SEC.

9: Private property shall not be taken for public use without just
compensation.

Essential or inherent powers of government

1. Totality of governmental power - It is contained in three (3) great powers,

namely: power of eminent domain, police power, and power of taxation.

2. Similarities - These powers are similar in the following respects:

a. They all rest upon necessity because there can be no effective

government without them;
b. They are inherent in sovereignty; hence, they can be exercised
even without being expressly granted in the Constitution although
the conditions for their exercise may be regulated and limited by
the Constitution and bylaw;
c. They are ways by which the State interferes with private rights and
property;
d. They are all legislative in character; and
e. They all presuppose an equivalent compensation received, directly
or indirectly, by the person affected by the exercise of these powers
by the government.

Meaning of Eminent Domain - is the right or power of the State or of those to

whom the power has been lawfully delegated to take private property for
public use upon paying to the owner a just compensation to be ascertained
according to law.

Conditions for or limitations upon its exercise

1. Existence of public use.

2. Payment of just compensation.
3. Observance of due process of law in the taking.

Meaning of “taking”

1. Actual physical seizure not essential.

2. The “taking” must be direct.

Meaning of Police Power - has been referred to as the power of the State to
enact such laws or regulations in relation to persons and property as my
promote public health, public morals, public safety, and the general welfare
and convince of the people.
Basis of police power
Based on two Latin maxims, salus populi suprema est lex (the welfare of the
people is the supreme law), and sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas (so use your
own as not to injure another’s property)

A. Police power laws.

1. Public health
2. Public morals
3. Public safety
4. Public welfare and convenience

Meaning of taxation - is the power of the state to impose charge or burden

upon persons, property, or property rights, for the use and support of the
government and to enable it to discharge its appropriate functions.

Theory and basis of taxation

1. The power of taxation proceeds upon the theory that the existence of
government is a necessity that it cannot continue without means to pay
its expenses, and that for these means it has a right to compel all its
citizens and property within its limits to contribute.
2. The basis of taxation is found in the reciprocal duties of protection and
support between the State and its inhabitants.

Meaning of taxes - are the enforced proportional contributions from persons

and property levied by the lawmaking body of the State by virtue of its
sovereignty for the support of the government and all public needs.

Distinctions among the three powers

1. As to authority which exercises the power.

2. As to purpose.
3. As to effect.
4. As to persons affected.
5. As to benefits received.