1. WHAT IS JUS POSTLIMINIUM?

When a foreign power occupies a state and exercises the powers of government,
the political laws of the said state are deemed automatically suspended but the former
government and the political laws so suspended shall automatically come to life and
will be in force and in effect again upon the re-establishment of the former government.

2. CONCEPT: NATION vs. STATE

A Nation is a large aggregate of people united by common descent, history,

culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory; while a State is a
community of persons, more or less numerous, permanently occupying a definite
portion of territory, independent of external control, and possessing a government to
which a great body of inhabitants render habitual obedience.
Distinguished from each other, a Nation is an ethnic or racial concept, while a
State is a legal or juristic concept.

3. EFFECT OF BELLIGERENT OCCUPATION

In a Belligerent Occupation there is no change in sovereignty. However, political

laws, except the law on treason, are suspended. Municipal laws remain in force unless
repealed by the belligerent occupant. At the end of the belligerent occupation, when the
occupant is ousted from the territory, the political laws which had been suspended
during the occupation shall automatically become effective again under the doctrine of
jus postliminimum.

4. DELEGATION OF TARIFF POWERS

Under Art. VI of the 1987 Constitution, the enactment of revenue and tariff bills
is within the province of the Legislative Department. However, under the same
constitutional provision, The Congress may, by law, authorize the President to fix within
specified limits, and subject to such limitations and restrictions as it may impose, tariff
rates, import and export quotas, tonage and wharfage dues, and other duties or imposts
within the framework of the national development program of the Government. The
relevant congressional statute is the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines.
5. EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE

It is the right of the President and high-level executive branch officials to

withhold information from Congress, the courts, and ultimately, the public. By virtue of
this privilege, presidential correspondence, or discussions during closed-door Cabinet
meetings are recognized as confidential and cannot be pried open by a co-equal branch
of government.
The claim of executive privilege is highly recognized in cases where the subject of the
inquiry relates to a power textually committed by the Constitution to the President, such
as in the area of military and foreign relations.

6. POST ENACTMENT MEASURE

These are measures undertaken by Congress in the exercise of its power of

oversight: (a) to monitor bureaucratic compliance with program objectives, (b) to
determine whether agencies are properly administered, (c) to eliminate executive waste
and dishonesty, (d) to prevent executive usurpation of legislative authority, and (e) to
assess executive conformity with the congressional perception of public interest.

Any post-enactment-measure allowing legislator participation beyond oversight

is bereft of any constitutional basis and hence, tantamount to impermissible interference
and/or assumption of executive functions
Any post-enactment congressional measure x x x should be limited to scrutiny and
investigation.1âwphi1 In particular, congressional oversight must be confined to the
following:

(1) scrutiny based primarily on Congress‘ power of appropriation and the

budget hearings conducted in connection with it, its power to ask heads of
departments to appear before and be heard by either of its Houses on any matter
pertaining to their departments and its power of confirmation; and

(2) investigation and monitoring of the implementation of laws pursuant

to the power of Congress to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation.

Any action or step beyond that will undermine the separation of powers
guaranteed by the Constitution.
7. PDAF ARTICLES

PDAF is a form of “Pork Barrel” adopted since year 2000 which refers to an
appropriation of government spending meant for localized projects and secured solely
or primarily to bring money to a representative's district. Locally, it refers to a lump-
sum, discretionary funds of Members of the Legislature, although its usage would
evolve in reference to certain funds of the Executive.

The 2013 PDAF Article was declared unconstitutional because it allowed

individual legislators to interfere "way past the time it should have ceased" or,
particularly, "after the General Appropriations Act is passed.” Clearly, these post-
enactment measures which govern the areas of project identification, fund release and
fund realignment are not related to functions of congressional oversight and, hence,
allow legislators to intervene and/or assume duties that properly belong to the sphere of
budget execution, ultimately in violation of the principle of separation of powers.

8. FISCAL AUTONOMY

Fiscal autonomy is a guarantee given by the Constitution to certain units of the

government, intended as a guarantee of separation of powers and of independence from
political agencies.

Fiscal autonomy means freedom from outside control. Under Sec. 3, Art. VIII of
the 1987 Constitution, appropriations for the Judiciary may not be reduced by the
legislature below the amount appropriated for the previous year and, after approval,
shall be automatically and regularly released.
The Constitution itself grants the Judiciary fiscal autonomy in the handling of its
budget and resources. Full autonomy, among others,6 contemplates the guarantee of full
flexibility in the allocation and utilization of the Judiciary’s resources, based on its own
determination of what it needs.

9. WHAT IS NATIONAL TERRITORY?

The National Territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands
and waters embraced therein, and all other territories over which the Philippines has
sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial, fluvial and aerial domains,
including its territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves, and other
 submarine areas.
(Archipelagic Doctrine) The waters around, between and connecting the islands of the
archipelago, regardless of their breadth and dimensions, form part of the internal waters
of the Philippines. [Sec.1, Art. I, 1987 Philippine Constitution]

In relation to international law of the sea, the UNCLOS is a multilateral treaty

ratified by Philippines in 1984 and came into force in 1994. By virtue of the UNCLOS,
the Coastal State is given sovereign rights in varying degrees over the different zones of
the sea which are: (1) internal waters; (2) territorial sea; (3) contiguous zone; (4) exclusive
economic zone; and (5) the high seas. It also gives the coastal state more or less
jurisdiction over foreign vessels depending on where the vessel is located. Such
sovereignty extends to the air space over the territorial sea as well as to its bed and
subsoil.

10. HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT OURS IS A DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY?

As provided for in Sec.1, Art II of the 1987 Constitution, the Philippines is a

democratic country, and sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority
emanates from them.

This principle is embodied in RA 6735: Initiative and Referendum, where the

people has the power to propose amendments to the Constitution, to propose and enact
legislation through Initiative, and the electorate has the power to approve or reject
legislation through an election called for that purpose.

11. EXPULSION OF SENATORS FOR DISORDERLY BEHAVIOR

Section 16(3), Article VI of the Constitution provides that each House of the
Congress may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly
behavior, and with the concurrence of two-thirds of all its Members, suspend or expel a
Member. A penalty of suspension, when imposed, shall not exceed sixty days.
Thus, it is within the exclusive discretion of each House to formulate and
interpret Rules for the orderly conduct of their sessions, and may not be judicially
reversed. However, the courts may annul any expulsion or suspension of a member that
is not concurred in by at least two-thirds of the entire body or any suspension meted out
by the legislature, even with the required two-thirds vote, as to any period in excess of
the 60-day maximum duration. These are procedural matters and therefore justiciable.
 But the interpretation of the phrase "disorderly behavior" is the prerogative of
Congress and cannot as a rule be judicially reviewed. The matter comes in the category
of a political question. Accordingly, the Supreme Court did not interfere when the
legislature declared that the physical assault by one member against another, or the
delivery of a derogatory speech which the member was unable to substantiate,
constituted "disorderly behavior" and justified the adoption of disciplinary measures.

12. RULE ON PRESENTMENT

Section 27(1), Article VI of the Constitution states that every bill passed by the
Congress shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President. If he approves the
same, he shall sign it, otherwise, he shall veto it and return the same with his objections
to the House where it originated

Every bill passed by Congress must be presented to the President for approval or
veto. In the absence of presentment to the President, no bill passed by Congress can
become a law. In this sense, law-making under the Constitution is a joint act of the
Legislature and of the Executive. Assuming that legislative veto is a valid legislative act
with the force of law, it cannot take effect without such presentment even if approved by
both chambers of Congress.