PREAMBLE

1. Q. What is the function of the Preamble in the Constitution?

A. The Preamble is not a source of rights or of obligations. Jacobson v. Massachussetts, 197 U.S.
11, 22 (1905). Because, however, it sets down the origin, scope, and purpose of the
Constitution, it is useful as an aid in ascertaining the meaning of ambiguous provisions in
the body of the Constitution. It is thus a source of light.
2. Q. What is the origin, scope and purpose of the Constitution as set out in the Preamble?
A. Its Origin, or authorship, is the will of the “sovereign Filipino people”. Its scope and purpose
is “to build a just and humane society and to establish a government that shall embody our
ideals and aspirations, promote the common good, conserve and develop our patrimony,
and secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of independence and democracy
under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love equality and peace.”
THE NATIONAL TERRITORY
3. Q. Briefly, what is the scope of national territory defined in Article I, Section 1?
A. It includes: (1) the Philippine archipelago; (2) all other territories over which the
Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction; and (3) the territorial sea, the seabed, the
subsoil, the insular shelves, and other submarine areas corresponding to (1) and (2).
Moreover, (1) and (2) consist of terrestrial, fluvial, and aerial domains.
4. Q. What is an archipelago?
A. An archipelago is a body of water studded with islands?
5. Q. What is the special claim made by the Philippines with respect to the “water around,
between and connecting the islands of the archipelago?
A. The Philippines claims them as part of its “internals waters” irrespective of their breadth
and dimension. This is one of the elements of the archipelagic principle which is now
recognized by the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea.
6. Q. What is the other element of the archipelagic principle?
A. The other elements is the straight baseline method of delineating the territorial sea. This
consists of drawing straight lines connecting appropriate points on the coast without
departing to any appreciable extent from the general direction of the coast. These baselines
divide the internal waters from the territorial waters of an archipelago.
DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES AND STATE POLICIES
7. Q. What is the function of “Declaration of Principles and State Polices” in the Constitution?
A. The “Declaration of Principles and State Policies” is a statement of the basic ideological
principles and policies the underlie the Constitution. As such, the provisions shed light on
the meaning of the other provisions of the Constitution and the are a guide for all
departments of the government in the implementation of the Constitution.
8. Q. Describe the presidential form of government?
A. Its principal identifying feature is what is called the “separation of powers.” Legislative
power is given to the Legislative whose members hold office for a fixed term; executive
power is given to a separate Executive who also holds office for a fixed term; and judicial
power is held by an independent Judiciary. The system is founded on the belief that, by
establishing equilibrium among the three power holders, harmony will result, power will
not be concentrated, and thus tyranny will be avoided. Because of the prominent position,
however, which the system gives to the President as a chief executive, it is designated as a
presidential form of government.
9. Q. What are the essential characteristics of a parliamentary form of government?
A. They are the following: (1) The members of the government or cabinet or the executive arm
are, as a rule, simultaneously members of the legislature; (2) the government or cabinet,
consisting of the political leaders of the majority party or of a coalition who are also
members of the legislature, is in effect a committee of the legislature; (3) the government or
cabinet has a pyramidal structure at the apex of which is the Prime Minister or his
equivalent; (4) the government or cabinet remains in power only for as long as it enjoys the
support of the majority of the legislature; (5) both the government or legislature are
possessed of control devices with which each can demand of the other immediate political
responsibility. In the hands of the legislature is the vote of non-confidence (censure)
whereby power to dissolve the legislature and call for new elections.
10. Q. What constitutional forms of government have been experienced by the Philippines since
1935?
A. Presidential and presidential only. Even the government of President Marcos under the
1973 Constitution, as revised in 1981, had the distinguishing marks of presidential form of
government: (1) separation of powers and (2) the preeminence of the President. The
President was “head of state and chief executive” (VII,1); he inherited the powers of the
President under the 1935 Constitution (VII, 16); he was superior to the Prime Minister e
fact that he nominated thee Prime Minister IX, 1) approved the program f government to be
administered by the e Minister (IX, 2), terminated the term of the Prime Minister when he
nominated the successor (IX, 4), and could delegate powers to the Prime Minister. He also
had control over the ministries (VII, 7). Moreover, while there was closer relationship
between the execute and the legislature (an understatement!), thus manifesting “features of
parliamentarism,” there was separation between them. Separation from the Judiciary also
conceptually remained. Free Telephone Workers Union v. Minister of Labor, 18 SCRA 757
(October 30, 1981).
