RESUS

Statutory Construction Terms

Chapter 1: Preliminary Considerations

Statutory Construction -The act or process of expounding the meaning and intention
of the authors of the law with respect to its application in a given case, where it is
rendered doubtful, among others by reason of the fact that the given case is not
explicitly provided in the law.
-art of seeking the intention of the legislature in enacting a statute and applying it to
a given state of facts. (Justice Martin)
-American Jurisprudence defines it as that branch of the law dealing with the
interpretation of laws enacted by a legislature.

-A judicial function is required when a statute is invoked and different

interpretations are in contention.

Interpretation - as the art or process of discovering and expounding on the intended

signification of the language used, that is, the meaning which the authors of the law
designed it to convey to others.
-Limited to the written text.

Construction - is the drawing of conclusions with respect to subjects that are beyond
the direct expression of the text from elements know and given in the text.
-Can go beyond the text and use external aids.

Application - if the law is CLEAR and UNAMBIGUOUS, there is NO room for

interpretation or construction. The duty of the court in this situation is only to
APPLY. The court has no other option but to apply no matter how harsh the law may
be.
-Article 9 of the Civil Code states that No Judge or Court shall decline to render
judgement by reason of the silence, obscurity or insufficiency of the laws.
-The Court will resort to interpretation when it endeavors to ascertain the meaning
of a word found in a statute, which when considered with the other words in the
statute, may reveal a meaning different from that which apparent when the word is
considered abstractly or when given its usual meaning. But when the court goes
beyond the language of the statute and seeks the assistance of extrinsic aids in order
to determine whether a given case falls within the statute, it resorts to construction.

-Purpose of construction and interpretation is to ascertain and give effect to the

legislative intent. To solve ambiguity and doubtfulness in the law.

Legislative - makes the laws.

Executive - executes and enforces laws.
Judiciary - Interprets the laws.

Situs of construction and interpretation of written laws belong to the judicial

department. Courts may declare legislative measures or executive acts
unconstitutional

Duty of Courts - to settle actual controversies involving rights which are legally
demandable and enforceable, and to determine whether or not there has been a
grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of
any branch or instrumentality of the government.

Two requisites for the court to be able to construe and interpret the laws.
1.) There must be an actual case or controversy. There must be a dispute to settle.
2.) There is ambiguity in the law involved in the controversy meaning the law is
susceptible to two or more interpretations.

Ambiguity exists when there is doubtfulness, doubleness of meaning, duplicity,

indistinctiveness, or uncertainty of meaning. It exists when reasonable persons can
find different meanings in a statute.

Hermeneutics - the science or art of construction and interpretation

Types of interpretations
1.) Close Interpretation - also called "literal interpretation", is adoppted if just
reasons connected with the characer and formaion of the text induce as to take
words in their narrowest meaning.
2.) Extensive Interpretation - more comprehensive
3.) Free or Unrestricted Interpretation - proceeds simply on the general principles of
interpretation in good faith, not bound by any specific or superior principle.
4.) Limited or Restricted Interpretation - when we are influenced by other principles
than the strictly hermeneutic ones.
5.) Predestined Interpretation - takes place if the interpreter laboring under a strong
bias of mind, makes the text subservent to his preconceived views and desires. This
include artful interpretation by which the interpreter seeks to give a meaning to the
text other than the one he knows to have been intended.
6.)strict

More often, our laws are interpreted either literally, strictly or liberally, and
prospectively or retrospectively

Constitution and Statutes which include ordinances are common subjects of

construction and interpretation. But resolutions, executive orders and department
circulars can also be added.
CASES
Lito Corpuz vs. People of the Philippines - Jewelry totaling P98,000
Director of Lands vs. Court of Appeals - newspaper publication of land registration
DPWH Secretary vs. Heracleo and Ramona Tecson - just compensation for land
People of the Philippines vs. Mario Mapa y Mapulong - secret agent and firearms
People of the Philippines vs. Patricio Amigo - frustrated murder-reclusion perp

Chapter 2: Statutes

Legislative Power - the power of the Congress to make, amend, and repeal laws.

