Principles, Comments and Cases in Constitutional Law-Suarez
Principles, Comments and Cases in Constitutional Law-Suarez
Principles, Comments and Cases in Constitutional Law-Suarez
PRINCIPLES, COMMENTS
AND CASES IN
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
Volume I
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1
2 PRINCIPLES, COMMENTS AND CASES IN
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
VOLUME I
BASIC DEFINITIONS
POLITICAL LAW
Political law is that branch of jurisprudence which treats of
the science of politics, or the organization and administration of
government. (Black’s Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, p. 1158)
Our Supreme Court dened political law in more specic terms
by saying that it is that branch of public law which deals with the
organization and operation of the governmental organs of the State
and denes the relation of the State with the inhabitants of its
territory. (People vs. Perfecto, 43 Phil. 887)
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
It is that department of the science of law which treats of
the nature of constitutions, their establishment, construction and
interpretation, and of the validity of legal enactments as tested
by the criterion of conformity to the fundamental law. (Black,
Constitutional Law, 1). A more simple denition is that of Justice
Isagani A. Cruz. According to him, constitutional law is the study
of the maintenance of the proper balance between authority as
represented by the three inherent powers of the State and liberty as
guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.
I. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
A. Constitutional Law, Volume I
This involves (1) the study of the historical background that
led to the establishment of the Commonwealth Government of
the Philippines in 1935; the different Constitutions that govern
the Philippines since the establishment of the Commonwealth
Government until the approval of the present Constitution on
February 2, 1985, (2) the study of the structure and powers of our
government, of the basic principles and concepts of political law
such as those pertaining to our Constitution, its nature, purpose
and interpretation, the nature of the State and the rules governing
its relationship with its inhabitants, the separation of powers,
the principle of republicanism and the rule of the majority and
CHAPTER I 3
INTRODUCTION
V. LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Before the passage and effectivity of Rep. Act No. 7160, otherwise
known as the Local Government Code, this was denominated as
a course described as the Law on Municipal Corporations. Said
PREFACE
ROLANDO A. SUAREZ
iii
iv
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
v
vi
DEDICATION
vii
viii
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I—INTRODUCTION
Introduction ......................................................................................... 1
Basic definitions .................................................................................. 2
Brief descriptions of the subjects covered by and included in
the study of Philippine Political Law ....................................... 2
The principal basis of the study of the Political Law ........................ 4
The Constitution that govern the Philippines since the
establishment of the Commonwealth Government ................ 5
Brief historical background of said Constitutions............................. 5
The Constitution that governed the Philippines in 1935 ................. 6
1973 Constitution................................................................................ 8
The Freedom Constitution.................................................................. 10
The 1987 Constitution ........................................................................ 11
ix
Conduct of initiative or referendum is under the supervision
of the COMELEC....................................................................... 23
Publication of the petition .................................................................. 24
Effectivity of the amendment to the Constitution proposed
through people’s initiative ........................................................ 24
Is the right of the people to directly propose amendments
to the Constitution self-executing? ........................................... 24
Plebiscite .......................................................................................... 24
Can proposed amendments to the Constitution be submitted
at a plebiscite which is scheduled on the same day as the
regular elections?....................................................................... 25
Is the power to amend or revise the Constitution included
in the general grant of legislative power to Congress? ........... 25
Is an amendment or revision and ratification of the Constitution
a justiciable question? ............................................................... 26
Can the Constitution be validly amended by “Transposition”? ........ 26
Is it possible that the procedural requirements for amendment
or revision of the Constitution are not complied with,
and yet, it is considered validly ratified? ................................. 26
x
What is the Archipelago Doctrine? .................................................... 64
Creation of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) ......................... 66
Concepts and Principles ..................................................................... 68
Territory .......................................................................................... 69
Resources .......................................................................................... 70
Governance .......................................................................................... 71
Territorial Sea, Breadth or width of the territorial sea,
Internal waters, Archipelagic waters,Territorium nullius ..... 75
Background of the adoption of UNCLOS........................................... 76
The three navigable rivers ................................................................. 81
The Freedom of the Seas .................................................................... 82
The freedom of navigation .................................................................. 82
The contiguous zone ............................................................................ 82
The exclusive economic zone .............................................................. 83
The continental shelf .......................................................................... 83
The word “archipelago” in Art. I ........................................................ 84
CHAPTER VIII
DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES AND STATE POLICIES
xi
Sec. 21 – Comprehensive rural development and
agrarian reform ......................................................................... 117
Sec. 22 – Rights of indigenous cultural communities ....................... 121
Sec. 23 – Encouragement of non-governmental, community
based, or sectoral organizations ............................................... 122
Sec. 24 – Vital role of communication and information
in nation-building ...................................................................... 122
Sec. 25 – Autonomy of local governments.......................................... 122
Sec. 26 – Equal access to opportunity for public service................... 122
Sec. 27 – Honesty and integrity in public service ............................. 124
Sec. 28 – Full public disclosure of all state transactions
involving public interest ........................................................... 124
CHAPTER IX
LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT
(ART. VI, SECS. 1 TO 32)
xii
Conflict of interest............................................................................... 200
Section 13 .......................................................................................... 201
Common prohibitions to Senators and members of the House
of Representatives ..................................................................... 201
Section 14 .......................................................................................... 202
Inhibitions and disqualifications of a Senator or a member
of the House of Representatives ............................................... 203
Section 15 .......................................................................................... 203
Sessions .......................................................................................... 203
Section 16 .......................................................................................... 206
