Philippine Constitution - Lecture Notes

I. PRELIMINARIES A. CONSTITUTION 1. Definition: The body of rules and maxims in accordance with which the powers of sovereignty are habitually exercised. 2. Purpose: a. To prescribe the permanent framework of a system of government; b. To assign to the several departments their respective power and duties; c. To establish certain first principles on which the government is founded. 3. Effect if an act is not in accordance with the constitution An unconstitutional act is not a law; it confers no rights; it imposes no duties; it affords no protection; it creates no office; it is inoperative as if it had not been passed at all. (See Art 7 Civil Code) B. STATE 1. Definition: A community of persons, more or less numerous, permanently occupying a definite portion of the territory, independent of external control, and possessing a government to which a great body of inhabitants render habitual obedience. 2. Distinguished from nation: State is a legal or juristic concept, while nation is an ethnic or racial concept. 3. Distinguished from Government: Government is merely an instrumentality of the State through which the will of the State is implemented and realized. 4. Elements of a State a. People A community of persons sufficient in number and capable of maintaining the continued existence of the community and held together by a common bond of law. b. Territory Components: Terrestrial; Fluvial; Maritime; Aerial domains c. Government The agency or instrumentality through which the will of the State is formulated, expressed, and realized.

 Government of the Philippines is the corporate governmental entity through which the functions of the government are exercised throughout the Philippines, including, save as the contrary appears from the context, the various arms through which political authority is made effective in the Philippines, whether pertaining to the autonomous regions, the provincial, city, municipal, or barangay subdivisions or other form of local government. (Sec 2(1), Administrative Code) d. Sovereignty The supreme and uncontrollable power inherent in a State by which the State is governed. 5. Principal Forms of Government a. As to number of persons exercising sovereign powers 1. Monarchy One in which the supreme and final authority is in the hands of a single person without regard to the source of his election or the nature or duration of his tenure. 2. Aristocracy One in which political power is exercised by a few privileged class. 3. Democracy One in which political power is exercised by a majority of the people. b. As to extent of powers exercised by the central or national government 1. Unitary Government One in which the control of national and local affairs is exercised by the central or national government. 2. Federal Government One in which powers of government are divided between two set of argans, one for national affairs and the other for local affairs, each organ being supreme in its own sphere. c. As to relationship between the executive and the legislative branches of government 1. Parliamentary Government Essential Characteristics: a. The members of the government or cabinet or executive arm are, as a rule, simultaneously members of the legislature; b. The government or cabinet, consisting of political leaders of the majority party or of a coalition who are also members of the legislature, is in effect a committee of legislature; c. The government or cabinet has a pyramidal structure at apex of which is the Prime Minister or his equivalent;

d. The government or cabinet remains in power only for as long as it enjoys the support of the majority of the legislature; e. Both government and legislature are possessed of control devices with which each can demand of the other immediate political responsibility. In the hands of the legislature is the vote of non-confidence (censure) whereby a government may be ousted. In the hands of the government is the power to dissolve the legislature and call for new elections. 2. Presidential Government Its principal identifying feature is separation of powers. Legislative power is given to the Legislature; Executive power is given to a separate Executive; Judicial power is held by an independent Judiciary. The system is founded on the belief that by establishing equilibrium among the three power holders, harmony will result, power will not be concentrated, and thus tyranny will be avoided. Designated as such because of the prominent position which the system gives to the president as Chief Executive. Philippine government is a presidential government. C. Other Basic Concepts 1. Presidential vs. Parliamentary Government The principal distinction is that in a presidential government, there is separation of executive and legislative powers; while in parliamentary government, there is fusion of both executive and legislative powers in Parliament, although the actual exercise of the executive powers is vested in a Prime Minister who is chosen by, and accountable to, Parliament. 2. Basic principles and concepts under a presidential form of government a. Separation of Powers Purpose: To prevent concentration of authority in one person or group of persons that might lead to an irreversible error or abuse in its exercise to the detriment of republican institutions; To secure action, to forestall overaction, to prevent despotism, and to obtain efficiency. b. Principle of Blending of Powers Instances when powers are not confined exclusively within one department but are assigned to or shared by several departments, e.g., enactment of general appropriations law. c. Principle of Checks and Balances This allows one department to resist encroachment upon its prerogatives or to rectify mistakes or excesses committed by the other departments, e.g., veto power of the President as check on improvident legislation. 3. State is a corporate entity; government is the institution through which the state exercises power; administration consists of the set of people currently running the institution.

 The transitions from the 1935 Constitution to the 1973 Constitution to the 1987 Constitution involved changes of government but not of state. The transition from President Estrada to President Arroyo did not involve a change of government but only of administration. II. THE 1987 PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION Effectivity: February 2, 1987, the date of the plebiscite when the people ratified the Constitution. A. PREAMBLE 1. Function of the Preamble in the Constitution The Preamble is not a source of rights or of obligations. However, because it sets down the origin, scope, and purpose of the Constitution, it is useful as an aid in the construction (interpretation) of the Constitution. 2. Origin, scope, and purpose of the Constitution as set out in the Preamble Its origin, or authorship, is the will of the sovereign Filipino people. Its scope and purpose is 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. B. ARTICLE I- THE NATIONAL TERRITORY 1. Binding effect in international law of the definition of national territory in the constitution A constitution is a municipal law. As such, it binds only the nation promulgating it. A definition of national territory in the constitution will bind internationally only if it is supported by proof that can stand in international law. Unilateral assertions in a constitution which is municipal law, by themselves do not establish an international right to a territory. 2. The Philippine Archipelago That body of water studded with islands which is delineated in the Treaty of Paris of December 10, 1898, as modified by the treaty of Washington of November 7, 1900, and the Treaty with Great Britain of January 2, 1930. These are the same treaties which delineated Philippine territory in the 1935 Constitution. 3. Straight Baseline Method The method used to delineate the territorial sea. Imaginary straight lines are drawn joining the outermost points of the outermost islands of the archipelago without departing to any appreciable extent from the general configuration of the archipelago. The waters within the baselines shall be considered internal waters; while the breadth of the territorial sea shall then be measured from the baselines. 12 miles from the baseline is the territorial sea. 4. Archipelagic Doctrine 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. This is

based on the principle that an archipelago, which consists of a number of islands separated by bodies of water, should be treated as one integral unit. 5. Contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone UN Convention on the Law of the Sea provides for a contiguous zone of 12 miles from the end of the territorial sea and exclusive economic zone of 200 miles from the baseline. Although the contiguous zone and most of the exclusive economic zone may not, technically, be part of the territory of the State, nonetheless, the coastal State enjoys preferential rights over the marine resources found within these zones. 6. Significance of the national territory in criminal law As a rule, penal laws of the Philippines are enforceable only within its territory. Exception: Article 2 of the Revised Penal Code Penal laws of the Philippines can also be enforced outside its territory against those who: a. Should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or airship b. Should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippine Islands or obligations and securities issued by the Government of the Philippine Islands; c. Should be liable for acts connected with the introduction into these islands of the obligations and securities mentioned in the preceding number; d. While being public officers or employees, should commit an offense in the exercise of their functions; or e. Should commit any of the crimes against national security and the law of nations, defined in Title One of Book Two of the Revised Penal Code. C. ARTICLE II- DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES AND STATE POLICIES 1. Meaning and significance: It is a statement of the basic ideological principles and policies that underlie the Constitution. As such, the provisions shed light on the meaning of the other provisions of the Constitution and they are guide for all departments of the government in the implementation of the Constitution. 2. Basic concepts Under Section 1 a. Republican State One wherein all government authority emanates from the people and is exercised by representatives chosen by the people. b. The Philippines is not only a representative or republican state but also shares some aspects of direct democracy such as initiative and referendum. Under Section 2 a. The kind of war renounced is aggressive, not, defensive war.

b. Relate to Section 23, Article VI While the Constitution gives to the legislature the power to declare the existence of war and to enact all measures to support the war, the actual power to make war is lodged in the executive power. The executive power, when necessary, may make war even in the absence of a declaration of war. War being a question of actualities, the President was bound to meet it in the shape it presented itself, without waiting for Congress to baptize it with a name; and no name given to it by him or them could change the fact. c. As applied in most countries, the doctrine of incorporation dictates that rules of international law are given equal standing with, and are not superior to, national legislative enactments. d. Some principles of international law acknowledged by the Court as part of the law of the land: 1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights It would be a violation of said international law to detain an alien for an unreasonable length of time since no vessel from his country is willing to take him. (Mejoff v Director of Prisons, 90 Phil 70) 2. The right of a country to establish military commissions to try war criminals. (Kuroda v Jalandoni, 83 Phil 171) 3. Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals Involves the use of early warning devices. 4. Duty to protect the premises of embassies and legations. Under Section 3 a. The principle of civilian supremacy is institutionalized by the provision which makes the President, a civilian and precisely a civilian, commander-in-chief of the armed forces. (See Section 18, Article 7) But this does not mean that civilian officials are superior to military officials. Civilian officials are superior to military officials only when a law makes them so. Under Section 4 Take note of the prime duty of the government. Under Section 6 To be discussed under the Bill of Rights (Article III, Sec 5) Under Section 10 a. Meaning of Social Justice The equalization of economic, political, and social opportunities with special emphasis on the duty of the state to tilt the balance of social forces by favoring the disadvantaged in life.