HIERARCHY OF LAWS
1. Constitution
2. Statutes/ Treaties
3. Implementing Rules and Regulations
4. Ordinances
5. Jurisprudence

Legislative Procedure (Bill -> Law)

Bill - Draft of a proposed law.
Act - term for a bill after it has been acted on and passed by the legislature. An Act
then becomes a statute.
Statute - The written will of the legislature solemnly expressed according to the form
necessary to constitute it as the law of the state.

1. A bill is proposed originating from either the lower or upper House. Exceptions are
Appropriation Bills, Revenue/ Tariff Bills, Bills authorizing increase of public debt,
private bills.
2. The first reading - reading the number and title, referral to the appropriate
committee for study and recommendation. The committee holds public hearings and
submits report and recommendation for calendar for second reading.
3. The second reading - bill is read in full (with amendments proposed by the
committee), unless copies are distributed and such reading is dispensed with. Bill will
be subject to debates, motions, and amendments. Bill approved will be included in
the calendar of bills for 3rd reading.
4. The third reading - bill subjected to final vote by yeas and nays. Bill approved in
the third reading will be transmitted to the other house, where it did not originated,
for concurrence. If the other house approves without amendments it is passed to the
President. If there are amendments, difference will be settled by a bicameral session.
Report and recommendation must be approved by both houses in order to be
considered pass.
5. Ways a bill becomes a law.
-The President approved and signs.
-The President vetoes in which the bill is sent back to the house of origin with
recommendations. 2/3 of all members of the house may override the veto otherwise
it is archived.
-If the president did not act on the bill within 30 days after receipt, bill becomes a
law.
Constitutional Test in the Passage of a Bill
1. Every bill passed by Congress shall embrace only one subject which shall be
expressed in the title thereof. "One title-One Subject Rule"
-To prevent hodge-podge or log-rolling legislation.
-To prevent surpirse or fraud upon the legislation
-to fairly apprise the people in order that they may have the opportunity of being
heard thereon by petition or otherwise.

2. No bill passed by either House shall become a law unless it has passed three
readings on separate days, and printec copies thereof in its final form have been
distributed to each member three days before its passage, except when the
President certifies the necessity of its immediate enactment to meet a public
calamity or emergency. Upon the last reading, no amendment thereto shall be
allowed. "Three Reading" and "No Amendment" Rule
-applicable only to the bills initiated in any House before it is transmitted to the
other House for concurrence or amendment.
-to avoid has and improviden legislaion and to give legislators time to study and
deliberate the measures.

3. Every bill passed by Congress shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the
President. If he approves the same, he shall sign it; otherwise, he shall veto it and
return the same with his objections to the House of origin. if two-thirds of all
members of the origin House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together
with the objections to the other House by which it shall likewise be reconsidered,and
if aroved by two-thirds of all the members of the house, it shall become a law. The
executive approval and veto power of the President is the third important
constitutional requirement. It is mandatory and a part of the checks and balances
principle.
PARTS OF STATUTE

1. Title - heading on the preliminary part. Usually prefixed to the statute in the form
of a brief summary of its contents.
2. Preamble - explains the reason behind the enactment of the statute and its
objective. It is the declaration of the legislature of the reasons for the passage of the
statute.
3. Enacting Clause - declares its enactment and serves to identify it as an act of
legislation proceeding from the proper legislative authority.
4. Body - the main and operative part of the statute containing substantive and
procedural provisions. Exceptions to the provision is located here.
5. Repealing Clause - that part of the statute which announces the prior statuses or
specifies provisions which have been abrogated by reason of the enactment of the
new law.
6. Saving Clause - restriction in a repealing act which is intended to save rights,
pending proceedings, penalties, etc. from the annihilation which would result from
an unrestriced repeal.
7. Separability Clause - that part of the statute which provides that in the event that
one or more provisions are declared void or unconstitutional, the remaining
provisions shall still be in force.
8. Effectivity Clause - that part of the statute which announces the effective date of
the law.

