Definitions of

Administrative Law

exercised by courts over such

agencies

Dean Roscoe: That branch of

modern law under which the
executive department of the
government, acting in a quasijudicial capacity, interferes with
the conduct of the individual for
the purpose of promoting the
well-being of the community as
under laws regulating public
interest, professions, trades and
callings, rates and prices, laws for
the protection of public health
and safety, and the promotion of
public convenience.

-comprehensive coverage in
terms of the public institutions to
which administrative agencies
provide support or assistance and
the general public for which they
are established to serve.

-recent development, being a

consequence of the everincreasing complexities of the
society and the proliferation of
problems of the government that
cannot readily or effectively be
addressed by the traditional
public agencies solved by the
other disciplines of public law.
-quasi-legislative/rule-making
power and quasi-judicial
power/adjudicatory function.
Scope: regulation of private right
for public welfare.
Professor Goodnow: That part
of public law which fixes the
organization of the government
and determines the competence
of the authorities who execute the
law and indicates the individual
remedies for the violation of his
rights.
Justice Frankfurter: branch of
law that deals with the field of
legal control exercised by lawadministering agencies other than
the courts, and the field of control

By delegation, legislature is able

to relieve itself of the
responsibility to legislate directly
on relatively minor matters and of
attending as well as to the
adjudication of essentially factual
questions that more properly
pertain to the executive
authorities.
Sources
1. Constitutional or
statutory enactments
creating administrative
bodies
Article IX - constitution of
ConComs.
-establishment of
Social Security Commision
Administrative Code of
1987/EO No. 292 on regular
departments and bureaus of
the Executive Branch.
-establishment of
ladministrative agencies
-determination of
their organizational
structures
-provision for the
functions and powers of
their officers
-confer upon them
authority over quasi-judicial
matters or conflicts
2. Decisions of courts
interpreting the
characters of

administrative bodies
and defining their
powers, rights
inhibitions, among
others, and the effects
of their determinations
and regulations
Aratuc vs. Comelec
Maceda vs. ERB
3. Rules and regulations
issued by the
administrative bodies in
pursuance of the
purposes for which they
are created.
Omnibus Rules
Implementing the Labor
Code by DOLE
-Circulars of Central
Monetary Authority on
interest rates
-regulations of the
Commission on Immigration
and Deportation
-SEC Rules
-Bureau of Patents,
Trademarks and Technology
Transfer
4. Determinations and
orders of the
administrative bodies in
the settlement of
controversies arising in
their respective fields.
-adjudications of
administrative agencies in
the exercise of their quasijudicial powers
-NLRC with respect to
money claims of employees
Government of the Republic of
the Philippines refers to the
corporate governmental entity
through which the functions of
government are exercised
throughout the Philippines,

including, save as the contrary

appears from the context, the
various arms through which
political authority is made
effective in the Philippines,
whether pertaining to the
autonomous regions, the
provincial, city, municipal or
barangay subdivisions or other
forms of local government.
National Government refers to
the entire machinery of the
central government, as
distinguished from the different
forms of local governments.
Local Government refers to the
political subdivisions established
by or in accordance with the
Constitution.
Agency of the Government refers
to any of the various units of the
Government, including a
department, bureau, office,
instrumentality, or governmentowned or controlled corporations,
or a local government or a distinct
unit therein.
National Agency refers to a unit
of the National Government.
Local Agency refers to a local
government or a distinct unit
therein
Department
-an executive department
created by law. It shall include
any instrumentality, as herein
defined, having or assigned the
rank of a department, regardless
of its name or designation
Bureau
-any principal subdivision of
any department. It shall include
any principal subdivision or unit of

