Jao, Joshua Francis R.
BA Business Economics
2018-02295
Afternoon Session
A Summary of Philippine Legal Research
The Philippines, an archipelago surrounded by the Pacific Ocean on the east, the South
China Sea on both north and west, and the Celebes Sea on the south, is made up of 7,107 islands
with a land area of 299,740 square kilometers. The country’s territory was defined in both the
1935 Constitution and Article I of the 1987 Constitution which states that the national territory
of the archipelago comprises all the islands, waters, and other territories that the Philippines
governed.
This was strengthened by the laws created by the Congress which are the Republic Act
(R.A.) No. 3046 as amended by R.A. No.5446 and R.A. No. 9522, which is consistent with Article
121 of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Although, R.A. No. 9522
was questioned by former acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio of the Supreme Court (S.C.). It was
declared that it diminishes the country’s maritime domain that violates the 1987 Constitution
and it opens the nation's waters to maritime passages by all sea vessels and aircraft which
threatens the liberty and security of the country.
Another issue came up concerning the territory of the Philippines and it was China’s claims
which are based on the 9-dashed line that encompasses 90% of the South China Sea. This claim
overlaps with the 80% of the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and 100% of the extended
continental shelf (ECS) which is called by the Philippines as the West Philippine Sea. To quell the
disagreement between the two parties and prove its right to its territory, the Philippines filed a
formal claim to an arbitration tribunal under the UNCLOS. The outcome of the arbitration was in
the Philippines’ favor which leads to the nation's rights towards the West Philippine Sea even if
China did not accept the ruling.
Last November 2018, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Chinese
President, President Xi Jinping, and the Philippine President, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on
the account that both countries will undergo a collaborative exploration for oil and gas
development in the West Philippines Sea. International experts look at this as a way of President
Duterte opening diplomatic ties with China.
The Philippines has a mix of diverse cultures that have come from different ethnic groups
such as Christian Malays, Muslims, Chinese, and others. The country’s national language is
referred to as Filipino, as stated in Article XIV of the 1987 Constitution, with both Filipino and
English as official languages used for communication and official uses. R.A. 10157 or the
Kindergarten Education Act requires the usage of the mother tongue for education the children
at the kindergarten level. Additionally, the nation has various dialects that can be found
throughout the entire country with eight major dialects which are Bicolano, Cebuano,
Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Ilocano, Pampango or Kapampangan, Pangasinense, Tagalog, and Waray.
In the country, there are two major religions which are Christianity, with Catholicism
introduced by the Spaniards in 1521 and Protestantism by the Americans, and Islam. It also has
independent religious organizations with the Aglipay, also known as the Philippine Independent
Church, and Iglesia ni Kristo as the most prominent and others such as El Shaddai, Ang Dating
Daan, and Jesus is Lord. Also, following the provisions of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines,
there must be a separation of Church and State which must never be broken although religion
has a great influence on the country’s legal system. For example, a special court for Muslims was
established and is known as the Shari’a courts. Moreover, divorce is also not allowed in the
country, but the annulment of marriages is.
In the Philippines, there is a fundamental law in which all the citizens abide, and it is the
Constitution. Throughout the years, there had been five Constitutions that the Filipinos followed.
The past Constitutions were the Malolos Constitution, the 1935 Constitution, the 1943 Japanese
Constitution, the 1973 Constitution, and presently, the 1987 Constitution. There was also a
Provisional Constitution, called the 1986 Freedom Constitution, which has been formed after the
People Power Revolution. Currently, President Duterte wanted to revise the 1987 Constitution
which will make the current form of government shift towards a federalist one.
In its history, government structure in the Philippines was different in each period it goes
through. There were seven government structures that the Philippines had. At first, before Spain
colonized the country, was the Pre-Spanish Period with Barangays as the unit of government
structure with the Datus, also known as Cabeza de Barangays in Spanish Period, as their head.
Rules used in this era were customary and unwritten. There were two codes found in this period:
the Maragtas Code and the Code of Kalantiao.
