SOCIAL SCIENCE 14

II. UNDERSTANDING POLITICS

1. Meaning and Purposes of Politics
2. Essential elements of Politics
3. Images of Politics
4. Isms of Politics
III. UNDERSTANDING GOVERNANCE
1. Meaning of Governance
2. Prescriptions for Good Governance
3. Negative Aspects in the bureaucracy

IV. CONCEPT OF STATE

1. Meaning and Elements of State
2. Origin of State
3. State distinguished from Nation and Government
4. Fundamental powers of the State
V. GOVERNMENT
1. Meaning of government
2. major branches of the government
3. kinds and classifications of government
4. the government of the Philippines in Transition
a. Pre-Spanish Government
b. Spanish Period
c. during Revolutionary Era
d. During American Period
e. During Japanese Period
f. Previous Philippine Republic
VI. CONSTITUTION
1. Meaning and Purpose of Constitution
2. Kinds and Classifications of Constitution
3. Constitutional Amendment and Revision
4. Process of Constitutional Amendment
A. THE PREAMBLE
1. Meaning and Aims of Preamble
1.
2.
3.

B. ARTICLE I NATIONAL TERRITORY

Nature and concepts
Extent and components of the Philippine territory
All other territories belonging to the Philippines by historical right or legal right

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

C. ARTICLE II DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES AND STATE POLICIES

Democracy and republicanism
Civilian supremacy over the military
Rendering military service
Separation of church and state
Philippine foreign policy

6.
7.
8.
9.

Policy of freedom from nuclear weapons

Policy on abortion
Role of the youth in nation building
Role of woman in nation building

D. ARTICLE III BILL OF RIGHTS

1. Meaning of bill of rights
2. Classes of rights
3. Classification of constitutional rights
4. Due process of law
5. Equal protection of the law
6. Search warrant and warrant of arrest
7. Privacy of communication and correspondence
8. Freedom of expression
9. Freedom of religion
10. Liberty of adobe
11. Right to travel
12. Right to information
13. Right to form union
14. Right to just compensation
15. Non-impairment clause
16. Constitutional rights of the accused in criminal matters
17. Privilege of writ of habeas corpus
18. Non-imprisonment of debt and poll tax
19. Ex-post facto law
20. Bill of attainder
E.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

ARTICLE IV CITIZENSHIP
Meaning of citizenship
Citizens of the Philippines
Loss and acquisition of citizenship
Citizen by marriage
Dual allegiance

F. ARTICLE V
SUFFRAGE AND ELECTION LAW AND PROCESSES
1. Meaning of suffrage
2. Qualifications for the exercise of suffrage
3. Meaning of election
4. Electoral process and election laws
G.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.

ARTICLE VI LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT

Composition of the Congress
Qualifications of the members of the congress
Manner of election
Term of office
Regular election of members of the congress
Vacancy
Salaries of the members of the congress
Immunity from suit
Assets and liabilities
Prohibition from holding double office/position
Regular session
Commission on appointments
Electoral tribunal

14. Process of lawmaking

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

H. ARTICLE VII EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT

The president
Qualifications of president and vice president
Term of office
Salaries
Vacancy in the office of the president and vice president
Powers of the president
I.

ARTICLE VIII. JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Composition of the supreme court

Qualifications of the justices
Term of office
Functions of the judiciary
Organization of the judiciary

J. IV. ARTICLE IX CONSTITUTIONAL COMMISSION

1. Civil service Commission
2. Commission on Elections
3. Commission on Audit
VII. OVERVIEW OF ARTICLES 10-18 OF THE PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION

