Subjects of construction Is the power to legislate exclusive to Congress?

 Statutes - Presidential Decrees

 Constitution - Executive Orders
 Ordinances
 Resolutions Statute, distinguished from statute law.
 Executive Orders - Statute law is broader, as it includes not only the statute, but also
 Department Circulars judicial interpretation and application od such statutes.
- Used interchangeably.
Constitution, defined.
- Fundamental law of the land Statutes, classified.
- Body of rules and maxims - Public: affects public at large
- Where powers of sovereignty are habitually exercised - Private: applies only to specific person

Philippine Constitution, defined. Public statute, classified.

- Written instrument
- Fundamental powers of the government are established, limited and
defined
- By which these powers are distributed among several departments
- For their safe and useful exercise
- For the benefit of the body politic
Nature of Constitution.
- Recognizes and declared inherent rights and prerogatives of a free
people
- Sets up framework of government machinery
Constitution, distinguished from statute.
- Constitution: general principles and foundation of government
- Statute: more detailed
- Constitution: relatively permanent in character
- Statute: tentative
Common parts of the Constitution.
- Constitution of liberty: bill of rights
- Constitution of government: framework of government
- Constitution of sovereignty: procedure for amending Constitution
Statute, defined
- Written will of the legislature
- Public will and people’s mandate expressed through their
representatives
- General law: applies to whole state upon all the people or all of the
class
- Special law: relates to particular persons things of a class,
community, individual or thing.
- Local law: applies to specific locality
Legislative power, defined.
- Power to make, alter and repeal laws
Scope of legislative power.
- embraces all subjects
- extends to matters of general concern or common interest
- unless limited by the Constitution
Constitutional basis for legislative power of Congress.
- Sec. 1, Art. VI, 1987 Constitution. The legislative power shall be vested
in the Congress of the Philippines which shall consist of a Senate and a
House of Representatives, except to the extent reserved to the people
by the provision on initiative and referendum.
Bill, defined.
- Proposed legislative measure
- Introduced by member/s of Congress
- For enactment into law
- Signed by the author/s
-Filed with the House Secretary.
Origin of Bill.
- It may originate from either House.
- Except: Appropriation, revenue or tariff bills
Illustrative case: Tolentino vs Secretary of Finance, 235 SCRA 630
(1994).
Facts:
- Several bills were introduced in the House of Representatives to
expand the tax base of the Value Added Tax (VAT) system and enhance
its administration by amending the National Internal Revenue
Code (NIRC).
- These were referred to the House and Ways Committee which
consolidated a bill and recommended its approval.
- The Senate approved after its Committee recommended it.
- The House bill and the Senate version were then referred to the
Conference Committee which recommended that the House bill, in
consolidation with the Senate bill, be approved in accordance with
the attached copy of the bill as reconciled and approved by the
conferees.
- The Conference Committee bill was then approved by the House and
the Senate.
Held:
- Thus, while it is true that a revenue bill must originate
exclusively in the House of Representatives, the Senate can
propose amendments that re-writes the entire bill or substitute
it with an entirely separate and distinct bill.
How a bill becomes a law.
 Filing: with the House Secretary.
Secretary reports the bill for First Reading.
 First Reading: reading of the number and title of the bill.
Composition of the Committee:
- Experts in the subject under their jurisdiction.
What happens in the Committee stage.
- It may hold public hearings on the proposed measure.
- Bill comes under the sharpest scrutiny.
- Committee may approve or reject the bill, with or without
amendments, re-write the bill entirely, report it favorably or without
recommendation.
- Committee reports and recommends for calendar for second reading.
 Second reading.
- The bill is read in full with the amendments proposed by the
Committee, if any.
- Unless copies were distributed before and such reading is dispensed
with.
- The bill will be subjected to debates, motions and amendments.
- After the amendments have been acted upon, the bill will be voted on
second reading.
 Third reading.
- Final vote for yeas and nays shall be taken and entered in the Journal.