11. Q. What is a “republican state?”
A. A republican state is a state wherein all government authority emanates from the people
and is exercised by representatives chosen by the people.
12. Q. Why is the Philippines also called a “democratic state” by the new Constitution?
A. In the view of the new Constitution the Philippines is not only a representative or
republican state but also shares some aspects of direct democracy such as “initiative and
referendum” in Article VI, Section 32, and Article XVII, Section 2. The word “democratic” is
also a monument to the February Revolution which re-won freedom through direct action
of the people.
13. Q. In the conduct of the nation’s foreign relations, what principles must guide the government?
A. The government must maintain an independent foreign policy and give paramount
consideration to national sovereignty, territorial integrity, national interest, and self-
determination.
14. Q. What is social justice?
A. Social justice, in the sense it is used in the Constitution, simply means the equalization of
economic, political, and social opportunities with special emphasis on the duties of the
state to tilt the balance of social forces by favoring the disadvantaged in life, in the language
of the 1935 Convention, in means justice for the common tao; in the shibboleth of the 1973
Convention, those who have led in life must have in law.
15. Q. In the matter of education, how do the respective rights of parents and of the State
compare?
A. The primary and natural right belongs to the parents. The Constitution affirms the primary
right of parents in the rearing of children to prepare them for productive civic and social life
 and at the same time it affirms the secondary and supportive role of the State. The principle
is also rooted in the basic philosophy of liberty guaranteed by the due process clause.
BILL OF RIGHTS
16. Q. What is the significance of the Bill of Rights?
A. Government is powerful. When unlimited, it becomes tyrannical. The Bill of Rights is a
guarantee that there are certain areas of a person’s life, liberty, and property which
governmental power may not touch.
17. Q. What powers of government are limited by the Bill of Rights?
A. All the powers of government are limited by the Bill of Rights.
18. Q. What in general are these powers?
A. The totality of governmental power is contained in three great powers: police power, power
of eminent domain, and power of taxation.
19. Q. Why are these powers considered inherent powers?
A. Because they belong to the very essence of government and without them no government
can exist. A Constitution can only define and delimit them and allocate their exercise among
various government agencies. A Constitution does not grant them.
20. Q. What is “police power”?
A. Police power has been characterized as “the most essential, insistent and the least limitable
of powers, extending as it does to all the great public needs. “Negatively, it has been defined
as “that inherent and plenary power in the State which enables it to prohibit all that is
hurtful to the comfort, safety, and welfare of society.” Ermita-Malate Hotel and Motel
Operators Association Inc. v. Mayor of Manila, L-24693, July 31, 1967.
21. Q. What is the scope of police power?
A. Police power rests upon public necessity and upon the right of the State and of the public to
self-protection. For this reason, its scope expands and contracts with changing needs.
Churchill v. Rafferty, 32 Phil. 580, 602-603 (1915).
22. Q. Who exercise police power?
A. The national government, through the legislative department, exercises police power. But
police power is also delegated, within limits to local governments.
23. Q. What is the right to “life”?
A. The constitutional protection of the right to life is not just a protection of the right to be
alive or to the security of one’s limb against physical harm. The right to life is the right to a
good life. The emphasis on the quality of living is found in Article II where Section 6
commands the State to promote a life of “dignity” and where Section 7 guarantees “a decent
standard of living.”
24. Q. Is one’s employment, profession, or trade “property” protected by the Constitution?
A. Yes. Thus, an order of preventive suspension without opportunity for hearing at all violates
property right. Crespo v. Provincial Broad, 160 SCRA 66 (1988).
