What the Constitution is:

A body of rules and maxims in accordance with which the powers of

sovereignty are habitually exercised
Malcom: the written instrument enacted by direct action of the people by
which the fundamental powers of the government are established, limited
and defined, and by which those powers are distributed among several
departments for their safe and useful exercise for the benefit of the body
politic
1. Provide for the framework of system of government
2. Allocate to different departments their respective powers
3. Establish principles
Written: provisions are integrated in a set of documents or one document
o Should be broad covers all persons or things inside the territory state
in that as much as possible, it must be able to provide for some future
changes
o Brief should only provide for the basic policies to be implemented by
the state
o Definite the provisions of which should be written in a language that
is easily understood by the people
Unwritten: provisions are rather scattered in various sources (statutes,
decisions, opinions, customs, traditions), or UNINTEGRATED.
o Doesnt mean that they are LITERALLY unwritten; only that they are not
integrated in a SINGLE document.
Enacted: Particularly or formally adopted or enacted in a specific place,
followed by the conscious effort of a body politic or sovereign; particular
setting
Evolved: Result of a political evolution; not ratified at a particular time or
place
Rigid: Difficult to amend; advantage: STABILITY capacity to resist capricious
changes; disadvantage: when there is a need to amend some of the
provisions, owing to the fact that it is difficult to amend, it impedes, rather
than spurs, progress.
Flexible: Easily amended

Different Parts:

Constitution of Liberty: sets forth the fundamental civil and political rights of
the people, and limits the exercise eg prohibiting the enactment of an ex post
facto law (Art.3)
Constitution of Government: part or parcel of the Constitution which applies
the organization of the government, the functions of each branch, etc. (Art.
4,6,7,8,10)
Constitution of Sovereignty: outlines the procedure by which we could
possibly amend or revise the constitution (Art.17)
How do we interpret its provisions?
 Words in the Constitution should be given their ordinary meaning except
when technical terms are used
Discover the meaning thereof by discovering the intent of the framers
Any and all related provisions must be construed altogether so as to
effectuate its meaning
A constitutional provision is self-executing when it can be given effect without
the aid of legislation, and there is nothing to indicate that legislation is
intended to make it operative
Amendment vs Revision, How the Constitution is Changed:

Amendment: isolated or piecemeal change of a provision

Revision: complete rewriting or overhaul
Even if the proposed change appears to be isolated in character, but modifies
a particular principle, it may already be considered as a revision (Lambino v
COMELEC, applying the quantitative and qualitative test) the same may
already amount to a revision
Who can one propose these changes?

Congress: only allowed to propose upon transforming itself into Constituent

Assembly with concurrence of of all its members computed separately.
(Lozano v Nograles)
Constitutional Convention: not the same as congress; created by a vote of 2/3
from the House of Congress
o Task is better completed by Congress: Amendment
o Task is better completed by ConCon: Revision
o Congress may propose amendment and at the same time call for the
establishment of a Constitutional Convention
o Congress can call for ConCon by a vote of 2/3 of its members, but this
does not apply to laying down certain rules and regulations, eg.
Defining salaries, manner of selection, etc. (Ymbong v COMELEC);
these are merely suppletory laws, only majority vote is needed and 2/3
rule no longer applies
o ConCon: superior over the other branches of government; drafts the
fundamental and supreme law of the land (theory of conventional
sovereignty)
o The Philippines agrees that the ConCon is actually a co-equal of the
three branches of government (Manabag v Lopez Vito)
Peoples Initiative to Amend the Constitution (Art.2, Sec.17)
o Supported by a petition, which must be signed by the people, and not
just a mere representative of the people (in its full text, to prevent
fraud; Lambino v COMELEC)
o 12% of all the registered voters
o 3% of each legislative district
o Cannot be availed of more than once every 5 years (moratorium)
o Needs an enabling law; not a self-executing provision of the
Constitution
Question: Why was Marcos allowed to propose amendments to the
Constitution as held in Sanidad v COMELEC?
Answer: It was not a period of normalcy. In such times of need, legislative powers
may be delegated to the President of the Philippines; vested also with power to
convene ConCon and to propose amendments
Stages of Amendments:
1. Proposal (done by Congress, ConCon, or the people themselves)
2. Ratification: that level at which the proposed amendments to or revision of
the Constitution would be submitted to the people for approval (majority of
the members in a plebiscite called for the purpose)
3. Timeframe: Not earlier than 60 days or later than 90 days following the
approval of the proposed amendments to prevent questioning its timing or
propriety (Sanidad v COMELEC)
Could a plebiscite be held during national elections? Yes. Where the law does
not distinguish, we should not distinguish; subsequently, since there was no
mention of what kind of elections to be held, it is assumed that the general
elections would suffice, and there is no need to hold special election.
(Gonzales v COMELEC)
Can the submission of these proposed amendments be done in a piecemeal
manner? No. There must only be one election in which these proposed
amendments are to be voted on (Tolentino v COMELEC)

Judicial Review

The power of the courts of law to test the validity of executive and legislative
acts if only to determine whether or not they are in conformity with the
Constitution (eg. Acts of the President, Congress, laws enacted by congress
whether they are constitutional or not)
Judicial Power includes the duties of the courts to settle acts which are
demandable and enforceable and determine whether there has been grave
abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction (discretionary
powers) of any branch of government (power of judicial review)
Sec 4 Par 2 Art. 8 vests upon the SC to declare unconstitutional any treaty,
P.O.s, E.O.s, etc.
Scope of judicial power has broadened to include discretionary powers of
government (IBP v Zamora) and determine if there has been grave abuse of
discretion.
Exception: For political questions, there must be a distinction between a
PURELY political question (i.e. the wisdom of an act of either the legislative or
executive, rather than its legality) , and one which is NOT PURELY a political
question. For the former, it is beyond the ambit of judicial review; however, in
cases where the issue at hand deals with the legality of an act, it may now be
reviewed, in the course of law, as a justiciable question.
Which of the courts may exercise judicial review? Lower courts may also
exercise the power of judicial review, but this may also be reviewed,
 reversed, or modified by the Supreme Court being the highest court. (Ynot v
IAC) Furthermore, only decisions of the Supreme Court are to be considered
as binding to everyone and therefore adopted as part of the legal system
(Stare Decisis, or adherence to precedence; Art. 8 of the NCC), whereas
decisions by lower courts are only binding to the parties thereto.
o Administrative bodies, including those vested with quasi-judicial
powers and are performing such functions (eg. NLRC), cannot declare a
law invalid on the grounds of unconstitutionality. Only the judicial
branch has this power.
Functions of Judicial Review:

Checking function: To check the validity of an act, in light of its conformity

with the Constitution (Osmena v COMELEC, Serrano v Gallant Maritime
Services, IBP v Zamora)
Legitimating function: To stamp legality or legitimacy on an act, a thing, or a
situation (Estrada v Arroyo, In re: Saturnino v Bermudez, Salonga v Cruz
Pano)