KINDS OF STATUTES

1. General Law - affects the community at large. A law that relates to a subject of a
general nature, or affects all people of the state or all of a particular class
2. Special Law - A law that is different from others of the same general kind or
designed for a particular purpose, or limited in range or confined to a prescribed
field of action on operation.
3. Local Law - A law which relates or operates over a particular locality only.
4. Public Law - general classification of law, consisting generally of constitutional,
administrative, criminal, and international law, concerned with the organization of
the state, the relations between the state and the people. It may be a general, local,
or special law.
5. Private Law - portion of law which defines, regulates, enforces and administers
relationships among individuals, associations and corporations.
6. Remedial Statute - provides means or methods whereby causes of action may be
effectuated, wrongs redressed and relief obtained.
7. Curative Statute - retrospective legislation which reaches back into the past to
operate upon past events, acts or transactions in order to correct errors and
irregularities and to render valid and effective many attempted acts which would
otherwise be ineffective for the purpose intended.
8. Penal Statute - defines criminal offenses and specify corresponding fines and
punishments.
9. Prospective Law - a law applicable only to cases which shall rise after its
enactment.
10. Retrospective Law - looks backward or contemplates the past; one which is
made to affect acts or facts occurring, or rights occurring, before it came into force.
11. Affirmative Statute - couched in affirmative or mandatory terms. Directs the
doing of an act, or declares what shall be done in contrast to a negative statute
which is one that prohibits a thing from being done, or declares what shall not be
done.
12. Mandatory Statutes - statutes which require and not merely permit a course of
action.

Judicial Doctrine - judicial interpretation of a statute, which constitutes part of the

law as of the date it was originally passed since the Court's construction, merely
establishes the contemporaneous legislative intent that the interpreted law carried
into effect. Such judicial doctrine does not amount to the passage of a new law but
consists merely of a construction or interpretation of pre-existing one.

Vague Statutes - A statute may be said to be vague when it lacks comprehensible

standards that men "of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning
and differ as to its application."
- it violates due process for failure to accord persons, especially the parties targetted
by it, fair notice of the conduct to avoid
- it leaves law enforcers unconstrained discretion in the enforcement of its
provisions resulting into unjust execution.
- Vague meaning obscurity on the surface level.

The test in determining whether a criminal statute is void for uncertainty is whether
the language conveys a sufficiently definite warning as to the proscribed conduct
when measured by common understanding and practice.

REPEALS OF STATUTE MAY BE EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED

Express repeal - is the abrogation or annulling of previous existing law by the

enactment of a subsequent statute which declares that the former law shall be
revoked and abrogated.
Implied repeal - happens when a later state contains provisions so contrary to or
irreconcilable with those of the earlier law that only one of the two statutes can
stand in force.

An act which purports to set out in full all that it intends to contain, operates as a
repeal of anything omitted which was contained in the old act and not included in
the amendatory act.
A subsequent statute, revising the whole subject matter of a former statute, and
evidently intended as a substitute for it, operates to repeal the former statute.

Two categories of repeal by implication

1. Where the provision in the two acts on the same subject matter are in an
irreconcilable conflict, the later act to the extent of conflict constitutes and implied
repeal of the earlier one.
2. Where the later act covers the whole subject of the earlier one and is clearly
intended as a substitute, it will operate to repeal the earlier law.
Ordinance - act passed by the local legislative body in the exercise of its law-making
authority.

Local legislative bodies

Barangay - Sangguniang Baranggay
Municipality - Sangguniang Bayan
City - Sangguniang Panlungsod
Province - Sangguniang Panlalawigan

TEST OF VALID ORDINANCE

1. It must not contravene the Constitution or any Statute.

2. Must not be unfair or oppressive
3. It must not be partial or discriminatory
4. It must not prohibit but may regulate trade
5. It must be general and consistent with public policy
6. It must not be unreasonable

Statute > Ordinance

-Because local governments are mere creatures of the state.
-their powers are only what is expressed, implied, or inherent in legislation.
-The spring cannot go higher than its source.