any instrumentality given or

assigned the rank of a bureau,
regardless of actual name or
designation, as in the case of
department-wide regional offices
Office
-refers to, within the
framework of the government
organization. To any major
functional unit of a department or
bureau, including regional offices.
-any position held or occupied by
individual persons, whose
functions are defined by law or
regulation.
Government Instrumentality
-any agency of the National
Government not integrated within
the department framework,
vested with special functions or
jurisdiction by law, endowed with
some if not all corporate powers,
administering special funds and
enjoying operational autonomy,
usually through a charter.
Regulatory Agency/Body
-any agency expressly
vested with jurisdiction to
regulate, administer or adjudicate
matters affecting substantial
rights and interests of private
persons, the principal powers of
which are exercised by a
collective body, such as a
commission, board or council.
Chartered Institution
-any agency organized or
operating under a special
character, and vested by law with
functions relating to specific
constitutional policies or
objectives.
Government-owned or
controlled corporation
-refers to any agency organized

as a stock or non-stock
corporation, vested with functions
relating to public needs whether
governmental or proprietary in
nature, and owned by the
Government directly or through
its instrumentalities either wholly,
or, where applicable as in the
case of stock corporations, to the
extent of at least fifty-one (51)
per cent of its capital stock:
Provided, That governmentowned or controlled corporations
may be further categorized by the
Department of the Budget, the
Civil Service Commission, and the
Commission on Audit for purposes
of the exercise and discharge of
their respective powers, functions
and responsibilities with respect
to such corporations.
General Supervision
CHAPTER 6
Section 18. General Supervision
Over Local Governments.
The President shall exercise
general supervision over local
governments.
Section 23. The Agencies under
the Office of the President.
The agencies under the Office of
the President refer to those offices
placed under the chairmanship of
the President, those under the
supervision and control of the
President, those under the
administrative supervision of the
Office of the President, those
attached to it for policy and
program coordination, and those
that are not placed by law or
order creating them under any
specific department.
Control

CHAPTER 1
Section 1. Power of Control.
The President shall have control
of all the executive departments,
bureaus, and offices. He shall
ensure that the laws be faithfully
executed.
Supervision and Control
CHAPTER 7 ADMINISTRATIVE
RELATIONSHIP
Section 38. Definition of
Administrative Relationship.
Unless otherwise expressly stated
in the Code or in other laws
defining the special relationships
of particular agencies,
administrative relationships shall
be categorized and defined as
follows:
(1) Supervision and Control. Supervision and control shall
include authority to act directly
whenever a specific function is
entrusted by law or regulation to
a subordinate; direct the
performance of duty; restrain the
commission of acts; review,
approve, reverse or modify acts
and decisions of subordinate
officials or units; determine
priorities in the execution of plans
and programs; and prescribe
standards, guidelines, plans and
programs. Unless a different
meaning is explicitly provided in
the specific law governing the
relationship of particular
agencies, the word "control" shall
encompass supervision and
control as defined in this
paragraph.
Administrative Supervision. (a) Administrative supervision
which shall govern the

administrative relationship
between a department or its
equivalent and regulatory
agencies or other agencies as
may be provided by law, shall be
limited to the authority of the
department or its equivalent to
generally oversee the operations
of such agencies and to insure
that they are managed
effectively, efficiently and
economically but without
interference with day-to-day
activities; or require the
submission of reports and cause
the conduct of management
audit, performance evaluation
and inspection to determine
compliance with policies,
standards and guidelines of the
department; to take such action
as may be necessary for the
proper performance of official
functions, including rectification
of violations, abuses and other
forms of maladministration; and
to review and pass upon budget
proposals of such agencies but
may not increase or add to them;
(b) Such authority shall not,
however, extend to: (1)
appointments and other
personnel actions in accordance
with the decentralization of
personnel functions under the
Code, except appeal is made from
an action of the appointing
authority, in which case the
appeal shall be initially sent to the
department or its equivalent,
subject to appeal in accordance
with law; (2) contracts entered
into by the agency in the pursuit
of its objectives, the review of
which and other procedures
related thereto shall be governed
by appropriate laws, rules and
regulations; and (3) the power to

