I.

Definition
A. Laws
 Whole body or system of laws.
 Rule of conduct formulated and made obligatory by legitimate power of the state.
 Includes RA, PD, EO, PI, Jurisprudence, Ordinances passed by sanggunians of local
government.

B. Statutes
 An act of legislature (Philippine Commission, Phil. Legislature, Batasang Pambansa,
Congress)
 PD’s of Marcos during the period of martial law 1973 Constitution
 EO of Aquino revolutionary period Freedom Constitution.

C. Permanent Statutes
 One whose operation is not limited in duration but continues until repealed.

D. Temporary Structures
 Duration is for a limited period of time fixed in the statute itself or whose life ceases upon
the happening of an event.
E. Legislative Power
 Vested in congress – 1987 Constitution
 President – 1973 & Freedom (PD and EO respectively)
 Sangguniang barangay, bayan, panglungsod, panlalawigan – only within respective
jurisdiction – ordinances
 Administrative or executive officer
F. Legislative Purpose
 A legislative purpose is the reason why a particular statute was enacted by legislature.
 Legislation “is an active instrument and government which, for the purpose of
interpretation means that laws have ends to be achieved”
G. Legislative Meaning
 Legislative meaning is what the law, by its language, means.
 What it comprehends;
 What it covers or embraces;
 What its limits or confines are.
 Intent and Meaning – synonymous
 If there is ambiguity in the language used in a statute, its purpose may indicate the
meaning of the language and lead to what the legislative intent is
H. Legislative History
 History of a statute refers to all its antecedents from its inception until its enactment
into law.
 Its history proper covers the period and the steps done from the time the bill is
introduced until it is finally passed by the legislature.
I. Bill
 A propose law.
J. Preamble
 Prefatory statement or explanation or a finding of facts, reciting the purpose, reason, or
occasion for making the law to which it is prefixed”
 Found after enacting clause and before the body of the law.
 Usually not used by legislations because content of the preamble is written in the
explanatory note.
 But PDs and EOs have preambles
K. Separability Clause
 It states that if any provision of the act is declared invalid, the remainder shall not be
affected thereby.
 It is not controlling and the courts may invalidate the whole statute where what is left,
after the void part, is not complete and workable
 Presumption – statute is effective as a whole
 Its effect: to create in the place of such presumption the opposite of separability
L. Purview of Statute
 That part which tells what the law is about
 Body of statute should embrace only one subject should only one subject matter, even
their provisions should be allied and germane to the subject and purpose of the bill.
 Statue is usually divided into section. w/c contains a single proposition.
 Presidential Issuances
M. Presidential Issuances
 are those which the president issues in the exercise of ordinance power.
 i.e. EO, AO (administrative orders), proclamations, MO (memorandum orders), MC
(memorandum circulars), and general or special orders.
 Have force and effect of laws.
 EO o acts of the President providing for rules of a general or permanent character in the
implementation or execution of constitutional/ statutory powers, do not have the force
and effect of laws enacted by congress o different from EO issued by the President in the
ex of her legislative power during the revolution Presidential decree under the freedom
constitution
 AO are acts of the President which relate to particular aspects of governmental
operations in pursuance of his duties as administrative head
 Proclamations are acts of the President fixing a date or declaring a statute or condition
of public moment or interest, upon the existence of which the operation of a specific law
or regulation is made to depend
 MO are acts of the President on matters of administrative details or of subordinate or
temporary interest which only concern a particular officer or office of government
 MC are acts of the president on matters relating to internal administration which the
President desires to bring to the attention of all or some of the departments, agencies,
bureaus, or offices of the government, for information of compliance
 General or Specific Order are Acts and commands of the President in his capacity as
Commander-in-Chief of the AFP
N. Construction
 Construction is the art or process of discovering and expounding the meaning and
intention of the authors of the law, where that intention rendered doubtfully reason of
ambiguity in its language or of the fact that the given case is not explicitly provided for
in the law.
 Construction is drawing of warranted conclusions beyond direct expression of the text
expressions which are in spirit though not within the text.
 Inevitably, there enters into the construction of statutes the play of JUDICIAL
JUDGMENT within the limits of the relevant legislative materials
 It involves the EXERCISE OF CHOICE BY THE JUDICIARY
 Explanatory note
O. Explanatory Note
 A short exposition of explanation accompanying a proposed legislation by its author or
proponent.
 Where there is ambiguity in a statute or where a statute is susceptible of more than one
interpretation, courts may resort to the explanatory note to clarify the ambiguity and
ascertain the purpose or intent of the statute.
 Used to give effect to the purpose or intent as disclosed in its explanatory note.
 A statute affected or changed an existing law and the explanatory note to the bill which
has eventually enacted into a law states that the purpose is too simply to secure the
prompt action on a certain matter by the officer concerned and not to change the
existing law; the statute should be construed to carry out such purpose.
 It may be used as a basis for giving a statute a meaning that is inconsistent with what is
expressed in the text of the statute
P. Stare Decisis
 Judicial interpretation of a statute and is of greater weight than that of an executive or
administrative officer in the construction of other statutes of similar import.
 It is an invaluable aid in the construction or interpretation of statutes of doubtful
meaning.
Q. Obiter Dictum
 opinion expressed by a court upon some question of law which is not necessary to the
decision of the case before it; not binding as a precedent
R. Doctrine of Necessary Implication
 So-called gaps in the law develop as the law is enforced
 StatCon rule: to fill in the gap is the doctrine of necessary implication
 Doctrine states that what is implied in a statute is as much a part thereof as that which
is expressed
I. What are the restrictions or qualifications, as provided in the Constitution, in enacting
appropriations bill?
 Can only originate from the Lower House but the Senate may propose/ concur with
the amendments
 Limitations of passage (as per Constitution) Art 6 Sec. 27 (2) congress may not
increase the appropriation recommended by the President XXX
 particular appropriation limited
 procedure for Congress is the same to all other department/ agencies (procedure
for approving appropriations)
 special appropriations – national treasurer/ revenue proposal
 no transfer of appropriations xxx authority to augment o discretionary funds – for
public purposes
 general appropriations bills – when re-enacted
 President my veto any particular item/s in an appropriation revenue, or tariff bill.
II. What are the parts of statute?
1. Title of statute
 Mandatory law - Every bill passed by Congress shall embrace only one subject
which shall be expressed in the title thereof (Art 6, Sec 26 (1) 1987 Constitution)
 2 limitations upon legislation
 To refrain from conglomeration, under one statute, of heterogeneous subjects
 Title of the bill should be couched in a language sufficient to notify the
legislators and the public and those concerned of the import of the single
subject.
2. Enacting clause
 Written immediately after the title
 States the authority by which the act is enacted

