OUR LADY OF FATIMA UNIVERSITYCollege of Arts and Sciences

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND PHILOSOPHYValenzuela City

HANDOUTS IN SOC 3(Philippine Government with Constitution)For the exclusive use of all Soc3 Students of OLFU, ValenzuelaBy: LEOPOLDO CINCO CATCHUELA, A.B.; Ll.B.; M.P.A (Candidate)Faculty Member, Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy

Submitted to: Prof. MANUEL F. DELIGENTE, MaEd.

Coordinator, Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy

I. INTRODUCTION

A. The study of Political Science

*Political Science is the systematic study of the state andgovernment. The word “political” is derived from the Greek wordpolis, meaning a city, or what today would be the equivalent of asovereign state. The word “science” comes from the Latin wordscire, “to know.” (*Text Book on the Philippine Constituion 2011 by Hector S. De Leon and HectorM. De Leon Jr.)

*Political science is a social science discipline concernedwith the study of the state, nation, government, and politics andpolicies of government. Aristotle defined it as the study of thestate. It deals extensively with the theory and practice ofpolitics, and the analysis of political systems, politicalbehavior, and political culture.

Political scientists "see themselves engaged in revealingthe relationships underlying political events and conditions, andfrom these revelations they attempt to construct generalprinciples about the way the world of politics works."

Political science intersects with other fields; includingeconomics, law, sociology, history, anthropology, public administration, publicpolicy, national politics, international relations, comparative politics, psychology,political organization, and political theory. Although it was codified inthe 19th century, when all the social sciences were established,political science has ancient roots; indeed, it originated almost2,500 years ago with the works of Plato and Aristotle.

Political science is commonly divided into distinct sub-disciplines which together constitute the field: Political theory;Comparative politics; Public Administration; International relations; Public law;Political methodology;

Political theory is more concerned with contributions ofvarious classical thinkers such as Aristotle, NiccolòMachiavelli, Cicero, Plato and many others. Comparative politicsis the science of comparison and teaching of different types ofconstitutions, political actors, legislature and associatedfields, all of them from an intrastate perspective. Internationalrelations deals with the interaction between nation-states aswell as intergovernmental and transnational organizations.

Political science is methodologically diverse andappropriates many methods originating in social research.Approaches include positivism, interpretivism, rational choicetheory, behavioralism, structuralism, post-structuralism,realism, institutionalism, and pluralism. Political science, asone of the social sciences, uses methods and techniques thatrelate to the kinds of inquiries sought: primary sources such ashistorical documents and official records, secondary sources suchas scholarly journal articles, survey research, statisticalanalysis, case studies, experimental research and model building.(*From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

B. Concepts of State and Government

Meaning of State. - A state is a community of persons moreor less numerous, permanently occupying a definite portion ofterritory, having a government of their own to which the greatbody of inhabitants render obedience, and enjoying freedom fromexternal control.

Elements of a state. - 1. People - The mass of thepopulation living within the state; “people” answers thequestion, “who governs whom?” There is no specific numberrequirement; “…the state shall neither be too small nor yet onethat seems great but has no unity.” (Plato) 2. Territory -demarcated area that rightly belongs to the population;“territory” answers the question, “where?” terrestrial, fluvial,maritime and aerial; should be permanent and large enough to beself-sufficing. 3. Government - Refers to the agency to which thewill of the state is formulated, expressed, and carried out. 4.Sovereignty - May be defined as the supreme power of the state tocommand and enforce obedience to its will from the people withinits jurisdiction and corollarily to have freedom from foreigncontrol. “Sovereignty” may be Internal – power of the state torule within its territory or External – the freedom of the stateto carry out its activities without subjection to or control byother states.

*Origin of states

There are several theories concerning the origin of states,among which are:

1. Divine Right Theory. – It holds that the state is of divinecreation and the ruler is ordained by God to govern thepeople. Reference has been made by advocates of this theoryto the laws which Moses received at Mount Sinai;

2. Necessity or force theory. – It maintains that states musthave been created through force, by some great warriors whoimposed their will upon the weak;

3. Paternalistic theory. – It attributes the origin of statesto the enlargement of the family which remained under theauthority of the father or mother. By natural stages, thefamily grew into a clan, then developed into a tribe whichbroadened into a nation and the nation became a state; and

4. Social contract theory. – It asserts that the early statesmust have been formed by deliberate and voluntary compactamong the people to form a society and organize governmentfor their common good. This theory justifies the right ofthe people to revolt against a bad ruler. (*Textbook on the PhilippineConstitution 2011 by Hector S. De Leon and Hector M. De Leon)

Purpose and necessity of government

Governments of all the countries, including the Philippines,have these purposes. They are defense, national identity, representation,social welfare and infrastructure. Our government according to ourConstitution has, basically, three branches - the Executive, theLegislative and the Judicial - that help in the all-roundfunctioning of a government. Take a look at the five mainpurposes of a government.

Defense: One of these purposes of government is to defendthe borders of the nation against foreign invasion. Hence, allgovernments have some form of defense system that includes thearmy, the navy and the air force. Maintaining internal order isalso one of the critical defense purposes of a government. Thisis taken care of by the internal police force.

National Identity: Each nation is unique in its own way.Each nation has its own traditions and culture. It is said thatfor a nation to exist, it must have an identity. For instance, notwo flags of any two nations are alike nor are the nationalanthems and pledges. Hence, one of the most important functionsof a government is to protect and uphold the identity of itsnation.

Representation: A government represents the interests of thenation. To protect and safeguard the interests of the nation, the

government enters into bilateral trade agreements, negotiations,treaties and so on, with the governments of other nations.

