ClassificationofLegalSources

persuasiveness.Withregardstocommentariesorbooks,treatise,

PrimaryAuthorityistheonlyauthoritythatisbindingonthecourts.

writings,journalarticles,thereputationorexpertiseoftheauthorisa
consideration.Someoftheauthorsofgoodreputationandconsidered

ClassificationbyAuthority

expertsinthefieldareChiefJusticeRamonC.AquinoandJustice

Authorityisthatwhichmaybecitedinsupportofanaction,theoryor

CarolinaGrinoAquinoonRevisedPenalCodeorCriminalLaw,Senator

hypothesis.Legalofmaterialsprimaryauthorityarethosethatcontain

ArturoM.TolentinoonCivillaw,ChiefJusticeEnriqueM.Fernando

actuallaworthosethatcontainlawcreatedbygovernment.Eachofthe

andFr.JoaquinBernasonConstitutionalLaw,Prof.PerfectoFernandez

threebranchesofgovernment:Legislative,ExecutiveandJudiciary,

onLaborLaw,VicenteFrancisco,ChiefJusticeManuelMoranon

promulgateslaws.

RemedialLaw,andJusticeVicenteAbadSantosandSenatorJovito
SalongaonInternationalLaw,etc.

Thelegislaturepromulgatesstatutes,namely:Act,CommonwealthAct,
RepublicAct,BatasPambansa.Executivepromulgatespresidential

ClassificationbySource

issuances(PresidentialDecrees,ExecutiveOrders,Memorandum

Itisimportantforlegalresearchexpertstoknowthesourcewherethe

Circular,AdministrativeOrders,Proclamations,etc.),rulesand

materialsweretakenfrom.Onehastodeterminewhethertheycame

regulationsthroughitsvariousdepartments,bureausandagencies.The

fromprimary(official)sourcesorsecondary(unofficialsources).

Judiciarypromulgatesjudicialdoctrinesembodiedindecisions.We

Primaryandsecondarysourcesforthesourcesoflawarefoundinthe

howeverneedtoclarifythatthePresidentialDecreesorlawissuedby

PhilippineLegalInformationResourcesandCitationssectionpartII

PresidentFerdinandE.MarcosduringMartialLawandExecutive

ofthe2009Update.

OrdersissuedbyAquinoPresidentCorazonC.Aquinobeforethe
openingCongressinJuly1987canbeclassifiedaslegislativeacts,there

Primarysourcesarethosepublishedbytheissuingagencyitselforthe

beingnolegislatureduringthesetwoperiods.

officialrepository,theOfficialGazette.TheOfficialGazetteonlinewas
launchedbytheOfficeofthePresidentinJuly2010.Thisonlineversion

PrimaryAuthorityorsourcesmaybefurthersubdividedintothe

ismaintainedandmanagedbythePresidentialCommunications

following:

DevelopmentandStrategicManagementOffice..Thus,forRepublic

Mandatoryprimaryauthorityislawcreatedbythejurisdictionin

Actsandotherlegislativeenactmentsorstatutes,theprimarysourcesare

whichthelawoperateslikethePhilippines;

theOfficialGazettepublishedbytheNationalPrintingOfficeandthe

Persuasivemandatoryauthorityislawcreatedbyotherjurisdictions

LawsandResolutionspublishedbyCongress.ForSupremeCourt

butwhichhavepersuasivevaluetoourcourtse.g.SpanishandAmerican

decisions,theprimarysourcesarethePhilippineReports,the

lawsandjurisprudence.Thesesourcesasusedspeciallywhenthereare

individuallymimeographedAdvanceSupremeCourtdecisionsandthe

noPhilippineauthoritiesavailableorwhenthePhilippinestatuteor

OfficialGazette.PublicationofSupremeCourtdecisionsintheOfficial

jurisprudenceunderinterpretationisbasedoneithertheSpanishor

Gazetteisselective.ThepublicationofthePhilippineReportsbythe

Americanlaw;

