COMPUTERIZED LEGAL RESEARCH SERVICES the text of iv.

National Labor relation

the Constitutions and statutes above mentioned may be commission
sourced from two computerized legal research services. v. Insurance commission
vi. Housing and land Use regulatory
1. Lex Libris produced by CD Asia, Inc., with the
following databases: board
vii. Department of Agrarian
a. Laws (Philippine Edition), Vol. I; Adjudication board
b. Taxation (Phil. Edition), Vol. II;
c. Jurisprudence (The Phil. Supreme Court THE PHILIPPINE JUDICIAL SYSTEM
Reports), Vol. III
d. Department of Justice (Opinions of the
A. PRE-SPANISH PERIOD trials were held publicly
Secretary), Vol. IV
e. Local Autonomy and Local Government, and decisions were rendered promptly. The
Vol. V accuser and the accused faced each other with
f. Environment and Natural Resources, Vol. their respective witnesses. The latter, to show their
VI honesty and sincerity, took an oath to this effect.
g. Labor and Social Legislation, Vol. VII The disputants then began presenting their
h. Elections, Vol. VIII
arguments, buttressed by the testimonies of their
i. Trade, Commerce and Industry, Vol. IX
j. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Vol. X respective witnesses. The chieftain listened
k. Securities and Exchange Commission, Vol. attentively and the elders took mental notes of the
XI arguments. The disputant with more witnesses to
his side was adjudged as winner. In this case, the
2. Philjuris produced by Gigabytes Research chieftain, acting as Judge and executive, enforced
Systems, Inc. also has a database on all laws of the his judgment by siding openly with the winner and
Philippines.
compelling the defeated party to respect the
CASE LAW judgment of the honorable court. . Under such
circumstances, the defeated party had no other
While statute law is derived from the lawmaking agencies recourse than to bow to the inevitable.
of the government, case law comes from the judicial
authorities of the State. B. SPANISH PERIOD Magellans arrival in the
Philippines in 1521 became the basis for Spain to
Case law may be divided into:
claim and colonize the islands. Three Spanish
1. Decision Proper expeditions were sent to the islands which all
ended in failure. Finally on November 21, 1564,
a. Decisions of the Supreme Court Miguel Lopez de Legaspi sailed from Navidad,
b. Decision of the Court of Appeals Mexico to the islands of the West towards the
c. Decisions of the Sandiganbayan Moluccas and subsequently landed in the Visayan
d. Decisions of the Court of Tax appeal islands and founded the City of Cebu in 1565.
e. Decisions of the Regional Traila courts Manila was later founded as a capital city in 1571.
f. Decisions of the Municipal, Municipal The foundation of Spanish sovereignty over the
Circuit and Metropolittan trial courts Philippines had been laid.

2. Subordinate Decisions a. In General

a. Decisions of the Senate electoral tribunal Five components:

and house of representative electoral a. The law to govern the conduct of the
tribunal people and regulate the relations among
individuals and between the individual
b. Decisions of administrative agencies and the sovereign.
exercising qausi judicial powers, such as:
i. Commission on Elections b. The judiciary which provided the
ii. Civil Service Commission mechanism for the adjudication of
iii. Commission on Audit disputes among individuals and between
 the individual and the government of
state.
c. The law enforcement agencies to
uphold the law and enforce the decisions
rendered by judiciary.
- Cuerpo de Cuadrilleros the
municipal police under the local
government officials
- Guardia Civil the national
constabulary, the forces of which
were assigned to particular
provinces under the provincial
commanders who reported directly
to the governor and captain general
d. The prison system for public
punishment of those who violated the
law.
- Municipal jails
- Provincial jails
- Major penitentiaries such as the
Bilibid Prison and those in Cavite,
Zamboanga and Marianas
- Penal farms or colonies in Palawan,
Davao, Cotabato and Zamboanga
e. Legal profession group of persons with
legal training manned the judicial posts
and acted as advocates of individuals in
protecting their rights.