Infrastructure: One of the main purposes of the governmentis to provide good infrastructure to all its countrymen in theform of roads, bridges, drinking water, electricity andcommunication networks.

Social Welfare: Last but not the least, introducing socialwelfare programs to protect and fulfill the interests of theminorities, such as to provide education and healthcarefacilities to the underprivileged classes of the economy, is oneof the primary purposes of the government.

*Forms of Government

The principal forms are the following:

1. As to number of persons exercising sovereign powers:

a. Monarchy or one in which the supreme and final authority isin the hands of a single person without regard to the sourceof his election or the nature or duration of his tenure.Monarchies are further classified into – Absolute monarchy orone in which the ruler rules by divine right; and Limitedmonarchy or one which the ruler rules in accordance with aconstitution.

b. Aristocracy or one in which political power is exercised byfew privileged class which is known as an aristocracy oroligarchy; and

c. Democracy or one in which political power is exercised by amajority of the people. Democratic governments are furtherclassified into – Direct or pure democracy or one in which thewill of the state is formulated or expressed directly andimmediately through the people in mass meeting or primary

assembly rather than through the medium of delegates orrepresentatives chosen to act for them; and Indirect,representative, or republican democracy or one in which the willof the state is formulated and expressed through the agencyof a relatively small and select body of persons chosen bythe people to act as their representatives.

2. As to extent of powers exercised by the central or national government:

a. Unitary government or one in which the control of nationaland local affairs is exercised by the central or nationalgovernment; and

b. Federal government or one in which the powers of governmentare divided between two sets of organs, each organ beingsupreme within its own sphere. The United States is afederal government.

3. As to relationship between the executive and legislative branches of thegovernment:

a. Parliamentary government or one in which the state confersupon the legislature the power to terminate the tenure ofoffice of the real executive. Under this system, the Cabinetor ministry is immediately and legally responsible to thelegislature and immediately or politically responsible tothe electorate, while the titular or nominal executive – theChief of State – occupies a position of irresponsibility;and

b. Presidential government or one in which the state makes theexecutive constitutionally independent of the legislature asregards his tenure and to a large extent as regards hispolicies and acts and furnishes him with sufficient powersto prevent the legislature from trenching upon the spheremarked out by the constitution as executive independence andprerogative. (*Textbook on the Philippine Constitution 2011 by Hector S. De Leon and HectorM. De Leon)

II. Main Discussion

A. What is a Constitution?

A Constitution is a body of fundamental rules and maxims bywhich the powers of government are defined by the sovereign andin accordance with which those powers are habitually exercised.It is the supreme, fundamental law of the land.

The fundamental law that establishes the character of agovernment by defining the basic principles to which a societymust conform; by describing the organization of the governmentand regulation, distribution, and limitations on the functions ofdifferent government departments; and by prescribing the extentand manner of the exercise of its sovereign powers.

B. The Evolution and History of the Philippine Constitution:

The Constitution of the Philippines (In Filipino: SaligangBatas ng Pilipinas) is the supreme law of the Philippines. TheConstitution currently in effect was enacted in 1987, during theadministration of President Corazon C. Aquino, and is popularlyknown as the "1987 Constitution". Philippine constitutional lawexperts recognize three other previous constitutions as havingeffectively governed the country — the 1935 CommonwealthConstitution, the 1973 Constitution, and the 1986 FreedomConstitution. Constitutions for the Philippines were also draftedand adopted during the short-lived governments of PresidentsEmilio Aguinaldo (1898) and José P. Laurel (1943).

Historical constitutions

Constitution of Biak-na-Bato (1897)

The Katipunan revolution led to the Tejeros Conventionwhere, at San Francisco de Malabón, Cavite, on 22 March 1897, thefirst presidential and vice presidential elections in Philippinehistory were held—although only the Katipuneros (members of theKatipunan) were able to take part, and not the general populace.

A later meeting of the revolutionary government establishedthere, held on 1 November 1897 at Biak-na-Bato in the town of SanMiguel de Mayumo in Bulacán, established the Republic of Biak-na-Bato.The republic had a constitution drafted by Isabelo Artacho andFélix Ferrer and based on the first Cuban Constitution. It isknown as the "Constitución Provisional de la República deFilipinas", and was originally written in and promulgated in theSpanish and Tagalog languages.

Malolos Constitution (1899)

The Malolos Constitution was the first republicanconstitution in Asia. It declared that sovereignty residesexclusively in the people, stated basic civil rights, separatedthe church and state, and called for the creation of an Assemblyof Representatives to act as the legislative body. It also calledfor a Presidential form of government with the president electedfor a term of four years by a majority of the Assembly.

It was titled "Constitución política", and was written inSpanish following the declaration of independence from Spain,proclaimed on January 20, 1899, and was enacted and ratified bythe Malolos Congress, a Congress held in Malolos, Bulacan.

Commonwealth and Third Republic (1935)

The 1935 Constitution was written in 1934, approved andadopted by the Commonwealth of the Philippines (1935–1946) andlater used by the Third Republic of the Philippines (1946–1972).It was written with an eye to meeting the approval of the UnitedStates Government as well, so as to ensure that the U.S. wouldlive up to its promise to grant the Philippines independence andnot have a premise to hold onto its "possession" on the groundsthat it was too politically immature and hence unready for full,real independence.

The original 1935 Constitution provided for unicameralNational Assembly and the President was elected to a six-yearterm without re-election. It was amended in 1940 to have abicameral Congress composed of a Senate and House of

Representatives, as well the creation of an independent electoralcommission. The Constitution now granted the President a four-year term with a maximum of two consecutive terms in office.

