1. Discuss the meaning of constitution.

According to Bernas (1997), a constitution is that set of rules, principles, and customs
that establishes the limits and distributes the fundamental powers of government and
defines its relations with the citizens.

It is the set of the state’s basic laws and includes the community’s authorized policy and
principles. It situates and confines the supremacy and structure of the government and its
agencies. It identifies the relationship of the government and its citizens. These are the
three fundamentals that we can presume from the above description of a constitution.

To sum it up, a constitution is a set of laws that a set of people have made and agreed
upon for government that enumerates and limits the powers and functions of a political
entity. An organization's constitution defines its form, structure, activities, character, and
fundamental rules. The constitution is our most fundamental law. It is, in its own words,
"the supreme Law of the Land." Its translation into the legal rules under which we live
occurs through the actions of all government entities, federal and state.

The constitution has different roles. First, the constitution is an expression of national
ideals and unity. It signifies the principles, goals and union of the people under a
government they can call their own which are all enclosed in a preamble. Second, it is a
symbol of government’s legitimacy. The constitution authenticates the authority of a
government to exercise compliance to its laws. Third, it is an outline of a government
structure. It is the constitution that broadly outlines and specifies the fine points of
government organization, its roles, and the margins to its powers. Fourth and lastly, it is
an instrument of political stability. A constitution offers the ambiance of firmness to the
nation because it serves to lead the government’s courses of actions.

The constitution’s will and communication is expected to be at all times pursued and
sustained by each one. Every single law must be conventional to the constitution.
Decisions and actions of the government may only turn out to be legitimate and official
when they conform to the constitution.

The diverse kinds of constitution are classified in various ways. According to form, there
is a written and an unwritten constitution. A written constitution is a formal document
defining the nature of the constitutional settlement, the rules that govern the political
system and the rights of citizens and governments in a codified form.
An uncodified or unwritten constitution is a constitution in which no single, formal
document describes the powers and limits of a government

As to origin, a constitution can be conventional/enacted or cumulative/evolved. A

conventional constitution is a product of the deliberate act of a constituent assembly. A
constitution is said to be of cumulative origin when the law is a product of long political
and cultural history of the people, transmitted from generation to generation.

A constitution may be rigid/inelastic or flexible/elastic as to manner of amending. A

constitution is said to be rigid if the manner of instituting relevant changes to the laws is
inelastic or difficult to amend since it follows an enormous process of approval. A
constitution is said to be flexible if the manner of instituting relevant changes simply calls
for a basic process in which a law may be amended in the same legislative procedure as
in any ordinary law.
 2. Describe the manner of changing the constitution.

Proposing a change in the constitution may be done by three constituent bodies: the
Congress, the Constitutional Convention and the Electorate. Changes in the constitution
can be either amendment or revision. Amendment means only a part or parts of the
constitution is changed. Revision, on the other hand, is changing or rewriting the entire
constitution.

Amending or revising the Constitution is a two-part process: amendments must be

proposed then ratified. Considered changes must be formulated or articulated in a written
declaration or a proposal which may be by Congress, upon a vote of three-fourths of all
its components, or a constitutional convention. After a proposal has been completed by
either of the two, it must be presented to the people through a plebiscite for approval or
refusal and it must be held not earlier than sixty days and not later than ninety days to
provide the people sufficient time to study and discuss upon it. On the day of the
plebiscite, eligible voters will take part in an election to the projected changes. It shall
then be certified by the Commission on Elections and will happen to be official if greater
part of the votes cast supports the proposal.

Proposal on amendments is better made by the Congress and it should receive three-
fourths votes of all its members, while proposal on revisions is better made by a
constitutional convention. The people share legislative authority with Congress through
initiative in which the people can directly suggest a law or alteration to the Constitution.
This can be made by an appeal of at least 12% of the totality of listed voters all over the
country.
 3. Explain the archipelago doctrine.

The Archipelagic Principle or Archipelago Doctrine emphasizes the unison of land and
waters by defining an archipelago either as a group of islands surrounded by waters or a
body of waters studded with islands. For this reason, it necessitates that baselines be
drawn by connecting the correct points of the outmost islands to encircle the islands
inside the archipelago. The waters on the landward side of the baselines regardless of
width or dimensions are simply internal waters.

The Archipelagic Doctrine is reflected in the 1987 Constitution. Article I, Section 1

provides that the national territory of the Philippines incorporates the Philippine
archipelago, with all the islands and waters hold close within; and the waters around,
between, and linking the islands of the archipelago, not considering of their size and
dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the Philippines.

What that means is that the Philippines owns as part of its territory all of the seas between
the thousands of islands that are Philippine territory. In terms of possession, it is as if the
seas did not exist at all, and that the Philippines is not an archipelago at all, but instead is
one vast attached land mass.

