MARTINEZ, JOSE AUDIE RUSTUM R.

1P
1. What are statutes in pari materia?

Statutes sharing a common purpose or relating to the same subject and which are construed together.
2. If two statutes are in pari materia, one is general law the other is a special law, what

is the rule in statutory construction to be followed. A general law and a special law on the same subject are statutes in pari materia should, accordingly, be read together and harmonized, if possible, with a view to giving effect to both. The rule is that where there are two acts, one of which is special and particular and the other general which, if standing alone, would include the same matter and thus conflict with the special act, the special law must prevail since it evinces the legislative intent more clearly than that of a general statute and must not be taken as intended to affect the more particular and specific provisions of the earlier act, unless it is absolutely necessary so to construe it in order to give its words any meaning at all. The circumstance that the special law is passed before or after the general act does not change the principle. Where the special law is later, it will be regarded as an exception to, or a qualification of, the prior general act; and where the general act is later, the special statute will be construed as remaining an exception to its terms, unless repealed expressly or by necessary implication. 3. As a general rule what are the statutes to be construed strictly? examples and explain.
A. Penal statutes - those that define crimes, treat of their nature and provide for their

Give three

punishment. Penal statutes are strictly construed against the State and liberally construed in favor of the accused

Reason: The law is tender in favor of the rights of the individual; The object is to establish a certain rule by conformity to which mankind would be safe, and the discretion of the court limited and; Purpose of strict construction is not to enable a guilty person to escape punishment through technicality but to provide a precise definition of forbidden acts
B. Legislative grants to local government units - Grants of power to local government

are to be construed strictly, and doubts in the interpretation should be resolved in favor of the national government and against the political subdivisions concerned Reason: there is in such a grant a gratuitous donation of public money or property which results in an unfair advantage to the grantee and for that reason, the grant should be narrowly restricted in favor of the public
C. Statutory grounds for removal of officials - Statutes relating to suspension or removal

of public officials are strictly construed Reason: the remedy of removal is a drastic one and penal in nature. Injustice and harm to the public interest would likely emerge should such laws be not strictly interpreted against the power of suspension or removal 4. Write a brief and concise case digest among the cases assigned for todays class. FACTS: Tenebro contracted marriage with Ancajas in 1990. The two lived together

continuously and without interruption until the latter part of 1991, when Tenebro informed Ancajas that he had been previously married to a certain Hilda Villareyes in 1986. Petitioner thereafter left the conjugal dwelling which he shared with Ancajas, stating that he was going to cohabit with Villareyes. In 1993, petitioner contracted yet another marriage with a certain Nilda Villegas. Ancajas thereafter filed a complaint for bigamy against petitioner. Villegas countered that his marriage with Villareyes cannot be proven as a fact there being no record of such. He further argued that his second marriage, with Ancajas, has been declared void ab initio due to psychological incapacity. Hence he cannot be charged for bigamy.

ISSUE: Whether Tenebro is guilty of bigamy. HELD: The prosecution was able to establish the validity of the first marriage. As a second or subsequent marriage contracted during the subsistence of petitioners valid marriage to Villareyes, petitioners marriage to Ancajas would be null and void ab initio completely regardless of petitioners psychological capacity or incapacity. Since a marriage contracted during the subsistence of a valid marriage is automatically void, the nullity of this second marriage is not per se an argument for the avoidance of criminal liability for bigamy. Pertinently, Article 349 of the Revised Penal Code criminalizes any person who shall contract a second or subsequent marriage before the former marriage has been legally dissolved, or before the absent spouse has been declared presumptively dead by means of a judgment rendered in the proper proceedings. A plain reading of the law, therefore, would indicate that the provision penalizes the mere act of contracting a second or a subsequent marriage during the subsistence of a valid marriage.