A Constitutional Convention was held in 1971 to rewrite the1935 Constitution. The convention was stained with manifestbribery and corruption. Possibly the most controversial issue wasremoving the presidential term limit so that Ferdinand E. Marcoscould seek election for a third term, which many felt was thetrue reason for which the convention was called. In any case, the1935 Constitution was suspended in 1972 with Marcos' proclamationof martial law, the rampant corruption of the constitutionalprocess providing him with one of his major premises for doingso.

Second Republic (1943)

The 1943 Constitution was drafted by a committee appointedby the Philippine Executive Commission, the body established bythe Japanese to administer the Philippines in lieu of theCommonwealth of the Philippines which had established agovernment-in-exile. In mid-1942 Japanese Premier Hideki Tojohad promised the Filipinos "the honor of independence" whichmeant that the commission would be supplanted by a formalrepublic.

The Preparatory Committee for Philippine Independence taskedwith drafting a new constitution was composed in large part, ofmembers of the prewar National Assembly and of individuals withexperience as delegates to the convention that had drafted the1935 Constitution. Their draft for the republic to be establishedunder the Japanese Occupation, however, would be limited induration, provide for indirect, instead of direct, legislativeelections, and an even stronger executive branch.

Upon approval of the draft by the Committee, the new charterwas ratified in 1943 by an assembly of appointed, provincialrepresentatives of the Kalibapi, the organization established bythe Japanese to supplant all previous political parties. Uponratification by the Kalibapi assembly, the Second Republic was

formally proclaimed (1943–1945). José P. Laurel was appointed asPresident by the National Assembly and inaugurated into office inOctober 1943. Laurel was highly regarded by the Japanese forhaving openly criticized the US for the way they ran thePhilippines, and because he had a degree from Tokyo InternationalUniversity.

The 1943 Constitution remained in force in Japanese-controlled areas of the Philippines, but was never recognized aslegitimate or binding by the governments of the United States orof the Commonwealth of the Philippines and guerrillaorganizations loyal to them. In late 1944, President Laureldeclared a state of war existed with the United States and theBritish Empire and proclaimed martial law, essentially ruling bydecree. His government in turn went into exile in December, 1944,first to Taiwan and then Japan. After the announcement of Japan'ssurrender, Laurel formally proclaimed the Second Republic asdissolved.

Until the 1960s, the Second Republic, and its officers, werenot viewed as legitimate or as having any standing, with theexception of the Supreme Court whose decisions, limited toreviews of criminal and commercial cases as part of a policy ofdiscretion by Chief Justice José Yulo continued to be part of theofficial records (this was made easier by the Commonwealth neverconstituting a Supreme Court, and the formal vacancy in the chiefjustice position for the Commonwealth with the execution of ChiefJustice José Abad Santos by the Japanese).

It was only during the Macapagal administration that apartial, political rehabilitation of the Japanese-era republictook place, with the recognition of Laurel as a former presidentand the addition of his cabinet and other officials to the rosterof past government officials. However, the 1943 charter was nottaught in schools and the laws of the 1943-44 National Assemblynever recognized as valid or relevant.

The New Society and the Fourth Republic (1973)

The 1973 Constitution, promulgated after Marcos'declaration of martial law, was supposed to introduce aparliamentary-style government. Legislative power was vested in aNational Assembly whose members were elected for six-year terms.The President was ideally supposed to be elected as the symbolicand purely ceremonial head of state from the Members of theNational Assembly for a six-year term and could be re-elected toan unlimited number of terms. Upon election, the President ceasedto be a member of the National Assembly.

During his term, the President was not allowed to be amember of a political party or hold any other office. Executivepower was meant to be exercised by the Prime Minister who wasalso elected from the Members of the National Assembly. The PrimeMinister was the head of government and Commander-in-Chief of thearmed forces. This constitution was subsequently amended fourtimes (arguably five depending on how one considers ProclamationNo. 3 of 1986).

On 16–17 October 1976, a majority of barangay voters(Citizen Assemblies) approved that martial law should becontinued and ratified the amendments to the Constitutionproposed by President Marcos.

The 1976 amendments were:

an Interim Batasang Pambansa (IBP) substituting for theInterim National Assembly

the President would also become the Prime Minister and hewould continue to exercise legislative powers until martiallaw should have been lifted.

The Sixth Amendment authorized the President to legislate:

Whenever in the judgment of the President there exists agrave emergency or a threat or imminence thereof, or whenever theInterim Batasang Pambansa or the regular National Assembly failsor is unable to act adequately on any matter for any reason thatin his judgment requires immediate action, he may, in order to

meet the exigency, issue the necessary decrees, orders or lettersof instructions, which shall form part of the law of the land.

The 1973 Constitution was further amended in 1980 and 1981.In the 1980 amendment, the retirement age of the members of theJudiciary was extended to 70 years. In the 1981 amendments, thefalse parliamentary system was formally modified into a French-style semi-presidential system:

executive power was restored to the President; direct election of the President was restored; an Executive Committee composed of the Prime Minister and

not more than fourteen members was created to "assist thePresident in the exercise of his powers and functions and inthe performance of his duties as he may prescribe;" and thePrime Minister was a mere head of the Cabinet.

Further, the amendments instituted electoral reforms andprovided that a natural born citizen of the Philippines whohas lost his citizenship may be a transferee of private landfor use by him as his residence.

The last amendments in 1984 abolished the ExecutiveCommittee and restored the position of Vice-President (which didnot exist in the original, unamended 1973 Constitution).

In actual practice, while the 1973 Constitution was ideallysupposed to set up a true parliamentary system, the latePresident Marcos had made use of subterfuge and manipulation inorder to keep executive power for himself, rather than devolvingexecutive powers to the Parliament, as headed by the PrimeMinister.

