - harmonious blending of civil law and common law system
- Private law are law traditions of spain (civil law)
- Public law are patterned with that of US
Carlotta – civil law of spain – 12/10/1898 (date when Spaniards sold the Phils to Americans) to
7/4/1946 (Americans gave over independence)

Persons and family relations – 1st civil law

Oblicon, will & succession – patterned under civil code of Spain
HISTORY OF DEVT OF CONSTITUTION IN THE PHILIPPINES:
Code of Kalantiaw – 1st coded law
- written in 1433 by Datu Kalantiaw, a chief on the island of Negros
- declared HOAX

1ST REPUBLIC: CONSTITUTION OF BIAK NA BATO (Republika ng Biak na Bato) –

11/1/1897
- President: Emilio Aguinaldo
- Lasted for 1 month
- Filipinos revolted against spain
- US entered treaty with spain which resulted to the sale of Philippines to Spaniards
(12/10/1898)

2ND REPUBLIC: JUNE 12, 1898 – General Emilio Aguinaldo

- Philippine independence was proclaimed and The Act of Declaration of Philippine
Independence was read
- Filipinos revolted against US. Gave rise to Philippine – American war (1899 – 1913)

Philippine Commissions
1st Phil Comm. - establishment of civilian government as rapidly as possible (the American
chief executive in the islands at that time was the military governor), including
establishment of a bicameral legislature, autonomous governments on the provincial and
municipal levels, and a system of free public elementary schools

2nd Phil. Comm. - it issued 499 laws, established a judicial system, including a supreme
court, drew up a legal code to replace antiquated Spanish ordinances and organized a civil
service
-1901 municipal code provided for popularly elected presidents, vice presidents, and
councilors to serve on municipal boards. The municipal board members were
responsible for collecting taxes, maintaining municipal properties, and undertaking
necessary construction projects; they also elected provincial governors

12/10/1898 to 3/24/1934 – governed by instruction from US president

2 ACTS:
1. Philippine Bill of 1902 (Cooper Act) – author Henry Cooper
- It provided for the creation of an elected Philippine Assembly after the following
conditions were met: (1) the cessation of the existing insurrection in the Philippine
Islands; (2) completion and publication of a census; and (3) two years of continued
peace and recognition of the authority of the United States of America after the
publication of the census. After the convening of the Assembly, legislative power shall
then be vested in a bicameral legislature composed of the Philippine Commission as
the upper house and the Philippine Assembly as the lower house
- it created Phil Bill of Rights 1907

2.Tydings Mc Duffie Law – officially the Philippine Independence Act; Public Law 73-127)
approved on March 24, 1934
- the act allowed the U.S to maintain military forces in the Philippines and to call all
military forces of the Philippine government into U.S. military service. The act
empowered the U.S. President, within two years following independence, to
negotiate matters relating to U.S. naval reservations and fueling stations of in the
Philippine Islands.
- gave rise to 1935 Constitution
- After Filipinos drafted its Constitution, it must be submitted to the US President
before implemented by the Filipino people
- Pres: Manuel L. Quezon
 *Transition from Commonweath to the Republic is the complete withdrawal of US
president to give us independence.

3RD REPUBLIC: 1935 CONSTITUTION

During Japanese time, Jose Laurel was President
11/15/1935 – commonwealth govt established by the constitution became operative
Phil. Independence came on 07/04/1946

4TH REPUBLIC: 1973 CONSTITUTION – parliamentary form of govt

09/21/1972 – martial law declared by Pres Marcos
1981 – amended for a presidential form of govt
Read: Javellana v Executive Secretary

Freedom Constitution – proclamation # 3 of Cory Aquino issued on 03/23/1984

5TH REPUBLIC: 1987 CONSTITUTION
- Drafted by Constitutional Commission on 02/02/1987

State - a community of persons, more or less numerous, permanently

o c c u p y i n g a d e f i n i t e p o r t i o n o f t e r r i t o r y, i n d e p e n d e n t o f e x t e r n a l c o n t r o l
, a n d p o s s e s s i n g a g o v e r n m e n t i n w h i c h a g r e a t b o d y of t h e
i n h a b i t a n t s r e n d e r h a b i t u a l o b e d i e n c e ; a p o l i t i c a l l y o r g a n i z e d sov
ereign community independent of outside control bound by ties
of n a t i o n h o o d , l e g a l l y s u p r e m e w i t h i n i t s t e r r i t o r y, a c t i n g t h r o u g h a government
functioning under a regime of law
(CIR v. Campos Rueda, 42SCRA 23)

State - is a political and geopolitical entity; w h i l e , Nation is a cultural and/ or ethnic

entity.

