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  CENTRAL BANK EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION V. BSP (2004) | EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE G.R. No. 148208, 446 SCRA 299, December 15, 2004 Doctrines: 1.       Elements of valid class legislation: (1) must rest on substantial distinctions; (2) must be germane to the purposes of the law; (3) must not be limited to existing conditions only; (4) must apply equally to all members of the same class 2.       Relative Constitutionality. The fact that a statute is constitutional at first does not mean it is constitutional forever. The subsequent changes in the original circumstance surrounding the law would affect its validity.   Facts: 1.       The new Central Bank Act took effect and gave way for the creation of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. 2.       Other Governmental Financial Institutions (GFIs) also amended their charters. 3.       After almos...

 “Any benefit indirectly enjoyed by a religious institution, as long as such benefit was only incidental to a legitimate secular objective, would not violate the prohibition.” AGLIPAY V. RUIZ  64 Phil. 201 G.R. No. L-45459 March 13, 1937 Constitutional Law | Freedom of Religion | Separation of Church and State Ponente: J. Laurel   FACTS: The government had authorized a special stamp issue on the occasion of the observance in Manila of the 33rd International Eucharistic Congress under the sponsorship of the Catholic Church. The petitioner, as head of the Philippine Independent Church, assailed the measure, contending that it violated the Constitution because it benefited a particular religion; thus he sought to prohibit the issuance and selling of the stamps commemorative of the event.   ISSUE: Whether or not the authorized stamp issue be declared invalid for violating the principle of separation of Church and State.   RULING: No. The Supr...

Ratio Legis et Anima A look at the deliberations of the framers reveals that the exclusive authority granted to the SC in judging cases relating to the elections of President and Vice-President does not impinge on the supposed separation of power between the judiciary and the executive departments, even if the said provision can be found in Art. VII. Macalintal v. PET (G.R. No. 191618) November 23, 2010 | G.R. No. 191618   Atty. Romulo Macalintal, petitioner Presidential Electoral Tribunal, respondent   FACTS:   Atty. Romulo Macalintal filed a motion for reconsideration regarding the previous ruling of the SC that found the creation of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal by the SC as constitutional. In his motion, Macalintal contended that the creation of the PET by the SC did not fall within the ambit of the last paragraph of Section  4, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution. He also contended that the PET exercises quasi-judicial power, and thus, its...

It is a well-settled principle of constitutional construction that the language employed in the Constitution must be given their ordinary meaning except where technical terms are employed. As such, it can be clearly and unambiguously discerned from Paragraph 1, Section 8, Article VIII of the 1987 Constitution that in the phrase, “a representative of Congress,” the use of the singular letter “a” preceding “representative of Congress” is unequivocal and leaves no room for any other construction. It is indicative of what the members of the Constitutional Commission had in mind, that is, Congress may designate only one (1) representative to the JBC. Had it been the intention that more than one (1) representative from the legislature would sit in the JBC, the Framers could have, in no uncertain terms, so provided. G.R. No. 202242  July 17, 2012 FRANCISCO I. CHAVEZ,  Petitioner, vs. JUDICIAL AND BAR COUNCIL, SEN. FRANCIS JOSEPH G. ESCUDERO and REP. NIEL C. TUPAS, JR.,  Respo...

  SARMIENTO v. MISON (G.R. No. 79974) December 17, 1987 | 156 SCRA 549   Ulpiano P. Sarmiento III and Juanito G. Arcilla, petitioners Salvador Mison, in his capacity as Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs, and Guillermo Carague, in his capacity as Secretary of the Department of Budget, respondents Commission on Appointments, intervenor   FACTS:    In 1987, then President Corazon Aquino appointed Salvador Mison as Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs without submitting his nomination to the Commission on Appointments. Herein petitioners, both of whom happened to be lawyers and professors of constitutional law, filed the instant petition for prohibition on the ground that the aforementioned appointment violated Section 16, Art. VII of the1987 Constitution. Petitioners argued that the appointment of a bureau head should be subject to the approval of the Commission on Appointments.    ISSUE:   Whether or not the appointmen...

Judicial decisions applying or interpreting the laws or the Constitution form part of this jurisdiction's legal system. These decisions, although in themselves not laws, constitute evidence of what the laws mean. Floresca v. Philex Mining GR L-30642., 30 April 1985 (136 SCRA 142) FACTS: Petitioners are the heirs of the deceased employees of Philex Mining Corporation (Philex), who, while working at its copper mines underground operations at Tuba, Benguet on June 28, 1967, died as a result of the cave-in that buried them in the tunnels of the mine. Specifically, the complaint alleges that Philex, in violation of government rules and regulations, negligently and deliberately failed to take the required precautions for the protection of the lives of its men working underground. Petitioners, with the exception of Floresca, recovered damages under the Workmen’s Compensation Act. However, a special committee report on the accident indicated that the respondent company failed to prov...

  United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III) Since the second UN Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS II) failed to resolve many outstanding concerns in 1960, discussions and negotiations continued until the third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III) in 1982, which tried to address most issues of concern. Delegates submitted for ratification the Law of the Sea treaty, which formally outlines modern international policy regarding the oceans and marine resources. It was adopted by the Conference on 10 December 1982. The comprehensive document contains 320 articles and 9 annexes, and notably replaces the longstanding freedom of the sea principle, which held that nations could only hold territorial claim over coastline waters that were within the short distance of a cannon shot from shore. Instead, the treaty provides a graduated system of sovereignty in which countries can assert complete ownership of water within 12 nautical miles of their ...

  SC: Baselines Law constitutional By Joel R. San Juan, Business Mirror Posted at  Aug 17 2011 09:29 AM  | Updated as of  Aug 17 2011 10:05 PM Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Viber MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, affirmed on Tuesday the constitutionality of Republic Act (RA) 9522, or the Philippine Archipelagic Baselines Law, which was implemented during the term of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo. Chief Justice Renato Corona said the magistrates reached the decision at Tuesday’s regular full-court session. But a copy of the decision was not immediately available. Associate Justice Antonio Carpio wrote the ruling, which dismissed the petition of international law experts Merlin Magallona and Harry Roque Jr. and several law students who sought to stop the implementation of the law. The Court dismissed the argument of the petitioners that the Baselines Law declares the Kalayaan Island Group and Scarborough Shoal as...

1987 Constitution – February 2, 1987 Family Code – August 3, 1988

A person incurs no criminal liability when he acts in the fulfillment of a duty or in the lawful exercise of a right or office. There are 2 requisites to justify this:  (1) the offender acted in the perfomance of a duty or in the lawful exercise of a right or office,  (2) that the injury or offense committed be the necessary consequence of the due performance of such duty or the lawful exercise of such right or office.  In this case, only the first requisite is present.   People vs. Oanis July 27, 1943 (74 Phil 257) PARTIES: Plaintiff and appellee: People of the Philippines Defendants and appellant: Antonio Oanis, Alberto Galanta FACTS: Antonio Oanis and Alberto Galanta were instructed to arrest a notorious criminal and escaped convict, Anselmo Balagtas, and if overpowered, to get him dead or alive. They went to the suspected house then proceeded to the room where they saw the supposedly Balagtas sleeping with his back towards the door. Oanis and Galanta ...