CONSTITUTIONAL LAW NOTES:

I. Political law
a. Is that branch of public law which deals with the organization and operations of the
governmental organs of the state and defines the relations of the state with the inhabitants of its
territory.
b. Scope of political law
i. Constitutional Law I and II, Administrative Law, the Law of Public Officers, Election Law,
and the Law on Municipal Corporations

II. Constitutional law

a. Is a study of the structure and powers of the government of the republic of the Philippines.
b. It also deals with certain basic concepts of political law, such as the nature of the state, the
supremacy of the constitution, the separation of powers, and the rule of the majority.
c. Basis of study
i. 1935, 1973 and 1987 Constitution
ii. Statutes, EO, PDs and judicial decisions
iii. US Constitution, in relation to our Bill of Rights
iv. American jurisprudence, in relation to our Bill of Rights
v. Current political events

Notes:
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.
No act shall be valid, however nobles its intentions, if it conflicts with the constitution.

III. THE PHILIPPINES CONSTITUTION

a. History
i. The Malolos Constitution- the first ever constitution since the proclamation of
independence on June 12 1898.
ii. February 2, 1987 as pronounced by the Supreme Court in the case of De Leon vs.
Esguerra.
iii. There are 1935 constitution and the 1973 constitution
b. Constitution
i. Concept
1. It is the fundamental organic law of a State which contains the principles on
which government is founded, and regulates the division and exercise of
sovereign powers. (Justice Cooley)
2. Establishes the basic framework and underlying principles of government
3. Assign to the different departments or branches, their respective powers and
duties, and to establish certain basic principles on which government is
founded
4. Primarily designed to preserve and protect the rights of individuals against the
arbitrary actions of those in authority
ii. Kinds of constituion
1. Cumulative
a. product of growth or a long period of development originating in
customs, traditions, judicial decisions, rather than from a deliberate
and formal enactment
result of political evolution, changing by accretion rather than by any
systematic method
2. Conventional
 a. enacted by a constituent assembly, etc.
formally struck off at a definite time and place following a conscious
effort taken by a constituent body
3. Written
a. given definite written form at a particular time, usually by a specially
constituted authority
codified or embodied in one document or set of documents
4. Unwritten
a. entirely the product of political evolution, consisting
largely of a mass of customs, usages and judicial decisions together
with a smaller body of statutory enactments of a fundamental
character
5. Rigid
a. cannot be amended or altered except by some special machinery
more cumbrous than the ordinary legislative process
amended by a formal and usually difficult process
6. Flexible
a. possess no higher legal authority than ordinary laws and which may be
altered in the same way as other laws
can be changed by ordinary legislation
iii. Characterisitcs of the Philippine constitution
1. Written
2. conventional
3. rigid
iv. Essential parts
1. Constitution of liberty
a. provides for the civil and political rights of citizens and the limitations
on the powers of government to secure those rights.
b. Sets forth the fundamental civil and political rights of the citizens and
imposes limitations on the powers of the government as a means of
securing the enjoyment of those rights (E.g. bill of rights)

2. Constituion of government
a. provides for the organization of government, and enumerates the
powers of the same.
b. Outlines the organization government, enumerates its powers, lays
down certain rules relative to its administration and defines the
electorate (E.g. Articles VI, VII, VIII, IX- Legislative Dept., Executive
Dept., Judicial Dept., and Constitutional Commissions respectively)
3. Constitution of sovereignty
a. provides the manner for changing the fundamental law and making
amendments thereto.
b. Provisions pointing out the mode or procedure in accordance with
which formal changes in the fundamental law may be brought about
(E.g. Article XVII- Amendments and Revisions)

v. Amendment or revision
1. Amendment
a. It refers to isolated or piecemeal change in the Constitution.
2. Revision
a. It is a revamp or rewriting of the whole Constitution.
3. Difference between amendment and revision
 a. In the case of Lambino vs. COMELEC, it was discussed that revision
broadly implies a change that alters a basic principle in the
Constitution, like altering the principle of separation of powers or the
system of checks-and-balances. There is also revision if the change
alters the substantial entirety of the Constitution, as when the change
affects substantial provisions of the Constitution.

On the other hand, amendment broadly refers to a change that adds,

reduces, or deletes without altering the basic principle involved.
Revision generally affects several provisions of the Constitution, while
amendment generally affects only the specific provision being
amended.
4. Proposal and Ratification
People can amend/revise the constitution through proposal and ratification
a. Proposal
b. Ratification

IV. State
Is a community of persons, more of less numerous, permanently occupying a fixed government
organized for political ends to which the great body of inhabitants render habitual obedience.

Note:
State is different from nation
The state must als be distinguish from the government.
- The government is only an element of the state. The state is the principal, the government
its agent. The state itself is an abstraction; it is the government that externalizrs the state
and articulates its will.

V. ELEMENTS
a. The essential elements of a state are :
i. People
ii. Territory
iii. Government
iv. Sovereignty

The so-called Montevideo Convention, cited by the SC, specifies the accepted criteria for the
establishment of a state, namely:
i. A permanent population
a. people refer simply to the inhabitants of the state. It is generally agreed that they
must be numerous enough to be self-sufficing and to defend themselves and small
enough to be easily administered and sustained.
b. Malcolm defines a nation as a “a people bound together by common attractions
and repulsions into a living organism possessed of a common pulse, a common
intelligence and inspiration, and destined apparently to have a common history and
common fate”
j. A defined territory
a. Territory is the fixed portion of the surface of the earth ihabited by the people of
the state.
b. The components of territory are the land mass, otherwise known as the terristorial
domain , the inland and external waters, which make up the maritime and fluvial
 domain , and the air space above the land and waters, which is called the aerial
domain.
k. A government
a. Government is the agency or instrumentality through which the will of the state is
formulated, expressed and realized.
l. A capacity to enter into relations with other states.