The end result was that the 1973 Constitution - due to allamendments and subtle manipulations - was merely the abolition ofthe Senate and a series of cosmetic text-changes where the oldAmerican-derived terminologies such House of Representativesbecame known as the "Batasang Pambansa" (National Assembly),Departments became known as "Ministries", cabinet secretariesbecame known as "cabinet ministers", and the President's

assistant - the Executive Secretary - became known as the "PrimeMinister."

Ultimately, Marcos' so-called "Parliamentary System"therefore functioned as an authoritarian-run Presidential Systemdue to the series of amendments and other modifications put inplace after the 1973 Constitution was ratified.

"The 1986 Freedom Constitution"

Following the EDSA People Power Revolution that removedPresident Ferdinand E. Marcos from office, the new President,Corazon C. Aquino issued Proclamation No. 3 as a provisionalconstitution. It adopted certain provisions from the 1973constitution and granted the President broad powers to reorganizethis government and remove officials from office, and mandatedthat the president would appoint a commission to draft a newconstitution.

Background of the 1987 Constitution

In 1986, following the People Power Revolution which oustedFerdinand E. Marcos as president, and following on her owninauguration, Corazon C. Aquino issued Proclamation No. 3,declaring a national policy to implement the reforms mandated bythe people, protecting their basic rights, adopting a provisionalconstitution, and providing for an orderly translation to agovernment under a new constitution. President Aquino laterissued Proclamation No. 9, creating a Constitutional Commission(popularly abbreviated "Con Com" in the Philippines) to frame anew constitution to replace the 1973 Constitution which tookeffect during the Marcos martial law regime. Aquino appointed 50members to the Commission.

The members of the Commission were drawn from variedbackgrounds, including several former congressmen, a formerSupreme Court Chief Justice (Roberto Concepción), a Catholicbishop (Teodoro Bacani) and film director (Lino Brocka). Aquinoalso deliberately appointed 5 members, including former LaborMinister Blas Ople, who had been allied with Marcos until the

latter's ouster. After the Commission had convened, it elected asits president Cecilia Muñoz-Palma, who had emerged as a leadingfigure in the anti-Marcos opposition following her retirement asthe first female Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

The Commission finished the draft charter within four monthsafter it was convened. Several issues were heatedly debatedduring the sessions, including on the form of government toadopt, the abolition of the death penalty, the continuedretention of the Clark and Subic American military bases, and theintegration of economic policies into the Constitution. Brockawould walk out of the Commission before its completion and twoother delegates would dissent from the final draft.

The ConCom completed their task on 12 October 1986 andpresented the draft constitution to President Aquino on October15, 1986. After a period of nationwide information campaign, aplebiscite for its ratification was held on February 2, 1987.More than three-fourths of all votes cast, 76.37% (or 17,059,495voters) favored ratification as against 22.65% (or 5,058,714voters) who voted against ratification. On 11 February 1987, thenew constitution was proclaimed ratified and took effect. On thatsame day, Aquino, the other government officials, and the ArmedForces of the Philippines pledged allegiance to the Constitution.

C. Significant features of the 1987 Constitution

The Constitution establishes the Philippines as a"democratic and republican State", where "sovereignty resides inthe people and all government authority emanates from them"(Section 1, Article II).

Consistent with the doctrine of separation of powers, thepowers of the national government are exercised in main by threebranches — the Executive branch headed by the President, theLegislative branch composed of Congress and the Judicial branch

with the Supreme Court occupying the highest tier of thejudiciary.

The President and the members of Congress are directlyelected by the people, while the members of the Supreme Court areappointed by the President from a list formed by the Judicial andBar Council.

As with the American system of government, it is Congresswhich enacts the laws, subject to the veto power of the Presidentwhich may nonetheless be overturned by a two-thirds vote ofCongress (Section 27(1), Article VI).

The President has the constitutional duty to ensure thefaithful execution of the laws (Section 17, Article VII), whilethe courts are expressly granted the power of judicial review(Section 1, Article VIII), including the power to nullify orinterpret laws. The President is also recognized as thecommander-in-chief of the armed forces (Section 18, Article VII).

The Constitution also establishes limited political autonomyto the local government units that act as the municipalgovernments for provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays.(Section 1, Article X) Local governments are generally consideredas falling under the executive branch, yet local legislationrequires enactment by duly elected local legislative bodies. TheConstitution (Section 3, Article X) mandated that the Congresswould enact a Local Government Code. The Congress duly enactedRepublic Act No. 7160, The Local Government Code of 1991, whichbecame effective on 1 January 1992.

The Supreme Court has noted that the Bill of Rights"occupies a position of primacy in the fundamental law". The Billof Rights, contained in Article III, enumerates the specificprotections against State power. Many of these guarantees aresimilar to those provided in the American constitution and otherdemocratic constitutions, including the due process and equalprotection clause, the right against unwarranted searches andseizures, the right to free speech and the free exercise ofreligion, the right against self-incrimination, and the right to

habeas corpus. The scope and limitations to these rights havelargely been determined by Philippine Supreme Court decisions.

Outside of the Bill of Rights, the Constitution alsocontains several other provisions enumerating various statepolicies including, i.e., the affirmation of labor "as a primarysocial economic force" (Section 14, Article II); the equalprotection of "the life of the mother and the life of the unbornfrom conception" (Section 12, Article II); the "Filipino familyas the foundation of the nation" (Article XV, Section 1); therecognition of Filipino as "the national language of thePhilippines" (Section 6, Article XVI), and even a requirementthat "all educational institutions shall undertake regular sportsactivities throughout the country in cooperation with athleticclubs and other sectors." (Section 19.1, Article XIV)

Whether these provisions may, by themselves, be the sourceof enforceable rights without accompanying legislation has beenthe subject of considerable debate in the legal sphere and withinthe Supreme Court. The Court, for example, has ruled that aprovision requiring that the State "guarantee equal access toopportunities to public service" could not be enforced withoutaccompanying legislation, and thus could not bar the disallowanceof so-called "nuisance candidates" in presidential elections.