25. Q. Do people have the right to bear arms?
A. No. Only those authorized by the law may bear arms. Even the provision in the American
Const has reference only to a collective right of militia to bear arms. No similar provision
found in our Constitution. United States vs. Villareal, 28 Phil. 390 (1914). Chavez v. Executive
Secretary, G.R. No. 157036, June 9, 2004.
26. Q. What is the meaning of “equal protection of the law?”
A. The equal protection clause is a specific constitutional guarantee of the Equality of the
Person. The equality it guarantees is “legal equality or, as it is usually put, the equality of all
persons before the law. Under it, each individual is dealt with as an equal person in the law,
which does not treat the person differently because of who he is or what he possesses. The
goddess of justice is portrayed with a blindfold, not because she must be hindered in seeing
where the right lies, but that she may not discriminate against suitors before her,
dispensing instead an even handed justice to all.
27. Q. Filipino teachers in the International School challenge the legality of the school’s practice of
giving higher pay for foreign hires than Filipinos of equal rank. Is the practice
constitutional?
A. No. the principle of “equal pay for equal work” requires that persons who work with
substantially equal qualifications, skill, efforts and responsibility, under similar conditions,
should be paid similar salaries. While we recognize the need of the school to attract foreign-
hires, salaries should not be used as an enticement to the prejudice of local-hires. The
dislocation factor and limited tenure affecting foreign-hires are adequately compensated by
certain benefits accorded them which are not enjoyed by local-hires, such as housing,
transportation, shipping costs, taxes and home leave travel allowances. International School
Alliance of Educators v. Quisumbing, G.R. No. 128845, June 1, 2000
28. Q. Does the equal protection clause merely prohibit the State from passing discriminatory
laws?
A. No. The clause also commands the State to pass laws which positively promote equality or
reduce existing inequalities.
SEC. 2. THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO BE SECURE IN THEIR PERSONS, HOUSES, PAPERS, AND
EFFECTS AGAINST UNREASONABLE SEARCHES AND SEIZURES OF WHATEVER NATURE
AND FOR ANY PURPOSE SHALL BE INVIOLABLE, AND NO SEARCH WARRANT OR
WARRANT OF ARREST SHALL ISSUE EXCEPT UPON PROBLABLE CAUSE TO BE
DETERMINED PERSONALLY BY THE JUDGE AFTER EXAMINATION UNDER OATH OR
AFFRIMATION OF THE COMPLAINANT AND THE WITNESS HE MAY PRODUCE, AND
PARTICULARLY DESCRIBING THE PALCE TO BE SEARCHED AND THE PERSONS OR
THINGS TO BE SIEZED.
29. Q. What is the purpose of this provision?
A. The purpose of this provision is to protect the privacy and sanctity of the person and of his
house and other possessions against arbitrary intrusions by State officers.
30. Q. Are warrantless drug tests in public schools allowable?
A. In the criminal context, reasonableness usually requires a showing of probably cause. The
probable-cause standard, however, is peculiarly related to criminal investigations and may
be unsuited to determining the reasonableness of administrative searches where the
Government seeks to prevent the development of hazardous conditions. The American
Court has held that a warrant and finding of probable cause are unnecessary in the public
school context because such requirements would unduly interfere with the maintenance of
the swift and informal disciplinary procedures [that are] needed. Vernonia Sch. Dist. 47J v.
Action, Decided June 26, 1995; Broad of Education v. Earls, No. 01332, Decided June 27,
2002.
Republic Act No. (RA) 9165, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous
Drugs Act of 2002, requires mandatory drug testing of candidates for public office, students
of secondary and tertiary schools, officers and employees of public and private offices, and
persons charged before the prosecutor’s office with certain offenses, among other
personalities.
 As applied to candidates for national office, the requirement is unconstitutional
because it adds to the exclusive qualifications for such offices prescribes by the
Constitution.
As applied to students, following US jurisprudence, the Court upheld the law for the
reasons that: (1) schools and their administrators stand in loco parentis with respect to
their students; (2) minor students have contextually fewer rights than an adult, and are
subject to the custody and supervision of their parents, guardians and schools; (3) schools,
acting in loco parentis, have a duty to safeguard the health and well-being of their students
and may adopt such measures as may reasonably be necessary to discharge such duty; and
(4) schools have the right to impose conditions on applicants for admission that are fair,
just, and non-discriminatory. Essential this is the reasonable test.
