STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION

Chapter III – LAWS, ITS CONCEPT, AND CLASSIFICATION

I. DEFINITION OF LAW

A. Broadest sense: any rule of action or norm of conduct applicable to all kinds of action
and to all objects of creation.
 Includes all laws:
State law
Physical law
Divine law
Others
B. Strict legal sense: a rule of conduct, just and obligatory, laid down by legitimate
authority for the common observance and benefits.
1. IT IS A RULE OF CONDUCT – Serves as a guide of an individual in relation to his
fellowmen and community
2. LAWS MUST BE JUST – To obtain stability of the social order.
3. IT MUST BE OBLIGATORY – If not enforced, purpose intended will not be
served.
4. LAWS MUST BE PRESCRIBED BY LEGITIMATE AUTHORITY – To make law is
conferred upon those duly chosen by the sovereign will of people.
5. LAWS MUST BE OBTAINED FOR THE COMMON BENEFIT – The welfare of the
people is the supreme law. It must be applied equally to all citizens
regardless of their religion, political persuasion, or status in life.

CLASSIFICATION OF LAW

1. NATURAL LAW – Force and, authority from God. Binds the whole world, countries and all.
2. POSITIVE LAW
 PHYSICAL LAW– Governs the conduct and movement of things, on free,
and material.
 MORAL LAW – Set of rules establishes what is right and wrong. Dictated in
human conscience, inspired by the eternal law.
 DIVINE LAW–
Divine positive law example 10 commandments
Divine human positive law example commandments of the church
3. PUBLIC LAW
 Constitutional law is a fundamental law of the land which defines the power of the
government.
 Administrative law is a law which fixes the organization and determines the
competence of the administrative authorities, regulates the methods by which the
functions of government are performed.
 International law is the body of rules which regulates the community of nations.
4. PRIVATE LAW – Body of rules which creates obligations, means and methods of setting courts in
motion for the enforcement of right or of redress of wrong.
 Substantive private law are those which declares the legal relations of litigants.
 Procedural or adjective private law refers to the means and methods of setting the
courts in motion making the facts known to them and effectuating judgment.

II. SOURCES OF LAW

Law is derived from different sources namely:

A. Legislation –
Upon imposition of martial law after the dissolution of Congress, the power to legislate
law is vested in the president of the Philippines.
When the Batasang Pambansa was organized legislative power is principally vested in
the body.

B. Precedent – this means that decision or principles enunciated by a court of competent

jurisdiction on a question of law do not only serve as guides but also as authority to be
followed by all other courts of equal or inferior jurisdiction in all cases involving the
same question until the same is overruled or reversed by superior court.
In the Philippines, this doctrine of stare decision is not applied and recognized in the
same manner that it is applied and recognized in common law countries.
C. Custom – customs have the force of law only when they are acknowledged and
approved by society through long and an interrupted usage.

There are several requisites before the court considers customs:

1. Must be proved as a fact according to the rules of evidence
2. Must not be contrary to law
3. There must be a number of repeated acts and this repeated acts must have
been uniformly performed
4. Must be a judicial intention to make a rule of social conduct
5. Must be acknowledged and approved by society through long and an
interrupted usage.
D. Court decision – judicial decisions which apply or interpret the constitution and the
laws are part of the legal system in the Philippines but they are not law. They are
evidence of the meaning and interpretation of the laws.

III. STATUTES
Statutes are enacted by the legislature. They are actually the bills submitted to Congress
for consideration and approval. Once approved finally by congress and by the president of
the Philippines these bills become statutes. Other laws which have the same binding force as
state routes are the presidential decrees issued during the period of martial law and under
the 1973 constitution.
IV. KINDS OF STATUTES

1. AS TO NATURE
 Penal
 Remedial
 Substantive
 Labor
 Tax
2. APPLICATION
 Mandatory
 Directory
3. PERPERFORMANCE
 Permanent
 Temporary
4. SCOPE
 General
 Special
 Local
5. OTHER CLASSIFICATION
 The statute could either be prospective or retroactive
 A statute to be either be a repealing act or an amendatory act
 a statute could either be a reference statute or a declaratory statute

V. IDENTIFICATION OF STATUTE

How are the statutes identified?

 Depends on the respective authorities that and acted them
 Statutes passed and approved by the Philippine Commission and the Philippine
legislature from 1901 to 1935 or identified as a public act
 Those enacted during the commonwealth period of 1936 to 1946 are identified as
commonwealth acts.
 Philippine comgress = R.A.
 Those approved from batasang pambansa are identified as BP or Batas Pambansa.
 Those that were issued by president Ferdinand E. Marcos during the martial law
regime were identified as PD or Presidential Decree
 All statutes are identified either by the respective titles or their serial numbers.
VI. PARTS OF STATUTES
1. Title - gives a general statement of and call the attention to the subject matter
of an act
2. Preamble – it follows title and proceeding the enacting clause which states
the reasons for or the objects of the enactment
3. Enacting clause - indicates the authority that promulgated the enactment.
This clause clothes the state route with a certain dignity because the specific
authority that promulgate the law is therein stated.
4. Body – the subject-matter of the statute. It should embrace only one subject
matter.
5. Exceptions and Provisions –
PROVISIO - a restraint upon or as a qualification of, the generality of the
language which it follows.
6. Interpretative – legislature defines its own language or prescribes rules for its
construction
Repealing – announces the legislative intent to terminate or revoke another
statute or statutes
Saving clauses – restricts a repealing act and preserve existing powers rights
and pending proceedings from the effects of the repeal
Separability – states that if for any person any section or provisions of the
statutes is held to be unconstitutional or invoked the other section or
provisions of the law shall not be affected thereby
7. Date of effectivity
VII. OTHER LAWS
Presidential issuance does not refer only to presidential decrees. It also includes executive
orders, administrative orders, memorandum orders, memorandum circulars, and general
or special orders.
VIII. EFFECTIVITY OF LAWS
 When law shall take effect?
Laws including those of local application and private laws show me published first
and this requirement shall be a condition for their reflectivity. Lack of publication is
a violation of the due process clause of the constitution. Due process of law
contemplates notice and opportunity to be heard before judgment is rendered
against anyone.
√ Tañada vs. Tuvera
If a law provides for its own activity or upon approval the publication in the official
ggazette is not necessary so long as it is not punitive in character.
- It applies to all laws including to those of local publication. It does not apply
to interpretive regulation and to those merely internal in nature.
 Effectivity of Presidential Issuance.
 After 15 days following the completion of their publication in the official gazette or
in a newspaper or general publication, however, those which are treated as
interpretive regulations or which are internal and nature and not concerning the
public need not be published.
 Effectivity of Ordinance.
After the lapse of 10 days from the date a copy of it is posted in a bulletin board
located in a conspicuous place at the principal city municipal or barangay hall at the
public market and or at the church or chapel those in the highly urbanized city
must be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the city.
IX. WHO ARE SUBJECT TO PHILIPPINE LAWS
1. Laws relating to family rights and duties or to the status condition and legal
capacity of persons is binding upon citizens of the Philippines even though
living abroad.
2. Real property, as well as personal property, is subject to the law of the
country where it is situated.
3. Article 16, New Civil Code – intestate and testamentary succession both with
respect to the order of succession and to the amount of successional right and
to the intrinsic validity of testament provisions shall be regulated by the
national law of the person whose succession is under consideration regardless
of the country where the said property may be found.
4. Matters respecting remedies such as bringing the suit the admissibility of
evidence and the statute of limitation depend upon the law of the place
where the suit is bought.