UPDATE: Philippine Legal Research

By Milagros Santos-Ong

Milagros Santos-Ong is the Director of the Library Services of the Supreme Court of the
Philippines . She is the author of Legal Research and Citations (Rexl Book Store) a seminal
book published in numerous editions and a part-time professor on Legal Research in some law
schools in the Metro-Manila.

Published March 2015

(Previous updates on March 2006, December 2007, June 2009, and March 2012)
See the archive version!

Table of Contents
1.

Introduction

2.

Political Structure

3.

Government Structure

3.1.

Executive Branch

3.2.

Legislative Department

3.3.

Judicial System

3.4.

Constitutional Commissions

3.5.

Local Governments

3.6.

Other Government Agencies

4.

Legal System

4.1.

Nature of the Philippine Legal System

4.2.

Sources of Law

5.
5.1.

Philippine Legal Research

Research of Statute law

5.2.
6.

Research of Case Law

Legal Profession and Legal Education

6.1.

Law Schools

6.2.

Bar Associations

7.

Law Librarians Association

Part 2: Philippine Legal Information Resources and Citations

1.

Introduction

The Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands with a land area of 299,740 sq. kilometers. It
is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean on the East, South China Sea on the North and the West and
the Celebes Sea on the South. This comprises the National Territory of the Philippines. Article I
of the 1987 Constitution provides that the "national territory comprises the Philippine
archipelago, with all the islands and waters embraced therein and all other territories which the
Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction."

Laws enacted by Congress defined the baselines of the territorial sea of the Philippine
archipelago. As early as 1935, the baselines have been defined in the 1935 Constitution. This
was followed by Republic Act No. 3046 as amended by Republic Act No.5446. Republic Act No.
9522, approved on March 10, 2000 amended both laws and defined the archipelagic baselines
as Regime of Islands (section 2) This definition is consistent with Art.121 of the United
Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), where the Philippines took an active part.
Rodolfo Severino, in his article Clarifying the New Philippines Baseline Law (Republic Act
No. 9522) stated that the purpose of the law is mainly to amend the existing baselines act and to
define the archipelagic baselines of the Philippines. It does not extend the baselines to Spratlys
or to Scarborough Shoal, both of which China and Vietnam claim in their territory, while the
Philippines claims a part of what are called Spratlys and all of Scarborough Shoal . Protest
made by China remains. The constitutionality of the law was question at the Supreme Court in
the case Magallona, et. al vs. Ermita, et. al., G.R. No. 187167. The decision upholding the
constitutionality of the law was penned by Justice Antonio T. Carpio on July 16, 2011. The
petitioners of the case were professors of law, law students and a legislator. The petitioners filed
the case in their capacities as citizens of the Philippines, taxpayers and legislators. Noteworthy
to mention are the two grounds invoked by the petitioners in questioning the constitutionality of
the law:1). RA 9522 reduces the Philippine maritime territory, and logically, the reach of the
Philippine states sovereign power, in violation of Article 1 of the 1987 Constitution and 2) RA
9522 opens the countrys waters landward of the baselines to maritime passage by all vessels
and aircrafts, undermining Philippine sovereignty and national security, contravening the

countrys nuclear-free policy, and damaging marine resources, in violation of relevant

constitutional provisions.

Justice Antonio T. Carpio in his speech before Philippine Women Judges Association, entitled
Protecting the Nations Marine Wealth in the West Philippine Sea, March 6, 2014, provided an
illustration of the baselines defined by Republic Act Nos. 5446 and 9522.

The Philippines claim to the Spratlys and the historic claim to Sabah remain unresolved. The
Philippines is now confronted with conflicting claims in the South China Sea which is governed
by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which entered into
force in 1994. The Philippines and China who are claimants to the South China seas are among
the 165 countries that have ratified the UNCLOS.

Chinas claim is based on the 9-dashed line which covers a total area almost 90% of the South
China Sea. In a speech delivered by Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio entitled, The
Rules of Law in the West Philippine Sea Dispute, he stated that Chinas 9-dash claim
encroaches on 80% on the Philippines 200-nm exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and 100% of its
150-nm extended continental shelf (ECS) facing the South China sea what the Philippines call
West Philippine sea. Chinas 9-dash line claim has similar effects on the EEZs and ECSs of
Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia facing the South China Sea.

Justice Antonio T. Carpios speech before Philippine Women Judges Association, entitled
Protecting the Nations Marine Wealth in the West Philippine Sea, March 6, 2014 includes the
illustration on the 9-Dashed Lines.