NationalPrintingOfficeceasedin1960s.Itwasonlyin1983whenthe

ItisinthisregardthatthecollectionsoflawlibrariesinthePhilippines

publicationofthePhilippineReportswasrevivedbythenChiefJustice

includeUnitedStatescourtreports,Westsnationalreportersystem,

EnriqueM.FernandowhorequestedthenPresidentFerdinandE.Marcos

courtreportsofEnglandandinternationaltribunal,importantreference

totakechargeofitspublicationwithspecialappropriationinthe

materialssuchastheAmericanJurisprudence,CorpusJurisSecundum,

Judiciarysannualbudget.However,whentheSupremeCourttookover

WordsandPhrasesanddifferentlawdictionaries.Someoftheselaw

theprintingin1983,thedelayinprintingcoveredmorethantwenty(20)

librariessubscribetotheWestlawand/orLexisNexis.TheSupreme

years.Thelastvolumeprintedwasvolume126(June1967).The

Court,UniversityofthePhilippines,UniversityofSantoTomasanda

PhilippineReportsisuptodateandalmostcompletefrom1901.The

numberofprominentlawlibrariesalsohaveaSpanishcollectionwhere

volumesremaintobeprintedcoverJune1991December1994.Online,

agreatnumberofourlawsoriginated.

theSupremeCourtELibraryiscompleteandupdatedassoonasthe
decisionshavebeencertifiedbytheChiefJustice.

Secondaryauthorityorsourcesarecommentariesorbooks,treatise,
writings,journalarticlesthatexplain,discussorcommentonprimary

TheSecondarySourcesaretheunofficialsourcesandgenerally

authorities.Alsoincludedinthiscategoryaretheopinionsofthe

referredtoasthosecommerciallypublishedorthosethatarenot

DepartmentofJustice,SecuritiesandExchangeCommissionorcirculars

publishedbygovernmentagenciesorinstrumentalities.

oftheBangkoSentralngPilipinas.Thesematerialsarenotbindingon
courtsbuttheyhavepersuasiveeffectand/orthedegreeof

SomeoftheSecondarysourcesofstatutesaretheVitalLegal

CourtanditsOfficesandtheAppellateCourtsarefoundintheJudiciary

Documents,publishedbytheCentralBookSupply,containsa

portal.

compilationofPresidentialDecrees(1973).Thesecondeditioncontains
RepublicActs.Prof.SulpicioGuevarapublishedthreebooks,which

CDAsiaonlinecontainsfulltextofSupremeCourtdecisionsand

containsthefulltextoflegislativeenactmentsorlawsnamely:a).

statutes,availableonasubscriptionbasis.Subscriptionmaybemade

PublicLawsAnnotated(7vols.),compilationofalllawsfrom1901to

solelyforcourtdecisionsorstatutesorforboth.Therearetwoother

1935,b).CommonwealthActsAnnotated(3vos.),compilationoflaws

sourcesforelectronicfulltextdecisionsofthePhilippineSupreme

from19351945c).TheLawsoftheFirstPhilippineRepublic(The

Court:1)FluxfunLarcandCentralBookseSCRA.Bothcanbe

LawsofMalolos)18981899.FortheSupremeCourtdecisions,

accessedonlinewiththeuseofdesktops,laptops,notebooks,andipads.

SupremeCourtReportsAnnotated(SCRA),asecondarysource,

FluxfunLarcisonopenaccesswhileeSCRAisforsubscription.

publishedbytheCentralBookSupplyismoreupdatedandpopularin
thelegalcommunitythanthePhilippineReports,theprimaryand

ByusingGooglesearch,someofthislegalinformationmaybe

officialsource.TheSCRAwaspublishedbecauseofthedelayinthe

retrieved.

printingofthePhilippinesandtheneedofthePhilippinelegalprofession

Theestablishedpolicyisthatincaseofconflictbetweentheprintedand

forSupremeCourtdecision.Citationsincommentariesorbooks,

electronicsources,theprintedversioncomingfromtheissuing

treatise,writings,journalarticles,pleadingandevencourtdecisions

governmentagencyprevails.

showSCRAspopularacceptance.Thegeneralruleisthatintheabsence
ofaprimarysource,thesecondarysourcemaybecited.Thiswasthe

LegalresearchforstatutelawinthePhilippinesbenefitedremarkably

primaryrationalefortheSCRAspopularity.SCRAisnowavailable

fromtheuseofthelatesttechnologyduetotwomajorproblems:a)no

online(includingtabletandipad)bysubscription.