Constitutional requirements for the bill to pass. Article VI,
Section 26(2):
- No bill passed by either House shall become a law unless it has
passed three readings on separate days, and printed copies thereof in
its final form have been distributed to its Members three days before
its passage, except when the President certifies to the necessity of it
immediate enactment to meet a public calamity or emergency. Upon
the last reading of a bill, no amendment thereto shall be allowed, and
the vote thereon shall be taken immediately thereafter, and the yeas
and nays entered in the Journal.
- It has passed 3 readings on separate days.
- Printed copies in final form distributed to its members 3 days before
its passage.
- Except: when the President certifies it as urgent to meet public
calamity or emergency.
- But the factual basis of the presidential certification of bills may not
be subject to judicial review.
- It merely dispenses with procedural requirements designed to
insure that bills are duly considered by member.
Illustrative case: Tolentino vs Secretary of Finance, 235 SCRA 630
(1994):
Facts:
- The Senate approved its version of the E-VAT bill during the second
and third reading on the same day, after the President certified it as
urgent.
Contention of petitioners:
- The certification of the bill is invalid because there was no
emergency.
- The justification of “growing budget deficit” is not an unusual
condition in this country.
Held:
- The presidential certification dispenses not only printing and
distribution of the copy of the bill but also the reading on separate
days.
- The phrase “except when the President certifies to the necessity of
its immediate enactment xxx” qualifies the 2 stated conditions before
a bill becomes a law.
- The “unless” clause must be read in relation to the “except” clause
because they are coordinate clauses of the same sentence.
- To construe “except” clause as simply dispensing the printing and
distribution not only offends grammar but also negates the very
premise of the “except” clause.
The factual basis of presidential certification of bills is not
subject to judicial review pursuant to the principle of separation
of powers as it merely involves doing away with procedural
requirements.
- A law may not be declared unconstitutional when what is violated in
its passage are mere internal rules of procedure.
- Unlike the sufficiency of the factual basis of the suspension of the
privilege of the writ of habeas corpus which threaten individual rights
hence subject to judicial review.
What happens if a bill is approved on third reading by one
House?
- Transmitted to the other House for concurrence, following
substantially the same route.
- If the other House approves the bill without amendment, it is passed
by Congress and transmitted to the President for approval.
Conference Committee.
- It is the mechanism to harmonize differences between both Houses
in the passage of the bill into law.
- But it can deal generally with the subject matter.
- It may produce results beyond its mandate.
- The rules do not limit it to consider conflicting provisions only.
- It is empowered to include an entirely new provision not found in
either bills.
Held:
- There is nothing wrong about closed door executive sessions.
- Often, when only the conferees are present, it is the only way to
harmonize conflicting provisions.
- The incomplete sentences in the transcripts may be attributes to the
stenographer’s own limitations or incoherence of statements.
- Amendment in the nature of a substitute by the Conference
Committee resulting in a third version is allowed provided it is
germane to the subject of both versions.
Doctrine of enrolled bill.
- When both houses approve the Conference Committee Report
adopting third version of the bill, it it the latter that is the final and
conclusive version submitted to the president for approval.
-The requirement of 3 readings on separate days and distribution of
copies 3 days prior does not apply to Conference Committee Reports.
An enrolled copy of the bill is conclusive not only of its provisions
but also of its due enactment.
- Once the Senate President and Speaker sign the bill and the
Secretaries certify.
Is the doctrine of enrolled bill absolute?
- No. In one case, the Senate President admitted to a mistake and
withdrew his signature.
- Thus, the Supreme Court went behind the enrolled bill and consulted
the Journal to determine whether certain provisions of the statute had
been approved by the Senate.
- There was no longer any enrolled bill to consider when the signature
was withdrawn.
- Authentication of bills.
 Signing by the Speaker & Senate President.
 Printed Copy of the approved bill.
 Certified by respective House Secretaries
President’s approval or veto.