As to employees, the reasonable test was applied.
As to candidates of local office, the mandatory character was found to be
unreasonable ad oppressive to privacy. Similarly, it was declared unconstitutional for
people charged before the prosecutor’s office. Social Justice Society v. Dangerous Drugs
Broad, G.R. Nos. 157870, 158633, 161658, November 03, 2008.
NOTE: The Constitution and the Rules of Court prescribe particular requirements
attaching to search warrants. These are not imposed by the AMLA with respect to bank
inquiry orders. A constitutional warrant requires that the judge personally examine under
oath or affirmation the complainant and the witness he may produce such examination
being in the form of searching questions and answers. Those are impositions which the
legislative did not prescribe as to the bank inquiry order under the AMLA. Simply put, a
bank inquiry order is not a search warrant or warrant of arrest as it contemplates a direct
object but not the seizure of persons or property. Republic v. Eugenio, G.R. No. 174629,
February 14, 2008.
31. Q. What is the consequence of a search or seizure without a warrant or by authority of an
invalid warrant?
A. Any evidence obtained in such search or seizure, “shall be inadmissible for any purpose in
any proceeding.” Article III, Section 3 (2). The Constitution explicit follows the exclusionary
rule.
32. Q. What do “speech,” “expression,” “press,” include?
A. Speech, expression, and press include every form of expression, whether oral, written, tape
or disc recorded. It also includes movies as well as what is referred to as symbolic speech
such as the wearing of an armband as a symbol of protest. Peaceful picketing has also been
included within the meaning of speech.
33. Q. What are the two principal parts of Section 5?
A. They are (1) the non-establishment clause and (2) the free exercise clause. The first prohibit
establishment of any religion and the second guarantees the free exercise of religion.
34. Q. What is the meaning of non-establishment clause?
A. Board of Education v. Everson, 330 U.S. 1, 15-16 (1946) interpreted the clause thus:
Neither s State nor the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can pass
laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another. . . Neither. .
. can, openly or secretly, participate in the affairs of any religious organizations or groups
and vice versa. In the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law
was intended to erect “a wall of separation between Church and State.”
Yet, despite of this absolutist language, the Everson Court upheld a statue
authorizing local districts to reimburse parents of Catholic school children for the cost of
bus transportation to and from parochial school.
35. Q. Are there constitutionally created exceptions to the non-establishment clause?
A. Yes. Article VI, Section 28 (3) says: “Charitable institutions, churches, parsonages or
convents appurtenant thereto, mosques, and non-profit cemeteries, and all lands, buildings,
and improvements actually, directly, and exclusively used for religious, charitable, or
educational, purposes shall be exempt from taxation.”
Article VI, Section 1(2) says: “No public money or property shall ever appropriated,
applied, paid, or employed, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect,
church, denomination, sectarian institution, or system of religion, or of any priest, preacher,
minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary as such, except when such priest, preacher,
minister, or dignitary is assigned to the Armed Forces, or to any penal institution, or
government orphanage or leprosarium.”
Article XIV, Section 3(3) says: “At the option expressed in writing by the parents or
guardians, religion shall be allowed to be taught to their children or wards in public
elementary and high schools within the regular class hours by instructors designated or
approved by the religious authorities of the religion to which the children or wards belong,
without additional cost to the Government.”
36. Q. What is the meaning of free exercise religion?
A. Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296, 303-4 (1940), put it thus:
The constitutional inhibition on legislation on the subject of religion has a double
aspect. On the other hand, it forestalls compulsion by law of the acceptance of any creed or
the practice of any form or worship. Freedom of conscience and freedom to adhere to such
religious organization or form of worship as the individual may choose cannot be restricted
by law. On the other hand, it safeguards the free exercise of the chosen form of religion.
Thus the amendment embraces two concepts, - freedom to believe and freedom to act. The
first is absolute, but in the nature of things, the second cannot be.