Senior Justice Antonio Carpio stated that maritime dispute in the West Philippine Sea could be
more easily resolved if all the claimant States agreed on two things: first, on the applicable law
to govern the maritime dispute, and second, on the historical facts on the West Philippine Sea.

David Rosenberg in his article, The Paradox of the South China Sea Disputes, considers the
nine-dash line claim as the most controversial maritime territorial claim. Rosenberg traced the
history as claim as far back as December 1914 when Hu Jinjie, a Chinese cartographer,
published a map with a line around only the Pratas and Paracels, entitled The Chinese
Territorial Map Before the Qianglong-Jiaqing Period of the Qing Dynasty (AD 17361820) until
1953 when the two dotted line portion in the Gulf of Tonkin was deleted by Premier Zhou
Enlais approval. Chinese maps published since 1953 have shown the nine-dotted line in the
South China Sea.

The Philippines however has its own version on historical claims based on historical maps
available at the United States Library of Congress, National Library of Australia. The Philippine
historical claim can be seen in a cartographic exhibit entitled Historical Truths and Lies,
Scarborough Schoal in Ancient Maps , which was based on the June 2014 of Senior Associate
Justice Antonio T. Carpio. The first map in this cartographic exhibit was published in 1734 by
Jesuit Pedro Murillo. It is considered the "mother of all Philippine maps."

Caption: "Carta Hydrographica Y Chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas" (8407x7734) (U.S.

Library of Congress (Catalog No. 2013585226; Digital ID g8060 ct003137)

This territorial dispute has both political and economic implications for the Philippines, China
and also to Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. There was even a headline stating Is the
South China Sea on the Brink of War? As a measure to resolve the controversy, the Philippines
has used the legal remedy in as much as China and the Philippines are parties to the United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS.

The Philippines filed a formal claim before an arbitration tribunal constituted under Annex VII
to the 1982 United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea entitled In the Matter of an
Arbitration between The Republic of the Philippines (applicant) and The Peoples Republic of
China (Respondent), 24 August 2013 (PCA Case No. 2013-19. Full text of the Rules of Procedure
of the case is available in the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Further details can be found here ,
here , and here .

The Filipino culture was molded over more than a hundred ethnic groups consisting of 91%
Christian Malay, 4% Muslim Malay, 1.5% Chinese and 3% others. As of the August 2007
national census , the population of the Philippines has increased to 88.57 million and is
estimated to reach 92.23 million in 2009. The census is scheduled to be undertaken this 2009.

Filipino ( Tagalog) is the national language (1987 Constitution, Art. XIV, sec. 6) of the
Philippines. However, Filipino and English are the official languages for the purpose of
communication and instruction (Art. XIV, sec 7). Optional use of the national language,
Filipino ( Tagalog ) is allowed. Supreme Court Administrative Circular No. 16-2010 allowed the
optional use and on a per case basis, the use of Filipino ( Tagalog ) in court proceedings in view
to the difficulties encountered in the use of Filipino as manifested by the Presiding Judges and
the court stenographers of some courts. This Circular provides that in appropriate cases as
may be determined by the Presiding Judge and without objection of the parties, the abovementioned courts may use Filipino in the hearing and resolution of motions, or in the conduct of
mediation, pre-trial conference, trial, and in any other court proceedings. Existing translations
of laws and rules may be used freely, and technical terms in English or Latin need not be
translated literally into Filipino. Republic Act No. 10157, known as the Kindergarten Education
Act utilizes the mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) method as the
primary medium of instruction for teaching and learning in the kindergarten level (sec.5).
Section 5, likewise specifically provides that the Department of Education must include in its
teaching strategies the childs understanding of English, which is the official language.

There are several dialects or regional languages (spoken and written) throughout the different
islands of the country, but there are eight major dialects, which include Bicolano, Cebuano,
Hiligaynon or Ilongo,
Ilocano, Pampango, Pangasinense, Tagalog, and Waray .

There are two major religions of the country: Christianity and Islam. Christianity, more
particularly Catholicism, is practiced by more than 80% of the population. It was introduced by
Spain in 1521. The Protestant religion was introduced by American missionaries.

Aglipay , or the Philippine Independent Church, and the Iglesia ni Kristo are two Filipino
independent churches or religious organizations. Other Christian religious organizations like
the El Shaddai, Ang DatingDaan , and Jesus is Lord' have been established. Members of the
Iglesia ni Kristo and the El Shaddai are increasing and their membership has exented
worldwide. These independent churches and religious organizations are having a great
influence to the nation, especially during elections.

