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Legislative power
● Legislative power is "the authority under the Constitution, to make laws, and to alter and
repeal them."
● Section 1 of Article VI of the Constitution provides that "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."
● The President, as Chief Executive, can only "take care" of the carrying out of laws but
cannot create or enact laws (David v. Arroyo).
Bicameralism
● Legislative power is vested in the Congress of the Philippines, consisting of a Senate
and a House of Representatives, not in a particular chamber, but in both chambers
(Tolentino v. Secretary of Finance). By virtue of Section 1, Article VI of the 1987
Constitution, the Philippines is adopting a bicameral congress, both of which comprise
the country's legislative body.
Extent and limitations of legislative power

● Except as limited by the Constitution, either expressly or impliedly, legislative power
embraces all subjects and extends to matters of general concern or common interest
(Ople v. Torres).
● For instance, the Bill of Rights of the 1987 Constitution imposes the following limitations
on the power of the lawmaking body to enact penal legislation:
1. No ex post facto law or bill of attainder shall be enacted (Sec. 22, Art. III).
2. No person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense without due process of
law (Sec. 14 (1), Art. III).
● Section 1, Article VI of the Constitution specifically provides a limitation to the power of
the legislative by including the phrase "except to the extent reserved to the people by the
provision on initiative and referendum. This provision then acknowledges that
sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them.
● By the principle of separation of powers, the legislative department cannot do acts that
may encroach upon the powers of the other branches of government, the executive and
the judiciary. Congressional oversight, as a form of check and balance, must be confined
to the following: (1) scrutiny; and (2) investigation and monitoring (Abakada Guro
Partylist v. Purisima).
Title of bills
● Section 26 (1), Article VI of the Constitution provides that "Every bill passed by the
Congress shall embrace only one subject which shall be expressed in the title thereof."
● The Constitution does not require Congress to employ in the title of an enactment,
language of such precision as to mirror, fully index, or catalogue all the contents and the
minute details therein. It suffices if the title should serve the purpose of the constitutional
demand that it inform the legislators, the persons interested in the subject of the bill, and
the public, of the nature, scope and consequences of the proposed law and its operation
(Lidasan v. COMELEC).
Formalities
● The initiative for filing revenue, tarrif or tax bills, bills authorizing an increase of public
debt, private bills and bills of local application must come from the House of
Representatives on the theory that, elected as they are from the districts, the members
of the House can be expected to be more sensitive to the local needs and problems of
their respective localities.
● By indicating the bill as urgent, the presidential certification may dispense with the
constitutional requirement of printing and of reading the bill on separate days (Tolentino
v. Secretary of Finance).
Approval of bills
● Congress, in the guise of assuming the role of an overseer, may not pass upon the
legality of a law by subjecting it to the Congress' stamp of approval without disturbing the
calculated balance of powers established by the Constitution.
● From the moment the law becomes effective, any provision of law that empowers
Congress or any of its members to play any role in the implementation or enforcement of
the law violates the principle of separation of powers and is thus unconstitutional
(Abakada Guro Partylist v. Purisima).
Enrolled bill theory

● An enrolled bill is that which has been duly introduced, finally passed by both houses,
signed by the proper officers of each, approved by the president and filed by the
secretary of state (Mabanag v. Lopez Vito).
● Under the enrolled bill doctrine, the text of the act as passed and approved is deemed
importing absolute veracity and is binding on the courts. It is conclusive not only of its
provisions but also of its due enactment (Casco Phil. Chemical Co., Inc. v. Gimenez).
● Where there is discrepancy between the journal and the enrolled bill, the latter as a rule,
prevails over the former, particularly with respect to matters not expressly required to be
entered in the journal.
Journal entry rule

● If the attestation is absent and the same is not required for the validity of a statute, the
courts may resort to the journals and other records of Congress for proof of its due
enactment (Astorga v. Villegas).
Constitution definitions and characteristics

● A constitution is a system of fundamental laws for the governance and administration of
a nation. It is supreme, imperious, absolute and unalterable except by the authority from
which it emanates. It has been defined as the fundamental and paramount law of the
nation. It prescribes the permanent framework of a system of government, assigns to the
different departments their respective powers and duties, and establishes certain fixed
principles on which government is founded. The fundamental conception in other words
is that it is a supreme law to which all other laws must conform and in accordance with
which all private rights must be determined and all public authority administered (Manila
Prince Hotel v. GSIS).
General principles of construction

● In case of doubt in the interpretation or application of laws, it is presumed that the
lawmaking body intended right and justice to prevail (Art. 10, Civil Code).
● If a statute is clear, plain and free from ambiguity, it must be given its literal meaning and
applied without interpretation (verba legis).
● The words of the Constitution should be interpreted in accordance with the intent of its
framers (ratio legis est anima).
● The Constitution is to be interpreted as a whole (ut magis valeat quam pareat).
Aids to construction
● Where the meaning of a statute is ambiguous, the court is warranted in availing itself of
all legitimate aids to construction in order that it can ascertain the true intent of the
statute (US v. De Guzman).
● These aids to construction are those found in the printed page of the statute itself,
known as intrinsic aids, and those extraneous facts and circumstances outside the
printed page, called extrinsic aids.
Ordinary sense v. technical sense