- Lawyers who were either
appointed to the judiciary and
public prosecution or were the
practicing lawyers
- Those who had some legal training
who were either notaries or clerks
appointed to assist the courts
Hierarchical structure of the judicial system:
The Crown
- King is the unquestioned head of
Spanish government
- As an absolute ruler, had the power
to reverse the rulings of the Council
of the Indies
The Council of the Indies
- Decisions of the Real Audencia in
certain cases were appealable to the
Council of the Indies in Serville, Spain
- When the Council was abolished in
1834, its judicial functions were
assumed by a newly created Tribunal
Suprema de Espana de Indias
- Creation of the King the
unquestioned head of Spanish
government
The Real Audiencia
- Supreme tribunal in the Philippines
- Both had civil and criminal jurisdiction
in cases of appeal from the alcalde
mayor or Corregidor
- Performed other functions aside from
its judicial duties
- The Governor had supreme judicial
powers in the Philippines. Even after
the establishment of the Audencia,
the Governor continued participating
in the judicial affairs as President of
the Audencia
The Alcaldes-Mayores (CFI)
- Alcalde mayor in pacified areas
- Corregidor in unpacified areas
- Acted as appellate judge for suits
originating from the gobernadorcillo
The Gobernadorcillos (Justice of the Peace
Courts)
- base of the judicial structure;
- who governed the town or pueblo;
- had jurisdiction over all civil cases
arising among Indios, Chinese
mestizos and Chinese that involve
small sums and petty criminal cases
Special Courts:
a. Ecclesiastical Courts for the religious
b. Army and Navy Courts for military
personnel
c. Commercial Court for merchants
d. Contentious Court complaints against
the administration of the government
e. Treasury Court for cases involving the
royal treasury, including cases of
smuggling, etc.
f. Probate Court adjudication of probate
cases
The judicial system included the Department of
Public Prosecution which represented the
government and its institutions in the enforcement
of the law and in all civil and criminal actions to
which the state was a party.
Publication during the Spanish Period:
 Jurisprudencia Civil
Jurisprudencia Criminal
C. THE AMERICAN PERIOD with the establishment
of the American military government following the
surrender of Manila to the American army, provost
courts and military commissions were created. At
the same time, civil courts were recognized for
certain civil purposes. Subsequently, by Act No.
136 of the Philippine Commission, the existing
courts were abolished and in their place were
substituted the courts provided in said act..
Thereafter, Congress of the United States, through
the Philippine Bill and. Later, the Jones Law,
approved and confirmed the organization of the
courts thus established. As ultimately evolved, the
judiciary system instituted was substantially
modeled upon English and American prototypes.
However, no division was made of the tribunals
into courts of law and courts of equity as they were
known and distinguished in England and most
jurisdictions of the United States. The same
tribunal dispenses both legal and equitable relief.
The Audiencia Territorial de Manila
(Supreme Court)
o Chief Justice
o Eight Associate Justices
Court of First Instance
The Municipal and the Justice of the
Peace Courts
Note: The uncivilized part of the Archipelago were
wholly unfitted to exercise the right of trial by
jury.
D. THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM AT PRESENT
I. TRIAL COURTS OF LIMITED JURISDICTION
limited to civil suits involving relatively smaller
amounts of money and to minor violations of
criminal laws. These are the tribunals in which
most of the controversies that occur in the
community are heard and at least provisionally
DOCTRINE OF PRECEDENT
decided. They are the courts closest to the
people. In this level, justice be administered
fairly and with dignity.
a. Metropolitan trial courts
b. Municipal trial courts
c. Municipal circuit trial courts
II. TRIAL COURTS OF GENERAL JURISDICTION
involves an amount of money or a potential
criminal sentence, beyond the jurisdictions of
the MTC, MCTC, MTC.
a. Regional Trail Courts (Court of First
Instance)
b. Sharia courts under the Muslim code.
III. THE INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURT is the
body that generally has exclusive appellate
jurisdiction over the decisions of the Regional
Trial Courts and other quasi-judicial agencies.
a. Court of Appeals
i. Presiding Justice
ii. 50 Associate Justice
b. Special appellate courts:
The Sandiganbayan appellate
jurisdiction over ceratin criminal
cases decided by the Regional
Courts, and also original
jurisdiction over certain types of
criminal cases
Court of Tax appeals act only
on protests of private persons
adversely affected by the tax and
customs laws.
IV. THE COURT OF LAST RESORT (Supreme Court)
at the top of the hierarchy which determines
with finality what the law is and should be. It
has the power to review on appeal or
certiorari final judgments and order of lower
courts in certain cases such as when errors or
questions of law are invoked and where the
Constitution or validity of statues are involved.