The Constitution of the Philippines specifically provides that the separation of Church and State
is inviolable. (Constitution (987), Art. II, sec.6). However, religion has a great influence in the
legal system of the Philippines. For the Muslim or Islamic religion, a special law, the Code of
Muslim Personal Laws (Presidential Decree no. 1083), was promulgated and special courts were
established, the Sharia courts, a separate bar examination for the Muslim or Islamic

community is being conducted. The Catholic Church has affected the present political system. A
priest had to take leave as a priest when he was elected governor of a province in Region 3. A
movement was even started to be able to choose the President of the Philippines and other
government officials in the May 2009 national election. The Church stand on major issues
have affected the passage of bills pending in Congress and such as the Reproductive Health Bill
(Senate Bill No. 2865 and House Bill No. 4244) which was approved by both House of Congress
on December 19, 2012. After the passage of the law, religious organizations and individuals
questioned the constitutionality of the law in the consolidated case of Imbong v. Ochoa, Jr.,
G.R. No. 204819, April 08, 2014.

The other bill still pending in Congress is Divorce, etc. The Philippines is considered as the only
country that does not allow Divorce. However, annulment of marriage is recognized.

2.

Political Structure

The Constitution is the fundamental law of the land. The present political structure of the
Philippines was defined by the 1987 Constitution, duly ratified in a plebiscite held on February 2,
1987 and proclaimed ratified on February 11, 1987. There is a move now in Congress, which was
started at the House of Representatives to revise/amend the present Constitution. One of the
major problems to be resolved by both Houses of Congress is the mode or method in
revising/amending the present 1987 Constitution. A much debated proposed amendment is the
term extension for the President.

The 1987 Constitution provides that the Philippines is a democratic and republican state where
sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them (Article II,
section 1).

3.

Government Structure

The government structure differs as one goes through the history of the Philippines, which may
be categorized as follows: a) Pre-Spanish; b). Spanish period; c). American period; d). Japanese
period; e). Republic; and f). Martial Law Period

a) Pre-Spanish (before 1521)

The Barangays or independent communities were the unit of government structures before
Spain colonized the Philippines. The head of each barangay was the Datu . The Datus were
called Cabeza de Barangayduring the Spanish period. He governs the barangays using native
rules, which are customary and unwritten. There were two codes during this period: the

Maragtas Code issued by Datu Sumakwel of Panay Island and the Code of Kalantiao issued by
Datu Kalantiano in 1433. The existence of these codes is questioned by some historians.

Just like many ancient societies, trial by ordeal was practiced.

b) Spanish period (1521-1898)

The Spanish period can be traced from the time Magellan discovered the Philippines when he
landed on Mactan Island (Cebu) on March 16, 1521. Royal decrees, Spanish laws, and/or special
issuances of special laws for the Philippines were extended to the Philippines from Spain by the
Spanish Crown through the councils. The chief legislator is the governor-general who exercises
legislative functions by promulgating executive decrees, edicts or ordinances with the force of
law. The Roya l Audencia, or Spanish Supreme Court, in the Philippines also exercised
legislative functions when laws are passed in the form of autos accordados . Melquiades Gamb
oa , in his book entitled An Introduction to Philippine Law (7th ed, 1969), listed the most
prominent laws in this period: Fuero Juzgo, Fuero Real, Las Siete Partidas, Leyes de Toros,
Nueva Recopi lacion de las Leyes de Indias and the Novisima Recopilacion . Some of these
laws were also in force in other Spanish colonies. Laws in force at the end of the Spanish rule in
1898 are as follows: Codigo Penal de 1870, Ley Provisional para la Aplicaciones de las
Dispociciones del Codigo Penal en las Islas Filipinas, Ley de Enjuciamento Criminal, Ley de
Enjuciameniento Civil, Codigo de Comercio, Codigo Civil de 1889, Ley Hipotecaria, Ley de
Minas, Ley Notarial de 1862 , Railway Law of 1877, Law of Foreigners for Ultramarine
Provinces and the Code of Military Justice. Some of these laws remained in force even during
the early American period and/or until Philippine laws were promulgated.
In between the Spanish and the American period is what Philippine historians consider the first
Philippine Republic. This was when General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the Philippine
Independence in Kawit , Cavite on June 12, 1898. The Malolos Congress also known as
Assembly of the Representatives, which can be considered as revolutionary in nature, was
convened on September 15, 1898. The first Philippine Constitution, the Malolos Constitution
was approved on January 20, 1899. General Emilio Aguinaldo was the President and Don Gracio
Gonzaga as the Chief Justice. A Republic, although with de facto authority, was in force until the
start of the American Sovereignty when the Treaty of Paris was signed on December 10, 1898.

