1)

Statutes or Statutory Law

Statutory Laws are laws that have been written down and codified by the legislative branch of a country.
A Statute is an act of the legislature, adopted pursuant to its constitutional authority, by prescribed means and in
certain form such that it becomes the law governing conduct within its scope. Statutes are enacted to prescribe
conduct, define crimes, create inferior governmental bodies, appropriate public funds, and in general promote the
public good and welfare.

The power to make laws is lodge in the legislative department of the Government. In the Philippines, statutes consist
of the enactments of the Philippine Legislature in its various historical stages -- the Philippine Commission, the
Philippine Assembly, the Philippine Legislature, the National Assembly, the Batasang Pambansa, and the Congress
of the Philippines.

Under the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines (1987), the legislative power, or the power to propose, enact,
repeal and amend laws, "shall be vested in the Congress of the Philippines which shall consist of a Senate and a
House of Representatives, except to the extent reserve to the people by the provision of initiative and referendum.
[1]"

Parts of a Statute
1. Title -- The title of the statute is the heading on the preliminary part, furnishing the name by which the
act is individually known.
2. Preamble -- That part of the statute explaining the reasons for its enactment and the objects sought to
be accomplished.
3. Enacting Clause -- That part of the statute which declares its enactment and serves to identify it is an
act of legislation proceeding from the proper legislative authority.
4. Body -- The main and operative part of the statute containing its substantive and even procedural
provisions. Provisos and exemptions may also be found in the body of the statute.
5. Repealing Clause -- That part of the statute which announces the prior statutes or specific provisions
which have been abrogated by reason of the new law.
6. Saving Clause -- a restriction in a repealing act, which is intended to save rights, pending
proceedings, penalties, etc., from the annihilation which would result from an unrestricted repeal.
7. Separability Clause -- That part of the statute which provides that in the event that one or more
provisions are declared void or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions shall still be in force and
effect.
8. Effectivity Clause -- That part of the Statute which announces the effective date of the law.

Kinds of Statutes
1. General Law -- is one that affects the community at large. A law that relates to a subject of a general
nature, or that affects all people of the state or all of a particular class.
2. Special Law -- is one which is different from others of the same general kind, designed for a particular
purpose, limited in range, or confined to a prescribed field of action on operation.
3. Local Laws -- are those which relates or operates over a particular locality.
4. Public Laws -- consist of constitutional, administrative, criminal and international law, concerned with
the organization of the State, the relations between the people and the state, the responsibilities of
public officers to the state, and the relations of states with one another.
5. Private Laws -- are those which defines, regulates, enforces, and administers relationships among
individuals, associations and corporations.
6. Remedial Statutes -- are those which refer to the method of enforcing rights or of obtaining redress of
their invasion. It can be made to applicable to cases pending at the time of its enactment.
7. Curative Statutes -- are those which undertake to cure errors and irregularities, thereby validating
judicial or administrative proceedings, acts of public officers, or private deeds and contracts which
otherwise would not produce their intended consequences by reason of some statutory disability or
failure to comply with some technical requirement. They operate on conditions already existing, and
are necessarily retroactive in operation. [2] Curative statutes are "healing acts x x x curing defects and

adding to the means of enforcing existing obligations x x x (and) are intended to supply defects,
abridge superfluities in existing laws, and curb certain evils x x x By their very nature, curative statutes
are retroactive x x x (and) reach back to past events to correct errors or irregularities and to render
valid and effective attempted acts which would be otherwise ineffective for the purpose the parties
intended. [3]"
8. Penal Statutes -- are those which defines criminal offenses and specify corresponding fines and
punishments. It is enacted to preserve the public order, which defines an offense against the public
and inflicts a penalty for its violation.
9. Prospective Laws -- are those which applies only to acts or omissions committed after its enactment.
10. Retrospective Laws -- are those which look backwards or contemplates the past. Laws which are
made to affect acts or facts occurring, or rights occurring, before it came into force.
11. Affirmative Statutes -- are those couched in affirmative or mandatory terms. One which directs the
doing of an act, or declares what should be done.
12. Mandatory Statutes -- are those which require, and not merely permit, a course of action.