It has original jurisdiction over petitions for
certiorari, prohibition, mandamus, quo
warranto and habeas corpus.
i. Chief Justice
ii. 14 Associate Justice
a. STARE DECISIS, ET NO QUITA MOVERE what has
been settled must not be disturbed.
RES JUDICATA a matter finally decided on its
merits by a court having competent jurisdiction
and not subject to litigation again between the
same
 b. REVERSAL has reference to the action of the
Supreme Court on a lower court judgments in the
same particular controversy. When the Supreme
court reviews the judgment of the lower court in a
case and concludes the lower court reached an
erroneous result in the case, it will reverse, set
aside the lower courts judgment.
OVERRULES one of the past decisions of the
Supreme court, the conclusiveness of that earlier
decision as a settlement of its particular
controversy is not affected, but the overruled
decision is no longer an authoritative precedent for
other cases that may arise in the future.
c. RATIO DECIDENDI - is the holding of the
principle of law on which a case was decided. It
sets the precedent and is binding on courts in the
future.
OBITER DICTUM is the language in a decision
that is not necessary to the decision.
d. BINDING also called mandatory; when it comes
from the decisions of Supreme Court and it is the
ratio decidendi of the case.
PERSUASIVE if the dicta comes from a respected
justice, it may be persuasive to the Court.
Persuasive authority can come from decisions of
appellate courts in other jurisdictions.
the decisions of the Supreme
Court are published under the
section Decisions of the
Supreme Court
iii. Philippine Reports from August
8, 1901, printed by the Bureau of
Printing, now the Government
Printing Office; arranged
according to dates of their
promulgation
iv. Philippine Reports (Reprints)
the destruction of libraries and
reserve copies of Philippine
Reports in the Bureau of Printing
during the war necessitated the
reprinting of these reports and
the undertaking was entrusted by
the Supreme Court to the
Lawyers Cooperative Publishing
Co.
v. Jurisprudence Filipina Spanish
edition of the Philippine Reports,
also printed by the Bureau of
Printing; arranged in the same
order as that of the Philippine
Reports
Unofficial:

a. Philippine Decisions
FORMS OF DECISIONS
b. Philippine Reports Annotated
MAJORITY OPINION / UNANIMOUS c. Philippine Reports Annotated
CONCURRING (Central)
SEPARATE CONCURRING OPINION d. Supreme Courts Reports
SEPARATE OPINION Annotated (SCRA)
DISSENTING e. Supreme Court Decisions (SCD)
f. Philippine Law and
CASE LAW MATERIALS Jurisprudence (PHILJUR)
g. Supreme Court Unpublished
1. Decision proper Decisions (SCUD)
h. Supreme Court Advance
a. Decisions of the Supreme Court Decisions (SCAD)
Official: i. Supreme Court Excerpts (SCEX)
i. Advance Sheet after the finality j. Summary of Supreme courts
of the decision, they are Rulings
published in mimeographed k. Citations: excerpts of Supreme
form; made available to the Court Decisions
bench and the bar at the earliest l. Title Index to Supreme Court
date possible, much earlier than Decisions 1945 1978
their publication m. Supreme Court Decisions Title
ii. Official Gazette official Index 1982-1985
publication of the government n. The Sandiganbayan Reporter
printed by the Bureau of Printing;
 o. The PCGG Reporter
b. Decision of the Court of Appeals
i. Appellate Court Reports
ii. Advance Sheets
iii. Official Gazette
iv. Courts of Appeals Reports
v. Court of Appeals Reports
Annotated
c. Decisions of the Sandiganbayan
i. Sandiganbayan Reports
ii. Sandiganbayan Reporter
d. Decisions of the Court of Tax appeal
i. Official Gazette
ii. Court of Tax appeals Digest of
Cutoms and Real Property Tax
cases
iii. Court of Tax appeals Digest of
internal Revenue Cases by Colon
Publication
e. Decisions of the Regional Trail courts
f. Decisions of the Municipal, Municipal
Circuit and Metropolitan Trial Courts
Administrative Bodies and Agencies
2. Subordinate Decisions
a. Decisions of the Senate electoral tribunal
and house of representative electoral
tribunal
1. HRET Reports: Final Orders,
Resolutions and Decisions 7
vols.
