Article 02: (as amended by E.O. NO.
200) COVERAGE:
“Laws shall take effect after 15 days following the
completion of their publication either in the Official
Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation in the
Philippines, unless it is otherwise provided.”
Original addition: “This Code shall take effect one year after
publication.”
Civil Code took effect on August 30, 1950
Expressly amended by EO No. 200 issued on June 18 1987:
 Laws to be effective must be published either in the
Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general
circulation in the country.
 Publication in Official Gazette only has entailed
some problems, considering the erratic release and
limited leadership of the Official Gazette
(recognized in Tanada v Tuvera)
 Newspaper of general circulation could better
perform the function of communicating laws to the
people as such periodicals are more easily available,
have a wide circulation, and come out regularly.
 Took effect immediately after its publication in the
Official Gazette
EFFECTIVITY OF LAWS
1. When a statute does not explicitly provide for its
effectivity, it shall take effect only after the expiration
of the 15 day period following the completion of its
publication either in the Official Gazette or in a
newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines.
2. If the law provides for a different period shorter or
longer than the 15 day period, then such shorter or
longer period, as the case may be, will prevail.
“Unless it is otherwise provided”
- refers to the 15 day period and NOT to the
requirement of publication
Publication is an indispensable requisite; absence of which
will not render the law effective
- omission would offend due process; it would deny
the public of the laws that are supposed to govern it
- it is likely that persons not aware of it would be
prejudiced as a result and that they would be so, not
because of a failure to comply with it, but simply
because they did not know of its existence
- intended to enable the people to become familiar
with the state
Publication must be in full or it is not publication at all
- after publication, the people are deemed to have
conclusively been notified of the law even if
actually the people or some of the same have not
read them
“15 days after its publication”: 15th day
“after 15 days following the publication”: 16th day
1. “Laws” – all laws statutes, including local and private
laws
- except special laws providing a different effectivity
mechanism for particular statutes
2. Presidential Decrees
– all presidential decrees must be published
3. Executive orders
– in the exercise of legislative powers validly delegated
or directly conferred by the Constitution
4. Administrative rules and regulations
– if their purpose is to enforce or implement an existing
law pursuant to a valid delegation
5. Charter of a city
– even if it applies only to a portion of the national
territory
6. Circulars issued by the Monetary Board
- if they are meant not merely to interpret but to fill in
the details of the Central Bank Act
NOT COVERED:
1. Interpretative regulations and those merely internal in
nature
– regulating only the personnel of the admin agency and not
the public
2. Letters of Instructions
– issued by admin superiors concerning rules and
guideline to be followed by their subordinates in the
performance of their duties
3. Municipal Ordinances
4. Supreme Court decisions
- because they are not laws
Tunada v Tuvera | GR No. L-63915 | April 24, ‘85
Facts: Petitioners seek for a writ of mandamus to compel
respondent public officials to cause the publication of
several presidential decrees, letters of instructions, general
orders, proclamations, executive orders, letters of
implementation and administrative orders, invoking Art 2 of
the Civil Code and asserting that publication is required to
render the aforementioned valid and enforceable.
Respondents contend that publication is not a sine qua non
requirement for the effectivity of laws where the laws
themselves provide for their own effectivity dates.
ISSUE: whether or not laws providing for their own
effectivity dates must still be published to be valid and
enforceable
RULING: YES. Publication is necessary when no effectivity
date is provided for in the statute. However, Art 02 does not
preclude the requirement of publication in the Official
Gazette even if the law itself provides for the date of its
effectivity. It would be the height of injustice to punish or
otherwise burden a citizen for the transgression of a law
which he had no notice whatsoever, not even a constructive
one.

