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IN GENERAL
Laws, generally
A whole body or system of law
Rule of conduct formulated and made obligatory
by legitimate power of the state
Includes RA, PD, EO (president in the e of
legislati!e power", Presidential issuances
(ordinance power" #urisprudence, ordinances
passed by sanggunians of local go!ernment
units$
%tatutes, generally
An act of legislature (Philippine &ommission, Phil$
Legislature, 'atasang Pambansa, &ongress"
PD(s of )arcos during the period of martial law
*+,- &onstitution
EO of A.uino re!olutionary period /reedom
&onstitution
Public 0 affects the public at large
general 0 applies to the whole state and
operates throughout the state ali1e upon
all people or all of a class$
%pecial 0 relates to particular person or
things of a class or to a particular
community, indi!idual or thing$
Local Law 0 operation is confined to a
specific place or locality (e$g municipal
ordinance"
Pri!ate 0 applies only to a specific person or
sub2ect$
Permanent and temporary statutes
Permanent 3 one whose operation is not limited in
duration but continues until repealed$
4emporary 3 duration is for a limited period of time
fied in the statute itself or whose life ceases
upon the happening of an e!ent$
o E$g$ statute answering to an emergency
Other classes of statutes
Prospecti!e or retroacti!e 0 accdg$ to application
Declaratory, curati!e, mandatory, directory,
substanti!e, remedial, penal 0 accdg$ to operation
According to form
o Affirmati!e
o 5egati!e
)anner of referring to statutes
Public Acts 0 Phil &ommission and Phil
Legislature *+6*3 *+-7
&ommonwealth Acts 0 *+-83 *+98
Republic Acts 0 &ongress *+983 *+,:, *+;, <
'atas Pambansa 0 'atasang Pambansa
Identification of laws 0 serial number and=or title
ENACTMENT OF STATUTES
Legislati!e power, generally
Power to ma1e, alter and repeal laws
>ested in congress 0 *+;, &onstitution
President 0 *+,- ? /reedom (PD and EO
respecti!ely"
%angguniang barangay, bayan, panglungsod,
panlalawigan 0 only within respecti!e 2urisdiction
0 ordinances
Administrati!e or eecuti!e officer
Delegated power
Issue rules and regulations to implement
a specific law
&ongress legislati!e power
4he determination of the legislati!e policy and its
formulation and promulgation as a defined and
binding rule of conduct$
Legislati!e power 3 plenary ecept only to such
limitations as are found in the constitution
Procedural re.uirements, generally
Pro!ided in the constitution (for 'ills, RA"
Pro!ided by congress 0 enactment of laws
Rules of both houses of congress (pro!ided
also by the &onstitution"
Passage of bill
Proposed legislati!e measure introduced by a
member of congress for enactment into law
%hall embrace only one sub2ect which shall be
epressed in the title
%inged by authors
/ile with the %ecretary of the @ouse
'ills may originate from either lower or upper
@ouse
Eclusi!e to lower house
Appropriation
Re!enue= tariff bills
'ills authoriAing increase of public debt
'ills of local application
Pri!ate bills
After - readings, appro!al of either house (see
Art 8 %ec :8 (*""
%ecretary reports the bill for first reading
/irst reading 0 reading the number and title,
referral to the appropriate committee for study
and recommendation
&ommittee 0 hold public hearings and
submits report and recommendation for
calendar for second reading
%econd reading 0 bill is read in full (with
amendments proposed by the committee" 0
unless copies are distributed and such reading is
dispensed with
o 'ill will be sub2ect to debates, motions
and amendments
o 'ill will be !oted on
o A bill appro!ed shall be included in the
calendar of bills for -
rd
reading
4hird reading 0 bill appro!ed on :
nd
reading will
be submitted for final !ote by yeas and nays,
'ill appro!ed on the -
rd
reading will be transmitted
to the BOther @ouseC for concurrence (same
process as the first passage"
o If the BOther @ouseC appro!es without
amendment it is passed to the President
o If the BOther @ouseC introduces
amendments, and disagreement arises,
differences will be settled by the
&onference &ommittees of both houses
o Report and recommendation of the :
&onference &ommittees will ha!e to be