II. UNDERSTANDING POLITICS

POLITICS
What is Politics?
Politics defined by ROBERT DAHL arises whenever there are people living together in
associations, when they are involved in conflicts, and whenever they are subject to some
kind of power, rulership and authority.
*Politics is the owning and exercising of power, rule, authority and influence for
whatever reasons there are in its purpose. (Defined by Dr. Roman Dannug)
The Elements of Politics
1. Power refers to the ability or the right to do something. It is also the ability to
exercise authority over others. Furthermore, it refers to the persuasive or authoritative
or coercive capacity to get things done.
2. Influence refers to the act, process, or power of producing an effect without
apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command. It also refers to indirect and
intangible way of achieving planned outcomes or pre-determined results.
3. Authority the right to command and to enforce obedience.
4. Rule the regulation or by-laws governing procedures in a public or private body. It
also defined as to exert control and direction.
Purpose of Politics

personal
organizational
individual
institutional
governmental
commercial
territorial, and
collective in nature

The Images of Politics

1. Board Room (BORO) decision making by business elites and professionals
but with important public consequence
2. Bureaucratic (BUREAU) rule making and adjudication by bureaucrats with
input from clients and professionals.
3. Congress (CON) policy making by legislators, constrained by various
constituencies, affecting private and public interests.
4. Chief Executive (CHEX) a process dominated by presidents, governors,
mayors, and their advisers. They are given full powers and authority to lead, to
govern, and to administer laws.
5. Court Room (CORO) court orders and decisions of prosecutors, judges and
or justices in response to interest groups and aggrieved individuals. When
judicial decisions are sold and influenced based not on merits and evidences,
then the courts would serve no purpose as balancer and equalizer of justice in the
settlement of disputes between and amongst litigants.
6. Multi Media (MUME) the stimulation of public opinion, usually through the
newspapers, radio, television, and other forms of mass media.
7. Faith-Based (FABA) decisions made by leaders and members of religious
groups that have political implications.
8. Game of the Generals (GAGE) calculated decisions of the military and police
generals and their subordinates to affect preferences in the political arena.
9. Civil Society (CISO) the high socio-political engagement and proactive
lobbying of voluntary groups such as non-governmental organizations, socio-civic
societies, cause-oriented groups, peoples organizations,
professional
associations, cooperatives, sectoral or social class groupings, and
development foundations.
10. X-men (XEN) factors and players that are less prominently mentioned, less
openly named, less publicly involved but actively engaged in fixing and managing
self-serving political decisions.
ISMS OF POLITICS

Political Idealism WHAT IS IDEAL IS GOOD, WHAT IS GOOD IS IDEA.

CHARACTERISTICS: JUSTICE, FAIRNESS AND EQUALITY

Political Rationalism THE MORAL LAW OR LAW OF NATURE

GOVERNS THIS ISM. MORAL LAW THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
OF GOD.

Political Realism POWER MAKES MIGHT, MIGHT IS RIGHT.

Political Extremism THE REALITY TODAY IS THE REALITY FOREVER

(favorite line or principle of extremists)

III. GOVERNANCE
What is governance?
According to the UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMED
(UNDP), governance is the exercise of political, economic and administrative authority
in the management of countrys affairs at all levels.
In the thesis of DR. ELINOR OSTROM on Common Property Resource
management, defines governance as, no more and no less, the regularized ways of
ordering human societies at all levels of organization from units to entire societies.
For the purpose of our study, governance, is the regularized
management of the *political, *socio-cultural, *economic, *technological,
*demographic, *ecological and *institutional needs and interests of all
social forces to ensure balance and fairness in the realization of certain
ends.
THE PRESCRIPTIONS FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE
1. Transparency of government - citizens must be kept informed of the
decisions of the state and their justification.
2. Simplicity of procedures - whether in fiscal matters, investment, or other
areas, administrative procedures need to be simple as possible, with the number of
participants reduced to a minimum.
3. Responsibility - public officials must be held accountable and if necessary
penalized for offense.
4. Fight against corruption - eradication of this menace is imperative for
promoting healthy, eliminating sub-charges, and strengthening the efficiency of
economic management.
5. Individual freedom and collective expression a free and responsible
press, in particular, is an important pillar of democracy.
6. Independence of the legal system - the legal system must be free from
pressure and intervention from political forces or any other organization, to ensure that
its decisions are independent and impartial.