 How promotion of social justice carried out in all phases of national development See Article XIII Under Section 12 a. Legal meaning and purpose of the protection that is guaranteed for the unborn This is not an assertion that the life of the unborn is placed exactly on the level of the life of the mother. When necessary to save the life of the mother, the life of the unborn may be sacrificed; but not when the purpose is merely to save the mother from emotional suffering, for which other remedies must be sought, or to spare the child from a life of poverty, which can be attended to by welfare institutions. Under Section 14 a. This provision is so worded as not to automatically dislocate the Civil Code and the civil law jurisprudence on the subject. What it does is to give impetus to the removal, through statutes, of existing inequalities. The general idea is for the law to ignore sex where sex is not a relevant factor in determining rights and duties. Nor is the provision meant to ignore customs and traditions. Under Section 15 and 16 a. The right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology is an enforceable right. Under Section 17 a. This does not mean that the government is not free to balance the demands of education against other competing and urgent demands Under Section 18 a. Labor as a primary social economic force means that human factor has primacy over non-human factors in production. Rights of workers See Art XIII Under Section 26 a. The purpose of this provision is to give substance to the desire for equalization of political opportunities. However, the definition of political dynasty is left to the legislature. Under Section 28 Take note of the policy of full public disclosure. D. ARTICLE IV- CITIZENSHIP 1. Definition: It is personal and more or less permanent membership in a political community. It denotes possession within that particular political community of full civil and political rights subject to special disqualifications such as minority. Reciprocally, it imposes the duty of allegiance to the political community. 2. Modes of Acquiring Citizenship a. Jus sanguinis acquisition of citizenship on the basis of blood relationship;

b. Jus soli acquisition of citizenship on the basis of place of birth; c. Naturalization the legal act of adopting an alien and clothing him with the privilege of a natural-born citizen. 3. Other basic concepts a. Basic Philippine law follows the rule of jus sanguinis and provides for naturalization. The principle of jus sanguinis is applied in the 1987 Constitution under Art IV, Sec 1(2). b. Effect of naturalization of a father on legitimate minor children In general, the minor children become citizens of the Philippines. c. Effect on the wife of the naturalized husband She becomes a Filipino citizen, provided she shows, in an administrative procedure for the cancellation of her alien certificate of registration, that she has none of the disqualifications found in CA 473. d. The law can not treat natural-born citizens and naturalized citizens differently except in instances where the Constitution itself makes a distinction. Otherwise, there would be a violation of the equal-protection clause. Under Section 5 a. Dual citizenship, as a disqualification from running for any elective position under the Local Government Code, must refer to citizens with dual allegiance. Persons with mere dual citizenship do not fall under this disqualification. For candidates (to an elective office) with dual citizenship, it is enough that they elect Philippine citizenship upon the filing of their certificate of candidacy, to terminate their status as persons with dual citizenship. The filing of a certificate of candidacy sufficed to renounce foreign citizenship, effectively removing any disqualification as a dual citizen. This is so because in the certificate of candidacy, one declares that he/she is a Filipino citizen and that he/she will support and defend the Constitution of the Philippines and will maintain true faith and allegiance thereto. b. Because Philippine law has no control over citizenship laws of other countries, dual citizenship can be unavoidable under the present Constitution. Example: (1) A child of a Filipina mother is a Filipino and might also have his aliens fathers citizenship; (2) A Filipina married to an alien remains a Philippine citizen but might also require her alien husbands citizenship. c. The specific target of Sec 5 is not dual citizenship but dual allegiance arising from, e.g., mixed marriages or birth in foreign soil. To the extent, however, that dual citizenship also imports dual allegiance, then it must also dealt with by law. The Constitution leaves the disposition of the problem of dual citizenship and dual allegiance to ordinary legislation. E. ARTICLE V- SUFFRAGE 1. Definition: It is the right to vote in elections. 2. Basic concepts

a. Congress has been given the discretion to create disqualifications. However, Congress is prohibited from prescribing any literacy, property, or other substantive requirements. F. ARTICLE VI- LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT 1. Legislative Power It is the authority to make laws and to alter or repeal them. 2. Qualifications of Senators (See Section 3) a. Natural-born Filipino citizen; b. At least 35 years old on the day of the election; c. Able to read and write; d. Registered voter; e. Resident of the Philippines for not less than 2 years immediately preceding the day of the election. 3. Qualifications of Members of House of Representatives a. Natural-born Filipino citizen; b. At least 25 years old on the day of the election; c. Able to read and write; d. Registered voter in the district in which he shall be elected; e. Resident of said district for not less than 1 year immediately preceding the day of the election. 4. Limits on Legislative Power a. Substantive Limits curtail the contents of a law. For example, no law may be passed which impairs freedom of speech. b. Procedural limits curtail the manner of passing laws. For example, a bill must generally be approved by the President before it becomes law. 5. Other basic concepts a. Provided that the substantive and procedural limitations found in the Constitution are observed, the Congress may legislate on any subject matter. In other words, the legislative power of Congress is plenary. b. Congress can not pass irrepealable laws. The power of present and future legislatures must remain plenary. When one attempts to pass an irrepealable law, to that extent it attempts to limit the power of future legislatures. The power of any legislature can be limited only by the Constitution. c. Congress cannot delegate its legislative power. Legislative power must remain where the people have lodged it. However, there are two exceptions to this rule: d. By immemorial practice legislative power may be delegated to local governments;

e. The Constitution itself might in specific instances allow delegation of legislative power. (See Section 28, paragraph 2) f. A local ordinance must not violate law passed by Congress. Under Section 4 a. A senator may serve for more than two terms, provided that the terms are not consecutive. Under Section 7 a. A member of the House may serve for more than three terms, provided that the terms are not consecutive. Under Section 11 a. The privilege from arrest is available while the Congress is in session, whether regular or special and whether or not the legislator is actually attending a session. Hence it is not available while Congress is in recess. Since the purpose of the privilege is to protect the legislator against harassment which will keep him away from legislative session, there is no point in extending the privilege to the period when Congress is not in session. When is Congress in session? See Section 15 b. Members of Congress are not exempt from detention for crime. They may be arrested, even when the house is in session, for crimes punishable by a penalty of more than six years. c. Scope of the parliamentary privilege of speech The privilege is a protection only against forums other that the Congress itself. It does not protect the assemblyman against the disciplinary authority of the Congress but it is an absolute protection against suits for libel. To come under the privilege, it is not essential that the Congress be in session when the utterance is made. What is essential is that the utterance must constitute legislative action, that is, it must be part of the deliberative and communicative process by which legislators participate in committee or congressional proceedings in the consideration of proposed legislation or of other matters which the Constitution has placed within the jurisdiction of the Congress. Under Section 21 a. Purpose of legislative investigation The power of inquiry with process to enforce it is an essential and appropriate auxiliary to the legislative function. A legislative body cannot legislate wisely or effectively in the absence of information respecting the conditions which the legislation is intended to affect or change; and where the legislative body does not itself possess the requisite information which is not infrequently true recourse must be had to others who do possess it. b. The requirement that the investigation be in aid of legislation is not difficult to satisfy. It is not necessary that every question propounded to a witness must be material to a proposed legislation. In other words, the materiality of the question must be determined by its direct relation to the subject of the inquiry and not by its indirect relation to any proposed or possible legislation. The reason is that the necessity or lack of necessity for legislative action and the form and character of the action itself are determined by the sum total of