But in another case, the Court held that a provisionrequiring that the State "protect and advance the right of thepeople to a balanced and healthful ecology" did not requireimplementing legislation to become the source of operativerights.

D. Parts of the 1987 Constitution

The Constitution is divided into 18 parts, excluding thePreamble, which are called Articles. The Articles are as follows:

Article I - National Territory Article II - Declaration of Principles and State Policies Article III - Bill of Rights Article IV - Citizenship

Article V - Suffrage Article VI - Legislative Department Article VII - Executive Department Article VIII - Judicial Department Article IX - Constitutional Commission Article X - Local Government Article XI - Accountability of Public Officers Article XII - National Economy and Patrimony Article XIII - Social Justice and Human Rights Article XIV - Education, Science and Technology, Arts,

Culture and Sports Article XV - The Family Article XVI - General Provisions Article XVII - Amendments or Revisions Article XVIII - Transitory Provisions

E. Preamble of the 1987 Constitution

ThePreamblereads:

“We, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty God, inorder to build a just and humane society, and establish a Governmentthat shall embody our ideals and aspirations, promote the common good,conserve and develop our patrimony, and secure to ourselves and ourposterity, the blessings of independence and democracy under the rule oflaw and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace, doordain and promulgate this Constitution.”

Meaning of Preamble

The term preamble is derived from the Latinterm preambulare, which means, “to walk before.” It isan invocation or the opening prayer in any activity orthe prologue of the constitution, invoking the highestsovereign God Almighty to bless this instrument. If welooked deeper into the preamble, this is not anintegral part of the constitution and could notenforced, however its significance is that studiesmade showed that almost all of the constitution madeto contain a preamble.

Objectives of the Preamble

It is generally considered that a preambleis not a necessary part of a constitution, but as anintroductory part, it is needed in the Philippineconstitution. The preamble of the Philippineconstitution shows its framers and to whom it isaddressed to and also the general purposes and basicprinciples of the charter. As interpreted, thepreamble has a value in the interpretation of vague ornot clear provisions of the constitution like thepromotions of the constitution like that of thegeneral welfare and not for private purposes.

F. The National Territory

ARTICLE I - NATIONAL TERRITORY

“The national territory comprises the Philippinearchipelago, with all the islands and waters embraced therein,and all other territories over which the Philippines hassovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial,fluvial and aerial domains, including its territorial sea, theseabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves, and other submarineareas. The waters around, between, and connecting the islands ofthe archipelago, regardless of their breadth and dimensions, formpart of the internal waters of the Philippines.”

Philippine Archipelago. – (1) Treaty of Paris, December 10 1898 –cessation of the Philippine Islands by Spain to the UnitedStates; (2) Treaty of Washington November 7 1900 – clarifyingterritories to the US by Spain, particularly the islands ofCagayan Sulu and Sibutu; (3) Convention between US and GreatBritain 1930– delimiting the boundary between North Borneo andPhilippine Archipelago.

What comprises the National Territory?

1. The Philippine Archipelago with all the islands embracedtherein -

Under the UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of theSea), it is a group of islands, interconnecting waters and othernatural features which are so closely inter-related that suchislands, waters and natural features from an intrinsicgeographical, economic and political entity, or whichhistorically regarded as such.

2 Elements of Archipelagic Principle. - A. Definition ofinternal waters; B. Straight baseline method of delineating theterritorial sea. Straight Baseline Method - allows a country withoffshore islands and/or very jagged coastlines to calculate itsterritorial seas from straight lines drawn from a point on thecoast to the islands, or from island to island. One then“connects the dots” literally, and the water behind the lines isdesignated internal waters, while waters away from the line andtoward open waters are considered territorial seas.

2. All other territories over which the Philippines hassovereignty or jurisdiction -

Includes any territory that presently belongs or might inthe future belong to the Philippines through any of the acceptedinternational modes of acquiring territory.

Batanes (1935 Constitution); Other territories belonging tothe Philippines by historic or legal title (1973 Constitution);Claim to Sabah; Spratly Islands (PD 1596 of June 11 1968)

Components of National Territory:

I. Terrestrial – refers to the land mass, which may be integrateor dismembered, or partly bound by water or consists of one wholeisland. It includes all the resources attached to the land.

II. Fluviala. Internal waters - the waters around, between andconnecting the islands of the archipelago, regardless of theirbreadth and dimensions.b. Archipelagic waters – waters enclosed by the archipelagicbaselines, regardless of their depth or distance from the coast.

Archipelagic State – state made up of one or twoarchipelagos

Straight Archipelagic Baseline – determine thearchipelagic waters, the state shall draw straight baselinesconnecting the outermost points of the outermost islands anddrying reef provided that within such baselines are included themain islands and an area in which the ratio of the water to thearea of land, including atolls, is between 1:1 and 9:1. Thelength of such baselines shall not exceed 100 nautical miles,except that up to 3 per cent of the total number of baselinesenclosing any archipelago may exceed that length, up to a maximumlength of 125 nautical miles. The drawing of such baselines shallnot depart to any appreciable extent from the generalconfiguration of the archipelago.c. Territorial sea - belt of the sea located between thecoast and internal waters of the coastal state on the one hand,and the high seas on the other, extending up to 12 nautical milesfrom the low water markd. Contiguous zone - Extends up to 12 nautical miles from theterritorial sea. Although not part of the territory, the coastalState may exercise jurisdiction to prevent infringement ofcustoms, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws. Principle of Innocent Passage – guarantees that allvessels, whatever flag that they are flying, can freely cross allterritorial seas.

e. Exclusive economic zone - Body of water extending up to200 nautical miles, within which the state may exercise sovereignrights to explore, exploit, conserve and manage the naturalresources.

f. Continental shelf – the seabed and subsoil of thesubmarine areas extending beyond the Philippine territorial sea.g. High seas – res communes; not territory of any particularState. They are beyond the jurisdiction and sovereign rights ofthe State.