Quorum .......................................................................................... 207
Officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives ................. 208
Discipline of members......................................................................... 209
Journals .......................................................................................... 210
Adjournment ....................................................................................... 214
Electoral Tribunals ............................................................................. 215
The Commission on Appointments .................................................... 218
Classification of the Powers of Congress ........................................... 219
Legislative investigation .................................................................... 220
Can the president of the Republic of the Philippines,
or Congress, declare war? ......................................................... 227
Ex-post facto law ................................................................................. 230
Bill of attainder ................................................................................... 232
Bill of pains and penalties .................................................................. 232
Procedure in the Approval of Bills ..................................................... 236
CHAPTER X
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT
xiii
Does the president enjoy immunity from suit? ........................ 257
Section 14, Article VII......................................................................... 258
Power to appoint ........................................................................ 258
Section 15, Article VII......................................................................... 258
Section 16 .......................................................................................... 265
Scope of the President’s appointing power............................... 266
Nature of the appointing power of the president .................... 266
Distinction between regular and ad interim appointment ..... 267
Distinguish ad-interim appointment from an appointment
in an acting capacity ........................................................ 268
Section 17 .......................................................................................... 268
Extent of the control power of the President ........................... 268
Doctrine of Qualified Political Agency ..................................... 269
Section 18 .......................................................................................... 270
Sections 19-23 ..................................................................................... 271
Powers of the president ...................................................................... 272
CHAPTER XI
JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT
xiv
Requisites for declaration of partial unconstitutionality ........ 339
Separability clause .................................................................... 340
Is the power of judicial review exclusively vested only
in the Supreme Court? .................................................... 340
Example of cases where the Supreme Court exercised
administrative power and supervision over
judges of lower courts ...................................................... 340
The Rule on the Writ of Amparo .............................................. 345
Writ of Habeas Data .................................................................. 357
Section 7 .......................................................................................... 365
General qualifications of every member of the judiciary ........ 365
Qualifications of the Supreme Court justices .......................... 366
Qualifications of judges of lower court ..................................... 366
May the qualifications of members of judiciary
be altered by Congress? ................................................... 366
Section 8 .......................................................................................... 366
Principal function of the judicial and bar council .................... 367
Composition of the judicial and bar council ...................................... 367
Who appoints the regular members of the council? ................ 367
Who shall be the secretary of the council? ............................... 368
Composition of the Supreme Court .......................................... 368
Section 9 .......................................................................................... 369
Procedure in the appointment of justices and judges.............. 369
Section 10 .......................................................................................... 370
Can the salary of judges and justices be decreased? ............... 370
Are the salaries of judges subject to income tax? .................... 370
Section 11 .......................................................................................... 370
What specifically is the guarantee under Sec. 11? .................. 370
Can disciplinary action be taken against judges of the
inferior or lower courts by the executive
department? ..................................................................... 371
Can statutory courts be abolished by congress? ...................... 371
Section 12 .......................................................................................... 372
Section 13 .......................................................................................... 373
Procedure and the mechanics in the issuance of decisions
of the Supreme Court and all over collegiate courts ...... 374
Does the absence of the said certification invalidate
a decision? ........................................................................ 374
Importance of stating the reasons behind a
dissenting opinion ............................................................ 374
Section 14 .......................................................................................... 375
Why should a court decision express clearly and
distinctly the facts and the law on which it is based? ... 375
Section 15 .......................................................................................... 380
Within what period must cases be decided or resolved? ................... 380
Is the period for making the decision mandatory or
discretionary for all courts? ...................................................... 381
Section 16 .......................................................................................... 382
xv
CHAPTER XII
THE CONSTITUTIONAL COMMISSIONS
xvi
How shall election cases be held and decided by
the COMELEC? ............................................................... 422
Objective of Sec. 4 ...................................................................... 423
Section 5 .......................................................................................... 425
Can the president on his own grant pardon, amnesty,
parole or suspension of sentence? ................................... 425
Section 6 .......................................................................................... 425
Is there a distinction between an accredited political
party and a registered political party? ........................... 426
Is block-voting allowed? ............................................................ 426
Election period ........................................................................... 427
Campaign period ....................................................................... 427
Commission on Audit .......................................................................... 428
Composition and qualifications of the chairman and
two commissioners of the Commission on Audit ........... 429
Term of office ............................................................................. 429
Mechanism of staggering the terms ......................................... 429
Broad powers, authority and duty of the Commission
on Audit ............................................................................ 430
Post audit authority of COA ..................................................... 431
Extent of the auditing authority of the COA over
government-owned corporations ..................................... 431
How can it protect public funds? ........................................................ 432
Power of the commission to “settle accounts” .................................... 432
CHAPTER XIII
ACCOUNTABILITY OF PUBLIC OFFICERS
xvii