MALPRACTICES/NEGATIVE ASPECTS IN GOVERNANCE IN PHILIPPINE

BUREAUCRACY:
1. Red Tape it is the unreasonable delay in government transactions.
2. Nepotism the practice of hiring relatives and appointing them to certain positions
in the government.
3. Political Spoils or patronage system refers to a system of using public offices
or positions to record one's contribution to total public efforts. Motivation for party
work can come only thru issuing jobs.
4. Graft and corruption - Graft - the use of dishonest or illegal means to gain money
or property by somebody in a position of power or in elected office.
Corruption a person is considered corrupt if he accepts money in the performance of
his duty, for which he receives a salary from the government.

IV. STATE
The United Nations (UN) defines state as a community of persons, more or less
numerous, occupying a definite territory, possessed with an organized
government, and enjoying independence from external control.
FOUR (4) ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF A STATE
1. PEOPLE - the entire body of those citizens of a state who are invested with political
power for political purposes.
2. TERRITORY - a geographical area under the jurisdiction of another country or
sovereign power or state.
MODES OR WAYS OF ACQUIRING A TERRITORY
1.Discovery and Occupation A state may acquire a territory by discovering a
continent, an island or land with no inhabitants or occupied by uncivilized inhabitants,
and thereafter, occupying it by placing it under its political administration. Discovery
will give the State inchoate (just begun) title over the discovered land that will prevent
others from acquiring it for a reasonable period of time until the inchoate title is
transformed into a full title by administering it.
2.Prescription It is a mode of acquiring a territory through continuous and
undisputed exercise of sovereignty over it during such period as is necessary to create
under the influence of historical development the general conviction that the present
condition of things is in conformity with international order.
3.Cession It is the assignment, transfer, or yielding up of territory by one state or
government to another. Cession may be in the form of sale or donation.
4.Subjugation and Annexation It is a mode of acquiring a territory belonging to a
state by occupation and consequent made by another state in the course of war and by
annexation at the end of the war.
5.Accretion is another mode of acquiring territory by addition of portion of soil,
either artificial such as the reclamation area in Manila Bay, or natural by gradual
deposition through the operation of natural causes such as the waves of the ocean.
DOMAINS OF A TERRITORY
1.
2.
3.
4.

AERIAL DOMAIN
TERRESTRIAL DOMAIN
MARITIME DOMIAN
FLUVIAL DOMAIN

3. GOVERNMENT third element of the state. The agency, through which the will of
the people is formulated, expressed and carried out.
4. SOVEREIGNTY - is the supreme, absolute and uncontrollable power by which an
independent state is governed. It is the paramount control of the constitution and the
frame of government and its administration.
Two aspects/manifestations of sovereignty
1. Internal - the power of the state to rule within its territory
2. External - the freedom of the state to carry out its activities without subjection to
or control by other states.
LATIN MAXIM: PAR IN PAREM NON HABET IMPERIUM which means other
state cannot assert jurisdiction over the other state. They cannot interfere with the
affairs of the country because of their sovereign powers.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SOVEREIGNTY
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

PERMANENT
EXCLUSIVE
COMPREHENSIVE
INALIENABLE
ABSOLUTE
UNIFIED

ORIGIN OF STATE
1. Divine Right Theory. It holds that the state is of divine creation and the ruler is
ordained by God to govern the people. It is also known as Divine Right Theory of
Kings. The state was created by God.
2. Social Contract Theory. Asserts that the early states must have been formed by
the deliberate and voluntary compact among the people to form a society and organize a
government for their common good. General will of the people is the primary
cause of the creation of the state. Form the voluntariness of the people to
create and form a state.
3. The Force Theory. It maintains that states must have been created through force,
by some great warriors who imposed their will upon the weak. This theory was

supported by Mao Zedong, the founding father of Communist China, saying "Political
power comes from the barrel of a gun". The strong state tries to defeat and invade the
territory of the weak ones.
4. Patriarchal or Matriarchal Theory. Some writers attribute the origin of the
state to the family grew into clan, then developed into a tribe which broadened into a
nation, and the nation became a state. It is from a simple conjugal family to a
nuclear family to an extended family then to a clan that clan grew into a
tribe and from that tribe it grew a nation and that nation became a state.
STATE DISTINGUISH FROM NATION AND GOVERNMENT

STATE
1. a political concept
2. May be made up of one or nations.