● Ordinary words are given their ordinary meaning, technical terms are given their
technical meaning, and local, cultural terms are recognized as applicable.
● The plain meaning rule is the mechanism that prevents courts from taking sides in
legislative or political issues.
Self-executing v. non-self executing

● The provisions of the Constitution are either self-executing or non-self executing.
Non-self executing provisions require Congress to enact enabling legislations. But even
those which are self-executing may not prevent Congress from enacting further laws to
enforce the constitutional provisions within their confines, impose penalties for their
violation, and supply minor details (Manila Prince Hotel v. GSIS).
Mandatory v. directory
● Mandatory statute is a statute which commands either positively that something be done,
or performed in a particular way, or negatively that something be not done, leaving the
person concerned no choice on the matter except to obey.
● A directory statute is a statute which is permissive or discretionary in nature and merely
outlines the act to be done in such as way that no injury can result from ignoring it or that
its purpose can be accomplished in a manner other than that prescribed and
substantially the same result obtained.
Prospective v. retroacive
● A prospective statute is one which operates upon facts or transactions that occur after
the statute takes effect, one that looks and applies to the future.
● A retroactive law is a law which creates a new obligation, imposes a new duty or
attaches a new disability in respect to a transaction already past.
When the Constitution become effective

● This Constitution shall take effect immediately upon its ratification by a majority of the
votes cast in a plebiscite held for the purpose and shall supersede all previous
Constitutions (Section 27, Article XVIII of the 1987 Constitution).
When statutes become effect

● Laws shall take effect after fifteen days following the completion of their publication in the
Official Gazette, unless it is otherwise provided. This Code shall take effect one year
after such publication (Article 2, Civil Code).
● Laws shall take effect after fifteen (15) days following the completion of their publication
in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation, unless it is otherwise
provided (Administrative Code, Book 1, Chapter 5, Section 18).
Local ordinance
● Unless otherwise stated in the ordinance or the resolution approving the local
development plan and public investment program, the same shall take effect after ten
(10) days from the date a copy thereof is posted in a bulletin board at the entrance of the
provincial capitol or city, municipal, or barangay hall, as the case may be, and in at least
two (2) other conspicuous places in the local government unit concerned (Section 59,
Local Government Code).
Time computation
● Where the word "week" is used as a measure of time and without reference to the
calendar, it means a period of seven consecutive days without regard to the day of the
week from which it begins (PNB v. CA).
● Where a statute requires the doing of an act within a specified number of days, such as
ten days, from notice, it means ten calendar days and not working days.
● When the laws speak of years, months, days or nights, it shall be understood that years
are of three hundred sixty-five days each; months, of thirty days; days, of twenty-four
hours; and nights from sunset to sunrise. If months are designated by their name, they
shall be computed by the number of days which they respectively have. In computing a
period, the first day shall be excluded, and the last day included (Art. 13, Civil Code).
Effectivity of laws until repealed

● Unless a statute is by its provisions for a limited period only, it continues to be in force
until changed or repealed by the legislature. A law, once established, continues untiil
changed by some competent legislative power. It is not changed by change of
sovereignty nor of a change in Constitution, until the new sovereign by legislative act
creates a change.
Construction and interpretation

● Construction is defined as the “art or process of discovering and expounding the
meaning and intention of the authors of the law with respect to its application to a given
case, where that intention is rendered doubtful, among others, by reason of the fact that
the given case is not explicitly provided for in the law” (Caltex (Phils), Inc. v. Palomar).
● Interpretation is the art of finding the true meaning and sense of any form of words, while
construction is the process of drawing warranted conclusions not always included in
direct expressions, or determining the application of words to facts in litigation (Roberts
v. Portland Water District).
Purpose of construction
● The true object of all interpretation is to ascertain the meaning and will of the lawmaking
body, to the end that it may be enforced. The purpsoe of all rules or maxims in
interpretation is to discover the true intention of the law. They are only valuable when
they subserve this purpose (City of Baguio v. Marcos).
When construction is resorted to

● Where there is ambiguity in the language of a statute, courts employ canons of statutory
construction to ascertain its true intent and meaning.
Executive construction
● Executive construction, also known as contemporaneous construction, is the
construction placed upon the statute by an executive or administrative offiver called
upon to execute or administer such statute.
● Accordingly, executive and administrative officers are generally the first officials to
interpret the law, preparatory to its enforcement. These interpretations are in the form of
rules and regulations, circulars, directives, opinions and rulings (Phil. Sugar Central
Agency v. Collector of Customs).
Judicial construction
● The duty and power to interpret and construe a statute or the Constitution belong to the
judiciary.
● It is the duty of the legislature to make the law; of the executive to execute the law; and
of the judiciary to construe the law (US v. Ang Tang Ho).
● Legislature cannot overrule judicial construction.

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Legislative power

Extent and limitations of legislative power

Enrolled bill theory

Journal entry rule

Constitution definitions and characteristics

General principles of construction

Ordinary sense v. technical sense

Self-executing v. non-self executing

When the Constitution become effective

When statutes become effect

Effectivity of laws until repealed

Construction and interpretation

When construction is resorted to

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