the information to be gathered as a result of the investigation, and not by a fraction of such information elicited from a single question. c. The rights of persons appearing in or affected by such inquiries shall be respected is just another way of saying that legislative investigations must be subject to the limitations placed by the Constitution on governmental action. Such limitations being principally found on the bill of rights. Under Section 32 a. Congress does not have the exclusive right to pass national legislation. Sec 32 has introduced the concept of initiative and referendum whereby the people themselves can legislate. The enabling law is RA 6735, the Initiative and Referendum Law. G. ARTICLE VII- THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 1. Executive Power It is the power to administer the laws, which means carrying them into practical operation and enforcing their due observance. 2. Qualifications of the President and Vice-president (See Section 2 & 3) a. Natural-born Filipino citizen; b. Registered voter; c. Able to read and write; d. At least 40 years old on the day of the election; e. Resident of the Philippines for at least 10 years immediately preceding the election. 3. Other basic concepts a. The powers of the President are not limited to what are expressly enumerated in the article on the Executive department and in scattered provisions of the Constitution. The duty of government to serve and protect the people as well as to see to the maintenance of peace and order, the protection of life, liberty, and property, and the promotion of the general welfare argue towards the existence of residual unstated powers. Hence, although there is no statute authorizing the President to ban the return of Mr. Marcos, the President has the power to impose the ban. b. President enjoys immunity from suit during tenure. Once out of office, however, even before the end of the six year term, immunity is lost. Under Section 4 Take note of the sentence: The President shall not be eligible for any reelection. Under Section 18 a. Specific military powers given to the President by the Constitution 1. To call out the armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion, or rebellion; 2. To suspend the privilege of the writ habeas corpus;

3. To place the Philippines or any part thereof under martial law. b. Martial Law Under martial law, police power is exercised by the executive with the aid of the military and in place of certain governmental agencies which for the time being are unable to cope with existing conditions in a locality which remains subject to the sovereignty. It authorizes the military to act vigorously for the maintenance of an orderly civil government. It is the exercise of the power which resides in the executive branch of the government to preserve order and insure the public safety in times of emergency, when other branches of the government are unable to function, or their functioning would itself threaten the public safety. It is the law of necessity to be prescribed and administered by the executive power. Its object, the preservation of the public safety and good order, defines the scope, which will vary with the circumstances and necessities of the case. The exercise of the power may not extend beyond what is required by the exigency which calls it forth. Martial law depends on two factual bases: (1) the existence of actual invasion or rebellion; (2) the requirements of public safety. Necessity creates the conditions for martial law and at the same time limits the scope of martial law. Necessarily, therefore, the degree and kind of vigorous executive action needed to meet the varying kinds and degrees of emergency could not be identical under all conditions. c. In general, the limits that have been formulated on the power to suspend the privilege of the writ and the power to impose martial law are: 1. A time limit of sixty days; 2. Review and possible revocation by Congress; 3. Review and possible nullification by Supreme Court. Under Section 19 a. Purpose of the grant of the power of executive clemency: It is a tacit admission that human institutions are imperfect and that there are infirmities in the administration of justice. The power therefore exists as an instrument for correcting these infirmities and for mitigating whatever harshness might be generated by a too strict application of the law. b. Forms of executive clemency 1. Reprieve Postpones the execution of an offense to a day certain. 2. Commutation A remission of a part of the punishment; a substitution of a less penalty for the one originally imposed. 3. Pardon It is an act of grace, proceeding from the power entrusted with the execution of the laws, which exempts the individual on whom it is bestowed from the punishment the law inflicts for a crime he has committed.

4. Remission of fines and forfeitures Remission of fines and forfeitures prevents the collection of fines or the confiscation of forfeited property. 5. Amnesty. Commonly denotes the general pardon to rebels for their treason and other high political offenses, or the forgiveness which one sovereign grants to the subjects of another, who have offended by some breach of the law of nations. c. Constitutional limits on executive clemency 1. It cannot be exercised over cases of impeachment; 2. A grant of amnesty must be with the concurrence of the majority of all the members of Congress; 3. In addition, Article IX-C, Section 5: no pardon, amnesty, parole, or suspension of sentence for violation of election laws, rules, and regulations shall be granted by the President without the favorable recommendation of the Commission on Elections. H. ARTICLE VIII- THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT 1. Judicial Power It is the authority to settle justiciable controversies or disputes involving rights that are enforceable and demandable before the courts of justice or the redress of wrongs for violation of such rights. It includes the duty of the courts of justice settle actual controversies involving rights which are legally demandable and enforceable, and to determine whether or not there has been a grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of any branch or instrumentality of the government. 2. Power of Judicial Review It is the Supreme Courts power to declare a law, treaty, international or executive agreement, presidential decree, proclamation, order, instruction, ordinance, or regulation unconstitutional. This does not make the Supreme Court superior to Congress and the President. It shows the superiority of the Constitution over all. 3. Other basic concepts a. Role of legislature in the judicial process Although judicial power is vested in the judiciary, the proper exercise of such power requires prior legislative action: (1) defining such enforceable and demandable rights and prescribing remedies for violations of such rights; and (2) determining the court with jurisdiction to hear and decide controversies or disputes arising from legal rights. b. Courts cannot exercise judicial power when there is no applicable law. I. ARTICLE IX- CONSTITUTIONAL COMMISSIONS 1. The constitutional commissions and their general functions

a. Civil Service Commission As the central personnel agency of the government, the CSC shall establish a career service and adopt measures to promote morale, efficiency, integrity, responsiveness, progressiveness, and courtesy in the civil service. (See Article IX-B, Section 3) b. Commission on Election The COMELEC shall administer all laws and regulations relative to the conduct of an election, plebiscite, initiative, referendum, and recall. (See Article IX-C, Section 2) c. Commission on Audit It is the function of the Commission on Audit to examine the accuracy of the records kept by accountable officers and to determine whether expenditures have been made in conformity with law. 2. Basic concepts a. The Civil Service Commission, Commission on Audit, and the Commission on Elections perform key functions in the government. In order to protect their integrity, they have been made constitutional bodies. Because they perform vital functions in the government, it is essential that their independence be protected against outside influences and political pressures. Hence, they enjoy independent powers of appointment; they enjoy fiscal autonomy; the salary of the Commissioners may not be diminished during their continuance in office; the Commissioners have a fixed term; and they are removable only by impeachment. J. ARTICLE X- LOCAL GOVERNMENT 1. Basic concepts a. Significance of the declaration of local autonomy: It is meant to free local governments from the well-nigh absolute control by legislature. b. Autonomy does not transform local governments into kingdoms unto themselves. K. ARTICLE XI- ACCOUNTABILITY OF PUBLIC OFFICERS 1. Basic concepts a. Meaning of public office is a public trust The basic idea of government in the Philippines is that of a representative government, the officers being mere agents and nor rulers of the people, one where no one man or set of men has a proprietary or contractual right to an office, but where every officer accepts office pursuant to the provisions of law and holds the office as a trust for the people whom he represents. Take note of the second sentence of Section 1. b. Who may be impeached? (See Section 2) 1. President; 2. Vice-President;