The second government structure that the Philippines had was when Ferdinand Magellan
found the country which symbolizes the start of the Spanish Period. Laws, royal decrees, and/or
issuances of special laws from Spain formed by the Spanish Crown reached the country through
councils. The head of the Philippine government on this period was called as governor-general
that has legislative powers by declaring decrees, edicts, or ordinances. The Royal Audencia, the
Spanish Supreme Court, also has legislative powers passed in the form of autos accordados, the
Spanish Colonial Laws. Examples of these autos accordados are Fuero Juzgo, Fuero Real, and
the Novisima Recopilacion. There were also Spanish Laws that managed to survive until the end
of Spanish colonization like the Codigo Penal de 1870 and Codigo Civil de 1889.
The first Philippine Republic also occurred around this period. It happened when General
Emilio Aguinaldo announced the Philippine independence in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1988. The
Malolos Congress was formed in that same year; the first Philippine Constitution, the Malolos
Constitution, was created a year later. Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo was proclaimed as the president of
the country of the first republic. The Republic remained at the helm of the command of the
country until the Treaty of Paris was signed on December 10, 1898, which represents the start of
the American Period.
The third government restructuring happened when the Americans bought the Philippines
from Spain. Then, a military government was established with the military governor as the chief
of command with executive, legislative, and judicial functions. Laws that governed the Philippines
before the Philippine Constitution was ratified are President Mckinley’s Instruction to the
Philippine Commission on 1900, Spooner’s Amendment of 1901, Philippine Bill of 1902, Jones
Law of 1916, and Tydings-Mcduffie Law of 1934. The latter law allowed the Philippines to form a
Commonwealth government with its power to have its own Constitution.
The Commonwealth Government, with Manuel L. Quezon as its president, was
considered as a transition government before the Philippines was granted independence.
Furthermore, the majority of the Justices in the Supreme Court in Commonwealth were
Americans. When the Japanese attacked the Philippines, the Commonwealth was moved to
Washington DC in 1942 until President Quezon died and replaced by President Sergio Osmeña,
who later brought the government back in Manila in 1945.
The bombing of Clark Airfield in Pampanga in 1941 sparked the beginning of the Japanese
Period that lasted for only three years. The fourth government structure, the Japanese Republic,
was created with Jose P. Laurel as the President. The 1943 Constitution was ratified around this
period by a special convention called Kapisanan sa Paglilingkod ng Bagong Pilipinas, though no
law was recognized after the Japanese’s defeat, including the 1943 Constitution.
Freeing itself from all invaders’ grasps, the Philippines enjoyed its true independence in
1946 with the birth of the Third Philippine Republic which is the fifth government structure the
country had. This meant that the Philippines has its power and a genuine control of its land.
Provisions in the 1935 Constitution defined the whole structure of the government with the
creation of three equal branches of it. The President has the executive powers, legislative powers
fall in the hands of the two House of Congress, and judicial power was obtained by the Supreme
Court and other inferior courts.
When Martial Law was declared on September 21, 1972, the Philippine Congress was
abolished, military tribunals were formed, the 1973 Constitution was promulgated, and a
parliamentary form of government was erected which marks the sixth government structure.
Both the executive and the legislative powers were merged. Though, the parliamentary
government never happened because of the transitory provision of the 1973 Constitution.
Amendments were made in the Constitution which merged the powers of both President and the
Prime Minister and was given to the current President of that year, President Ferdinand Marcos.
Additionally, the amendments to the Constitution also allowed President Marcos to continue to
exercise legislative powers.
In 1981, Proclamation No. 2045 lifted the Martial Law and ended military tribunals and
elections were once again held. President Marcos was re-elected as the President of the
Philippines. Around 1984, the Constitution was once again revised, and an election for the seats
in the Batasang Pambansa. An impeachment resolution was passed to remove President Marcos
from his position, but it was dismissed. In 1985, a snap election was called by President Marcos
and was held in February next year. The results of the snap election from the National Movement
for Free Elections showed that President Marcos’ opposition, Corazon Aquino, won for the
presidency. However, Batasang Pambansa declared that President Marcos won that lead to the
events of the People Power Revolution in 1986 which ousted President Marcos from his position.