c) American period (1898-1946)

The start of this period can be traced after the Battle of Manila Bay when Spain ceded the
Philippines to the United States upon the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898.
A military government was organized with the military governor as the chief executive
exercising executive, legislative and judicial functions. Legislative function was transferred to
the Philippine Commission in 1901, which was created by the United States President as

commander-in-chief of the Armed forces and later ratified by the Philippine Bill of 1902. This
same Bill provided for the establishment of the First Philippine Assembly, which convened on
October 16, 1907. The Jones law provided for the establishment of a bicameral legislative body
on October 16, 1916, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The United States Constitution was recognized until the promulgation of the Philippine
Constitution on February 8, 1935, signed by U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on
March 23, 1935 and ratified at a plebiscite held on May 14, 1935.

The organic laws that governed the Philippines during this period were: President McKinleys
Instruction to the Second Philippine Commission on April 7, 1900; Spooner Amendment of 1901;
Philippine Bill of 1902; Jones Law of 1916 and the Tydings McDuffie Law of May 1, 1934. The
later law is significant for it allowed the establishment of a Commonwealth government and the
right to promulgate its own Constitution. The 1935 Constitution initially changed the legislative
system to a unicameral system. However, the bicameral system was restored pursuant to the
1940 Constitutional amendment. The Commonwealth government is considered as a transition
government for ten years before the granting of the Philippine independence. Cayetano
Arellano was installed as the first Chief Justice in 1901. The M ajority of the Justices of the
Philippine Supreme Court were Americans. Decisions rendered by the Supreme Court of the
Philippines were appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which were reported in the
United States Supreme Court Reports.

Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio Osmea were elected as President and Vice-President
respectively during the September 14, 1935 elections. In this election, President Quezon won
over General Emilio Aguinaldo and Bishop Gregorio Aglipay, the President of the First
Philippine Republic (1898) and the head of the Aglipayan church, respectively. This
Commonwealth government went into exile in Washington DC during the Japanese period from
May 13, 1942 to October 3, 1944. President Manuel L. Quezon died on August 1, 1944 and was
succeeded by President Sergio Osmena who brought back the government to Manila on
February 28, 1945.

d) Japanese period (1941-1944)

The invasion of the Japanese forces when Clark Field, an American military airbase in
Pampanga, was bombed on December 8, 1941, marked the start of the Japanese period, which
lasted for three years. A Japanese Republic was established with Jose P. Laurel as its President.
Jose Yulo was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Supreme Court decisions during this
period were recognized and are found in the Philippine Reports, the official publication for
Supreme Court decisions . This period was considered as a military rule by the Japanese

Imperial Army. The 1943 Constitution was ratified by a special national convention of
theKapisanan sa Paglilingkod ng Bagong Pilipinas (KALIBAPI). No law/statutes, including
the 1943 Constitution were recognized after the war. This period lasted for three years and
ended in 1944 with the defeat of the Japanese forces.

e) Republic period (1946-1972)

July 4, 1946 was the inauguration of Philippine independence. A Philippine Republic was born.
A republic means a government by the people and sovereignty resides in the entire people as a
body politic. The provisions of the 1935 Constitution defined the government structure, which
provided for the establishment of three co-equal branches of government. Executive power rests
in the President, legislative power in two Houses of Congress and judicial power in the Supreme
Court, and inferior courts. Separation of powers is recognized.

Efforts to amend the 1935 Constitution started on August 24, 1970 with the approval of
Republic Act No. 6132 where 310 delegates were elected on November 10, 1970. On June 1, 1971,
the delegates of the Constitutional Convention met. While it was still in session, President
Ferdinand E. Marcos declared Martial Law on September 21, 1972. The Constitutional
Convention completed the draft Constitution on November 29, 1972. It was submitted for
ratification through citizens assemblies on January 17, 1973. This is known as the 1973
Constitution.

f) Martial Law Period (1972-1986).