3. Members of the Constitutional Commissions; 4. Ombudsman c. The list of officers subject to impeachment found in Section 2 is exclusive. d. The purpose of impeachment is not to punish but only to remove an officer who does not deserve to hold office. L. ARTICLE XII- NATIONAL ECONOMY AND PATRIMONY 1. Basic Concepts a. Regalian Doctrine See 1st sentence of Section 2. If a person is the owner of agricultural land in which minerals are discovered, his ownership of such land does not give him the right to extract or utilize the said minerals without the permission of the State to which such minerals belong. This is an application of the Regalian Doctrine. Thus, once minerals are discovered in the land, whatever the use to which it is being devoted at the time, such use may be discontinued by the State to enable it to extract the minerals therein in the exercise of its sovereign prerogative. The land is thus converted to mineral land. For the loss sustained, the owner is entitled to compensations under the Mining Law or in appropriate expropriation proceedings. b. The following may acquire private lands: 1. Filipino citizens; 2. Filipino corporations and associations as defined in Section 2; 3. Aliens, but only by hereditary succession; and 4. Natural-born citizen of the Philippines who has lost Philippine citizenship, subject to limitations provided by law. c. The ban on aliens is intended to preserve the nations land for future generations of Filipinos. The aim is achieved when the alien subsequently becomes a citizen of transfers the land to a citizen. M. ARTICLE XIII- SOCIAL JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS 1. Basic concepts a. The import of social justice that has developed in various decisions is that when the law is clear and valid, it simply must be applied; but when the law can be interpreted in more ways than one, an interpretation that favors the underprivileged must be favored. N. ARTICLE IV- EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, ARTS, CULTURE, AND SPORTS 1. Take note of Article XIV, Section 3, paragraph 1 O. ARTICLE XV- THE FAMILY 1. Basic concepts

a. Policy of the Constitution regarding annulment of marriage: The constitutional policy is for the protection and strengthening of the family as the basic autonomous social institution. It recognizes marriage as the foundation of the family. Thus, any doubt should be resolved in favor of the validity of the marriage. P. ARTICLE XVI- GENERAL PROVISIONS 1. Doctrine of state immunity from suit The State may not be sued without its consent. (See Section 3) a. Reasons for the rule that the State cannot be sued without its consent It is based on the juridical and practical notion that the State can do no wrong. b. On the logical and practical ground that there can be no legal right as against the authority that makes the law on which the right depends. c. The people gave their consent to the rule when they ratified the Constitution. d. For practical considerations. A continued adherence to the doctrine of non-suability is not to be deplored for as against the inconvenience that may be caused private parties; the loss of governmental efficiency and the obstacle to the performance of its multifarious functions are far greater if such a fundamental principle were abandoned and the availability of judicial remedy were not thus restricted. e. How consent to be sued is given by the State: 1. There is express consent when there is a law (general or special law) expressly granting authority to sue the State or any of its agencies. 2. There is implied consent: a. When the State enters into a private contract, unless the contract is merely incidental to the performance of a governmental function; b.When the State enters into an operation that is essentially a business operation, unless the business operation is merely incidental to the performance of a governmental function. c. When the State sues a private party, unless the suit is entered into only to resist a claim. f. The doctrine of governmental immunity from suit cannot serve as an instrument for perpetrating an injustice on a citizen. Q. ARTICLE XVII- AMENDMENTS OR REVISIONS 1. Basic Concepts a. Amendment vs. Revision Both amendment and revision signify change in the Constitutional text. An amendment envisages an alteration of one or a few specific and isolated provisions of the constitution. Its guiding original intention is to improve specific parts or to add new provisions or to suppress existing ones accordingly as addition or subtraction might be demanded by existing conditions.

 In revision, however, the guiding intention and plan contemplates a re-examination of the entire document or an important cluster of provisions in the document to determine how and to what extent it should be altered. The end product of a revision can be an important structural change in the government or a change which affects several provisions of the Constitution. b. Generally, a constitution may not be changed without following the process prescribed by the existing constitution, because by adopting the article on amendments and revision, the people themselves have imposed on themselves a constitutional limitation on their capacity to dispose of the Constitution. c. However, since the people are the ultimate legal sovereign, they may in extraordinary circumstances decide to disregard the constitution. When they do so, the change they effect is neither amendment nor revision in the constitutional sense but revolution. The ratification of the 1973 Constitution was done in an extra-constitutional way. Similarly, the Freedom Constitution was promulgated by President Aquino under her revolutionary authority conferred by the people through the EDSA event. d. Required steps if the constitutional change is to be effected by amendment or by revision (In general) 1. There must be proposal of amendments or revision, that is, the formulation of the changes contemplated; 2. Submission of the proposed amendments of revision to the people; 3. Ratification. e. The following may propose amendments to or revision of the Constitution: 1. Congress, upon a vote of three-fourths of all its members; 2. Constitutional Convention; 3. The electorate, through popular initiative (but only amendment) f. How Congress propose amendments to the Constitution See Section 1 g. How a constitutional convention comes to existence See Section 3 h. How proposal of amendments by initiative and referendum done 1. Through the initiative phase, the people propose the amendments. There is valid proposal when a proposition has received the approval of at least 3% of the registered voters of each district and 12% of the total number of registered voters nationwide. 2. This is followed by the referendum phase where the people vote to reject or ratify the proposal. But there must first be an enabling law. The SC declared RA 6735 inadequate to cover the system of initiative to amend the Constitution. i. A revision of the Constitution may not be effected through initiative and referendum. The change authorized by Sec 2 can only be amendment. Reason: Formulation of provisions revising the Constitution requires both cooperation and debate which can only be done through a collegial body.

j. Effectivity of the amendment or revision See Section 4 k. Essential requisites of a valid ratification Ratification of amendments must be: (1) held in a plebiscite (or election) under the election law; (2) supervised by the independent Commission on Election; and (3) where only franchised voters take part. l. The above requirements apply to amendments and revision under the Constitution. When, however, the people in the exercise of their sovereignty decide that they no longer wish to be bound by the amendatory process of the Constitution, there is legally nothing to prevent them from adopting a new Constitution in a novel extra-constitutional manner. In other words, a new constitution can come into being extra-constitutionally, that is, by revolution. The 1973 Constitution was a product of a bloodless revolution. The Freedom Constitution of 1986 was also a product of revolution. R. ARTICLE XVIII- TRANSITORY PROVISIONS 1. Basic Concept a. Meaning and purpose of transitory provisions Transitory provisions of a constitution are schedules and ordinances forming part of, or appended to provide for the transition from the old government to the new and put the provisions of the new Constitution into effect, or to qualify, restrict, or limit some permanent provisions for a limited period. Their main purpose is to obviate confusion which would otherwise arise during the transition period. They have temporary or transient operation. S. ARTICLE III- BILL OF RIGHTS 1. Significance of the Bill of Rights Government is powerful. When unlimited, it becomes tyrannical. The Bill of Rights is a guarantee that there are certain areas of a persons life, liberty, and property which governmental power may not touch. 2. Three inherent powers of the government The totality of governmental power is contained in three great powers: police power, power of eminent domain, and power of taxation. These powers are considered inherent powers because they belong to the very essence of government and without them, no government can exist. A Constitution can only define and delimit them and allocate their exercise among various government agencies. A Constitution does not grant them. a. Police Power The power vested in the legislature by the constitution to make, ordain, and establish all manner of wholesome and reasonable laws, statutes, ordinances, either with penalties or without, not repugnant to the constitution, as they shall judge to be for the good and welfare of the commonwealth, and the subjects of the same. The power of promoting public welfare by restraining and regulating the use of liberty and property.

 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, and sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas. (The welfare of the people is the supreme law; one should use his own property in a manner in such a manner as not to injure that of another.) Scope: Police power rests upon public necessity and upon the right of the State and of the public to self-protection. For this reason, its scope expands and contracts with changing needs. b. Power of Eminent Domain (See discussion under Article 3, Section 9) The power of the State to take (or expropriate) private property for public use upon paying to the owner a just compensation to be ascertained according to law. c. Power of Taxation The power of the State to impose charge or burden upon persons, property, or property rights, for the use and support of the government and to enable it to discharge its appropriate functions. 3. Other basic concepts a. Tests for the valid exercise of police power (Limitations of police power) 1. Lawful subject - The interests of the public in general, as distinguished from those of a particular class, require the exercise of the power; 2. Lawful means - The means employed are reasonably necessary for the accomplishment of the purpose, and not unduly oppressive upon individuals. b. Rights protected by the Bill of Rights In very general terms, the right to life, liberty, and property. c. Ones employment, profession, or trade, or calling is a property right and the wrongful interference therewith is an actionable wrong. 4. Section 1 a. Two aspects of due process 1. Substantive As a substantive requirement, it is a prohibition of arbitrary laws. 2. Procedural As a procedural requirement, it relates chiefly to the mode of procedure which government agencies must follow in the enforcement and application of laws. Its essence was expressed by Daniel Webster as a law which hears before it condemns. b. Basic concepts on due process