37. Q. What is the power of eminent domain?
A. It is the power of the state to take private property for public use upon payment of just
compensation.
38. Q. What is the principal effect of the guarantee of presumption of innocence?
A. Its principal effect is that no person shall be convicted unless the prosecution has proved
him guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
CITIZENSHIP
39. Q. What is Citizenship?
A. Citizenship is personal and more or less permanent membership in a political community. It
denotes possession within that particular political community of full civil and political
rights subject to special disqualifications such as minority. Reciprocally, it imposes the duty
of allegiance to the political community.
SUFFRAGE
40. Q. What is suffrage?
A. Suffrage traditionally has been understood as the right to vote in elections. Under the 1973
Constitution, Article V, Section 4, however, it was given the additional meaning of the
obligation to vote. The 1973 provision has not been carried into the 1987 Constitution.
THE LEGISLATIVE DEPATMENT
41. Q. What is legislative?
A. It is the authority to make laws and alter or repeal them.
42. Q. Where does the Constitution vest legislative power?
A. Legislative power is vested “in the Congress of the Philippines which shall consist of Senate
and House of Representatives, except to the extent reserved to the people by the provision
on initiative and referendum” in Section 32. The 1987 Constitution has thus restored
bicameralism.
43. Q. What are the kinds of limits on legislative power?
A. There are two kinds, substantive and procedural. Substantive limits curtail the contents of a
law. For example, no law may be passed which impairs freedom of speech. Procedural limits
curtail the manner of passing laws. For example, a bill must generally be approved by the
President before it becomes law.
44. Q. May Congress pass irrepealable laws?
A. No. The power of present and future legislatures must remain plenary. When one legislature
attempts to limit the power of future legislatures. The power of any legislature can be
limited only by the Constitution.
45. Q. What is the composition of the Senate?
A. Twenty-four Senators elected at large.
46. Q. May a Senator serve for more than two terms?
A. Yes, provided that the terms are not consecutive.
47. Q. What is the total composition of the House of Representatives?
A. Not more that 250 members, unless otherwise provided by law.
48. Q. How are members of the House classified?
A. (1) district representatives, each representing one congressional district; (2) party-list
representatives, elected through the “party-list system.” [(3) sectoral representatives, but
these existed only until 1998.]
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT
49. Q. In whom is executive power vested?
A. In the President, who is both “Head of State” and “Chief Executive.”
50. Q. Is the President immune from suit?
A. Although the new Constitution has not reproduced the explicit guarantee of presidential
immunity from suit under the 1973 Constitution, presidential immunity during tenure
remains as parts of the law. What has been rejected by the new Constitution is the
expansive notion of immunity in the Marcos Constitution. Once out of office, however, even
before the end of the six-year term, immunity for non-official acts is lost. Such was the case
of Joseph Estrada. The case filed against him were criminal in character. They involved
plunder which carried the death penalty, be covered by a mantle of immunity for a non-
sitting president. The rule is that unlawful acts of public officials are not acts of the State
and the officer who acts illegally is not acting as such but stands in the same footing as any
other trespasser. Estrada v. Desierto, G.R. Nos. 146710-15, March 2, 2001.
51. Q. What is the function of the Vice-President?
A. His only constitutional function is to be on hand to act as President when needed or to
succeed to the presidency in case of a permanent vacancy in the office. The President may
also appoint him as a Member of the Cabinet. Such appointment does not need the consent
of the Commission on Appointments.
52. Q. How are the President and Vice-President elected?
 A. By direct vote of the people as specified in Section 4.
53. Q. Who has the authority to canvass the votes and proclaim the winner?
A. Congress. The proclamation of presidential and vice-presidential winners is a function of
Congress and not of the Comelec. Macalintal v. Comelec, G.R. No. 157013, July 10, 2003.
54. Q. If a Vice-President succeeds to the presidency, may he run for President at the end of the
term to which he succeeded as President?
A. “No person who has succeeded as President and has served as such for more than four
years shall be qualified for election to the same office at any time.”