b. Decisions of administrative agencies
exercising quasi-judicial powers
Agencies with implied quasi-judicial
powers agencies mostly with
investigative functions:
i. Department of Foreign Affairs
ii. Commission on Immigration and
Deportation
iii. Office of the President
iv. Secretary of Justice
v. National Wages Council
vi. Philippine Patens Office
vii. Bureau of Land Transportation
viii. Civil Service Commission
ix. Professional Regulatory
Commission
x. Tanodbayan (Ombudsman)
Agencies with express quasi-judicial
powers agencies given judicial
functions over cases which would
otherwise go the regular courts of
justice were it not for the grant of such
powers to these agencies.
i. Insurance Commission
ii. National Labor Relations
Commission
iii. Commission on Elections
iv. Government Service Insurance
System
v. Social Security System
vi. National Seamen Board
vii. Commission on Audit
1. COA Regulations and
Jurisprudence by Central
book Supply
viii. Employees Compensation
Commission
ix. Civil Aeronautics Board
exercising quasi-judicial functions prepared
by UP Law Center
1. Department of Finance
a. Bureau of Internal Revenue
b. Bureau of Customs
c. Insurance Commission
d. Central Board of Assessment
Appeals
e. Fiscal Incentives Review
Board
f. Phil. Export and Foreign Loan
Guarantees Corp.
g. Phil. Crop Insurance Corp.
2. Department of Justice
a. Land Registration Authority
b. Commission on Immigration
and Deportation (now
Bureau of Immigration)
3. Department of Agriculture
a. Sugar Regulatory Authority
b. National Irrigation
Administration
c. National Meat Inspection
Commission
 d. National Food Authority e. Export Processing Zone
e. Quedans Guarantee Fund Authority
Board f. Garments and Textile Export
f. Phil. Coconut Authority Board
g. Bureau of Plant Industry g. Bureau of Product Standards
8. Department of Environment and
4. Department of Public Works and Natural Resources
Highways a. Land Management Bureau
a. Bureau of Research and b. Environment Management
Standards Bureau
b. Metropolitan Waterworks c. Forest Management Bureau
and Sewerage System d. Mines and Geo-Sciences
c. Local Water Utilities Bureau
Administration e. National Electrification
Administration
5. Department of Labor and f. National Quarantine Office
Employment
a. National Labor Relations 9. Department of Transportation and
Commission Communication
b. Phil. Overseas and a. Land Transportation
Employment Administration Franchising and Regulatory
c. National Manpower and Board
Youth Council b. Maritime Industry Authority
d. National Maritime c. Philippine Ports Authority
Polytechnic d. Toll Regulatory Board
e. Employees Compensation e. Civil Aeronautics Board
Commission f. National
f. National Wages Council Telecommunications Bureau
g. Bureau of Labor Relations g. Bureau of Air Transportation
h. Bureau of Working (Air Transportation Office)
Conditions
i. National Conciliation and 10. Others
Mediation Board a. Professional Regulatory
Commission
6. Department of Health b. Security and Exchange
a. Bureau of Food and Drugs Commission
b. Phil. Medical Care c. Social Security Commission
Commission d. Central Bank
c. Dangerous Drugs Board e. Housing and Land Use
d. Bureau of Research and Regulatory Board
Laboratories f. National Bureau of
e. Bureau of Licensing and Investigation
Regulation g. National Land Titles and
Deeds Authority
7. Department of Trade and Industry h. Register of Deeds
a. Bureau of Trade Regulation
and Consumer Protection c. Publications of Administrative Agencies
b. Videogram Regulatory Board Exercising Quasi-Judicial Functions
c. Board of Investments
d. Bureau of Patents, 2. Commission on Elections
Trademark and Technology - The COMELEC has not
published its decisions
 3. Civil Service Commission 1. Lex Libris produced by CD Asia,
- Civil Service Board of Appeals Inc., with the following databases:
have been published by author
a. Laws (Philippine Edition),
Rivera
Vol. I;
- annually b. Taxation (Phil. Edition), Vol.
4. Commission on Audit II;
- COA Regulations and c. Jurisprudence (The Phil.