The Philippine Congress was abolished when Martial Law was declared on September 21, 1972.
The Martial Law period was governed by the 1973 Constitution, which established a
parliamentary form of government. Executive and legislative powers were merged and the Chief
Executive was the Prime Minister who was elected by majority of all members of the National
Assembly (Parliament). The Prime Minister had the power to advise the President. The
President is the symbolic head of state. This parliamentary government was never implemented
due to the transitory provision of the 1973 Constitution. Military tribunals were also established.
Amendments to the Constitution were made wherein by virtue of amendment No. 3, the powers
of the President and the Prime Minister were merged into the incumbent President Ferdinand E.
Marcos. Amendment No. 6 authorized President Marcos to continue exercising legislative
powers until Martial law is in effect. Amendment No. 7 provided for the barangays as the
smallest political subdivision and thesanggunians , or councils. The 1981 amendment
introduced the modified presidential/parliamentary system of government of the Philippines.
The President shall be elected by the people for a term of six years while the Prime Minister shall
be elected by a majority of the Batasang Pambansa (Parliament) upon the nomination of the
President. He was the head of the Cabinet and had supervision over all the ministries. The

President during this period was Ferdinand E. Marcos and the Prime Minister was Cesar
Enrique Aguinaldo Virata.

Proclamation No. 2045 (1981) lifted Martial Law and abolished mi litary tribunals. Elections
were held on June 16, 1981 and President Marcos was re-elected into office as President. The
constitution was again amended in 1984 and a plebiscite was held on January 27, 1984 pursuant
to Batas Pambansa Blg. 643 (1984). Elections were held on May 14, 1984 for the 183 elective
seats in the 200 member of the Batasang Pambansa .

An i mpeachment resolution by 57 members of the opposition was f iled against President

Marcos but was dismissed. A special presidential election, popularly known as Snap Election,
was called by President Marcos on November 3, 1985 and was held on February 7, 1986. The
National Movement for Free Elections, or NAMFREL, results showed that Corazon Aquino led
by over a million votes. However, the Batasang Pambansadeclared that Ferdinand E. Marcos
and Arturo M. Tolentino won over Corazon C . Aquino and Salvador H. Laurel as President and
Vice-President, respectively. President Marcos and Vice President Arturo took their oath before
Chief Justice Ramon Aquino at the Malacanang Palace, Manila. This event led to the People
Power revolution, which ousted President Marcos on February 25, 1986.

g) Republic Revival (1986-present)

The Republic period was revived after the bloodless revolution popularly known as People
Power or the EDSA Revolution.

Corazon C. Aquino and Salvador H. Laurel took their oath of office as 11 th President and Vice
President of the Philippine Republic on February 25, 1986 before Associate Justice Claudio
Teehankee at the Club Filipino, San Juan, Manila. Proclamation No. 1 (1986) was promulgated
wherein the President and the Vice President took power in the name and by the will of the
Filipino people. Proclamation No. 3 (1986) adopted as the Provisional Constitution or Freedom
Constitution, provided for a new government.

A Constitutional Commission was constituted by virtue of Article V of the Provisional

Constitution and Proclamation No. 9 (1986). The Constitutional Commission, composed of 48
members, was mandated to draft a Constitution. After 133 days, the draft constitution was
submitted to the President on October 15, 1986 and ratified by the people in a plebiscite held on
February 2, 1987. Under the transitory provision of the 1987 Constitution, the President and
Vice President elected in the February 7, 1986 elections were given a six-year term of office until
June 30, 1992. Congressional elections were held on May 11, 1987. The Republican form of

government was officially revived when the 1987 Constitution was ratified and Congress was
convened in 1987. Legislative enactments again rested in the Congress. Republic Acts were
again issued by Congress, the number of which took off from the last number used before
Martial Law was declared. The numbering of Republic Acts continued from the number last
used before Martial Law (Republic Act No. 6635 (1972) and Republic Act No. 6636 (1987). The
Republic form of government by virtue of the 1987 Constitution was the same type of republican
government prior to Martial law by virtue of the 1935 Constitution with three co-equal branches:
Executive, Legislative and the Judiciary.

The Philippines once again became a Republic by virtue of the 1987 Constitution. The same
type of republican form of government prior to Martial law was established with three co-equal
branches were organized, Executive, Legislative and the Judiciary. Those holding office in these
three co-equal branches are public officers and employees. Constitution (1987), Article XI,
provides for the accountability of public officers. Article XI, Section 1 , Public office is a public
trust. Public officers and employees must, at all times, be accountable to the people, serve them
with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency; act with patriotism and justice, and
lead modest lives. Public officers in the Executive (President and Vice President) , Judiciary
(Members or Justices of the Supreme Court) and the Constitutional Commissions and the
Ombudsman may be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, culpable
violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes, or
betrayal of public trust. All other public officers and employees may be removed from office as
provided by law, such as the civil service laws, but not by impeachment (Article XI, Section 2).