III. Aerial – Rules governing the high seas also apply to outerspace, which is considered as res communes. Kármán Line – lies an altitude of 100 km (62 mi) abovethe Earth's sea level and is commonly define the boundarybetween the Earth's atmosphere and outer space.

The need for a Constitutional provisions on National Territory

There is no rule in International Law that delimits astate’s territorial boundaries in the Constitution. The reasonis, with or without its provision, the state, under InternationalLaw, has the unquestioned right of jurisdiction over the extentof its territory. Likewise, it will not prevent other states fromclaiming territories which they think belong to them inaccordance with the modes of acquiring territory.

G. Declaration of Principles and State Policies – In Article II,its nature of the constitution is considered as the politicalcreed of the nation as: (1) it summarizes the principles andpolicies, especially pertaining to the legislative and executivedepartments as the source of policy decision makers; (2) the roleof the executive and the legislative departments of the system isthe enforcement of laws.

Declaration of Principles and State Policies - statement ofthe basic ideological principles and policies that underlie theConstitution. The provisions shed light on the meaning of theother provisions of the Constitution and they are a guide for alldepartments of the government in the implementation of theConstitution.

Principles - binding rules which must be observed in theconduct of government (Sections 1-6). Policies - guidelines forthe orientation of the state (Sections 7-28)

Article II – DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES AND STATE POLICIES

PRINCIPLES

Section 1. The Philippines is a democratic and republican State.Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authorityemanates from them.

The Philippines, a democratic and republican state.

A republican government is a democratic government byrepresentatives chosen by the people at large. The essencetherefore, of a republican state is indirect rule.

It embodies some features of a pure or direct democracy suchas initiative, referendum, and recall.

Manifestations of a democratic and republican state:

The existence of a bill of right;

The observance of the rule of majority;

The observance of the principle that ours is a government oflaws, and not of men;

The presence of election through popular will;

The observance of the principle of separation of powers andthe system of checks and balances;

The observance of the principle that the legislation cannotpass irrepealable laws;

The observance of the law on public officers;

The observance of the principle that the State cannot besued without its consent.

Sovereignty implies the supreme authority to govern, thusthe Filipino people, being sovereign people have the right toconstitute their own government, to change it, and define itsjurisdiction and powers. Exercised indirectly through publicofficials. Exercised directly through suffrage.

Section 1 above impliedly recognizes that the people, as theultimate judges of their destiny, can resort to revolution as amatter of right. A provision in the Constitution, however,expressly recognizing the people’s right to revolt against anoppressive or tyrannical government is not necessary and proper.

Section 2. The Philippines renounces war as an instrument ofnational policy, adopts the generally accepted principles ofinternational law as part of the law of the land and adheres tothe policy of peace, equality, justice, freedom, cooperation, andamity with all nations.

Case Analysis. - With the conflict in the claim of Spratleysintensifying, China decided to launch an all out attack to thePhilippines. Can the Philippines engage in war? The declarationrefers only to the renunciation by the Philippines of aggressivewar, not a war in defense of her national honor and integrity.Thus, when provoked and attacked the Philippines can retaliateand engage into war.

Renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy.Adoption of the generally accepted principles of internationallaw as part of our law. International law refers to the body ofrules and principles which governs the relations of nations andtheir respective peoples in their intercourse with one another.

The doctrine of incorporation is the automatic adoption ofinternational law as part of the law of the Philippines.

The Philippines seeks only peace and friendship with herneighbors and all countries of the world, regardless of race,creed, ideology, and political system, on the basis of mutualtrust, respect, and cooperation. Adherence to the policy ofpeace, etc., with all nations.

Section 3. Civilian authority is, at all times, supreme over themilitary. The Armed Forces of the Philippines is the protector ofthe people and the State. Its goal is to secure the sovereigntyof the State and the integrity of the national territory.

Supremacy of civilian authority over the military is -

1. Inherent in a republican system. As a republicangovernment, it is that civilian authority is above themilitary and is internationally recognized. This is atraditionally accepted principle as one of the separationof powers which is significant during periods of martiallaw or suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. (ArticleIII, Sec. 15; Art. VII, Sec. 18)

2. It is a safeguard against military dictatorship. Tosafeguard the abuses of the military civilian governmentlike the republican and democratic government has theauthority to appoint and control the military, like thePresident who is the Commander-In-Chief of the ArmedForces of the Philippines.

Section 4. The prime duty of the Government is to serve andprotect the people. The Government may call upon the people todefend the State and, in the fulfillment thereof, all citizensmay be required, under conditions provided by law, to renderpersonal, military or civil service.

“… the foremost duty of the government is to serve and protectthe people. The government exist for the people and not thepeople for the government.”

Prime duty of the Government

Defense of the State by the people against foreignaggression …the government may call upon the people to defend theState. For self-preservation and to defend its territorial honorand integrity, the Philippines can engage in a defensive war. Thedefense of the State is one of the duties of a citizen.

Military and civil service by the people

1. Defense of State performed through an army. The jointobligations of the government and the people cannot beperformed without an army. It is apparently clear that anarmy should be organized, thus, military and civil service.Military services here means the armed forces involvementwhile civil service means employment of the citizens to

munitions plants or related employment of the Armed forcesof the Philippines.