NATION
1. Racial or ethnical concept.
2. May be made up of one or several
states.

STATE

GOVERNMENT

1. the principal organ of the

government
2. it is permanent, as long as all its
essential elements are present.

1. Only an element of the state. An

agent of the state.
2. Not permanent because it changes. It
may come and go, because it may undergo
changes as a result of legal processes or as
a result of revolution.

FUNDAMENTAL POWERS OF THE STATE

1. POLICE POWER It is the power of the state to regulate freedom and property
rights of individual for the protection of public safety, health, and morals or the
promotion of the public convenience and general prosperity.
2. POWER OF EMINENT DOMAIN
It is the power to take private property
for public use upon payment of just compensation. It is the right of the state to
reassert, temporarily or permanently, any part of its territory for the common
safety.
3. POWER OF TAXATION
This is the power of the state to impose and
collect revenue for public purposes.
TAXES are the lifeblood of the government for without the taxes paid by the people the
government will be inefficient in implementing its purposes.

TAXATION a mode or way of raising revenues for public purposes.

V. GOVERNMENT
Government refers to the agency through which the will of the state is
formulated, expressed and carried out. A machinery of political
administration, which is obeyed by the people and which is able to enforce its
authority.
THREE MAJOR BRANCHES OF THE GOVERNMENT
A. LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT consists of two houses. One is the upper
house or the Senate of the Philippines which is composed of 24 senators and the
lower house or the house of representatives which is composed of the district and
party list representatives which according to the 1987 Constitution, is composed
of not more than 250 members.
The primary role or duty of the legislative body is to enact laws.
SENATE PRESIDENT FRANKLIN DRILON
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE FELICIANO BELMONTE, JR.
B. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT is headed by the president of the republic of
the Philippines. At present the head of the state is, HIS EXCELLENCY
PRESIDENT BENIGNO SIMEON COJUANGCO-AQUINO III.
C. JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT it is the Supreme Court which is the highest
tribunal or court in the Philippine setting.

HIERARCHY OF COURTS
Supreme Court
Court of Appeals

Regional Trial Court (RTC)

Municipal Trial Court/Municipal Circuit Trial Court/Municipal Trial Court

in Cities
The present Chief Justice is CHIEF JUSTICE MARIA LOURDES SERENO.
The Supreme Court is composed of a Chief Justice and fourteen Associate Justices.

KINDS AND CLASSIFICATIONS OF GOVERNMENT

A. According to the number of persons with whom sovereignty resides:
1. Monarchy- sovereignty resides in one person without regard to the manner
or source of his election. The ruler is a monarch who comes from a royal family.
Kinds of monarchy
a. Absolute Monarchy the exercise of sovereign power is despotic, dictated only by
the personal whims of the ruler. The monarch exercise absolute power. He is the chief
executive, the legislator and the judge at the same time.
b. Constitutional or Limited Monarchy the ruler or sovereign is guided by a
body of rules and customs, which are usually embodied in a constitution. The monarch
is willing to part with some of his powers and delegates them to some government
agencies.
2. Aristocracy literally rule by the golden sovereignty resides in and is exercised by
few or small privileged class. It came from the Greek aristo which means best, and
Kratia or Kratos which means rule. It refers to government by the best people. They
were the land owning class in agrarian societies, thus it is also referred to as rule by a
small noble and landowning elite.
3. Oligarchy government by the wealthy few but they do not come from the nobility.
The oligarchs believe that the most important requisites to the claim of power are
Wealth, Good Social Position And Education. The word came from the Greek
words oligos, which means few, and archo, which means to rule.
It is a form of government where political power effectively rests with a small segment of
society, the most powerful, whether by wealth, military strength, ruthlessness, or
political influence. To the ancient Greeks, it is interpreted as rule by the rich.
THEY ARE ALSO CONSIDERED AS THE ENEMIES OF THE POOR.
4. Democracy sovereignty resides in and political power is exercised by the people.
It came from Greek term Demos which mean people, and Kratia or Kratos which
mean to rule.
Kinds of Democracy:
a. Pure or direct democracy acts of government are done directly by the people
rather than through the medium of representatives chosen to act for them.

