 Chapter III: Legal System
 Nature of PH Legal System
 Civil Law: Introduced by Spanish
 Common Law: Introduced by Americans
 Muslim: Introduced by Muslims
 Indigenous Law
 Two Sources of Law
 Statutes or Statutory Law: Written enactment of the
will of the legislative branch rendered authentic by
certain prescribed forms or solemnities
 Jurisprudence or Case Law: Cases decided or written
opinion by courts and persons performing judicial
functions
 Classification of Legal Sources: By Authority
 Primary Authority: That which may be cited in support
of an action, theory, hypothesis
 Only Authority Binding on the Courts
 Full Text, Actual Law, Court Decisions
promulgated by the Three Branches:
 Legislature: Statutes
 Executive: Presidential Issuances
(EO’s, AO’s, PD’s, etc.)
 Judiciary: Judicial Doctrines found
in Decisions
 Two Sub-Classifications:
 Mandatory: Law created by the jurisdiction
where it operates
 Persuasive: Law created by other
jurisdictions
 When Persuasive Authority is Used:
 No PH Authorities available; or
 PH Statute or Jurisprudence based on
Spanish or American Law
 Secondary Authority: Commentaries, etc. that
Explain, Discuss, or Comment on Primary Authority
 NOT Binding on the Courts
 Given Persuasive Effect
 Examples:
o Opinions of Dept. of Justice
o Opinions of Securities and
Exchange Commission
o Circulars of Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas
 Classification of Legal Sources: By Source
 Primary Sources: Those published by the issuing
agency itself or by the Official Gazette
 For Legislative Enactments: Laws and
Resolutions published by Congress
 For S.C. Decisions: Philippine Reports and
Mimeographed Advance Supreme Court
decisions
 Included in Official Gazette (www.gov.ph):
 Legislative and Executive Enactments
 Selected S.C. and C.A. Decisions
 Rules and Regulations of Gov’t Agencies
 Legal Notices
 Secondary Sources: Unofficial Sources; Referred
to as those commercially or those not published by
government agencies or instrumentalities issuing
them
 For PD’s and RA’s: Vital Legal Documents
 For S.C. Decisions: Supreme Court Reports
Annotated (SCRA)
 Classification of Legal Sources: By Character
 Statute Law Books
 Case Law Books/Law Reports
 Combination of Both
 Law Digests
 Law Finders
 Electronic Sources
 Reasons for Popularity:
 No complete and updated Legal Information
available
 Search engines facilitate research
 No complete and updated manually
published search tools or law finders
 Websites:
 Chan Robles (www.chanrobles.com): Full
Text of PH Legal Info.; US Laws and
Decisions; Impeachment Proceedings; Bar
Review
 Lawphil (www.lawphil.com): Full Text
Decisions; Full Text Laws
 CD Asia
(http://www.cdasia.com/cdasiaonline/):
Source for almost all Legal Info. not
available in print
 e-SCRA
(http://central.com.ph/central_books):
 LEXIS and WESTLAW: Foreign Laws
 WESTLAW ASIA: Now publishes
S.C. Decisions
 General Rules: Using Sources
 Generally, first use for Mandatory Primary Authorities.
 If none, use Persuasive Mandatory Authority.
 If none, use Secondary Authority.
 Always start from the latest.
 Illustrations of Exception to “Always Latest”
 David vs. SET and Mary Grace Poe-Llamanzares
 Mary - a natural-born citizen
 Under 1935 Constitution
 Why 1935? It was prevailing at the time of
her birth.
PHILIPPINE LEGAL RESEARCH
LEGAL RESEARCH
the process of finding the law to a problem and
included the use of materials found that will be
used for a specific problem
(William H. Putman [Legal Research, Analysis and Writing, 2d
ed.,3 (2010)]
Law
rules and regulations promulgated by
competent authorities;
a. Enactments of legislature
b. Executive or presidential issuances in the
exercise of his
c. Rules and regulations of administrative or
judicial agencies
Statutes
 Public Acts – 1901-1935
 Commonwealth Acts – 1936-1946
 Republic Acts – 1946-1972/1987 onwards
 Batas Pambansa – 1973-1986
 Presidential Decrees -
 Executive Orders – 1986
issued by the President in the exercise of his legislative
power
Constitution
body of rules and principles in accordance with
which the powers of sovereignty are regularly exercised
NATURE AND PURPOSE
Serves as the supreme or fundamental law
Establishes basic framework and underlying principles of implementation has picked up under Chief Justice Renato
government Corona's leadership more than $1.3 million has disbursed in
Designed to protect the basic rights of the people the first half of calendar 2011 alone) and (iv) the very severe
Constitutions Recognized by the Philippine Legal System 2009 tropical storm Ondoy which set back implementation into
RECOGNIZED? early 2010 due to damage to courts and records.
1899 Malolos Constitution
 Ratified on September 29, 1898 Reporters Office (SC & CA)
 First democratic Constitution ever promulgated in the keep all the original and complete copies of the court
whole of Asia and West Pacific decisions
1935 Constitution with original signatures of the
 ratified by plebiscite on May 14, 1935 Justices of SC and CA
 Women were given the right of suffrage making All others (Judiciary / Quasi-Judicial Agencies)
Filipino women the first Asian women to exercise the Copies of decisions may be taken from:
said right  Legal Office
1943 Constitution  Office of the Clerks of Court
 ratified by the KALIBAPI Convention, September 7,  Records Office
1943  Or their Libraries (Lower Courts, Quasi-Judicial
 Japanese Occupation Agencies)
1973 Constitution  No available printed compilations of lower court
 deemed ratified by Citizens’ Assemblies held from decisions
January 10 to 15, 1973, proclaimed in force by  For Appellate Courts, the CA has until 1980’s only
Proclamation by President Marcos, January 17, 1973  Sandiganbayan only has one volume
1986 Freedom Constitution  Court of Tax Appeals, a compilation is available in
 promulgated by Presidential Proclamation, March 25, “CD for taxation of CD Asia”
1986
 All previous constitutions were used as working drafts
Part2.htm
Research of Case Law
Case Law or Judicial decisions
official interpretations or manifestations of law made by
persons and agencies of the government performing judicial
and quasi-judicial functions

from the Latin term which means “in certain sense,”

functions that are in reality judicial in nature except that they
are performed not by the regular courts but by administrative
bodies or agencies under the executive branch, e.g. NLRC,
SEC, and the Independent Constitutional Commissions,
among others

Judicial Review of Administrative Decisions

- findings of fact in such decision should not be
disturbed if supported by substantial evidence; but
review is justified when there is
 D
e

Major problem in conducting research on case law
 Availability of published or printed decisions from the
CA to the rest of the judicial and quasi-judicial
agencies
Judicial Reform Program
PH Judicial Reform Support Project
Objective
to assist the Philippine Government in developing a
more effective and accessible Judiciary that would foster public
trust and confidence, through the implementation of reforms
under four components comprising: (a) improving case
adjudication and access to justice; (b) enhancing institutional
integrity; (c) strengthening institutional capacity; and (d)
supporting the reforms of the judicial system and the Project
Management Office.
The project could not be completed by the original closing date
of December 31, 2009, and the closing date was extended by
18 months, to June 30, 2011. However, this extended period
has not been sufficient to complete the project, due to (i)
limited implementation and coordination capacity in the
implementing agency; (ii) lengthy procurement processes; (iii)
changes in the judiciary leadership (although the pace of