2. Compulsory. Compulsory is the compilation of citizens torender military, or civil service. Any citizen recruitscannot refuse to render military or civil service accordingto law.

3. Personal. Personal means rendering of service throughanother.

4. By Law. This point to preventive arbitrariness on the partof public officials to render military or civil service.

Section 5. The maintenance of peace and order, the protection oflife, liberty, and property, and promotion of the general welfareare essential for the enjoyment by all the people of theblessings of democracy.

Only when peace and order, security, and a life of dignityare established and maintained, will political stability andeconomic prosperity become attainable and the people truly enjoythe “blessings of independence and democracy.”

Section 6. The separation of Church and State shall beinviolable.

Principle of separation of the Church and State. - Theprinciple simply means that the Church is not to interfere inpurely political matters or temporal aspects of man’s life andthe State, in purely matters of religion and morals, which arethe exclusive concerns of the other.

The State shall have no official religion; The State cannotset up a church, whether or not supported with funds; Nor aid onereligion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another;Every person is free to profess belief or disbelief in anyreligion;

Meaning of “establishment of religion clause. - Everyreligious minister is free to practice his calling; and the Statecannot punish a person for entertaining or professing religiousbeliefs or disbeliefs. Preamble – The command that Church and

State be separate is not to be interpreted to mean hostility toreligion.

Respect of religion. - Our Constitution and laws exempt fromtaxation, properties devoted exclusively to religious purposes;No hostility towards religion.

The use of public money or property is not prohibited when apriest, preacher, minister, or dignitary as such is assigned tothe armed forces, or to any penal institution, or governmentorphanage or leprosarium; Optional religious instruction inpublic elementary and high school is by constitutional mandateallowed; Thursday and Friday of Holy Week, Christmas Day andSundays are made legal holidays because of the idea that theirobservance is conducive to beneficial moral results; and the lawpunishes polygamy and bigamy, and certain crimes against worshipare considered crimes against the fundamental laws of the State.

Reason underlying the principle. - It is significantthat the separation of the State and the Church is to protectPhilippine society from using each other for their self-interest.

STATE POLICIES

Section 7. The State shall pursue an independent foreign policy.In its relations with other states the paramount considerationshall be national sovereignty, territorial integrity, nationalinterest, and the right to self- determination.

Foreign policy is a set of guideline followed by agovernment of a country in order to promote its national interestthrough the conduct of its relations with other countries.

Foreign Policy of the Philippines. - Foreign policy isthe interaction of states with each other. States could not existwithout the other since trade and exchange of culture andtechnology is the basis of its development. It is the objectiveof a State to promote international relationships for nationalinterest.

Foreign policy therefore is an instrument of domesticpolicy. As constituted in our constitution, the State has to

pursue an independent foreign policy, but limits its dependencyfrom another.

Formulation and conduct of foreign policy. - The presidentformulates our foreign policy principally with the help of theDepartment of Foreign Affairs.

Pursuit of an independent foreign policy. - An independentforeign policy means one that is not subordinate or subject tonor dependent upon the support of another government. Anindependent foreign policy, however, it is not one thatcompletely rejects advice or assistance from without. Ingeneral , our basic foreign policy objective is to establishfriendly relations with all countries of the world regardless ofrace, religion, ideology and social system and to promote as muchbeneficial relationship with them particularly in economic andtrade activities.

Paramount consideration. - In its relations with otherstates, the paramount consideration of the Philippines shall benational sovereignty, territorial integrity, national interest,and the right to self-determination.

Section 8. The Philippines, consistent with the nationalinterest, adopts and pursues a policy of freedom from nuclearweapons in its territory.

Section 9. The State shall promote a just and dynamic socialorder that will ensure the prosperity and independence of thenation and free the people from poverty through policies thatprovide adequate social services, promote full employment, arising standard of living, and an improved quality of life forall.

Policies necessary to be pursued. – Adequate socialservices, promote full employment, a rising standard of living,and an improved quality of life for all.

Just and dynamic social order. Solving the problem of masspoverty; The goal is to reduce that political and economic powerof privileged few by equalizing widely differing standards andopportunities for advancement and raise the masses of our people

from a life of misery and deprivation to a qualitative lifeworthy of human dignity and respect.

Section 10. The State shall promote social justice in all phasesof national development.

In the fulfillment of this duty, the State must givepreferential attention to the welfare of the less fortunatemembers of the community, those who have less in life.

Section 11. The State values the dignity of every human personand guarantees full respect for human rights.

…the individual enjoy certain rights which cannot bemodified or taken away by the lawmaking body.”

These rights are protected or guaranteed because of thebelief in the inherent dignity and basic moral worth of everyhuman person.

..the human person is the end of every social organization…

The value accorded to human dignity is measured by theextent of respect for human rights, principally the rights tolife, liberty and property.

Section 12. The State recognizes the sanctity of family life andshall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomoussocial institution. It shall equally protect the life of themother and the life of the unborn from conception. The naturaland primary right and duty of parents in the rearing of the youthfor civic efficiency and the development of moral character shallreceive the support of the Government.

Right to life of unborn from conception. - According tothe Catholic Moral Code, the unborn child is already considered ahuman being and subject to human rights. It is the obligation ofthe State to protect the unborn child.

This provision of the Constitution is a preventive measureof the possibility of abortion being legalized by futurelegislation. The youth’s participation in nation building must bemaintained as a joint action by the State and family.

Section 13. The State recognizes the vital role of the youth innation-building and shall promote and protect their physical,moral, spiritual, intellectual, and social well-being. It shallinculcate in the youth patriotism and nationalism, and encouragetheir involvement in public and civic affairs.