review, reverse, revise, or modify

the decisions of regulatory
agencies in the exercise of their
regulatory or quasi-judicial
functions; and
(c) Unless a different meaning is
explicitly provided in the specific
law governing the relationship of
particular agencies, the word
"supervision" shall encompass
administrative supervision as
defined in this paragraph.
Attachment. - (a) This refers to
the lateral relationship between
the department or its equivalent
and the attached agency or
corporation for purposes of policy
and program coordination. The
coordination may be
accomplished by having the
department represented in the
governing board of the attached
agency or corporation, either as
chairman or as a member, with or
without voting rights, if this is
permitted by the charter; having
the attached corporation or
agency comply with a system of
periodic reporting which shall
reflect the progress of programs
and projects; and having the
department or its equivalent
provide general policies through
its representative in the board,
which shall serve as the
framework for the internal policies
of the attached corporation or
agency;
(b) Matters of day-to-day
administration or all those
pertaining to internal operations
shall be left to the discretion or
judgment of the executive officer
of the agency or corporation. In
the event that the Secretary and
the head of the board or the
attached agency or corporation

strongly disagree on the

interpretation and application of
policies, and the Secretary is
unable to resolve the
disagreement, he shall bring the
matter to the President for
resolution and direction;
(c) Government-owned or
controlled corporations attached
to a department shall submit to
the Secretary concerned their
audited financial statements
within sixty (60) days after the
close of the fiscal year; and
(d) Pending submission of the
required financial statements, the
corporation shall continue to
operate on the basis of the
preceding year's budget until the
financial statements shall have
been submitted. Should any
government-owned or controlled
corporation incur an operation
deficit at the close of its fiscal
year, it shall be subject to
administrative supervision of the
department; and the corporation's
operating and capital budget shall
be subject to the department's
examination, review, modification
and approval.
Attached agency has a larger
measure of independence from
the Department to which it is
attached than one which is under
departmental supervision and
control or administrative
supervision
Purpose of attaching is to attain
policy and program coordination.
Even an agency under a
Departments administrative
supervision is free from
Departmental inference with

respect to appointments and

other personnel actions in
accordance with the
decentralization of personnel
functions under the Admin Code.
Administration
-as an institution, aggregate
of individuals in whose hands the
reins of the government are for
the time being.
-persons who actually run
the government during their
prescribed terms of office.
-all the personnel in the
executive branch who are
charged with the enforcement of
the law.
-transitional in nature.
-as a function, actual
running of the government by
which the executive authorities
through the enforcement of laws
and the implementation of
policies.
-any activity outside of
legislation and the rendering of
judicial decisions.
-tax collection by
authorities, drilling of army,
prosecution of lawbreakers,
enforcement of sanitary rules,
investigation of certain
businesses, regulation of the
process of prime commodities.
Internal Administration
-covers those rules defining
the relations of public
functionaries inter se and
embraces the whole range of the
law and public officers.
-qualifications, selection,
powers, rights, duties and
liabilities of public officers.
-rules laid down in a
particular agency or office,
prescribing work assignments, job
descriptions, uniforms,

procedures for submission of

reports.
External Administration
-defines the relations of the
public office within the public in
general.
-rules prescribed thereunder
do not necessarily affect the
personnel of the office but are
promulgated for observance by
those who have dealings or
transactions with said office.
-rules by ERC in
adjustments in the rates charged
by distributors of electricity, POEA
on the recruitment for OE.
-in the exercise of its quasilegislative authority for the
regulation of specific matters
placed under its jurisdiction.
Administration vs. Law
Law impersonal command
provided with sanctions to be
applied in case of violation.
-concerned only with
obedience to its mandate and not
with the circumstances or excuses
of the violator.
Administration preventive rather
than punitive and more personal
than law.
-has a more sympathetic
regard for the individual and
seeks to spare him from the
punishment of the law by
persuading him to observe its
commands.
-may clarify certain
ambiguous provisions in statutes
through the issuance of
interpretative regulations meant
to make it easier for the people to
understand and so obey the law.
-to simplify the enforcement
of laws which they are called