The last and current government structure started after the People Power Revolution.
Corazon Aquino became the President with Salvador Laurel as her Vice President. A Provisional
Constitution, Freedom Constitution, was adopted in 1986 to make way for the 1987 Constitution.
Under the 1987 Constitution, both president and vice president will be given a six-year term.
With the ratification of the 1987 Constitution, the Philippines became a Republic once again. The
government structure was almost the same as before the Martial Law with three equal
government branches, Executive, Legislative, and Judicial.
The Executive Branch is composed of the President, the Vice President, Secretaries of
Heads of the Executive Departments, and other Cabinet officials; they exercise authority in and
hold responsibility for the state. The Legislative Branch is made up of the Congress, with the
Senate and House of Representatives in its core; they make laws, alter, and repeal them. Lastly,
the Judicial Branch is composed of the Supreme Court and lower courts; they evaluate the laws
and settle controversies involving rights. Under the Supreme Court, the Judicial and Bar Council
was created to find prospective appointees to judiciary positions. Aside from Supreme Court,
there are also other courts in the country which are the Court of Appeals, the Anti-Graft Court or
Sandiganbayan, Court of Tax Appeals, Regional Trial Courts, Shari’a Courts, Quasi-Courts, and
Katarungang Pambarangay. Additionally, there are Constitutional Commissions that were
established namely Civil Service Commission, Commission on Election, and Commission on Audit.
Under Article X of the 1987 Constitution, areas in the country were divided into as follows:
province, cities, municipalities, and barangays. The officials that will supervise these areas are
the governor, city mayor, city vice mayor, municipal mayor, municipal vice-mayor, and punongbarangay in their respective constituencies with the President supervising them. Also, each
political territory enjoys local autonomy as defined in the Constitution. Furthermore, each region
is comprised of several provinces; then each province, with the governor in charge of that specific
province, composes a bunch of municipalities and cities; next are the city, consists of more
urbanized and developed barangays, and the municipality, consists of a group of barangays,
were both led the mayor, and lastly, the barangays which is the smallest local government unit
led by the punong-barangay.
Moreover, there are other government agencies in the country. Firstly, the Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank) is the country’s central monetary authority. Secondly, the
Commission on Appointment which restrains the President in abusing his power. Thirdly, the
Commission on Human Rights whose aim is to ensure the basic human rights for all the citizens,
in particular to those who are marginalized and defenseless. Lastly, the Office of the Ombudsman
is there to act on any complaints filed against officers or employees of the government. The
President, Vice President, members of the Supreme Court, Constitutional Commission, and the
Ombudsman may be impeached if there are sufficient evidence to their violations of the
Constitution.
Unique of its kind, the Philippine legal system is a mix of civil law, common law, Muslim
law, and indigenous law with two main sources of law. The first source is the Statutes or Statutory
Laws. These laws are the ones written by the legislative department such as the Constitutions,
treaties, administrative rules, legislative rules, etc. The other source is the Jurisprudence or Case
Laws which came from written opinions by courts or people with judicial powers. This includes
the administrative and legislative tribunals. Also, for Muslim law, it is based on Quran, Sunnah,
Ijma, and Qiyas.
Furthermore, these legal sources can be categorized into three classifications. The first
classification is by authority, either primary or secondary. Primary authorities are the laws that
can be cited to support an action, theory, or hypothesis. This includes the Constitution, legislative
statutes passed by the Congress like Acts and Republic Acts, decisions from the Supreme Court
or other courts, issuances, treaties, etc. Moreover, primary authority can be also divided into two
categories namely mandatory primary authority and persuasive mandatory authority. On the
other hand, secondary authorities are the commentaries, treaties, writings, opinions, or journal
articles that explain, discuss, or comment about the primary authority.
