CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION
evolution, not inaugurated at any specific time
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
- a study of maintenance of the proper balance
between authority, as represented by the
three powers of the State, and liberty, as
guaranteed by the Bill of Rights
- its true role is to effect an equilibrium between
authority and liberty so that the laws are
enacted with due deference to rights.
FUNDAMENTAL POWERS OF THE STATE
1. police power
2. power of eminent domain
3. power of taxation
CHAPTER 2 – THE NATURE OF THE
CONSTITUTION
CONSTITUTION
Cooley – body of rules and maxims in
accordance with which, the power of sovereignty are
habitually exercised
Justice Malcom – written instrument enacted
by direct action of the people by which the
fundamental powers of the government are
established, limited, defined and by which those
powers are distributed among the several
departments for their safe and useful exercise for
the benefit of the body politic.
PURPOSE
- prescribe the permanent framework of a system of
government, to assign to several departments their
respective powers and duties, and to establish
certain first fixed principles on which government is
founded.
SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION
The Constitution is the basic and paramount law to
which all other laws must conform and to which all
persons, including the highest officials of the land,
must defer.
CLASSIFICATION
1. WRITTEN OR UNWRITTEN
Written – one whose precepts are embodied
in one document or set of documents
Unwritten – consists of rules which have not
been integrated into a single , concrete form
but are scattered in various sources such as
statutes of a fundamental character, juridical
decisions, commentaries of publicists,
customs and traditions and certain common
law principles
2. CONVENTIONAL OR UNCONVENTIONAL
Conventional – enacted constitution ,
formally struck off at a definite time and place
following a conscious or deliberate effort
taken by a constituent body or ruler.
Unconventional – result of political
but changing by accretion rather than by any
systematic method
3. RIGID OR FLEXIBLE
Rigid – one that can be amended only by a
formal and usually difficult process.
Flexible – one that can be changed by
ordinary legislation.
ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF THE WRITTEN
CONTITUTION
1. Broad – supposed to embody the past, reflect
the present and anticipate the future
2. Brief – confine itself to basic principles so it
can be more adjustable to change and easier
to amend
3. Definite – not ambiguous to avoid confusion,
divisiveness among people and physical
conflict
ESSENTIAL PARTS OF THE WRITTEN
CONSTITUTION
1. Constitution of liberty
2. Constitution of government
3. Constitution of sovereignty
INTERPRETATION
The constitution must change in the changing times
lest it impede the progress of the people with
antiquated rules grown ineffective in a modern age.
1. self executory rather than non self executory
self executory - without need of statutory
implementation
non self executory – remains dormant unless
it is activated by legislative implementation
2. mandatory rather than directory
3. prospective rather than retrospective
AMENDMENT OR REVISION
Amendment - isolated or piecemeal change
Revision – revamp or rewriting of the whole
instrument
PROCEDURE
1. Proposal – made either directly by the
Congress or by a constitutional convention
 For amendment, vote of at least three
fourths of all the members of the
Congress shall be needed
 Call for constitutional convention
(revision) , vote of at least two thirds of all
the members of the Congress
 If congress cannot make up their mind,
decision to call ConCon shall rest to
majority vote of the people.
 (Santiago vs Commission on Elections;
PIRMA vs Commission on Elections)
POSITION OF THE CONSITUTIONAL
CONVENTION
1. SUPREME over the other departments of the
government because the power it exercises
are in the nature of sovereign powers.
2. INFERIOR to the other departments of the
government because it is merely a creation of
the legislature
3. INDEPENDENT OF AND CO-EQUAL with
other departments of the government as long
as it exists and confines itself within the
sphere of its jurisdiction
Cont. of procedure
2. Ratification – Constitution must be ratified
within a reasonable time after they are made
because they are intended to answer present
needs or correct current problems
JUDICIAL REVIEW OF AMENDMENTS
The judiciary may declare invalid a proposal adopted
by less than three fourths of the members of the
Congress, or a call for a constitutional convention by
less than a majority of the votes cast, or a plebiscite
irregularly held.
Philippine Constitution
1. 1935 Commonwealth Constitution
2. 1973 Constitution
3. 1986 Freedom Constitution
4. 1987 Constitution
CHAPTER 3 – THE CONSTITUTION AND THE
COURTS
Judiciary
- ultimate guardian of the constitution
- expected to rectify the wrong and affirm its
“sacred and solemn duty” to uphold the
Constitution and the laws of the land.
VOTING
Majority of the members who actually took part in the
deliberations on the issues in the case and voted
thereon
REQUISITES OF A JUDICIAL INQUIRY
1. There must be an actual case or