Jurisprudence 1998 by JV Go Supreme Court Reports), Vol.
published by Central Book III
Supply d. Department of Justice
(Opinions of the Secretary),
- COA Decisions Digest (1994-
Vol. IV
2000) by Reynaldo Montalbo e. Local Autonomy and Local
5. National Labor Relations Government, Vol. V
Commission f. Environment and Natural
- Has not published its decisions Resources, Vol. VI
6. Insurance Commission g. Labor and Social Legislation,
- Has not published its decision Vol. VII
h. Elections, Vol. VIII
7. Housing and Land Use Regulatory
i. Trade, Commerce and
Board Industry, Vol. IX
- Human Settlements Regulatory j. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas,
Commission Legal Digest, 1981, Vol. X
3 vols. k. Securities and Exchange
8. Department of Agrarian Reform Commission, Vol. XI
Adjudication Board
2. Philjuris contains a digitized
- Book entitled Jurisprudence on
compilation of the decisions and
Agrarian Relations by Ibay,
resolutions of the Supreme Court. It
1973
is produced by Gigabytes Research
9. Securities and Exchange
Systems, Inc.
Commission
- SEC Decisions, 1977-1981, LAW BOOKS OF SECONDARY AUTHORITY
published by Legal Database
Systems
- The decision making powers of Works which are not primary authority but which digest,
the SEC were transferred to discuss or analyze legal provisions, judicial decisions or
the regular courts by virtue of define and explain legal doctrines and terms are considered
secondary materials.
the Securities Regulation Code,
RA 8799 These secondary sources can help analyze a problem and
provide research references to both primary sources and
10. Bureau of Internal Revenue other secondary materials.
- Complete Numbered BIR
Rulings by the Career
Development Center A. CASE DIGESTS are compilations of paragraphs
containing concise summaries of points in cases,
- Digest of BIR Rulings by E.O.
grouped under appropriate headings, the chief of
Ordono, 1986 to 1998 which are alphabetically arranged. Each paragraph in
case digests is complete in itself when it has concisely
11. Intellectual Property Office and accurately stated the point decided with reference
- The IPO has not published its to precise facts.
decision
1. Philippine Digest this publication of Lawyers
Coop. was designed as a companion set to the
d. Computerized Legal Research Services Philippine Reports. It has a general scheme of
digesting cases and a system of numerous
references of such American counterparts as those
 of the Lawyer Reports Annotated, the American Florenz Regalados Remedial Law
Law Reports, and the United States Court Reports compendium
with modifications to suit Philippine law. Albano Civil Law reviewer
2. Republic of the Philippines Digest this
Bernas The 1987 Philippine constitution
publication also by the Lawyers Coop., dubbed
Republic Digest for short, starts from where the reviewer primer
Philippine Digest leaves off, cover all decisions of Francisco Pre-week Memory Aidfd in all
the Supreme Court from July 4, 1946 through Bar subjects 1997 edition
September 1958, published and unpublished. The
set comprises Volumes 1 to 7 of digest paragraphs, D. LEGAL PERIODICALS the most serious and highly
classified under pertinent topics, and Volume 8 reputed legal periodical are the academic law reviews
devoted to an alphabetically arranged table of are published by virtually all accredited law schools as
cases. Vols. 9-17 cover decisions from 1958 to training grounds for student editors. They contain both
1966. articles by established scholars and student-written
3. Velayos Digest covers not only decisions of comments and case notes. Both lead articles and
Supreme Court but also those of the Court of comments are marked by extensive footnotes, making
Appeals. The main set of 25 vols. Covers the them useful research tools.
leading cases of the Supreme Court and the Court
of Appeals from 1942 to 1960 In addition to general law reviews, there is an ever
4. SCRA Quick-Index Digest this publication by
growing number of specialized academic journals,
Central Lawbook Supply, Inc. has three volumes.
The first two volumes condenses Volumes 1 to 36 focusing on topics from ecology to industrial relations.
of SCRA, while the third volume covers Volumes 37 Most of these are student-edited, but a few specialized
to 61 also of SCRA up to 1974. Every year scholarly journals, such as the American Journal of
thereafter, yearly digests have been coming out Legal History and the Journal of Legal History and the