ELEMENTS OF STATE

1 . P E O P L E
- inhabitants of the state
- Community of persons sufficient in no. &capable of maintaining the continued
existence of the community & held together by a common bond of law

2. GOVERNMENT
- T h e a g e n c y o r i n s t r um e n t a l i t y, t hr o u g h which the will of the state
is formulated, expressed and realized. b.
- the institution or aggregate of institutions by which
an independent society makes and carries out those rules of action which are
necessary to enable men to live in a social State, or which are imposed upon the
people forming that society by those who possess the power or authority of
prescribing them.

3. TERRITORY
- fixed portion of the surface of the earth, inhabited by the people of the state.
The territory must not be too small as to be unable to provide for the needs of
the people; nor should it be too large as to be
d i ff i c u l t t o a d m i n i s t e r. T h e t e r r i t o r y c a n extend to over a vast expanse, like
China or Russia, or be as small as Abu Dhabi

4. SOVEREIGNTY
- means the supreme, uncontrollable power, the absolute right to govern.
- The supreme will of the State, the power to make laws, and enforce them by all the
means of coercion it cares to employ.
Legal sovereignty: power to adapt/alter theconstitution or supreme power to make lawsvs.
Political sovereignty: sum total of all theinfluences in a state, legal & non-legal w/cdetermine the
course of law

Read: vigan v commissioner of internal revenue (1969 case) – sale of motor vehicle

GOVERNMENT – more permanent

- Independent society
- Institution thru which the state exercise power

ADMINISTRATION – set of people currently running the institution

Constituent function of Govt – compulsory functions of government

Ministrand Function – optional function ex. Housing, nawasa

Proprietory – undertaken by govt over its property

De Jure – established by authority of a legitimate sovereign in accordance of its function (govt of
cory)
De Facto – defiance of a legitimate authority

International law – status depends on the recognition of the community

Sovereign Authority – people are the source of ultimate legal authority
- Delegated to the govt where the power resides
Sovereignty – power of people to adopt / amend the constitution

PREAMBLE
- Distillation of the ideals and aspirations of the Filipino people
- not a source of power / right
- used to ascertain the body of the constitution

1987 CONSTITUTION 1975 CONSTITUTION 1935 CONSTITUTION

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 a
regime of truth, justice,
freedom, love, equality, and
peace, do ordain and
promulgate this Constitution.
Preamble
We, the sovereign Filipino
people, imploring the aid of
Divine Providence, in order to
establish a government that
shall embody our ideals,
promote the general welfare,
conserve and develop the
patrimony of our Nation, and
secure to ourselves and our
posterity the blessings of
democracy under a regime of
justice, peace, liberty, and
equality, do ordain and
promulgate this Constitution.
Preamble
The Filipino people, imploring
the aid of Divine Providence,
in order to establish a
government that shall embody
their ideals, conserve and
develop the patrimony of the
nation, promote the general
welfare, and secure to
themselves and their posterity
the blessings of independence
under a regime of justice,
liberty, and democracy, do
ordain and promulgate this
Constitution.

Territory
The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and
waters embraced therein, and all other
t e r r i t o r i e s o v e r w h i c h t h e P h i l i p p i n e s h a s s o v e r e i g n t y o r jurisdiction, co
n s i s t i n g o f i t s t er r e s t r i a l , f l u v i a l a n d a e r i a l domains, including its territorial sea, the
seabed, the
subsoil,t h e i n s u l a r s h e l v e s , a n d o t h e r s u b m a r i n e a r e a s . T h e w a t e r s a r o u n d ,
b e t w e e n , a n d c o n n e c t i n g t h e i s l a n d s o f t h e archipelago,
regardless of their breadth and dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the Philippines.
The NATIONAL TERRITORY
1987 CONSTITUTION
The National Territory
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.
1975 CONSTITUTION
The National Territory
Section 1. The national
territory comprises the
Philippine archipelago, with all
the islands and waters
embraced therein, and all the
other territories belonging to
the Philippines by historic or
legal title, including the
territorial sea, the air space,
the subsoil, the sea-bed, the
insular shelves, and the
submarine areas over which
the Philippines has
sovereignty or jurisdiction.
The waters around, between,
and connecting the islands of
the archipelago, irrespective
of their breadth and
dimensions, form part of the
internal waters of the
Philippines.
1935 CONSTITUTION
The National Territory
Section 1. The Philippines
comprises all the territory
ceded to the United States by
the Treaty of Paris concluded
between the United States
and Spain on the tenth day of
December, eighteen hundred
and ninety-eight, the limits
which are set forth in Article III
of said treaty, together with all
the islands embraced in the
treaty concluded at
Washington between the
United States and Spain on
the seventh day of November,
nineteen hundred, and the
treaty concluded between the
United States and Great
Britain on the second day of
January, nineteen hundred
and thirty, and all territory over
which the present
Government of the Philippine
Islands exercises jurisdiction.
  NATIONAL TERRITORY IN 1935 CONSTITUTION
a. Treaty of Paris on Dec 10, 1898 - Spain would cede to the United States the archipelago known as the
Philippine Islands, and comprehending the islands lying within a specified line, Surrendered the Philippines to the
United States for a payment of twenty million dollar
b. Treaty of Washington on November 7, 1900 - Spain relinquishes to the United States all title and claim
of title; which she may have had at the time of the conclusion of the Treaty of Peace of Paris, to any and all islands
belonging to the Philippine Archipelago, lying outside the lines described in Article III of that Treaty and particularly to
the islands of Cagayan Sulu and Sibutu and their dependencies, and agrees that all such islands shall be
comprehended in the cession of the Archipelago as fully as if they had been expressly included within those lines
c. Treaty between Great Britain and the United States on January 2, 1930
d. All territory over which the present government of the Phil Islands exercises jurisdiction
– includes any territory that presently belongs or might i n t h e f ut u r e b e l o n g t o
t h e P h i l i p p i n e s t h r o u g h a n y o f t h e a c c e p t e d international modes
of acquiring territory