controversy
2. The question of constitutionality must be
raised by the proper party
3. The constitutional question must be raised
the earliest possible opportunity; and
4. The decision of the constitutional question
must be necessary to the determination of the
case itself
1. Actual case or controversy – involves a
conflict of legal rights, an assertion of
opposite legal claims susceptible of judicial
adjudication.
2. Proper party – one who has sustained or is
in immediate danger of sustaining an injury as
a result of the act complained of.
3. Earliest opportunity
a. In criminal cases, the constitutional
question can be raised any time in the
discretion of the court.
b. In civil cases, the constitutional
question can be raised at any stage if
it is necessary to the declaration of the
case itself
c. In every case. Except where there is
estoppel, the constitutional question
can be raised at any stage if it involves
the jurisdiction of the court.
4. Necessity of deciding the constitutional
question
EFFECTS OF DECLARATION OF
UNCONSTITUTIONALITY
1. Total Nullity – as if it had not been passed
2. Refusing to recognize it and determine the
rights of the parties just as if such statute had
no existence
3. Partial Unconstitutionality – will be valid only
if:
a. The legislature is willing to retain the
valid portions even if the rest of the
statute is declared illegal
b. The valid portions can stand
independently as a separate statute
CHAPTER 4 – FUNDAMENTAL POWERS OF THE
STATE
1. Police power – power to regulate liberty and
property for the promotion of the general
welfare
2. Power of eminent domain – enables the State
to forcibly acquire private property upon
payment of just compensation, for some
intended public use
3. Power of taxation – the State is able to
demand from members of society their
proportionate share or contribution in the
maintenance of the government
SIMILARITIES
1. Inherent in the State and may be
exercised by it without need of express
constitutional grant.
2. They are not only necessary but
indispensable.
3. They are methods by which the State
interferes with private rights.\
 4. They all presuppose an equivalent
compensation for the private rights
interfered with.
5. They are exercised primarily by the
legislature
DIFFERENCES
1. The police power regulates both liberty
and property. The power of eminent
domain and the power of taxation affect
only property rights.
2. The police power and the power of
taxation may be exercised only by the
government. The power of eminent
domain may be exercised by some
private entities.
3. The property taken in the exercise of the
police power is destroyed because it is
noxious or intended for a noxious
purpose. The property taken under the
power of eminent domain and the power
of taxation is intended for a public use or
purpose and is therefore wholesome.
4. The compensation of the person
subjected to the police power is the
intangible altruistic feeling that he has
contributed to the general welfare. The
compensation involved in other powers
are more concrete, to wit, a full and fair
equivalent of the property expropriated or
protection and public improvements for
the taxes paid.
LIMITATIONS
EXERCISE OF THE POLICE POWER
- Primarily lodged in the national legislature
o May also be exercised by the
President, administrative boards,
lawmaking bodies in all municipal
levels, including the barangay.
o General welfare clause
- The only remedy against legislative
department is a resort to the bar of public
opinion, a refusal of the electorate to return to
the legislature members , in their view have
been remiss in the discharge of their duties.
TESTS OF VALIDITY OF POLICE POWER
1. Lawful subject -The interests of the public
generally as distinguished from those of
particular class, require the exercise of police
power
- Activity of property to be regulated affects
public welfare
2. Lawful means - The means employed are
reasonably necessary for the
accomplishment of the purpose and not
unduly oppressive upon individuals
- the end does not justify the means; must be
pursued through a lawful method – both end
and means must be justified
- the means employed for the accomplishment
of the police objective must pass the test of
reasonableness , and specifically, conform to
the safeguards embodied in the Bill of Rights
for the protection of private rights
-

Subject at all times to the limitations and

requirements of the Constitution and may in proper
cases by annulled by the courts of justice

CHAPTER 5 – THE POLICE POWER

Freund – power of promoting the public welfare by

retraining and regulating the use of liberty and
property

CHARACTERISTICS
- Most pervasive, least limitable, and most
demanding of three powers
- Based on Latin maxims Salus populi est
suprema lex and Sic utere tuo ut alienum non
laedas – subordination of individual benefit to
the interests of the greater number
- May not be bargained away through medium
of a contract or even a treaty.
- Dynamic not static
- Once exercised, it is not deemed exhausted
and may be exercised again and again as
often as it is necessary for the protection of
the public welfare
- May use the taxing power as an implement
for the attainment of a legitimate police
objective