This is significant, because the seas surrounding and linking the islands of the Philippines
are a resource of huge riches for the nation. It accepts the baseline method
where imaginary straight lines are sketched joining the outmost points of outmost islands
of the archipelago, encircling the country. The waters inside these baselines are being
considered to be internal waters and the territorial sea shall then be measured from the
baselines.
 4. Give the definition of “social justice” as defined by Dr. Jose P. Laurel in the case
of Calalang v. Williams.

In the case of Calalang vs. Williams, Dr. Jose P. Laurel defined social justice as:

“neither communism, nor despotism, nor atomism, nor anarchy, but the humanization of
laws and the equalization of social and economic forces by the State so that justice in its
rational and objectively secular conception may at least be approximated. Social justice
means the promotion of the welfare of all the people, the adoption by the Government of
measures calculated to insure economic stability of all the component elements of society
through the maintenance of proper economic and social equilibrium in the interrelations
of the members of the community, constitutionally, through the adoption of measures
legally justifiable, or extra-constitutionally, through the exercise of powers underlying the
existence of all governments, on the time-honored principle of salus populi est suprema
lex.”

Social justice generally refers to the thought of making an egalitarian society or

institution that is based on the doctrine of impartiality and unity, that comprehends and
values human rights, and that distinguishes the self-respect of each human being.

In Dr. Jose P. Laurel’s definition of social justice, each individual is to have an equal
right to the most widespread basic freedom compatible with a similar freedom for others.
Social and economic discriminations are to be arranged so that they are both sensibly
expected to be to everyone’s benefit, and put together to positions and offices open to
every one.
 5. What is the meaning of “due process of law”?

Due process of law is one of the rights preserved in the constitution. It is a

constitutionally firm doctrine requiring that any legal happening protect or respect certain
rights of the persons or groups involved or affected by the legislation. It has two aspects.
Procedural due process refers to the way or process which must be followed in the
implementation or application of law. Its basic purpose is to provide an opportunity to be
heard at a meaningful time and a meaningful place to encourage fairness in resolving
disagreement.

Substantive due process means that the law to be pertained should be valid, just, and not
subjective. This is a judicial requirement that enacted laws may not contain in provisions
that result in the unfair, arbitrary, or unreasonable treatment of an individual.

Someone charged of violation, say in a company, should be given an opportunity to be

heard and not that the employee is terminated immediately. Same goes to an instance
when someone is being put to jail without even being aware of. Procedural due process
requires the chance of the person to be heard.

On the other hand, say a student is absent for one meeting, he should not be disciplined
by dropping him out the course. Substantive due process requires a punishment
equivalent to the magnitude of the fault.
 6. Who is a natural-born citizen?

Under the Philippine Constitution, a natural-born citizen is one who is a citizen of the
state from birth without having to carry out any act to obtain or perfect his Philippine
citizenship, a person born of one or both parents who are Filipino citizens at the time of
birth, and a person born prior to January 17, 1973 of Filipino mothers, who elect
Philippine citizenship upon reaching the age of majority.

If for instance a natural-born citizen turns out to be a naturalized citizen of a different

state and then reacquires his Philippine citizenship yet again, he is not a natural-born
citizen any longer.

Telling a natural-born citizen apart from a naturalized citizen is extremely vital because
there are positions that are set aside by the constitution for natural-born citizens only, that
is President and Vice President, members of Congress, Justices of the Supreme Court and
Judges of lower courts, members of any Constitutional Commission, members of the
Monetary Board, and the Ombudsman and his deputy.
 7. Describe the structures of the Philippine government.

There are two principles intrinsic in a presidential system that describe the structure of
the Philippine government and how the powers are distributed into several departments
namely separation of powers and checks and balances.

The powers of government are divided into three independent, distinct and yet, co-equal
departments. These three are separate but not absolutely since the constitution sanctions
each division to check upon each other so that there would be balance amid them and to
see to it that no one overlooks another. This is what they call checks and balances.

The 1987 Philippine constitution, adopted during the Corazon Aquino administration, re-
established a presidential system of government with a bicameral legislature and an
independent judiciary. The political system in the Philippines takes place in a structured
framework of a presidential, representative, and democratic republic whereby the
president is both the head of state and the head of government.

The structure revolves around three separate and autonomous yet interdependent
branches: the Legislative Department or the law-making body, the Executive Department
or the law-enforcing body, and the Judicial Branch or the law-interpreting body.

Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two-chamber congress – the
Senate (the upper chamber) and the House of Representatives (the lower chamber). It is
the authority to compose laws and to change or revoke them. Executive power is
exercised by the government under the leadership of the president. It is the power to
administer or implement the laws of the land. Judicial power is vested in the courts with
the Supreme Court of the Philippines as the highest judicial body. It is said to be the
weakest among the three branches of the government.