 NATIONAL TERRITORY IN 1973 CONSTITUTION – affirmed title to the Batanes Islands by historic
right
a. Philippines Archipelago – all the islands and waters embraced therein
b. Other territories belonging to the Philippines (by historic right or legal title)
c. Philippine waters, air-space and submarine areas

Territorial Sea of a state – consists of a marginal belt of maritime waters adjacent to

the base lines extending 12 nautical miles outward
Internal Water – t h e w a t e r s a r o u n d , b e t w e e n a n d c o n n e c t i n g t h e island of
the archipelago, regardless of their breath and dimensions.
1982 CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF SEA
Archipelagic State – state constituted wholly by one or more archipelagos and may include
other islands

Archipelago – group of islands, including parts of islands, interconnecting waters and other
natural features which are so closely interrelated that such islands, waters and other natural
features form an intrinsic geographical, economic and political entity, or which historically have
been regarded as such

Archipelagic Principle
Two elements:
1.The definition of internal waters (supra)
2. The straight baseline method o f d e l i n e a t i n g t h e t er r i t o r i a l s e a – consists of
drawing straight lines connecting the outermost points on the coast without departing
to any appreciable extent from the general direction of the coast.

Important distances with respect to the waters around the Philippines

Territorial Sea - 12 nautical miles
Contiguous Zone - 1 2 n . m . f r o m t h e e d g e o f t h e territorial sea
Exclusive Economic Zone (n.m.) 2 0 0 n . m . f r o m t h e b a s e l i n e (Includes
T.S. and C.Z.)

Baselines
- i s t h e l a w - w a t e r l i n e a l o n g t h e c o a s t a s m a r k o n l a r g e scale charts officially
recognized by the coastal State. A state exercises sovereignty over its territorial sea subject to
the right of innocent passage by other states.

Innocent passage
- i s a p a s s a g e n o t p r e j u d i c i a l t o t h e interests of the coastal State nor contrary
to recognized principles of international law.

Article 53 of the Convention says that “ archipelagic State maydesigna

te sea lanes and air routes there above, suitable for the
c o n t i n u o u s a n d e x p e d i t i o u s p a s s a g e o f f o r e i g n s h i p s a n d a i r c r a f t t hr o u g
h o r o v e r i t s a r c h i p e l a g i c w a t e r s a n d t h e a d j a c e n t t e r r i t o r i a l sea.”

Territorial Sea
- the belt of the sea located between the coast and internal waters of the coastal
state on the one hand, and the high seaso n t h e ot h e r, e x t e n d i n g u p t o 1 2 n a u t i c a l
m i l e s f r o m t h e l o w w a t e r mark. (LOS)
Insular Shelf – refers to
a. Seabed abd subsoil of the submarine areas adjacent to the coastal state but outside the
territorial sea, to a depth of 200 meters or beyond that limit, to where the depth allows
exploitation
b. The seabed and subsoil of areas adjacent to islands

 NATIONAL TERRITORY IN 1987 CONSTITUTION

a. Philippine archipelago, with all islands and waters embraced therein
b. All other territories belonging to the Philippines by historic right or legal title
c. Including the territorial sea, the air space, the subsoil, the sea bed, the insular
shelves and the other submarine areas over which the Phils has sovereignty or
jurisdiction
- Waters around, between and connecting the islands of the archipelago, irrespective of
their breadth and dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the Philippines