ROLE OF FOREIGN JURISPRUDENCE

When a foreign law was not properly pleaded or proved, the presumption of identity
or similarity, otherwise known as the processual presumption, comes into play.
Where foreign law is not pleaded or, even if pleaded, is not proved, the presumption
is that foreign law is the same as ours

CASES
Remman Enterprises vs Professional Regulatory Board of Real Estate Service - One
title-One Subject Rule
Norma A. Del Socorro vs. Ernst Johan Brickman Van Wilsem - Foreign laws assumed
same as ours.
Chapter 3: Basic Guidelines

Object of all interpretation and construction of statutes is to ascertain the meaning

and intention of the legislature, to the end that the same may be enforced.

Statutes must be taken as a whole and not detatched and isolated expressions. Do
not nitpick. A provision unclear by itself may be clarified by reading and construing it
with the whole statute.

Legislative Intent is determined principally from the language of the statute

Socorro Ramirez vs. Hon. Court of Appeals and Ester Garcia

-Insulted and humiliated in a hostile and furious mood.
-Wire Tapping RA 4200

Verba Legis - a rule in Statutory Construction that if the statute is clear, plain, and
free from ambiguity, it must be given its literal meaning and applied without
interpretation

Request of Court of Appeals Justices for Computation/ Adjustment of Longevity Pay

-Longevity Pay doesn’t count services outside Judiciary.

GMCR vs. National Labor Relations Commission and Imelda Salazar

-unjust dismissal

Felicito Basbacio vs Office of the Secretary Department of Justice

-"unjustly" accused, convicted, and imprisoned

JMM vs. National Labor Relations Commission and Ulpiano L. Delos Santos
Ut res magis valem quam pereat - construction is to be sought which gives effect to
the whole of the statute - its every word

Duncano vs. Hon. Sandiganbayan and Hon Office of the Special Prosecutor

Spirit and Purpose of the Law - some cases may be deemed not governed by a
statute because it is not within the spirit and reason of the law and plain intention of
legislature. The opposite could be said as well. But if the law is free from ambiguity,
it cannot be interpreted under the pretext of pursuing its spirit.

A construction that gives to the language used in a statute a meaning that does not
accomplish the purpose for which the statute was enacted should be rejected

De Guia vs. Comelec

Between two statutory interpretations, that which better serves the purpose of
the law should prevail

Salinas vs. CA

When the reason of the law ceases, the law itself ceases

Gen. Commendador vs. Gen De Villa

Doctrine of necessary implications. What is implied in a statute is as much a part

thereof as that which is expressed

Chua vs. Civil Service Commission

-casus omissus pro omisso habendus est - A person, object or thing omitted from an
enumeration must be held to have been omitted intentionally.
-Art 3. Sec 1. of Consti
Casus Omissus - When a law makes a secific provision in regard to several
enumerated cases or objecs, but omits to make any provision for a case or object
which is analogous to those enumerated, and appears that such case or object was
omitted by inadvertence or because it was overlooked or unforeseen, it is called a
"casus omissus". Such omissions or defects cannot be supplied by courts

Stare Decisis - policy to stand by precedent and not disturb settled points. Doctrine
which obligates courts to follow historical cases when making a ruling on a similar
case where facts are substantially the same.

Tuason vs. Hon. Mariano

-parcel of land

Stare decisis et non quieta movere - Follow past precedents and do not disturb what
has been settled.
Chapter 4: Construction and Interpretation of Words and Phrases

Ubi lex non distinguish nec nos distinguere debemos. When the law does not
distinguish, Courts should not distinguish. If the law makes no distinction, neither
should the court. There should be no distinction in the application of a statute
where none is indicated. That general words and phrases in a statute should
ordinarily be accorded their natural and general significance. Where the law does
not make any exception, courts may not except something therefrom, unless there is
a compelling reason apparent in the law to justify.

RPH represented by the AFP Finance Center vs. Daisy Yahon

Juanito Pilar vs Comelec

People of the Phil. vs. Hon. Judge Evangelista and Tugonon

When the law does not make any exception, courts may not except something
unless compelling reasons exist to justify it.
Cecilio De Villa vs. Court of Appeals