5. Compendium of Philippine Jurisprudence Journal of Legal Studies, are edited by faculty.
authored by Celso L. Magsino and published by Rex
Book Store, it has 12 volumes containing digests of
Legal Periodicals - Ateneo Law Journal
decisions of the Supreme Court from 1945 to 1980
6. Other Digests the other digests are: Court of Agrarian Relations
a. Armando C. Castillo, Digest of Supreme Journal
Court Decisions, 9 vols. (1951-1964) Far Eastern Law Review
b. Napoleon Garcia, Complete Monthly Francisco College of Law Journal
Digest of Supreme Court Decisions Integrated Bar of the Philippines
c. Navarrete, Digest-Index (of Supreme Court
Journal
Decisions), for 1957 and 1959
d. Jurado, Leading Cases in Civil Law Lawyers Journal
(Supreme Court), for 1958-1960 The Lawyers Review
e. Daniel T. Martinez, Summary of Supreme Lyceum Law Review
Court Rulings, starting from 1986 MLQ Law Quarterly
following the topic classification in the bar Philippine International Law
examination Journal
f. Jesus M. Elbinias, Philippine Judicial
Philippine Labor Law Journal
Weekly
g. Supreme Committee, Supreme Court Philippine Law Journal (of UP)
Digest Philippine Lawyers Association
B. TREATISES AND TEXTBOOKS expositions by legal Journal
writers on statutory law and case law pertaining to a Philippine Tax Journal
particular subject and published in book form. San Beda Law Journal
Tax Quarterly of the Philippines
C. BAR REVIEWERS bar review materials are very helpful
The Law Review (UST)
to fourth year law students and those reviewing for the
bar. They are also very important to legal researchers University of the East Law Journal
because they present a concise presentation of the law, University of Manila Law Gazette
legal doctrines and leading Supreme Court decisions in Journal
capsulized form. They are usually very current and University of San Carlos Law
include the latest SC decisions. Review
Leading Law Journal in the Philippines Philippine Law
Journal of the UP College of Law which has been in
existence since 1910. It is distinguished by its
scholarly articles, reviews and commentaries. It is
exchanged with leading universities in the United
States and Europe and its articles by leading
Filipino academicians and students of the College
of Law are recorded in bibliographic listings around
the world.
Newspapers daily case digests started by Justice
Federico B. Moreno
Manila Times
Daily Mirror
Bulletin Today
Times Journal
Daily Express
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Philippine Star
Business Day
E. LEGAL ENCYCLOPEDIA while a textbook deals
with one subject or phrase of a subject of the law,
encyclopedia treats of all subjects. It is a
comprehensive treatise of the entire field of the
law. This whole field of the law is divided into
topics arranged in alphabetical order. It presents in
concise form, brief but comprehensive statements
of the current law upon said topics.
A legal encyclopedia as distinguished from law
dictionaries is a subject-book which presents to the
user the means of making his own definitions. It
deals with a whole field of law as distinguished
from treatise which treats of a portion of the
subject. It gives a literary statement of the law as
distinguished from digests which presents isolated
summaries of points of law.
Cyclopedia of Philippine Law first attempt to
publish a legal encyclopedia in the Philippines, to
be authored by Alvir & Associates. However, only
the first volume containing a textual treatment of
the law from A to C was publish.
Encyclopedia of Philippine Law and Jurisprudence
(Pedro Venida) only its first volume had been
published
Philippine Tax Reporters specialized
encyclopedia on taxation; advertised as a 25-
volume cyclopedia, with annual supplements; deals
extensively with the National Internal Revenue
Code, special tax laws, tax rulings, circulars,
decisions and treatises. After three volumes, it
stopped.
The Philippine Legal Encyclopedia Jose Agaton R.
Sibal; published by Central Law Book Publishing Co.
F. LAW DICTIONARIES are useful for identifying the
definitions of words in their legal sense or use. For each
word or phrase, a short definition is given. Some also
provide a citation to a court case or other reference
having the source of the word or phrase.
Diccionario de Administracion de las Islas Filipinas
published in 1887
Diccionario Juridico Recopilador Martinez de San
Agustin, 1922; a study which included
chronological and alphabetical indexes of
Philippine legislation and jurisprudence.
Philippine Law Dictionary Federico B. Moreno,
1972; it defined legal terms and phrases that, as
part of our law and jurisprudence, was necessary
to a law practitioner. Those definitions are related
to Philippine codes or statues and/or the
authoritative court decisions where they may be
found by citation to specific provisions of law or to
reported cases.
Dictionary of International Law and Diplomacy
Gamboa
Philippine Labor Dictionary Isidro (1966)
Dictionary of Insurance Terms and Phrases
Tiopanco (1976)
SEARCH MATERIALS AND FINDING TOOLS
There have been a large volume of statutory law and case
law that have been churned out by our legislative mill and
judicial branch of government since 1900 and the legal
researcher needs some means of subject access into this
large body of law. The effective operation of the doctrine of
precedent requires that prior decisions be easily available.
