Rule of the majority

The wishes of the majority prevail over those of the minority.

Fundamental right of the minority: express opinions; protest acts of the majority although it is
bound to abide by the decision of the latter.
Instances:
o Majority vote of all members of Congress to:
Elect Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
To concur to a grant of amnesty
To pass a law granting tax exemptions
Break a tie in election of President and VP
o Two-thirds majority to:
Suspend or expel a member of either House (of all its respective members)
Declare the existence of a state of war (of all members of Congress)
Reconsider a bill vetoed by the President (of all members of Congress)
Call a constitutional convention(of all members of Congress)
Concur to a treaty or international agreement (of all members of the Senate)
Render a judgment of conviction in impeachment cases (of all members of the
Senate)
o Any amendment to, or revision of the Constitution may be proposed by Congress upon a
vote of of all its members and shall be valid when ratified by a majority of votes cast
in a plebiscite.
o Decisions of the Supreme Court en banc have to be concurred in by a majority of the
members who actually took part in the deliberation of issues in the case and voted
thereon, to pronounce a treaty, international or executive agreement, or law
unconstitutional
o Court of Appeals vote of at least the majority is necessary in many cases; local
ordinances
A practicable rule of law judgment and experience of the many will, in most instances, be
superior to the judgment and experience of the few (majority acts within the pale of the law)
Government of law and not of men
Aka. Rule of Law no man is above or beyond the law; every man possesses no greater rights
than every other man in the eyes of the law
Government of laws
o Limited
o It has only powers given by Constitution and laws
o Its authority continues only with the consent of the people in whom sovereignty resides
All are bound to respect the sovereignty of the law
Protects the liberties of the weak
PREAMBLE
We, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of the Almighty God, in order to build a
just and humane society and establish a Government that shall embody our ideals and aspirations,
promote he common good and 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, do ordain and promulgate this Constitution.
Preamble
L. preambulare to walk before
Introduction, prologue
Not an integral part of the Constitution, but it is advisable to have one
Cannot be invoked as a source of rights enforceable in the courts
Object and value:
o Sets down origin and purposes of the Constitution
Tells us who are the authors of the Constitution and for whom it has been
promulgated
States the general purposes and basic principles
o May serve as an aid in its interpretation
Belief in God is stressed
The Filipino people
Source from which the Constitution comes, as the supreme law of the land
Vs. people of the Philippines (refers to entire body of ihabitants, a mere aggrupation of
individuals, including aliens)
Article I
NATIONAL TERRITORY
SECTION 1. 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 seam the
seabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves, and other submarine areas. 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.