VERY recently, in my capacity as presiding officer of an investigative committee hearing

on a case involving a third-level official in the Department of Education (DepEd), I was

confronted with the question as to what are the requirements of due process in
administrative proceedings. Specifically, is a “court-type” hearing required?

Section 1, Article III of the 1987 Philippine Constitution provides that “(n)o person shall
be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor shall any person
be denied the equal protection of the law.” The first rights guaranteed in our Bill of
Rights are the rights to due process and equal protection of the law.

The question actually posited is about procedural due process in administrative

proceedings. Procedural due process, as distinguished from substantive due process, is all
about “procedural fairness.” As the great American statesman and Sen. Daniel Webster
describes due process, it is a “law which hears before it condemns.”

Procedural due process in judicial proceedings should be distinguished from procedural

due process in administrative proceedings. In the landmark case of Banco Espanol
Filipino v Palanca, 31 Phil. 921, 934 (1918), the Supreme Court enumerated the following
essential requirements of procedural fairness in judicial proceedings: “(1) There must be a
court or tribunal clothed with judicial power to hear and determine the matter before it;
(2) jurisdiction must be lawfully acquired over the person of the defendant or over the
property which is the subject of the proceedings; (3) the defendant must be given the
opportunity to be heard; and (4) judgment must be rendered upon lawful hearing.”

However, there are also cases which are decided not by courts but by administrative
agencies (like the DepEd). I still remember how our Constitutional Law professor Fr.
Joaquin G. Bernas, SJ, explained this concept of procedural due process when I was in
law school. Thus, while such administrative agencies are not always bound by the strict
requirements of judicial due process as mentioned above and spelled out in more detail in
the Revised Rules of Court (or other relevant laws passed by Congress), they are still
required to respect the due process clause of our Constitution. The landmark case of Ang
Tibay v Court of Industrial Relations, 69 Phil. 635 (1940), enumerated the following “cardinal
primary requirements” of procedural due process in administrative proceedings: “(1) The
right to a hearing, which includes the right to present one’s case and submit evidence in
support thereof; (2) The tribunal must consider the evidence presented; (3) The decision
must have something to support itself; (4) The evidence must be substantial. Substantial
evidence means such reasonable evidence as a reasonable mind accept as adequate to
support a conclusion; (5) The decision must be based on the evidence presented at the
hearing, or at least contained in the record and disclosed to the parties affected; (6) The
tribunal or body or any of its judges must act on its own independent consideration of
the law and facts of the controversy, and not simply accept the views of a subordinate;
(7) The Board or body should, in all controversial questions, render its decision in such
manner that the parties to the proceeding can know the various issues involved, and the
reason for the decision rendered.”
If we simplify what these two leading cases are actually saying, we could see that
procedural due process, whether judicial or administrative, is all about “notice and an
opportunity to be heard.”

The answer now to the specific question asked of me, as to whether a “court-type”
hearing is necessary, was already answered by the Supreme Court in several cases, one of
which is Ledesma v Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 166780, December 27, 2007, 541 SCRA 44 .

“Opportunity to be heard” in relation to due process in administrative proceedings, does

not always require a “trial-type proceeding.” Thus, in the leading case of Ledesma v Court
of Appeals, the Supreme Court ruled that “(d)ue process, as a constitutional precept, does
not always and in all situations require a trial-type proceeding. Due process is satisfied
when a person is notified of the charge against him and given an opportunity to explain
or defend himself. In administrative proceedings, the filing of charges and giving
reasonable opportunity for the person so charged to answer the accusations against him
constitute the minimum requirements of due process. The essence of due process is
simply to be heard, or as applied to administrative proceedings, an opportunity to explain
one’s side, or an opportunity to seek a reconsideration of the action or ruling complained
of.”

For any comment or suggestion regarding this article or any education-related concern, please feel free to
write the Office of Assistant Secretary Toni Umali, Legal and Legislative Affairs, DepEd Complex,
Meralco Avenue, Pasig City or e-mail me at tonisito.umali@deped.gov.ph.