Without a topical approach to legal sources, researchers
could not find existing decisions or statues on point.
We therefore need search materials and finding tools for
legal research. The purpose of these materials and tools is
not to persuade, nor do they themselves have any primary
or persuasive authority. They are only means for locating
primary sources. It is then necessary to read those primary
sources to determine their applicability to a particular
situation. In legal research, as in other sense of relevance
a keen appreciation of which sources are legally and
factually relevant to the specific inquiry.
A. CITATORS supply references to decisions in which
other cases have been cited, reviewed, affirmed, 1. Indexes to the Public Laws of the Philippine
reversed, overruled, criticized or commented upon, and Islands
to cases in which statutes have been construed, and to 2. Indexes to the Public Laws of the
statutes in which prior acts have been amended, Commonwealth
renewed or repealed. 3. Laws and Resolutions Index
4. Philippine Annotated Laws (P.A.L.) Index
Philippine Citations first citator published in the 5. Index to Republic Acts Moran
Philippines; Dizon (1937); 2 volumes which contain 6. Subject Index to Presidential Decrees and
complete citations found in Vols. 2 to 64 of the other Presidential Issuances (until 1978)
Philippine Reports and in the Official Gazette to 7. Index Guide of Vital Legal Documents
April 1947 (including occupation issues) of the 8. Index Isabelo Moran (Presidential Decrees)
decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of 9. Index in the Philippine Permanent and General
Appeals as well as of Philippine laws, including Statutes
Royal Decrees and Orders, Ordinances of the City 10. Commonwealth Acts Annotated Guevarra
of Manila, and other matters. 11. Public Laws of the Commonwealth Jacobo
12. Guevarras Annotated Laws
This citatory provides the researcher with 13. Philippine Treaties Index
knowledge at a glance whether a given reported
Philippine decision has been overruled, criticized, Philippine Digest Vols. 18-19
limited in its application, distinguished or followed Republic of the Philippines Digest Vols. 6, 9 11
in subsequent reported decisions. Likewise, by and 13
consulting the citations to codes and statutes, the Ateneo de Manila Libraries Index covering 1911
researcher will have before him all reported to 1975 of Supreme Court Decisions
Philippine decisions wherein a particular Philippine Title Index to Supreme Court Decisions Milagros
statute has been cited, invoked, applied, construed Santos Ong; 1945-1978 with 1978-1982
or discussed. supplement
SCRA Quick-Index
Philippine Citations next citatory publish in the UP Law Library with card indexes to legal
Philippines in 1964 by Paras; 2 vols., Volume 1 periodicals
deals with citations covering Vols. 1 to 82 of the
Philippine Reports and issues of the Official
Gazette from 1942 to 1962. Volume 2 contains C. BIBLIOGRAPHIES a list of descriptions of published
code citations, statute citations, and citations of materials either relating to a given subject, or by a
administrative rules as well as Spanish laws applied given author. A bibliography of law books may refer to
to the Philippines. a list of an authors legal works, or of the literature
bearing on a particular subject or field of law.
Philippine Citator contained in Volume 11 of the
Philippine Digest. It lists all the citations in the 1. Philippine Legal Bibliography Justice Federico
Philippine Reports, the Supreme Court of Spain, B. Moreno (1973)
the United States Supreme Court, the other 2. Handbook on Legal Bibliography Andres
Federal Courts, and the courts of various states Soriano (11984)
and territories of the United States. 3. A Guide to Philippine Legal Materials
Citations in the decisions of the Supreme Court, Fortunato Gupit and Daniel Martinez (1993)
Court of Appeals, and Court of Tax Appeals,
reported in Vol. 52 of the Official Gazette are
contained in the Citator which forms part of the
1956 Official Gazette Desk Book. For 1959 Supreme
Court Decisions, a citatory is offered in Navarretes
Digest-Index. Citations are also included in each
volume of the Philippine Reports.

B. INDEXES usually means a subject-index which is like

the index found in textbooks, statutes, etc. A subject
index is an alphabetically arranged topical words in
which, by means of references under each topic,
materials relating to these topics expressed in
appropriate words is digested.