completeandupdatedpublishedorprintedsearchtoolsorlawfindersfor
statutelawandb)nocompletecompilationofstatutelawfrom1901

Withtheadventofthenewinformationtechnology,electronicor

presentwereavailable.Problemsofthepublicationofcompilationsof

digitizedsourcesarepopularsourcesandeffectivesourcesoflegal

statutelawortheexistenceofthefulltextofPresidentialDecreeswas

informationforthefollowingreasons:a)nocompleteandupdatedlegal

thatbroughtabouttotheSupremeCourtintheTanadav.Tuvera,G.R.

informationavailable;b)thesearchenginesutilizingtheelectronicor

No.63915,April24,1985(220Phil422),December29,1986(146

digitizedmethodfacilitateresearch,andc)nocompleteandupdate

SCRA446)casewasresolvedbytheuseofthelatesttechnology.The

manuallypublishedsearchtoolsforstatuteandcaselaw.These

Tanadav.Tuvera,casethatwasfirstdecidedbeforethebloodless

electronicsourcesstartedwithCDROMSandnowonlineorelectronic

revolutionpopularlyknownasPeoplePowerortheEDSARevolution

libraries.Thepopularuseofonline/electroniclibrarieswasduetothe

andmodifiedintheDecember29,1986orafterthePeoplePowerorthe

adventoftheipads,ipods,tabletandnotebooksandinternetwithwifi

EDSARevolutionresolvedthepublicationrequirementforthe

connection.OnlineaccessiseitherthroughOpenaccessorsubscription

effectivityoflawsasprovidedforinSection2oftheCivilCodeofthe

basis.Openaccessforlawisusedforboththegovernmentandthe

Philippines.

privatesector.TheChanRoblesLawFirmLibraryandArellanoLaw
FoundationLawphiluseopenaccessintheirelectroniclibraries,which

Still,withregardstoStatuteLawinthePhilippines,theotherproblemis

containsthefulltextofallsourcesofPhilippinelegalinformation,case

howtoclassifysourcespublishedinthenewspapers.Since1987,based

lawandstatutelaw.Chanrobles.comhasalsoinitsdatabasethefulltext

onthedefinitionofprimaryandsecondarysource,theymaybe

ofUnitedStatesdecisionsandmaterialsonimportantlegaleventssuch

consideredasprimarysourcespursuanttoExecutiveOrderNo.200,s.

asImpeachmentproceedings,barexaminations.ChanRoblesconducts

1987thatprovidesthatlawsbecomeeffectivefifteen(15)daysafter

onlinebarreviewprogram.Officialorgovernmentonlinesourcefor

publicationintheOfficialGazetteorintwonewspapersofgeneral

fulltextforalllegalsourcesandrelatedmaterialsintheOfficialGazette

circulation.Incaseofconflictbetweenthetwoversions,theversionof

online,launchedinJuly2010.Itcontainstheissuancesofallthe

theOfficialGazetteholds.

executivedepartments,whicharefoundalsointhewebsitesofthe
differentexecutivedepartments.Theyaim(asreflectedintheirwebsite)

Theexistence,availabilityandaccesstolocalordinancesissuedbythe

toincludetheissuancesofthelegislativeandthejudiciary.TheSupreme

localgovernmentsinthePhilippinesremainsaproblem.

CourtELibraryisanelectroniclibrary(onlineandCDromfor
decisionsupdatedquarterly)forallPhilippinelegalinformation,case

Infindingthelaw,ourultimategoalistolocatemandatoryprimary

lawandstatutelaw.AccesshoweverislimitedtotheJustices,judges

authorities,whichhavebearingonthelegalproblemathand.Ifthese

andcourtattorneysoftheSupremeCourtandlawschools(byrequest)

authoritiesarescarceornonexistent,ournextalternativeistofindany

throughtheirlawlibrarians.DecisionsandissuancesoftheSupreme

relevantpersuasivemandatoryauthority.Ifoursearchisstillnegative,

thenextalternativemightbesecondaryauthorities.Therearehowever

persuasivemandatoryauthorities.Withtheavailabilityofboth,using

instanceswherethesecondaryauthorities,moreparticularlythe

bothsourcesishighlyrecommended.

commentariesmadebyexpertsofthefield,takeprecedenceoverthe