3. Preamble
 prefatory statement or explanation or a finding of facts, reciting the purpose,
reason, or occasion for making the law to which it is prefixed”
4. Purview of statute
 that part which tells what the law is about
 body of statute should embrace only one subject should only one subject
matter, even there provisions should be allied and germane to the subject and
purpose of the bill
5. Separability clause
 it states that if any provision of the act is declared invalid, the remainder shall
not be affected thereby.
 It is not controlling and the courts may invalidate the whole statute where what
is left, after the void part, is not complete and workable
III. What is the effect if there is an insufficiency of the statute’s title?
• Statute is null and void
• Where, the subject matter of a statute is not sufficiently expressed in its title, only
so much of the subject matter as is not expressed therein is void, leaving the rest in
force, unless the invalid provisions are inseparable from the others, in which case
the nullity the former vitiates the latter
IV. What are the requisites for the exercise of judicial power?
1. The existence of an appropriate case
  A conflict of legal rights, an assertion of opposite legal claims which can be
resolved on the basis of existing law and jurisprudence
2. Interest personal and substantial by the party raising the constitutional question
 A proper party is one who has sustained or is in imminent danger of
sustaining an injury as a result of the act complained of. To be a proper
party, one must have “legal standing”, or locus standi.
3. Plea that the function be exercised at the earliest opportunity
 The earliest opportunity to raise a constitutional issue is to raise it in the
pleadings before a competent court that can resolve the same, such that, if
not raised in the pleadings, it cannot be considered at the trial and, if not
considered in the trial, it cannot be considered on appeal
4. Necessity that the constitutional question be passed upon in order to decide the
case
 The decision on the constitutional question must be determinative of the
case itself. Because of the doctrine of separation of powers which demands
that proper respect be accorded the other departments, courts are loathe
to decide constitutional questions as long as there is some other basis that
can be used for a decision.
V. Explain the effects when a law or act is declared unconstitutional.
 It confers no rights
 Imposes no duties
 Affords no protection
 Creates no office
 In general, inoperative as if it had never been passed
1. Orthodox view:
 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.
2. Modern view:
 Courts simply refuse to recognize the law and determine the rights of
the parties as if the statute had no existence. Certain legal effects of the
statute prior to its declaration of unconstitutionality may be recognized.
Thus, a public officer who implemented an unconstitutional law prior to
the declaration of unconstitutionality cannot be held liable.
VI. Explain the purpose or object of construction.
 The purpose is to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the law.
 The object of all judicial interpretation of a statute is to determine
legislative intent, either expressly or impliedly, by the language used; to
determine the meaning and will of the law making body and discover its
true interpretations of law.