The publication of all presidential issuances “of a public
nature” or “of general applicability” is mandated by law. It
is a requirement of due process; rule of law that before a
person may be bound by law, he must first be officially and
specifically informed of its contents. On the other hand,
presidential issuances which apply only to particular persons
or class of persons such as administrative and executive
orders need not be published on the assumption that they
have been circularized to all concerned.
The Court therefore declares that presidential issuances
of general application which have not been published shall
have no force and effect.
Tanada v. Tuvera | GR L-63915 | 29 December 1986
Facts:
Petitioners are asking for a clarification of the Court’s
previous decision where the Court ruled that all unpublished
presidential issuances which are of general application shall
have no binding force and effect unless so published. As
such petitioners are seeking clarification of what is meant by
general applicability and where publication is to be made.
The Solicitor General however claims that the clause in
Article 2 which provides that “unless it is otherwise
provided” means that publication is not always necessary
especially when the statute provides that it shall take effect
immediately.
Issue: Whether publication may be dispensed with in light
of the clause “unless otherwise provided”.
Ruling: NO
The clause “unless it is otherwise provided,” in Article 2 of
the Civil Code, refers to the date of effectivity and not to the
requirement of publication itself, which cannot in any event
be omitted. This clause does not mean that the legislature
may make the law effective immediately upon approval, or
on any other date, without its previous publication. The
legislature may in its discretion provide that the usual
fifteen- day period shall be shortened or extended.
Publication is indispensable because:
1. such omission would offense due process insofar as it
would deny the public knowledge of laws that are
supposed to govern it
o persons will be prejudiced not because of failure to
comply but simply because they did not know of the
existence of the law
2. Publication also necessary to creation conclusive
presumption that every person knows the law
3. Right of people to information on matters of public
concern
“Laws” in Art 2 refer to ALL laws and not only to those of
general application for strictly speaking, all laws relate to the
people in general albeit there are some that do not apply to
them directly. A law without any bearing on the public ultra
vires or class legislation.
Publication requirements applies to (1) all statutes, including
those of local application and private laws; (2) presidential
decrees and executive orders promulgated by the President
in the exercise of legislative powers whenever the same are
validly delegated by the legislature or directly conferred by
the Constitution; (3) Administrative rules and regulations for
the purpose of enforcing or implementing existing law
pursuant also to a valid delegation; (4) Charter of a city
notwithstanding that it applies to only a portion of the
national territory and directly affects only the inhabitants
ofthat place; (5) Monetary Board circulars to “fill in the
details” of the Central Bank Act which that body is supposed
to enforce.
Further, publication must be in full or it is no publication at
all since its purpose is to inform the public of the contents of
the laws.
Reasoning: The Supreme Court declared that all laws as
above defined shall immediately upon their approval, or as
soon thereafter as possible, be published in full in the
Official Gazette, to become effective only after 15 days from
their publication, or on another date specified by the
legislature, in accordance with Article 2 of the Civil Code.
CONCURRING: Fernan, J
Publication also required to prevent abuses on the part of the
lawmakers
CONCURRING: Feliciano, J
Publication in the Official Gazette is only a statutory norm
and not a constitutional command. Hence, Art 2 may be
amended by a subsequent statute providing, for instance for
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of
general circulation.
Article 03:
“Ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance
therewith.”
Ignorantia legis non excusat
- Founded not only on expediency and policy but also
on necessity.
- To allow a party to set up as a valid defense the fact
he has no actual knowledge of a law which he has
violated is to forment disorder in society.
That every person knows that law is a CONCLUSIVE
presumption (irrebuttable; as opposed to a prima facie
presumption)
Necessary consequence of the mandatory provision that all
laws must be published.
Article 04:
“Laws shall have no retroactive effect unless the contrary
is provded.”
Retroactive – effective from a particular date in the past
Lex prospicit, non respicit - the law looks forward and not
backward.
Statutes are to be construed as having only prospective
operation, unless the purpose and intention of the legislature
to give them a retrospective effect is:
1. expressly declared or;
2. necessarily implied from the language used.
In case of doubt, the same must be resolved against the
retrospective effect.
Legislature has the power to pass retroactive laws which:
1. do not impair the obligation of contracts;
- only laws existing at the time of the execution of
