CHAPTER ONE Law and Legal Writing in the Philippines
usually for a fee to prosecute or defend his cause in court
I. The Country
 Philippines: “a broken rosary of verdured islands and islets
floating athwart the southeastern rim of Asia”
 An archipelago of 7,100 islands
 total land area of 115,707 sq.mi.
 discovered for the Western World in 1521 by Ferdinand
Magellan
 term given by Ruy Lopez de Villalobos in 1543 in honor of
Crown Prince Philipp
 three centuries of Spanish colonization + 5 decades of
American rule
II. The Language of the Law
 Current Philippine legal literature is written mainly in
English
 Philippines as the only nation in Asia whose people speak
Spanish and English with a literature written in these 2
foreign languages
 National language: Filipino
 Tagalog dialect, as used, is now generally accepted as the
Filipino language spoken of by the Constitution
 English used as the common medium of communication
between those who speak different dialects, although this
function is fast fading away because Tagalog is taking its
place – because of greater advances in technology
 Old laws are in English and Spanish – often, the Spanish
text prevailed over the English version for the simple
reason that the original language used in enacting them
was Spanish
 Generally, all laws are in English – where an act was finally
approved in English, the English text is controlling in its
construction, notwithstanding a somewhat variant Spanish
translation
 1973 constitution: was to be promulgated in English and
Pilipino and translated into each dialect spoken by over
50,000 people, and into Spanish and Arabic – English text
prevails in case of conflict
 1987 constitution: shall be promulgated in English and
Filipino and translated into major regional languages,
Arabic and Spanish
III. Definition of Terms
 Legal Bibliography – study of law books, their history,
authorship, editions, dates of publication, and
classification; science that deals with the description and
history of books pertaining to law
 Legal Research – method of locating the laws, court
decisions and principles to support a legal theory,
proposition or argument; inquiry and investigation
necessary to be made by lawyers and legal writers in the
performance of their functions
o Two sides of a coin: Bib gives you the available tools and
materials; Res tells you how to locate and use them
 Lawyer: a member of the Philippine bar; only one
authorized to practice law and appear before our courts in
behalf of party litigants
 Counsel de oficio – attorney appointed by court to defend
for free an indigent defendant in a criminal case
 Counsel de parte – an attorney retained by a party litigant
 Amicus curiae – friend of the court; an impartial attorney
invited by the court to appear and help in the disposition
of issues submitted to it
 Attorney of record – lawyer who appears in the records of
a case as the lawyer of a client to whom official notices
meant for the client are served
 Attorney of counsel – a lawyer or legal consultant of a law
firm
IV. Professional Dependency
 No professional is more dependent on books than the
lawyer
 Books are a lawyer’s basic weapons
 It is the bounden duty of counsel as a lawyer in active law
practice to keep abreast of decisions of the Supreme Court
particularly where issues have been clarified, consistently
reiterated, and published (Irene Cortes)
CHAPTER TWO The Historical Evolution of Philippine Law
I. Pre-Spanish Period
 Time before Magellan set foot on Philippine soil in 1521
 Barangays, Indonesian and Malayan immigrants –
influenced by Indian and Chinese civilizations
 Socio-political life: hindu-malay srivijayan empire + hindu-
javanese madjapahit empire
 Barangay – independenct and self-sustaining political unit
headed by datu; barangay groupings headed by rajah
 Early Filipino chiefs made laws upon consultation with the
lesser chiefs
 Most laws unwritten, handed by oral tradition; evolved
into native customs and traditions or ugali
 Code of Kalantiyaw + Maragtas Code == existence
questioned
II. Spanish Times
 377 years
 Council of Indies exercised exec, legis and judicial powers
 Royal Decree of 1569 empowered the Governor and
Captain-General to administer criminal and civil justice,
with the assistance of appointed magistrates
 King of Spain, through royal decrees, exercised legislative
power
 Royal Audiencia (1583)
III. American Regime
a. Military government
b. Civil government
c. Commonwealth period
IV. Japanese Occupation
V. Philippine Republic
a. Government system continued
b. Martial law
c. Parliamentary of presidential system
d. February Revolution
e. New Democracy
f. Attempted Coups
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Janz Hanna Ria
A2013