Constitutional Limitations of Statutes

1. No ex post facto law or bill of attainder shall be enacted. [4]
2. Every bill passed by the Congress shall embrace only one subject which shall be expressed in the title
thereof. [5]
3. No bill passed by either House shall become a law unless it has passed three readings on separate
days, and printed copies thereof in its final form have been distributed to its Members three days
before its passage, except when the President certifies to the necessity of its immediate enactment to
meet a public calamity or emergency. Upon the last reading of a bill, no amendment thereto shall be
allowed, and the vote thereon shall be taken immediately thereafter, and the yeas and nays entered in
the Journal. [6]
4. Every bill passed by the Congress shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President. If he
approves the same, he shall sign it; otherwise, he shall veto it and return the same with his objections
to the House where it originated, which shall enter the objections at large in its Journal and proceed to
reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of all the Members of such House shall agree to
pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House by which it shall likewise
be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of all the Members of that House, it shall become a
law. In all such cases, the votes of each House shall be determined by yeas or nays, and the names
of the Members voting for or against shall be entered in its Journal. The President shall communicate
his veto of any bill to the House where it originated within thirty days after the date of receipt thereof;
otherwise, it shall become a law as if he had signed it. [7]
2)

Constitution

The supreme law of the Republic of the Philippines. Its final draft was completed by the
Constitutional Commission on October 12, 1986 and was ratified by a nationwide plebiscite on
February 2, 1987.
Body of rules and maxims in accordance with which powers of sovereignty are habitually exercised.
(Written or Unwritten)
Writtenestablishes and limits the powers and the exercise therein of the 3 equal branches of the
government.
It is the 4th fundamental law to govern the land (1987 Constitution of President Aquino). 1 st was
Commonwealth Constitution 1935, 2nd 1973 Constitution during the Marcos regime, 3rd Freedom
Constitution 1986 that resulted from the upheaval that ousted Marcos.
3) STATUTES VS CONSTITUTION

4) An ordinance is a law passed by a municipal government. A municipality, such as a city,

town, village, or borough, is a political subdivision of a state within which a municipal
corporation has been established to provide local government to a population in
a defined area.
5) METHODS OF ADOPTING THE CONSTITUTION
6) FREEDOM
7) DEFINE TREATY - a. a formal agreement or contract between two or more states, such
as an alliance or trade arrangement
b. the document in which such a contract is written
2. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) any international agreement
3. any pact or agreement
8) STATUTE
9) CONGRESSIONAL the nature of the legislative power is to propose enact amend or
repeal laws; vested in the congress (Upper House [senate] and lower House [house of
representative])
10) HOW BILL BECOMES A LAW
a. Draft the Bill (must have 2 subj. w/c must be stated in the title, submit to proper
office for labeling number, & reproduction for inclusion in the 1st reading)
b. 1st Reading (Sec Gen reads the title & number of the bill & speaker of the House
forwards to proper committee for review)
c. 2nd Reading (Sec Gen reads the No. title and other Entries of the Bill. The principal
author is given privilege speech pertaining to the bill before the legislators, if given
favorable vote the bill is calendared for the 3rd reading, members are given copies at
least three days before the schedule)
d. 3rd reading (Sec Gen reads the number and the title of the bill. Any member is
allowed a three-minute speech whether in favor or against the bill if given favorable
votes by majority it shall be forwarded to the senate for review and to the Office of
the President for approval
e. Presidential action (when Pres signs the bill or does not properly act on it after
30days the bill becomes a law, it now has a corresponding republic Act number and
published in a gazette of national circulation; if vetoed it shall be returned to the
original chamber with the reasons)
11) MUNICIPAL CHARTERS
12) PUBLIC CORPORATION - Corporations may be public or private. - Public corporations are
those formed or organized for the government of a portion of the state.
13) TERRITORIAL/POLITICAL Territorial and Political Subdivisions of the Republic of the
Philippines to enjoy local autonomy are:
a. Provinces, cities, municipalities, and baranggays
b. Autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and the cordilleras
i. Political subdivisions are by regions 8 luzon, 3 visayas, 6 mindanao
14) LOCAL GOVERNMENT - political unit or subdivision of a state w/c is constituted by law and
has substantial control of local affairs, w/officials elected or otherwise locally selected
15)
SUBORDINATE LEGISLATION