1. Due process is not necessarily judicial process. It can be administrative. 2. The requirement of substantive due process is not a rigid concept. The heart of substantive due process is the requirement of reasonableness or absence of exercise of arbitrary power. c. Equal protection of laws The equal protection clause guarantees legal equality or the equality of all persons before the law. The guaranty of the equal protection of the laws is not violated by a legislation based on reasonable classification. The classification to be reasonable: (1) must rest on substantial distinctions; (2) must be germane to the purpose of the law; (3) must not be limited to existing conditions only; and (4) must apply equally to all members of the same class. Example: A law providing that a police officer under investigation may be preventively suspended beyond the usual 90 days and until the case is decided does not deny equal protection to police officers. The reason why members of the PNP are treated differently from the other classes of persons charged criminally or administratively insofar as the application of the rule on preventive suspension is concerned is that policeman carry weapons and the badge of the law which can be used to harass or intimidate witnesses against them. 5. Section 2 a. Purpose To protect the privacy and sanctity of the person and of his house and other possessions against arbitrary intrusions by the State. b. Searches and seizures are normally unreasonable unless authorized by a validly issued search warrant or warrant of arrest. c. Only judges can issue warrants. d. Essential Requisites of a Valid Warrant 1. It must be issued upon probable cause; 2. Probable cause must be determined personally by the judge; 3. Such judge must examine under oath or affirmation the complainant and the witnesses he may produce; Or such judge must personally evaluate the resolution of the prosecutor and its supporting evidence. 4. The warrant must particularly describe the place to be searched and the persons and things to seized. e. Lawful warrantless arrests: (Section 5, Rule 113 of the Rules of Court) A peace officer or a private person may, without a warrant, arrest a person: 1. When, in his presence, the person to be arrested has committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit an offense;

2. When an offense has just been committed and he has probable cause to believe based on personal knowledge of facts and circumstances that the person to be arrested has committed it; 3. When the person to be arrested is a prisoner who has escaped from penal establishment or place where he is serving final judgment or is temporarily confined while his case is pending, or has escaped while being transferred from one confinement to another. f. Lawful warrantless searches: 1. Warrantless search incidental to a lawful arrest; 2. Search of evidence in plain view; Elements: (1) Prior valid intrusion based on the valid warrantless arrest in which the police are legally present in the pursuit of their official duties; (2) the evidence was inadvertently discovered by the police who had the right to be where they are; (3) the evidence must be immediately apparent; (4) plain view justified mere seizure of evidence without further search 3. Search of a moving vehicle The vehicles inherent mobility reduces expectation of privacy especially when its transit in public thoroughfares furnishes a highly reasonable suspicion amounting to probable cause that the occupant committed a criminal activity. 4. Consented warrantless search To constitute a waiver constitutional right, it must appear: (1) the right exists; (2) that the person involved had knowledge, either actual or constructive, of the existence of such right; (3) that said person had actual intention to relinquish the right. 5. Customs searches or seizure of goods concealed to avoid duties. 6. Stop and frisk; 7. Exigent and emergency circumstances; g. Related concepts 1. Probable Cause It means such facts and circumstances antecedent to the issuance of a warrant that are in themselves sufficient to induce a cautious man to rely upon them. Probable cause for an arrest or for the issuance of a warrant of arrest would mean such 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 would mean such facts and circumstances which would lead a reasonably discreet and prudent man to believe that an offense has been committed and the objects sought in connection with the offense are in the place sought to be searched. Evidence required to establish guilt is not necessary.

2. The constitutional proscription against unlawful searches and seizures applies as a restraint directed only against the government and its agencies tasked with the enforcement of the law. It does not protect citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures perpetrated by private individuals. 3. Regarding checkpoints: Checkpoints are not illegal per se. Under exceptional circumstances, as where the survival of organized government is on the balance, or where the lives of the people are in grave peril, checkpoints may be allowed to be installed by the government. Implicit in this proposition is, that when the situation clears and such perils are removed, checkpoints will have no absolute reason to remain. Checkpoints, for the purpose of implementing a gun ban during election period are allowed. Not all checkpoints are illegal. Those which are warranted by the exigencies of public order and are conducted in a way least intrusive to motorists are allowed. For as long as the vehicle is neither searched nor its occupants subjected to body search, and the inspection of the vehicle is limited to a visual search, said routine checks cannot be regarded as violative of individuals right against unreasonable search. Badges of legitimacy of checkpoints may be inferred fro their fixed location and their regularized manner in which they are operated. Routine inspection at checkpoints and a few questions do not constitute unreasonable searches. If the inspection becomes more thorough to the extent of becoming a search, this can be done when there is deemed to be probable cause. In the latter situation, it is justifiable as a warrantless search of a moving vehicle. 4. Search incidental to arrest is limited to a search of the person and may not be extended to a place other than that of the arrest. 5. While probable cause is not required to conduct a stop and frisk it nevertheless holds that mere suspicion or a hunch will not validate a stop and frisk. A genuine reason must exist, in light of the police officers experience and surrounding conditions, to warrant belief that the person detained has weapons concealed about him. 6. Stop and frisk serves a two-fold interest: (1) The general interest of effective crime prevention and detection; (2) the more pressing interest of safety and selfpreservation. 7. Circumstances justifying warrantless search arising from exigent circumstances: a. Reasonable ground to believe that a crime was being committed; b.No opportunity to apply for and secure search warrant from the courts. 8. Search incidental to a valid arrest As to subject, the warrantless search is sanctioned only with respect to the person of the suspect, and things that may be seized from him are limited to dangerous weapons or anything which may be used as proof of the commission of the offense. With respect the time and place of the warrantless search, it must be contemporaneous with the lawful arrest. Search must have been conducted at about the time of the arrest or immediately thereafter and only at the place where the suspect was arrested, or the premises or surroundings under his immediate control.

 The item to be searched must be within the arrestees custody or area of immediate control. 9. The essential requisite of probable cause must still be satisfied before a warrantless search and seizure can be lawfully conducted. 10. Failure to obtain a warrant when the officers had all the time to obtain it makes the warrantless search and seizure invalid. 11. Where marijuana sticks fall before the eyes of a police officer from an object a person is carrying, seizure of the sticks would not require a warrant. They are evidence in plain view. Where, however, police officers find an object only after making some search, the plain view rule cannot be applied. 12. A person charged with rebellion, subversion, conspiracy or proposal to commit such crimes or offenses committed in furtherance thereof may be arrested without a warrant since these are continuing crimes and therefore are assumed to be always continuing the offense. 6. Section 3 a. Basic Concepts 1. The privacy of communication and correspondence covers letters, messages, telephone calls, telegrams, and the like. 2. For the court to allow intrusion into the privacy of communication and correspondence, the requirement of probable cause in Sec 2, Art 3 must be followed. The privacy right is but an aspect of the right to be secure in ones person. 3. Requisites when intrusion is made without judicial order: a. It would have to be based upon a government officials assessment that public safety and order demand such intrusion; Public order and safety were defined as the security of human lives, liberty, and property against the activities of invaders, insurrectionists, and rebels. b. The discretion of the public officer, moreover, must be exercised as prescribed by law. The exercise of this power by an executive officer is subject to judicial review. c. Other than the President, other executive officers should first be properly authorized. To hold otherwise would be to opt for a government of men and not of laws. Every police agent would feel authorized to snoop. 4. The right to privacy of communication and the inadmissibility of evidence was applied to evidence taken by the wife. 5. The defense of inadmissibility of evidence under Sec 3(2) is purely personal. 6. In the absence of governmental interference, the constitutional right against unreasonable search and seizure cannot be invoked against the State. The protection against unreasonable search and seizure cannot be extended to acts committed by

private individuals so as to bring it within the ambit of alleged intrusion by the government. 7. Section 4 Speech, expression, and press include every form of expression, whether oral, written, tape or disc recoded. It also includes movies as well as what is referred to as symbolic speech such as wearing of arm band as a symbol of protest. Peaceful picketing had also been included within the meaning of speech. a. Basic Prohibitions of the Free Speech and Press Clause 1. Prior restraint It means official government restrictions on the press or other forms of expression in advance of actual publication or dissemination. Examples: (1) movie censorship, although not placed on the same level as press censorship; (2) judicial prior restraint which takes the form of an injunction against publication. 2. Subsequent punishment This has the effect of unduly curtailing expression. For indeed, if prior restraint were all that the constitutional guarantee prohibited and government could impose subsequent punishment without restraint, freedom of expression would be a mockery and delusion. b. Standards/Tests for allowable subsequent punishment of expression: 1. Dangerous tendency test Speech may be curtailed or punished when it creates dangerous tendency which the State has a right to prevent. All that it requires, for speech to be punishable, is that there be a rational connection between the speech and the evil apprehended. Example: If the intention and effect is seditious 2. Clear and present danger test Whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent. It is a question of proximity and degree. In each case, courts must ask whether the gravity of the evil, discounted by its improbability, justified such invasion of free speech as is necessary to avoid the danger. 3. Balancing of interest test It rests on the theory that it is the Courts function in the case before it when it finds public interests served by legislation on the one hand and constitutional freedoms affected by it on the other, to balance the one against the other and to arrive at a judgment where the greater weight shall be placed. It rests on the basis that constitutional freedoms are not absolute and that they may be abridged to some extent to serve appropriate and important interests.