appro!ed by both houses in order to be
considered pass
President
o Appro!es and signs
o >etoes (within -6 days after receipt"
o Inaction
If the President !etoes 0 send bac1 to the @ouse
where it originated with recommendation
o :=- of all members appro!es, it will be
sent to the other house for appro!al
o :=- of the other house appro!es 0 it shall
become a law
o If president did not act on the bill with in
-6 days after receipt, bill becomes a law
%ummary D - ways of how a bill becomes a law$
President signs
inaction of president with in -6 days after
receipt
!etoed bill is repassed by congress by :=-
!otes of all its members, each house !oting
separately$
Appropriations and re!enue bills
%ame as procedure for the enactment of ordinary
bills
Only difference is that they can only originate
from the Lower @ouse but the %enate may
propose= concur with the amendments
Limitations of passage (as per &onstitution" Art 8
%ec$ :, (:"
o congress may not increase the
appropriation recommended by the
President EEE
o particular appropriation limited
o procedure for &ongress is the same to all
other department= agencies (procedure
for appro!ing appropriations "
o special appropriations 0 national
treasurer= re!enue proposal
o no transfer of appropriations authority
to augment
o discretionary funds 0 for public purposes
o general appropriations bills 0 when re3
enacted
o President my !eto any particular item=s in
an appropriation re!enue, or tariff bill$
Authentication of bills
'efore passed to the President
Indispensable
'y signing of %pea1er and %enate President
)andatory or directory
RFLED constitutional pro!isions are to be
construed as mandatory unless a different
intention is manifested$
GhyR 'ecause in a constitution, the so!ereign
itself spea1s and is laying down rules which for
the time being at least are to control ali1e the
go!ernment and the go!erned$
failure of the legislature to enact the necessary
re.uired by the constitution does not ma1e the
legislature is illegal$
Prospecti!e or retroacti!e
RFLED constitution operates prospecti!ely only
unless the words employed are clear that it
applies retroacti!ely
Magtoto v. Mang%era
%ec :6 of Article I> of the *+,- &onstitutionD Bno
person shall be compelled to be a witness against
himself$ Any confession obtained in !iolation
of this section shall be inadmissible in e!idenceC
&ourt held that this specific portion of the
mandate should be gi!en a prospecti!e
application
Co v. E#ectric Trib%na#
%ec$ *(-" Art$ 9 of the *+;, &onstitution states
that those born before #anuary *,, *+,- of
/ilipino mothers, who elect Philippine citiAenship
upon reaching the age of ma2orityC are citiAens of
the Philippines has a retroacti!e effect as shown
to the clear intent of the framers through the
language used
Applicability of rules of statutory construction
Doctrines used in Sarmiento v. Mison is a good
eample in which the %& applied a number of
rules of statutory construction$
IssueD whether or not the appointment of a
&ommissioner of &ustoms is sub2ect to
confirmation by the &ommission on appointments
Kenerally, constitutional pro!isions are self3eecuting
RFLED constitutional pro!isions are self eecuting
ecept when pro!isions themsel!es epressly
re.uire legislations to implement them$
%EL/ EEE&F4I5K PRO>I%IO5%3 pro!isions
which are complete by themsel!es and becomes
operati!e without the aid of supplementary
legislation$
#ust because legislation may supplement and add
or prescribe a penalty does not render such
pro!ision ineffecti!e in the absence of such
legislation$
In case of DoubtR &onstrue such pro!ision as self
eecuting rather than non3self eecuting$
Mani#a Prince !ote# v. ,S/S
IssueD w=n the sale at public bidding of the
ma2ority ownership of the )anila @otel a .ualified
entity can match the winning bid of a foreigner
@eldD resolution depends on whether the issue is
self eecuting or not$ 4he court ruled that the
.ualified /ilipino entity must be gi!en preference
by granting it the option to match the winning bid
because the pro!ision is self eecuting$
3 4he End 3
B4hat in all things, KOD may be glorifiedC
%ec$*8 Art$ >II of the *+;, &onstitution states in partD
&hapter , 0 **$