b. Republican/indirect/representative democracy acts of government are

done by persons chosen by the people to act as their representatives.
Characteristics of a Democracy

Individual Liberty

Majority Rule with Minority Rights

Free Elections

Competing Political Parties

Free Enterprise

B. According to the relation of the legislative to the executive branch:

1. Parliamentary the legislative is given the power to terminate the tenure of office
of the real executive (the cabinet). The real executive shall stay in office as long as they
enjoy the trust and confidence of the legislative. The head of government is the Prime
Minister who is a member of, selected by and accountable to the Parliament, and the
repository of executive and legislative power is the Parliament, the members of which
are elected by and responsible to the people.
In a parliamentary system, The Executive Is Divided Into A Prime Minister,
Who Is The Head Of The Government, And A Monarch Or President, Who
Acts As Head Of State. Unlike a prime minister, a president or a monarch has fewer
powers and plays an important role as an above-politics leader. He or she also plays a
stabilizing and mediating role, especially in times of crisis.
2. Presidential the executive department is headed by a president who is
independent of the legislature as regards his tenure and a large extent as regards his
policies and acts.
Essential elements of a presidential form of government is the SEPARATION OF
POWERS through a CHECK AND BALANCES.
C. According to the tenure of official term:
1. Hereditary the source of office or power is inheritance.
2. Elective the persons exercising the powers of government are elected by the
people.
D. According to the extent of powers exercised by the national or central
government:

1. Unitary Government the powers of government are vested in and are exercised
by the national or central from which all local governments derive their existence and
powers.
2. Federal Government the powers of government are divided and distributed
between a national government for national affairs and local governments for local
affairs, each being supreme within its own sphere.
E. According to legality of existence:
1. De Jure founded on existing constitutional laws of the state and is supported by
the people.
2. De Facto not founded on existing constitutional laws of the state and is
maintained against the lawful or rightful authority of an established and lawful
government.
Under Article II, Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution, it states that the
Philippines is a democratic and Republican State. Sovereignty resides in the
people and all government authority emanates from them.

TRANSITIONS IN THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Pre Spanish Government

Government during the Spanish period
During the Revolutionary era
During the American regime
During the Japanese occupation
Previous Philippine republic

PRE SPANISH GOVERNMENT

1. Unit of government the Philippines was composed of settlements or villages
called barangay (consisting of more or less 100 families) named after
balangay a Malayan word which means boat. During these times, every
barangay was a state, for it possessed the four basic elements of statehood.
2. Datu each barangay was ruled by a chief called datu, in some places, and rajah,
sultan or hadji in others. He serves as the chief executive, law-giver, chief judge
and military head. In form, the barangay was a monarchy with the datu as the
monarch.

3. Social classes in the barangay a. noble b. freemen (timawa) c. slaves which is

classified into two class, to wit: aliping namamahay (the serfs) and aliping
sagigilid (slaves).
4. Early laws written laws during this time was the laws promulgated by the datu.
The written codes during the pre- Spanish times were the Maragtas Code and the
Kalantiaw Code. And the unwritten laws were the customs and traditions of the
people.
DURING THE SPANISH PERIOD
1. Governor General the head of the Spanish colonial government, appointed by
the Spanish monarch. Serves as the chief executive, ex-officio member of the
Royal Audiencia, and he also had the legislative powers.
2. Provinces were called alcaldias. Each was headed by an alcalde mayor.
3. Pueblos were headed by gobernadorcillo.
4. Barangays were headed by a cabeza de barangay, the smallest unit of
government.

DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY ERA

1. Katipunan government KKK was established by Andres Bonifacio on July 7,
1892 at Tondo, Manila. Judicial power was exercised by the sangguniang
hukuman. The central government was vested in the Kataas-taasang Sanggunian
headed by a President or Supremo. In each province was called Sangguniang
Bayan and Municipality Sangguniang Balangay. The aims of this secret society
were to unite the Filipinos and work for the independence of the country from
Spain. This government was abolished when Emilio Aguinaldo was elected as
President of the revolutionary government on Marh 22, 1897.
2. Biak na Bato Republic- this republic was inaugurated on November 1, 1897 with a
constitution plagiarized by Isabelo Artacho and Felix Ferrer from the constitution
of Jimaguayu, Cuba. The government was vested in supreme council. This
constitution vested executive power on the President. Judicial power, vested in a
supreme council of grace and justice. This Republic ended when the pact of Biak
na Bato was signed on December 15, 1897.
3. Dictatorial Government- on May 24, 1898, Aguinaldo decreed the formal
establishment of dictatorial regime with himself as the dictator. The most
significant accomplishment of this government was the proclamation of the
Philippine independence day on June 12, 1898 at Cavite el Viejo now Kawit.
DURING THE AMERICAN REGIME
GOVERNMENTS DURING THE AMERICAN REGIME

A. THE MILITARY GOVERNMENT

April 14, 1898 - the American military rule in the Philippines began the
day after the capture of Manila.
1. The first American Military Governor was General Wesley Merritt.
2. Second was General Elwell E. Otis.
3. Third and last was Major General Arthur MacArthur.
B. THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT
July 4, 1901 William Howard Taft, was appointed the first civilian governorgeneral, replacing the military governor, General Arthur MacArthur. The
governor-general was vested with executive powers and served as head of the
Philippine Commission, a body appointed by the U.S. president that held
executive and legislative powers.
1. With the election of Woodrow Wilson to the United States presidency in 1912, a
new policy was adopted. In 1916 the Jones Act instituted an elected Philippine
senate and promised eventual independence. These moves, however, were slowed
with the election of Warren G. Harding as president of the United States in 1920.
The following year Harding appointed a commission, headed by General Leonard
Wood, to investigate the political and economic situation in the islands. The
commission reported that immediate independence would be disastrous. Wood,
who was appointed governor-general of the Philippines in 1921, found himself
bitterly opposed by the Filipino advocates of independence. The call for
independence was led within the political establishment by Manuel Luis Quezon,
president of the Philippine Senate; Sergio Osmea, speaker of the House of
Representatives before 1922; and Manuel Roxas, the speaker after 1922.
2. With the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 as president of the United
States, the official policy changed once again. On January 13, 1933, the Congress
of the United States passed the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Bill granting Philippine
independence after 12 years, but reserving military and naval bases for the US.
The bill was rejected by Quezon. The Philippine Senate then advocated a new bill
that won Roosevelts support. The resulting Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934
stipulated that the Philippines would become an independent republic on July 4,
1946. Until then a commonwealth government, with a constitution and an elected
Filipino president, would have autonomy.
3. In November 1935 the COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT WAS
INAUGURATED WITH QUEZON AS PRESIDENT AND OSMEA AS
VICE PRESIDENT.
DURING THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION

The Japanese Military Administration. General Masaharu Homma, the

commander of the Japanese imperial Forces in the Philippines, established the
Japanese Military Administration in Manila on June 3, 1942.

The Philippine Executive Commission. A civil government was later on

organized by the Japanese High Command in Manila on January 23, 1942. With
Jorge Vargas as chairman, assisted by six Filipino department secretaries.
Clothed with executive and legislative powers but all its actions are subject to the
approval of the Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Forces in Manila.
The Japanese-sponsored Republic. The KALIBAPI (Kapisanan sa
Paglilingkod sa Bagong Pilipinas) met in Manila on June 19, 1943 and
elected 20 members to the PCPI(Preparatory Commission for Philippine
Independence), headed by Jose P. Laurel to frame constitution for the
Japanese-sponsored Republic.
The Japanese-sponsored Philippine Republic or the Second Philippine Republic
was inaugurated on October 14, 1943, with Jose P. Laurel. It was, however,
dissolved by Laurel on August 17, 1945.