the contract are applicable thereto, unless the latter are
specifically intended to have retroactive effect.
2. affect injuriously acquired or vested rights.
EXECEPTIONS:
1. When the law expressly provides for retroactivity
- example: Family Code; took effect August 03, 1988; has
retroactive application insofar as it does not prejudice vested
or acquired rights
2. When law is curative or remedial
- statutes that are curative in nature are necessarily
retrospective
- curative statutes – statutes enacted to cure defects in a prior
law; forms of retrospective legislation which reach back on
past events to correct errors of irregularities and to render
valid and effective attempted acts which would otherwise be
ineffective for the purpose the parties intended.
3. When the law is procedural
- when a statute deals with procedure only, prima facie, it
applies to all actions – those which have accrued or pending
and future actions. Thus, a law prescribing the form of
pleadings will apply to all pleadings filed after its enactment,
although the action is begun before the time
4. When the law is penal in character and favorable to the
accused.
- expressly provided for by Art. 22 of RPC
- applies only when the accused is NOT a habitual delinquent
Habitual Delinquent – if within a period of 10 years from
the date of his release or last conviction of the crime of
serious or less serious physical injuries, robbery, theft,
estafa, or falsification, he I found guilty of any said crimes a
third time or oftener.
5. When the law creates new substantive rights
- provided its retroactive application do not prejudice
another acquired right of the same origin
EX-POST FACTO LAW
- A law that would make a previous act criminal
though it was not so at the time it was committed
- Congress prohibited from enacting ex-post facto
laws
Requisites:
1. must refer to criminal matters;
2. be retroactive in its application;
3. prejudicial to the accused.
Article 07:
“Laws are repealed only by subsequent ones, and their
violation or non-observance shall not be excused by
disuse, or custom, or practice to the contrary.
When the courts declare a law to be inconsistent with the
Constitution, the former shall be void and the latter shall
prevail.
Administrative or executive acts, orders, and regulations
shall be valid only when they are not contrary to the laws
or the Constitution.”
Repeal – the legislative act of abrogating through a
subsequent law the effects of a previous statute or portions
thereof.
May be made in 2 ways:
1. Express – one which is literally declared by a new law,
either in:
a. specific terms, as where particular laws and
provisions are identified to be repealed, or;
b. general terms, as where a provision in a new law
declares all laws and parts of laws inconsistent therewith to
be repealed
2. Implied – takes place when a new law contains
provisions contrary to or inconsistent with those of a former
without expressly repealing them
Repeals and amendments by implications are NOT favored.
Repealing clauses contained in statutes are NOT express
repeals; fails to identify or designate that act/s intended to be
repealed. They are, in effect, implied repeals for they
predicate the intended repeal upon the condition that
substantial conflict must be found in existing and prior acts.
As such, the presumption against implied repeals applies and
the intention to repeal or alter must be manifest.
When a law expressly repeals a prior law, law first repealed
shall not be revived unless expressly so provided.
When a law which impliedly repeals a prior law is itself
repealed, the prior law shall thereby be revived, unless the
repealing law provides otherwise.
Unconstitutional Statutes
Constitution – fundamental law of the land; no ordinary
statute can override a constitutional provision.
However, in deciding the constitutionality of a statute, every
presumption favors its validity and whenever possible,
statutes should be given a meaning that will not bring them
in conflict with the Constitution.

Partial Unconstitutionality:
Where a portion of a statute is rendered unconstitutional and
the remainder valid, the parts will be separated and
constitutional portion upheld.
Enough must remain to make a complete, intelligible, and
valid stature which carries out the legislative intent
- Exception: when the parts of the statute are so
mutually dependent and connected as to warrant a
belief that the legislature intended them as a whole,
all the provisions which are thus dependent,
conditional, or connected, must fall with them.

Rules and Regulations

-partake of the nature of a sanction provided in the law’
statutes are couched in general terms by the legislature and
the details and the manner of carrying out the law are often
times left to administrative agencies entrusted with its
enforcement.

A rule is binding on the courts so long as the procedure fixed

for its promulgation is followed, and its scope is within the
statutory authority granted by the legislature.

Regulations adopted under legislative authority must be in

harmony with the provisions of the law, and for the sole
purpose of carrying into effect its general provisions.

Administrative or executive acts must be consistent with

laws and the Constitution for the President, in whom all
executive power resides, is tasked to take care that the laws
shall be faithfully executed.