The second classification of legal sources is by source. It is a must for the legal experts to
know where laws and references came from, either from primary (official) sources or from
secondary (unofficial) sources. Primary sources came from either the issuing agency, the official
repository or also known as the Official Gazette, or the Philippine Reports. Then again, secondary
sources are the unofficial sources and commonly referred to as the ones published for
commercial use or institutionally publish in print or online. The goal when finding the required
laws in these sources is to locate the mandatory primary authorities since it bears significant
weight on the legal problem and if the primary authorities are hard to find or very rare, the
alternative is to find the relevant persuasive mandatory authorities. Though, finding both
authorities are highly advised.
The third classification of legal sources is by character. This classification refers to the
nature of the subjected being treated in books and can be categorized into Statute Law books,
Case Law books, a combination of Statute and Case Laws books, and Law Finders. The latter is
comprised of indexes, citators, encyclopedia, legal dictionaries, thesauri, or digests.
Researching the different laws of the nation is a necessity since it can either make or break
the current legal problem. Going back, statute laws are rules and regulations created by
competent authorities with legislative powers. Researching about these laws does not mean just
looking for specific law. One must know the intent of the law and even the words used in it since
there could be loopholes that could be used or any fine print that may be missed at first reading.
To do research, different references must be used. For example, there are different Constitutions
in the Philippines. These Constitutions can be found in many history books that can be used for
research. Recorded Constitutional Conventions may also be used for research purposes since
they provide the intent and background for each of the Constitutions passed. Treaties and other
international agreements could also be used for research since treaties are agreements or
contracts between two (bilateral) or more (multilateral) countries. In the Philippines, treaties will
not be valid unless otherwise approved by two-thirds of the members of the Senate. Other
examples of statute laws that those in legal jurisdictions research are the legal enactments,
presidential issuances that came from the President for adjusting the different divisions in the
country, executive orders and proclamations, and administrative rules and regulations.
Other than statute laws, Case Laws could also be researched. It is stated that Case Laws
or Judicial Decisions are the official interpretations of the law and rulings made by either a person
or agencies executing judiciary duties. In Case Laws, the decisions by different courts are the ones
being researched. For example, the decisions from the Supreme Court are the highest form of
jurisprudence. The Supreme Court decisions interpret the law and decide whether it is
constitutional or not. Also, Supreme Court decisions can be classified into two resolutions; they
are the regular decisions and unsigned minute resolutions. Another court that can give their own
decisions and interpretations of the law, though could only influence other lower courts, is the
Court of Appeals. In the case of Sandiganbayan and Court of Tax Appeals, their decisions and
interpretations are not yet published though they are being completed in an online site as of the
moment. Other decisions came from administrative agencies, commissions, and boards.
To gather more people that will primarily focus their careers on the legal system, R.A. No.
7662 or the Legal Education Reform Act was created which in turn, established the Legal
Education Board. The functions of the Board is to overseer the legal education system of the
country, supervise law schools, set standards of accreditation for law schools, acknowledge law
schools that met the standards, prescribe minimum standards for law admission, give the proper
curricula for the course aligned to the requirements for admission to the Bar, create law practice
internship, and adopt a system of continuing legal system. For a person to take up the Bar exam,
the applicant must have studied law for four years and completed the said curriculum. For Shari’a
court lawyer aspirants, there is a special Bar exam conducted for their applicants however they
are not considered as full-fledged members of the Philippine Bar since they are only allowed to
practice in Shari’a courts.
In the country, there are two Bar associations for those who are in the legal profession.
The first one is the Integrated Bar of the Philippines which is the official organization for those
whose career is in the legal track. The other one is the Philippine Bar Association which is the
oldest national voluntary organization of those in legal work in the country. Also, there is a
national organization of law librarians from both the government and private institutions which
is called the Law Librarians Association.
Overall, both the government structure and the legal system of the Philippines is unique
since it was created due to past events throughout history and influenced by different nations
across the world.