PREVIOUS PHILIPPINE REPUBLIC

THIRD PHILIPPINE REPUBLIC

The Constitution.

A Constitution is the fundamental law of the land. It is a body of rules and

maxims in accordance with which the powers of sovereignty are habitually exercised. It
organizes the government by distributing, regulating and limiting legislative, executive
and judicial powers, guarantees individual rights and freedoms, and prescribes the
manner of the exercise of sovereign powers.

The Purpose of Constitution.

The Constitution regulates the government to protect the people:
1. By distributing powers to branches of government.
2. By enumerating state policies and principles.
3. By specifying individual rights and freedoms.

Supremacy of the Constitution

The Constitution, being a fundamental law directly made by the people in the
exercise of sovereign power, is supreme over national laws.
The principle of supremacy of the Constitution equally applies where there is
conflict between international law or treaties and the fundamental law of the land.
Under the doctrine of constitutional supremacy, if a contract violates any norm of
the constitution, that contract entered into by private persons for private purposes is
null and void without any force and effect.
Thus, since the Constitution is the fundamental, paramount and supreme law of
the nation, it is deemed written in every contract.
Kinds and Classifications of Constitution.
A. As to Origin
1. Cumulative or Evolved one which is a product of long period of evolution
and development originating from customs, traditions, judicial decisions,
rather than from formal enactment.
2. Conventional or Enacted one, which is framed by special body, like a
constitutional convention or constituent assembly.
B. As to Form
1. Written embodied in one formal document and enacted at one particular
time by a constitutional convention or constituent assembly.
2. Unwritten A product of political evolution and not reduced in one basic
document. Actually made up of statutes and judicial decisions as well as
unwritten customs, usages and conventions.
C. As to Manner of Amending
1. Rigid can be amended only in accordance with a special procedure
provided by it. Framed by a special lawmaking body called the constituent
assembly or constitutional convention.
2. Flexible Amended or changed like ordinary laws. One made by the same
lawmaking body, which makes ordinary laws.
Characteristics of Good Constitution
There are three essential requisites of good written constitution, to wit:
1. Broadness A constitution must be broad in scope because it must outline an
organization of government of the whole state. A statement of the scope and
functions of the government and of the relation of the governing bodies and the
governed requires a comprehensive document. According to former Justice Isagani
Cruz, the Constitution is supposed to embody the past, to reflect the present and to
anticipate the future.

2. Brevity A Constitution must be brief because it is not the place in which details of
organization should be set forth.
3. Definiteness A Constitution must be definite. In a statement of principle
underlying the essential nature of a state, any vagueness, which may lead to
opposing interpretations of essential features, may cause incalculable harm.
Essential Parts of a Constitution
There are three essential parts of a Constitution, namely:
1. Constitution of Government It is a portion of the Constitution that establishes the
main branches of government, defines the powers of government, and assigns them
to the said main branches.
2. Constitution of Liberty It is a portion of the Constitution which lays down the
individuals basic rights and freedoms, which are a protective shield against abuses
of government.
3. Constitution of Sovereignty It is the portion of the Constitution, which provides the
process for the exercise of peoples sovereign power to approve, amend or revise the
Constitution.
Definition of Terms.
Amendment the act of changing a specific provisions or provisions of a constitution.
Revision is the act of rewriting the whole constitution
Ratification approval by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite for the validity and
effectivity of a constitution, or an amendments, or revisions.
Plebiscite a vote of the people on some measure submitted to them by person or body
having the initiative or authority.
Constitutional Convention is an assembly of people authorized to make an
amendments or revisions to a constitution. They are the direct representatives of the
people with strictly limited powers and subject to the restrictions imposed on it by the
legislative call.

PREPARED BY:
ROSE ANN A. RAYO
INTRSUCTOR
SOCIAL SCIENCE 14