- When a bill is presented to the President for action, he may:
- Sign it, if he approves.
- Veto it, and return with objections to the House of origin.
- The objections are entered in its Journal and proceed to consider it.
- President communicates veto within 30 days after receipt, otherwise
it becomes a law as if he signed it.
- Override of presidential veto.
3 ways by which a Bill becomes a law:
 President signs it.
 He does not sign nor communicate his veto within 30 days from
receipt.
 Congress overrides veto
Parts of statute.
1. Title
- general statement of the subject of the bill
One title- one subject rule
- a bill embraces only one subject matter
- to prevent logrolling
- surprise or fraud
Logrolling.
- Combination of multiple propositions in one proposal.
- Entire proposition is nullified, not only the subject matter.
Illustrative case: Lambino vs. Comelec, G.R. No. 174153, Octover
25, 2006.
Facts:
- In 2006, the group led by Raul Lambino and Enrico Aumentado
gathered signatures nationwide as people’s initiative to amend the
Constitution by shifting from Bicameral- Presidential to Unicameral-
Parliamentary form of government.
-It asked the people this proposition:
- DO YOU APPROVE THE AMENDMENT OF ARTICLES VI AND VII OF
THE 1987 CONSTITUTION, CHANGING THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT
FROM THE PRESENT BICAMERAL- PRESIDENTIAL TO A
UNICAMERAL- PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM, AND PROVIDING ARTICLE
XVIII AS TRANSITORY PROVISIONS FOR THE ORDERLY SHIFT FROM
ONE SYSTEM TO THE OTHER?
Held:
- For sure, the great majority of 6.3 million Filipinos who signed the
signature sheets did not see the full text of the proposition.
- They could not have know the nature and effect of the proposed
changes:
1. The term limits will be lifted and thus members of Parliament can
be re-elected indefinitely.
2. The interim Parliament can continue to function indefinitely until
its members, who are almost all the present members of Congress,
decide to call for new parliamentary elections.
3. Within 45 days from ratification of the proposed changes, the
interim Parliament shall convene to propose further amendments or
revisions to the Constitution.
- The subject matter of this proposed transitory provision is totally
unrelated to the shift from presidential-bicameral to unicameral-
parliamentary system.
- This is logrolling. It places the people in a dilemma since they can
answer only either yes or no to the entire proposition, which contains
2 subjects, one of which they may find unacceptable.
Article VI, Section 26(1)
- Every bill passed by Congress shall embrace only on subject which
shall be expressed in the title thereof.
Illustrative case: Tolentino vs Secretary of Finance, 235 SCRA 630
(1994).
Facts:
The Philippine Airlines (PAL) is exempt from value added tax per
Section 103 of the NIRC.
Issue:
AN ACT RESTRUCTURING THE VALUE- ADDED TAX (VAT) SYSTEM,
WIDENING ITS TAX BASE AND ENHANCING ITS ADMINISTRATION,
AND FOR THESE PURPOSES AMENDING AND REPEALING THE
RELEVANT PROVISIONS OF THE NATIONAL INTERNAL REVENUE
CODE, AS AMENDED, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
Held: 5. Definition section
-To insist that the tax exemption be specified in the title is to require - Defines terms
the title of the bill to be a complete index of its content.
- Every bill is required to embrace only one subject expressed in its 6. Administrative section
title to prevent surprise expressed in its title to prevent surprise upon - Enforcement body
members of the Congress and inform the people about it.
- If PAL did not know that its exemption was withdrawn, it is not due 7. Standards of conduct
to the defect in the title, but because just like other statutes, they pass - Do and void
unnoticed even if published.
- The title is sufficient if it expresses the general subject of the 8. Sanctions
statute and all its provisions are germane to the general subject - Penalties
thus expressed.