upon to execute.
CONS: constitute a defect as well
as to the extent that it permits a
disregard or misapplication of the
law at the will of those who are
supposed to enforce it in the
exercise of discretionary powers.
Administrative Agency
-body endowed with quasilegislative and quasi-judicial
powers for the purpose of
enabling it to carry out laws
entrusted to it for enforcement or
execution.
-arm of legislature insofar
as it is authorized to promulgate
rules that have the force of law by
virtue of a valid delegation of
legislative power.
-a court when it decides
factual and legal questions as an
incident of its general power of
regulation.
-basically pertains to
executive department because its
principal function is the
implementation of the law in
accordance with the policies and
instructions laid down by the
legislature.
-composed of persons who
are experts in the particular field
of specialization under its
jurisdiction, appointed by law and
informed by experience.
Advantages
Expertise derived from
specialized training and
experience and adaptability
to change and ease in
reacting to new and even
emergency situations.
More resilient when
economic problems arise.
They can initiate action,
proceed to the solution of

the problems confided to

their attention with more
expeditiousness and
efficacy owing to the
flexibility of its powers.
Regulation to Regular
Departments
Administrative Body
-agent of the law-making
body, bound to obey and
implement the legislative will.
-may be abolished at will by
its creator,
-its incidents as the salary
and emoluments or
appropriations attached thereto,
or its functions, or the term of ites
officers including incumbents may
be altered in the discretion of the
legislature.
Administrative Agency
-pertains to the executive
departmet
-comes under the
constitutional control of the
President, which control cannot be
limited or withdrawn by the
legislature
Courts of justice cannot be
deprived of their inherent power
to decide all questions of law.
They can review or even reverse
administrative acts even of the
Chief Executive. They can review
factual findings of administrative
offices and their promulgated
rules of procedure.
Instrumentality
-any agency of the National
Government, not integrated
within the department framework,
vested with special functions or
jurisdiction by law, endowed with
some, if not all, corporate powers,

administering special funds and

enjoying operational autonomy,
usually through a charter.
-includes regulatory
agencies, chartered institutions
and GOCCs.
Authority both incorporated
and non-incorporated agencies or
instrumentalities of the
government.
Administrative Body
-board, commission,
authority, administration, bureau,
agency, council, committee, office
and the like.
-may be created by
Constitution or by statute.
CSC, COMELEC, COA
independent constitutional bodies
established under Article IX of
Constitution.
Metropolitan Manila Authority
Sec11, Art. X in relation to Sec.8,
Transitory Provisions, Constitution
PRC, NLRC, SEC among others,
constitute administrative
department.
PVA, BoC, BoP, LTFRB, SEC, NLRC

If created by Constitution,
altered or abolished only by
amendment.
If by statute, amend or
repeal by legislature of its
charter resulting into
abolition in good faith.
Administrative body created
by law may be recognized
pursuant to said law
establishing it or another
law authorizing its
recognition.

Power of the president to

reorganize the National
Governemt may validly be
delegated to his cabinet
members exercising control
over a particular executive
department.
Government
-agency or instrumentality
through which the will of the State
is formulated, expressed and
realized.
-more or less permanent
fixture in every State.
ARTICLE VII EXECUTIVE
DEPARTMENT
Section 17. The President shall
have control of all the executive
departments, bureaus, and
offices. He shall ensure that the
laws be faithfully executed.
ARTICLE IIDECLARATION OF
PRINCIPLES AND STATE
POLICIES PRINCIPLES
Section 25. The State shall
ensure the autonomy of local
governments.
ARTICLE X LOCAL
GOVERNMENT
Section 1. The territorial and
political subdivisions of the
Republic of the Philippines are the
provinces, cities, municipalities,
and barangays. There shall be
autonomous regions in Muslim
Mindanao and the Cordilleras as
hereinafter provided.
Section 4. The President of the
Philippines shall exercise general
supervision over local
governments. Provinces with
respect to component cities and
municipalities, and cities and
municipalities with respect to
component barangays, shall

ensure that the acts of their

component units are within the
scope of their prescribed powers
and functions.