c. Unprotected speech: 1. Libel A libel is a public and malicious imputation of a crime, or of a vice or defect, real or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status, or circumstance tending to cause the dishonor, discredit, or contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to blacken the memory of one who is dead. 2. Obscenity Tests for obscenity: Whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest. Whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law. Whether the work, taken as whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. d. Related concepts 1. Exit polls and the dissemination of their results through mass media constitute an essential part of the freedom of speech and of the press. The ban does not satisfy the clear and present danger rule because the evils envisioned are merely speculative. 2. X-rating a TV series for mere criticisms of some of the deeply held dogmas and tenets of other religions violates freedom of speech. Any act that restrains speech is hobbled by the presumption of invalidity. 3. A resolution of the COMELEC prohibiting columnists, commentators, and announcers from using their columns or radio or television time to campaign for or against the plebiscite during the period of campaign is unconstitutional. Plebiscite issues are matters of public concern and the peoples right be informed must be preserved. Moreover, the peoples choice of forum of discussion should not be restricted. 4. The right of peaceable assembly (and petition) is a right cognate to those of free speech and free press and is equally fundamental. The standards for allowable impairment of speech and press are also used for assembly and petition. 5. To justify limitations on freedom of assembly, there must be proof of sufficient weight to satisfy the clear and present danger test. 8. Section 5 a. Two principal parts: 1. Non-establishment clause - Prohibits the establishment of any religion. 2. Free exercise clause - Guarantees the free exercise of religion. b. Meaning of non-establishment of clause

 The State can not set up a church. Neither can it pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another. Neither can it openly or secretly participate in the affairs of any religious organizations or groups and vice versa. In the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect a wall of separation between Church and State. c. To be allowable, government aid that might redound to the benefit of religion: 1. Must have a secular legislative purpose; 2. Must have primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion; 3. Must not require excessive entanglement with recipient institutions. d. Constitutionally created exceptions of the non-establishment clause 1. Art VI, Sec 28(3) 2. Art VI, Sec 29(2) 3. Art XIV, Sec 3(3) e. Meaning of free exercise of religion The constitutional inhibition on legislation on the subject of religion has a double aspect: 1. Freedom to believe It forestalls compulsion by law of the acceptance of any creed or the practice of any form of worship. Freedom of conscience and freedom to adhere to such religious organization or form of worship as the individual may choose cannot be restricted by law. It is absolute. 2. Freedom to act It safeguards the free exercise of the chosen form of religion. In the nature of things, it cannot be absolute. f. Double aspect of freedom of religion: The absoluteness of freedom to believe carries with it the corollary that the government, while it may look into the good faith of a person, cannot inquire into a persons religious pretensions. Heresy trials are foreign to our Constitution. Men may believe what they cannot prove. The moment, however, belief flows over into action, it becomes subject to governmental regulation. g. Purpose of the prohibition of religious tests To render the government powerless to restore the historically and constitutionally discredited policy of probing religious beliefs by test oaths or limiting public offices to persons who have or profess to have a belief in some particular kind of religious concept. For indeed, to allow religious tests would have the effect of formal or practical establishment of particular religious faiths with consequent burdens imposed on the free exercise of the faiths of non-favored believers.

h. Other related concepts 1. Whether an act is immoral within the meaning of the statute is not to be determined by the accuseds concept of morality. Congress has provided a standard. The offense is complete if the accused intended to perform, and did in fact perform, the act which the statute condemns. 2. The State cannot require a license for the dissemination of a religious literature unless the dissemination is done as a business operation for profit. The constitutional guarantee of the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship carries with it the right to disseminate religious information. Any restraint of such right can only be justified like other restraints of freedom of expression on the grounds that there is clear and present danger of a substantive evil which the State has a right to prevent. 3. Solicitation of contributions in general, which may include contributions for religious purposes, may be regulated by general law for the protection of the public. 4. The Flag Salute Law requiring compulsory participation by public school students in flag ceremonies violates either the free exercise or the non-establishment clause. Freedom of religion requires that protesting members be exempted from the operation of the law. 9. Section 6 a. Liberty guaranteed 1. Freedom to choose and change ones place of abode; 2. Freedom to travel within the country and outside. b. Related concepts 1. Liberty of abode may be impaired only upon lawful order of the court and within the limits prescribed by law. The right to travel, however, may be curtailed even by administrative authorities, such as passport officers, in the interest of national authority, public safety or public health and as may be provided by law. 2. A court may prevent a person admitted to bail from leaving the country. This is a necessary consequence of the function of a bail bond which is to secure a persons appearance when needed. Art III, Sec 6 should by no means be construed as delimiting the inherent power of the courts to use all means necessary to carry their orders into effect in criminal case pending before them. When by law, jurisdiction is conferred on a court or judicial officer, all auxiliary writs, process and other means necessary to carry it into effect may be employed by such court or judicial officer. 10. Section 7 a. Rights guaranteed 1. Right to information on matters of public concern; 2. Corollary right of access to official records and documents. b. Recognized limitations to the exercise of the right to information and the State policy of public disclosure: 1. National security matters;

2. Trade secrets and banking transactions; 3. Criminal matters or classified law enforcement matters such as those relating to the apprehension, the prosecution and the detention of criminals, which courts may not inquire into prior to such arrest, detention, and prosecution; 4. Other confidential matters. RA 6713 prohibits public officials and employees from using or divulging confidential or classified information officially known to them by reason of their office and not made known available to the public. Other acknowledged limitations include diplomatic correspondence, closed door cabinet meetings and executive sessions of either house of Congress, and the internal deliberations of Congress. c. Related concepts 1. The rights guaranteed under this section are political rights available to citizens only. 2. The standards that have been developed for the regulation of speech and press and of assembly and petition and of association are applicable to the rights of access to information. These, after all, are cognate rights, for they all commonly rest on the premise that it is an informed and critical public opinion which alone can protect the values of democratic government. 3. The right of access to official records is subject to limitations imposed by law. Moreover, it is subject to reasonable regulation for the convenience of and order in the office that has custody of the documents. While public officers in custody or control of public records have the discretion to regulate the manner in which such records may be inspected, examined or copied by interested persons, such discretion does not carry with it the authority to prohibit access, inspection, examination, or copying. 11. Section 8 a. Basic concepts 1. All these means is that the right to form associations shall not be impaired without due process of law. It is therefore an aspect of the general right of liberty. More specifically it is an aspect of freedom of contract; and in so far as associations may have for their object the advancement of belief and ideas, freedom of association is an aspect of freedom of expression and of belief. 2. The guarantee also covers the right not to join an association. 12. Section 9 a. Power of Eminent Domain The ultimate right of sovereign power to appropriate, not only the public, but even private property of all citizens within the territorial sovereignty, to public purposes. The power of eminent domain is possessed inherently by the State and is exercised by the national government. By delegation, it may also be possessed by local governments, other public entities, and public utilities. b. Elements of the exercise of the power of eminent domain