9. Transitory provisions
Effect if title is insufficient. - Temporary provisions for transition
- Bill is void
- Insofar as the subject matter not expressed in the title is concerned Separability clause
- But if void and valid are inseparable, the nullity of one vitiates the - If part of the law is declared invalid, the rest remains valid.
other. - Does not bind the courts
- The whole statute may be nullified
2. Preamble. - If what is left is not complete or workable.
- Part which follows the title and precedes the enacting clause
- Reasons and purpose of enactment Repealing clause
- Neither creates nor grants rights - Repeal is not legislative finding that the earlier law is
- Not a source of government power unconstitutional.
- “Not a source of right but a source of light”
Date of effectivity.
3. Enacting clause - Time when law takes effect
- Precedes body of statute - Usually after 15 days following completion of publication in the
- Identifies the bill as an act of legislation Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.
- Absence does not nullify law unless required by the Constitution
- Not required by Constitution but used as a matter of legislative Article 2, Civil Code.
practice or custom - Laws take effect after 15 days following completion of publication in
the Official Gazette, unless otherwise provided.
3. Body
- Main part of the bill Sec. 18, Chap. 5, Book I, Administrative Code.
- Rights or remedies - Laws take effect after 15 days following completion of publication in
the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation, unless it
4. Policy section is otherwise provided.
- Declaration of state policy Completion of publication.
- Refers to the date of release
- Not the date of issue, unless simultaneous
- Publication is a condition precedent for effectivity -Filing with the UP Law Center
Tanada vs Tuvera - Except: when the law dispenses with filing
Contention of petitioners: - but it cannot dispense with publication.
- They should be published before they become valid and enforceable
pursuant to the constitutional right of the people to be informed on Nature of administrative rules and regulations.
matters of public concern. - They have the force and effect of a law
Contention of respondents: - Partake the nature of a statute
- Publication in the Official Gazette is not a condition precedent for
laws to be effective where the law provides for its effectivity date. Rule- making power of a public administrative agency.
- This is pursuant to Article 2 of the Civil Code which says all laws - Delegated legislative power
shall take effect after 15 days following completion of publication in
the Official Gazette, unless it is otherwise provided. Test of validity of delegation or rule-making power.
Held: - The law must be: Complete in itself
- In a long line of cases, this Court has ruled that publication in the - Fix a standard, the limits are sufficiently determinate or
Official Gazette is necessary where the law does not provide for its determinable
effectivity date, and no longer necessary where the law does provide - In case of discrepancy between statute and IRR, the statute prevails
for its effectivity date, and no longer necessary where the law does
provide. Types of administrative rules and regulations
- Because by then the date of publication is material to determine the  Enforces the law- IRR
date of effectivity.  Interprets the rule - LOI
- But this argument is logical only insofar as it equates the effectivity
of the laws with the fact of publication. Test of validity of administrative rules and regulations.
- But considered the light of other related - Germane to the object of the law
Statutes, Article 2 does not preclude publication even if the law itself - Conforms to standards prescribed by law
provides for date of effectivity. - Sole purpose of carrying into effect general provisions of the law
- The purpose of publication is to give the general public
adequate notice of laws regulating their actions and conduct as Effectivity of local ordinances.
citizens hence it cannot be dispensed with as a requirement for - 10 days from date of posting
its validity and enforceability otherwise it violates due process. - In bulletin board and 2 other conspicuous places
- If ordinance is penal, published in a newspaper of general circulation
Effectivity of presidential issuances, rules and regulations. - Highly urbanized and independent component cities - posted and
- Publication is requires before they take effect published.
- Except: Manner of computing time.
Interpretative or internal in nature not concerning the general public.  Exclude the first day
 Include the last day
Presidential issuances, basis.  Year- 365 days
- Ordinance power of the president  Month- 30 days
 Day- 24 hours
Effectivity of Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR).  Night- Sunset to sunrise
- Penal or non-penal  Week - 7 consecutive days
- Publication  Civil Code adopts the 365- day year and the 30-day month, not
 the calendar year, nor solar or civil month.
What if it is the leap year?
- Still 365 days.