The youth as future leaders. - The youth are the backbonesof the Philippine society and comprise the great majority of ourpeople and therefore is the concern of the State to promote andprotect their well-being. It could not be denied that today’syouth are more informed and articulate and politically informed.It is for this reason that more youth today are involved inradicalism and in policy-making decisions of the country.

Section 14. The State recognizes the role of women in nation-building, and shall ensure the fundamental equality before thelaw of women and men.

Women participation in nation-building. - It is generallyaccepted that the role of women both in business and politicscannot be over-emphasized. It must be recalled that Filipinowomen during the past decades especially during the colonizationdays took active part in nation-building, much more the currentevents that women played an important role in politics. Mencompared to women are more susceptible to graft and corruption,the reason that confidence on women had evolved.

It is on this aspect that the Constitution gives recognitionof the role of women not only in the management of the homes butalso in nation-building.

Section 15. The State shall protect and promote the right tohealth of the people and instill health consciousness among them.

Right to health. - Since people are the basic social unit ofgovernment, it is the obligation of the State to promote andprotect the right of the people to health. Healthy people meansproductivity and consciousness to their participation in nation-building. (Article XIII, Secs. 11-13)

Section 16. The State shall protect and advance the right of thepeople to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with therhythm and harmony of nature.

It is the constitutional right of the people to have abalance and healthful ecology. - Ecology refers to the branch ofscience that deals with the study of the relationships of livingthings (organisms, plants and animals) and their environments.(Article XII. Sec. 3)

Section 17. The State shall give priority to education, scienceand technology, arts, culture, and sports to foster patriotismand nationalism, accelerate social progress, and promote totalhuman liberation and development.

Section 18. The State affirms labor as a primary social economicforce. It shall protect the rights of workers and promote theirwelfare.

Section 19. The State shall develop a self-reliant andindependent national economy effectively controlled by Filipinos.

Economic development is the ultimate goal of the State. - Inthe declaration, Section 19 outlines the constitutionalguidelines in the development of the economy as a policy in orderto achieve economic self-reliance, independent national economyand effective Filipino control of the economy. (Article XII,National Economy and Patrimony, Sec. 1)

Section 20. The State recognizes the indispensable role of theprivate sector, encourages private enterprise, and providesincentives to needed investments.

Section 21. The State shall promote comprehensive ruraldevelopment and agrarian reform.

Section 22. The State recognizes and promotes the rights ofindigenous cultural communities within the framework of nationalunity and development.

“Cultural minorities” refers to that groups of Filipinos withcultural inferiority. This is so because these groups had swayedaway from civilization of Philippine society.

Section 23. The State shall encourage non-governmental,community-based, or sectoral organizations that promote thewelfare of the nation.

Section 24. The State recognizes the vital role of communicationand information in nation-building.

Section 25. The State shall ensure the autonomy of localgovernments.

Section 26. The State shall guarantee equal access toopportunities for public service, and prohibit politicaldynasties as may be defined by law.

Citizen has all the opportunities to public service (ArticleVI, Secs. 4, 5 and 7 and Article X, Sec. 8). - In a democraticsystem of government, it is a constitutional policy thatprohibits political dynasties. This is so because when politicaldynasties exist there is no equal access to opportunities forpublic service.

Section 27. The State shall maintain honesty and integrity in thepublic service and take positive and effective measures againstgraft and corruption.

Section 28. Subject to reasonable conditions prescribed by law,the State adopts and implements a policy of full publicdisclosure of all its transactions involving public interest.

The essence of democratic system of government that thepeople have the right to examine all government transactions. Ina society like ours, where democratic principles are adhered toall transactions by the government which involve public interestmust be publicly presented and discussed to the Filipino people.

The Filipino people have all the rights to know such publictransactions, especially involving expenditures of public funds.However, for reasons of government systems management,limitations are made like records involving the security of theState or those which are classified as confidential. (Article II,Section 7).  

H. Bill of Rights – Composed of 22 sections, enumerates therights and privileges of people guaranteed by no less than theconstitution. Such rights and privileges corresponding to theirrespective section number, may be summarized, to wit:

1. Right to Due Process and Equal Protection of the Laws;2. Right to Just Compensation in Eminent Domain;3. Right Against Unreasonable Searches and Seizures;4. Right to Privacy of Communication and Correspondence;5. Liberty of Abode and of Travel;6. Right to Information on Matters of Public Concern;7. Right to Form Associations;8. Freedom of Religion;9. Freedom of Speech, Press and Assembly;10. Right Against Enactment of Law Granting Nobility Title;11. Right Against Impairment of Contracts;12. Right Against Enactment of an Ex-Post Facto Law and Bill of Attainder;13. Non-Imprisonment from Debt or Non-Payment of Poll Tax;14. Right Against Involuntary Servitude;15. Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus;16. Right to Speedy Disposition of Cases;17. Right to Criminal Due process;18. Right to Bail;19. Right of the Accused, which are –

(a) Presumption of Innocence(b) Right to be Heard(c) Right to be Informed of the Nature and Cause of Accusation(d) Right to Speedy, Impartial and Public Trial(e) Right to Confrontation and (f) Right to Compulsory Process to Secure Attendance of Witnesses

20. Right Against Self-Incrimination including the Rights to Remain silent, to Counsel and to be informed of such right;

21. Right Against Excessive Fines and Cruel or Unusual Punishment;22. Right Against Double Jeopardy; and 23. Free Access to the Courts

The foregoing rights, while denominated as constitutional rights, are never absolute. They are usually limited by the Police Power of the State and to extent by the power of Eminent

Domain and Taxation. Police Power refers to the regulation of individual rights in the interest of public welfare, public health and safety, public morals and national security among others