1. There is taking of private property; 2. The taking must be for public use; 3. There must be just compensation; c. To constitute taking, the following circumstances must concur: 1. The expropriator must enter upon the private property; 2. The entry must not be for a momentary period, that is, the entry must be permanent; 3. The entry must be under warrant or color of legal authority; 4. The property must be devoted to public use or otherwise informally appropriated or injuriously affected; 5. The utilization of the property must be in such a way as to oust the owner and deprive him of all beneficial enjoyment of the property. d. Distinction as to manner in which police power and eminent domain affect the right of private property By police power, property is regulated. By eminent domain, property is taken. The distinction is important because regulation is not compensable whereas taking must be compensated. Moreover, for purpose of compensation, the value of property is fixed as of the time of taking. e. Public use It includes any use that is of utility, advantage or productivity for the benefit of the public generally. It is equivalent to public welfare in police power. f. Just compensation The just and complete equivalent of the loss which the owner of the thing expropriated has to suffer by reason of expropriation; the market value of the property. It includes not only the correct determination of the amount to be paid to the owner of the land but also payment of the land within a reasonable period of time from its taking. g. Related concepts 1. In assessing just compensation, the controlling factor is the value of the land at the time of the taking and not its future potential. 2. Compensation need not be in money. However, it must be in some form that embodies certainty of value and of payment, such as government bonds. 3. Expropriation is not proper as a substitute for the enforcement of a valid contract. Expropriation lies only when it is made necessary by the opposition of the owner to the sale or by the lack of any agreement as to price. Where there is valid and subsisting contract between the owners of the property and the expropriating authority, there is no reason for the expropriation. 13. Section 10

a. Instances when a law may be said to have impaired the obligations of contracts: 1. When it changes the terms of legal contract between parties, either in the time or mode of performance; 2. When it imposes new conditions; 3. When it dispenses with those expressed; 4. When it authorizes for its satisfaction something different from that provided in its terms. b. Related concepts 1. A valid exercise of police power is superior to the obligations of contracts. 14. Section 11 a. Basic concepts 1. Those protected include low paid employees, domestic servants, and employers. They need not be persons so poor that they may be supported at public expense. It suffices that plaintiff is indigent. And the difference between paupers and indigent persons is that the latter are persons who have no property or sources of income sufficient for their support aside from their own labor though self-supporting when able to work and in employment. 15. Section 12 a. Rights made available to persons under investigation: 1. Right to remain silent; 2. Right to competent and independent counsel preferably of his own choice; 3. Right to be informed of such rights. b. Procedures, guidelines, and duties which the arresting, detaining, inviting, or investigating officer or his companions must do and observe at the time of making an arrest and again at and during the time of his custodial interrogation in accordance with the Constitution, jurisprudence, and RA 7438 (People v Mahinay, Feb 1, 1999, updating the Miranda rights) 1. The person arrested, detained, invited, or under custodial investigation must be informed in language known to and understood by him of the reason for the arrest and he must be shown the warrant of arrest, if any; every other warnings, information, or communication must be in a language known to and understood by said person; 2. He must be warned that he has a right to remain silent and that any statement he makes may be used as evidence against him; 3. He must be informed that he has a right to be assisted at all times and have the presence of an independent and competent lawyer, preferably of his own choice; 4. He must be informed that if he has no lawyer or cannot afford the services of a lawyer, one will be provided for him; and that a lawyer mat also be engaged by any person on his behalf, or may be appointed by the court upon petition of the person arrested or one acting in his behalf;

5. That whether or not the person has a lawyer, he must be informed that no custodial investigation in any form shall be conducted except in the presence of his counsel or after a valid waiver has been made; 6. The person arrested must be informed that, at any time, he has the right to communicate or confer by the most expedient means telephone, radio, letter or messenger with his lawyer (either retained or appointed), any member of his immediate family, or any medical doctor, priest or minister chosen by him or by any one of his immediate family or by his counsel, or be visited by/confer with duly accredited national or international non-government organization. It shall be the responsibility of the officer to ensure that this is accomplished; 7. He must be informed that he has the right to waive any of said rights provided it is made voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently and ensure that he understood the same; 8. In addition, if the person arrested waives his right to a lawyer, he must be informed that it must be done in writing and in the presence of counsel, otherwise he must be warned that the waiver is void even if he insist on his waiver and chooses to speak; 9. That the person arrested must be informed that he may indicate in any manner at any time or stage of the process that he does not wish to be questioned with warning that once he makes such indication, the police may not interrogate him if the same had not yet commenced, or the interrogation must cease if it has already begun; 10. The person arrested must be informed that his initial waiver of his right to remain silent, the right to counsel or any of his rights does not bar him from invoking it at any time during the process, regardless of whether he may have answered some questions or volunteered some statements 11. He must be informed that any statement or evidence, as the case may be, obtained in violation of any of the foregoing, whether inculpatory or exculpatory, in whole or in part, shall be inadmissible in evidence. c. Circumstances in which the rights are available: The rights under custodial investigation begin to be available where the investigation is no longer a general inquiry into an unsolved crime but has begun to focus on a particular suspect, the suspect has been taken to police custody, and the police carry out a process of interrogation that lends itself to eliciting incriminating statements. These rights are available after a person has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way. The rights are not available before police investigators become involved. The rights begin to be available only when the person is already in custody. d. Circumstances not covered: The right to counsel attaches upon the start of an investigation, that is, when the investigating officer starts to ask questions to elicit information and/or admissions from the respondent/accused. This is normally not the situation in police line-up. However, the moment there is a move or even an urge of said investigators to elicit admissions or confessions or even plain information which may appear innocent or innocuous at the time, from said suspect, he should then and there be assisted by counsel, unless he waives the right; but the waiver shall be made in writing and in the presence of counsel.

 The applicability of the provision on custodial investigation does not seem to contemplate cases where no written confession is sought to be presented in evidence as a result of the formal custodial investigation. What was testified to was only what appellant told the police why he is surrendering to them. It can hardly be said that under such circumstance, the surrenderee is already under investigation within the meaning of the constitutional provision. If he admits the killing and it was precisely because he surrendered to admit the killing (sic), the constitutional safeguard to be informed of the rights to silence and to counsel may not be invoked. Section 12 pars. (1) and (3), At III, of the Constitution do not cover verbal confessions to a radio announcer. What the Constitution bars is compulsory disclosure of incriminating facts or confessions. The rights enumerated under Sec 12 are guaranteed to preclude the slightest use of coercion by the State as would lead the accused to admit something false, not to prevent him from freely and voluntarily telling the truth. Sec 12 does not cover a situation where the accused repeated his sworn statement to a private party who in turn testified about it. The admission of the accused to Prosecutor Zarate not in the course of an investigation, but in connection with Maquedas plea to be utilized as State witness is admissible. When the accused talked with the mayor as confidant and not as a law enforcement officer, his uncounselled admission is admissible. Investigation by an administrative body is not covered by Sec 12. Such inquiries are conducted merely to determine whether there are facts that merit disciplinary measure against erring public officers and employees, with the purpose of maintaining the dignity of the government service. Constitutional procedures on custodial investigation do not apply to a spontaneous statement, not elicited through questioning by the authorities, but given in an ordinary manner whereby the accused orally admitted having committed the crime. Hence, when the accused, while in police custody, verbally and spontaneously admitted his guilt and pointed out the mastermind of the robbery, the evidence is admissible. An interview recorded on video showing the accused unburdening his guilt willingly, openly, and publicly in the presence of the newsmen is admissible. Such confession does not form part of the custodial investigation as it was not given to police officers but to media men in attempt to elicit sympathy and forgiveness from the public. However, we should never presume that all media confessions described as voluntary have been freely given. e. Right to be informed of his rights The right of a person under custodial investigation to be informed implies a correlative obligation on the part of the police investigator to explain, and contemplates an effective communication that results in understanding what is conveyed. Short of this, there is denial of the right, as it cannot truly be said that the person has been informed of his rights. f. Related concepts 1. The accuseds waiver of his rights and signification of willingness to make a confession are ceremonies that require the presence of counsel.

2. The right to counsel is a right to effective counsel from the first moment of questioning and all throughout. 3. The confession is not admissible when, at the time the accused made the extrajudicial confession, he was not informed that if he could not get a lawyer, the State would provide him one to assist him in the investigation. 4. Infractions of the Miranda rights render inadmissible only the extrajudicial confession or admission made during the custodial investigation. The admissibility of other evidence, provided they are relevant to the issue and is not otherwise excluded by law or rules, is not affected even if obtained or taken in the course of custodial investigation. 16. Section 13 a. The security given for the release of a person in custody of the law, furnished by him or a bondsman, to guarantee his appearance before any court. Bail may be given in the form of corporate surety, property bond, cash deposit, or recognizance. b. Why bail is awarded to the accused 1. To honor the presumption of innocence until his guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt; and 2. To enable him to prepare his defense without being subject to punishment prior to conviction. c. Implicit limitations on the right to bail 1. The person claiming the right must be under actual detention; 2. The constitutional right is available only in criminal cases, not, e.g., in deportation proceedings. d. Related concepts 1. All persons actually detained, except those charged with offenses punishable by reclusion perpetua or death when evidence of guilt is strong, shall before conviction, be bailable by sufficient sureties. 2. A soldier under court martial does not enjoy the right to bail. Because of the disciplinary structure of the military and because soldiers are allowed the fiduciary right to bear arms and can therefore cause great havoc, tradition has recognized the non-existence of the right to bail. 17. Section 14 a. Due process in criminal cases The requirement that no person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense simply requires that the procedure established by law be followed. If that procedure fully protects life, liberty, and property of the citizens in the State, then it will be held to be due process of law. Due process is satisfied if the accused is informed as to why he is proceeded against and what charge he has to make, with his conviction being made to rest on evidence that is not tainted with falsity after full opportunity for him for rebutting it and the sentence being imposed in accordance with law. It is assumed, of course, that the court that rendered the decision is one of competent jurisdiction.

