Classification of Legal Sources:

Classification by Authority:
Authority is that which may be cited in support of an action, theory or hypothesis. Primary Authority is the only authority that is binding on the
courts. These are the two sources of law which includes the Constitution, legislative statutes or those passed by Congress, decisions of
the Supreme Court , appellate courts, lower court and other quasi-judicial agencies, Executive issuances or Presidential issuances,
treaties entered into by the Philippines, ordinances, rules and regulations of government agencies. They are the actual law or those
promulgated by the three branches of government: Legislative, Executive and Judiciary.
The legislature promulgates statutes, namely: Act, Commonwealth Act, Republic Act, and Batas Pambansa. The Executive promulgates
presidential issuances (Presidential Decrees, Executive Orders, Memorandum Circular, Administrative Orders, Proclamations, etc.),
rules and regulations through its various departments, bureaus and agencies. The Judiciary promulgates judicial doctrines embodied in
decisions.
We however need to clarify that the Presidential Decrees or law issued by President Ferdinand E. Marcos during Martial Law and Executive
Orders issued by Aquino President Corazon C. Aquino before the opening Congress in July 1987 can be classified as legislativeexecutive acts, there being no legislature during these two periods.
Primary Authority or sources may be further subdivided into the following:

Mandatory primary authority is law created by the jurisdiction in which the law operates like the Philippines;
Persuasive mandatory authority is law created by other jurisdictions but which have persuasive value to our courts e.g. Spanish and American
laws and jurisprudence. These sources as used specially when there are no Philippine authorities available or when the Philippine statute or
jurisprudence under interpretation is based on either the Spanish or American law.
It is in this regard that the collections of law libraries in the Philippines include United States court reports, Wests national reporter system, court
reports of England and international tribunal, important reference materials such as the American Jurisprudence, Corpus Juris Secundum, Words
and Phrases and different law dictionaries. Some of these law libraries subscribe to the Westlaw and/or LexisNexis . The Supreme Court,
University of the Philippines, University of Santo Tomas and a number of prominent law libraries also have a Spanish collection where a great
number of our laws originated.
Secondary authority or sources are commentaries or books, treatise, writings, journal articles that explain, discuss or comment on primary
authorities. Also included in this category are the opinions of the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission or circulars of the
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas . These materials are not binding on courts but they have persuasive effect and/or the degree of persuasiveness. With
regards to commentaries or books, treatise, writings, journal articles, the reputation or expertise of the author is a consideration. Some of the
authors of good reputation and considered experts in the field are Chief Justice Ramon C. Aquino and Justice Carolina Grino Aquino on Revised
Penal Code or Criminal Law, Senator Arturo M. Tolentino on Civil law, Chief Justice Enrique M. Fernando and Fr. Joaquin Bernas on
Constitutional Law, Prof. Perfecto Fernandez on Labor Law, Vicente Francisco, Chief Justice Manuel Moran on Remedial Law, and Justice
Vicente Abad Santos and Senator Jovito Salonga on International Law, etc. A list of these materials by subject are found in GlobaLex - Part 2:
Philippine Legal Information Resources and Citations - A.v Treatise/Annotations/Commentaries, etc.

_____________________Legal Authority, Defined

-Authority that will aid in finding a solution to a legal problem
1. Primary and Secondary Legal Authority, Distinguished
-Primary Legal Authorities are authorized statements of law issued
by governmental bodies; while Secondary Legal Authorities are
descriptions of, or commentary on, the law
-The former is the law itself (Mandatory or Persuasive); while the
latter interprets, analyzes, or compiles the law (Persuasive)
Primary Legal Authorities (the court must rely on)
* Constitution and Statutes (Legislative Branch)
* Cases (Judicial Branch)
* Treaties, Executive Orders, Administrative Rules & Regulations,
Ordinances (Executive Branch)
Secondary Legal Authorities (the court may consider)
* Law review Articles, Treatises

* Restatements of the Law

* Legal Encyclopedias
2. Mandatory and Persuasive Legal Authority, Distinguished
- Mandatory must be followed because it is the legal authority for a
particular jurisdiction; while Persuasive may be followed optionally
because they are legal authorities (court decisions) of other
jurisdictions
3. Sources of Authorities
*Legislature
* Supreme Court
* Administrative Bodies
* Local Government Units
* President