b. Rights of accused In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall be entitled to the following rights: 1. To be presumed innocent until the contrary is proved beyond reasonable doubt; 2. To be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him; 3. To be present and defend in person and by counsel at every stage of the proceedings, from arraignment to promulgation of the judgment; 4. To testify as a witness in his own behalf but subject to cross-examination on matters covered by the direct examination. His silence shall not in any manner prejudice him; 5. To be exempt from being compelled to be a witness against himself; 6. To confront and cross-examine the witnesses against him at the trial; 7. To have compulsory process issued to secure the attendance of witnesses and production of other evidence in his behalf; 8. To have speedy, impartial, and public trial; 9. To appeal in all cases allowed and in manner prescribed by law; 18. Section 15 a. Habeas corpus It is defined as a writ directed to the person detaining another commanding him to produce the body of the prisoner at a designated time and place, with the day and cause of his caption and detention, to do, submit to, and receive whatever the court or judge awarding the writ shall consider in that behalf. An essential requisite for the availability of the writ is actual deprivation of personal liberty. b. Privilege of the writ of habeas corpus The right to have an immediate determination of the legality of the deprivation of physical liberty. c. Suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus The writ is never suspended. It always issues as a matter of course. What is suspended is the privilege of the writ, i.e., once the officer making the return shows to the court that the person detained is being detained for an offense covered by the suspension, the court may not inquire any further. If the privilege of the writ is suspended, you can arrest a person even without a warrant. It is the President who may suspend the privilege of the writ. The privilege of the writ may be suspended in cases of invasion or rebellion when the public safety requires it. Two requisites: (1) the existence of actual invasion or rebellion; (2) public safety requires the suspension. The suspension of the privilege does not suspend the right to bail.

d. Limitations on the power to suspend the writ- See Art VII, Section 7 e. Related concepts 1. Where there are grounds for grave doubts about the alleged release, particularly where the standard and prescribed procedure in effecting release has not been followed, the burden of proof falls on the respondents in a petition for habeas corpus. Release is an affirmative defense, like self-defense, and each party must prove his affirmative allegation. If the respondents have not satisfied the burden, the case must be referred to the Commission on Human Rights. 19. Section 16 a. Basic concepts 1. Remedy of a person if there has been unreasonable delay in the resolution of a case: Dismissal through mandamus. 2. Although no decision has yet been released ten years after trial, the delay was neither the fault of the accused nor that of the prosecution. The case should not be dismissed. Rehearing is justified in order to allow the new judge to come to a decision. The rights involved are not just those of the accused but also those of the public. (Guerrero v CA, Jun 28, 1996) 20. Section 17 a. Basic concepts 1. The guarantee against self-incrimination was established on the grounds of public policy and humanity. Of policy, because, if the party were required to testify, it would place the witness under the strongest temptation to commit perjury; and of humanity, because it would prevent the extorting of confession by duress. 2. What is prohibited by the constitutional guarantee is the use of physical or moral compulsion to extort communication from the witness , not an inclusion of his body as evidence, when it may be material. The substance emitting from the body of the defendant was received as evidence in a prosecution for acts of lasciviousness. Since the kernel of the privilege was the prohibition of testimonial compulsion, the Court was willing to compel a woman accused of adultery to submit to the indignity of being tested for pregnancy. The taking of pictures of an accused even without the assistance of counsel, being a purely mechanical act, is not a violation of his constitutional right against selfincrimination. 21. Section 18 a. Involuntary servitude It is every condition of enforced or compulsory service of one to another no matter under what form such servitude may be disguised. b. Some exceptions to the rule against involuntary servitude

1. Involuntary servitude may be imposed as a punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted; (Art III, Sec 18 par 2) 2. In the interest of national defense all citizens may be compelled by law to render personal military or civil service; (Art II, Sec 4) c. Other concepts 1. The State cannot hold political prisoners pursuant to Sec 18(1). 22. Section 19 a. Basic concepts 1. A penalty is cruel, degrading or inhuman when it is flagrantly and plainly oppressive, wholly disproportionate to the nature of the offense as shock the moral sense of the community. The fact that the punishment prescribed by the statute is severe does not make it cruel and unusual. 2. The language of the provision does not abolish the death penalty but merely prohibits the imposition of death. Congress may reimpose the death paenalty if it finds compelling reasons involving heinous crimes. Conversely, Congress may also prohibit the imposition of death penalty after it has reimposed it. 3. Death penalty per se is not cruel and unusual. The 1973 Constitution, by recognizing the death penalty, in that it made the imposition of the death penalty automatically reviewable by the SC implicitly admitted that per se, it is not cruel and unusual. The 1987 Constitution, by allowing the possibility of its restoration, implicitly admits that it need not be cruel and inhuman. The circumstances under which a specific law may allow the death penalty may make it cruel and unusual under such law. 4. Death by legal injection is not cruel and unusual punishment. Death penalty per is not a cruel, degrading, or inhuman punishment. Punishment is so if it involves torture or lingering death. It implies something inhuman and barbarous, something more than the mere extinguishment of life. 5. A fine is excessive when under any circumstances it is disproportionate to the offense. 23. Section 20 a. Basic concepts 1. The constitutional prohibition against imprisonment for debt, stated in full, means this: No person may be imprisoned for debt in virtue of an order in a civil proceeding, either as a substitute for satisfaction of a debt or as a means for compelling satisfaction; but a person may be imprisoned as a penalty for a crime arising from a contractual debt and imposed in a proper criminal proceeding.

2. The debt in the provision means any liability to pay money growing out of a contract, express or implied. 3. BP 22 (Bouncing Checks Law) does not violate the prohibition of imprisonment for non-payment of contract. The gravamen of the offense is not the non-payment of debt but the putting into circulation of a worthless check. 4. Sec 13 of PD 115 on estafa does not violate the prohibition of imprisonment for debt. The imprisonment here is not for the non-payment of contractual obligation but for the criminal act. 5. Poll Tax It can be understood as the cedula tax or residence tax. The Constitution does not prohibit the cedula tax but it prohibits imprisonment for non-payment of the cedula or residence tax. A poll tax may also be understood as a tax, the payment of which is made a requirement for the exercise of the right of suffrage. The imposition of the poll tax in this sense is prohibited by Art V, Sec 1, which disallows literacy, property, or other substantive requirement for the exercise of suffrage. 24. Section 21 a. Requisites for a valid defense of double jeopardy: 1. A first jeopardy must have attached prior to the second; Jeopardy attaches: (a) upon a good indictment (valid information); (b) before a competent court; (c) after arraignment (valid arraignment); (d) after plea. 2. The first jeopardy must have terminated; (a) By acquittal; (b) By final conviction; (c) By dismissal without the express consent of the accused [And dismissal even with the consent of the accused if the ground is insufficiency of evidence (demurrer to evidence).]; (d) By dismissal on the merits. 25. Section 22 a. An ex post facto law has been defined as: 1. One which makes an action done, before the passing of the law and which was innocent when done, criminal, and punishes such action; 2. One which aggravates a crime or makes it greater than when it was committed; 3. One which changes the punishment and inflicts a greater punishment than the law annexed to the crime when it was committed; 4. One which alters the legal rules of evidence and receives less or different testimony than the law required at the time of the commission of the offense in order to convict the defendant; 5. One which assumes to regulate civil rights and remedies only but in effect imposes a penalty or deprivation of a right which when done was lawful; 6. One which deprives a person accused of a crime of some lawful protection to which he has become entitled, such as the protection of a former conviction or acquittal, or proclamation of amnesty.

b. Bill of attainder It is a legislative act which inflicts punishment without judicial trial. If the punishment be less than death, the act is termed a bill of pains and penalties. Within the meaning of the Constitution, bills of attainder include bill of pain and penalties.