The legislative branch is composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It is the
legislative branch or Congress, which is involved in the impeachment process. The House of
Representatives has the exclusive power to initiate all cases of impeachment though a verified
complaint or resolution of impeachment filed by at least one-third of all the Members of the
House of Representatives, and an Articles of Impeachment (Article XI, Section 3, (1) (5)).
The Senate shall have the sole power to try and decide all cases of impeachment. When the
President of the Philippines is on trial, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall preside, but
shall not vote. The public officer (President and Vice President, members or Justices of the
Supreme Court and the Constitutional Commissions and the Ombudsman) shall be convicted
with the concurrence of two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate. (Article XI, Section 3, (6).
When the Chief Justice or members of the Judiciary and the Constitutional Commissions and
Ombudsman are on trial, the Senate President shall preside. Rules of impeachment shall be
promulgated by the Senate. Find further information here , here , and here .

Impeachment (Constitution (1987) Article XI, Sections 2 and 3 has been filed against a
President, two Chief Justices and one Associate Justice and an Ombudsman. In the case of
President Joseph E. Estrada , verified complaint was filed by 115 members of the House of

Representatives
led by the Speaker of the House of Representatives Manuel Villar on
November 13, 2000. Impeachment trial was held December 9, 2000 with Chief Justice Hilario
G. Davide Jr. as presiding officer and Senate President Aquilino Pimentel. The impeachment
trial did not end for the Prosecutors walked out on January 16, 2001 when the impeachment
court did not grant their request to open the second envelope. This lead to what is called
People Power 2, which ended when Vice-President Gloria Macapal Arroyo took her oath of
office as President on January 21, 2001
before Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide Jr., in EDSA
where the people gathered for the People Power 2. The legality of the Arroyo Presidency was
brought to the Supreme Court by President Estrada (Estrada v. Desierto, G.R. No. 146710-15,
March 2, 2001)

On October 23, 2003, an impeachment case was filed against Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide Jr.
but it did not prosper in the House of Representatives. The question on the impeachment case
of Chief Justice Davide was resolved by the Supreme Court in the case of Francisco, Jr. v. The
House of Representatives (G.R. No. 160261, November 10, 2003). On May 2011, the House
Committee on Justice declared that the impeachment complaint against incumbent Associate
Justice Mariano Del Castillo as sufficient in form and in December 2011, as sufficient in
substance. The impeachment complaint is still pending in the House of Representatives.
December 2011, an impeachment case was filed against Chief Justice Renato C. Corona by 188
members of the House of Representatives or more than the required one-third requirement of
Article XI, Section 3 of the 1987 Constitution . Trial started January 16, 2012 with Senate
President Juan Ponce Enrile as Presiding Officer. Chief Justice Renato C. Corona was found
guilty under Article II of the Articles of Impeachment last May 29, 2012 or after 43 days of trial.
The vote of the Senators who acted as Impeachment Court Judges was 20-3, 20 found him guilty.
Chief Justice Renato C. Corona is the first high ranking government official to be convicted by
an impeachment court.

In March 2011, 212 members of the House of Representatives led by House Speaker Feliciano
Belmonte voted to impeach the Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez and to transmit the Articles
of Impeachment to the Senate. The 7-year term of office of Ombudsman Gutierrez was
supposed to end December 2012. Ombudsman Gutierrez resigned before the impeachment trial
by the Senate.

3.1. Executive Branch

The President is vested with the executive power. (Art. VII, sec. 1, 1987 Constitution). The
President is both the Chief of State (head of government) and the Commander-in-Chief of all the
Armed Forces of the Philippines (Art. VII, sec. 18). Since 1898 when the First Philippine
Republic was established, the Philippines has had fifteen (15) Presidents from Emilio Aguinaldo
to Benigno S. Aquino III.

The Executive Branch also includes the Vice-President and the Secretaries of Heads of the
Executive Departments and other Cabinet officials

Both the President and the Vice-President are elected by direct vote of the Filipino people for a
term of six years. The President is not eligible for a re-election while the Vice President cannot
serve for more than two terms. Congress is empowered to promulgate rules in the canvassing of
certificates of election. The Supreme Court sitting en banc is the sole judge of all election
contests relating to their election, returns and qualifications (Art VII, sec. 4). The Supreme
Court en banc thus acts as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal. The Supreme Court promulgated
the 2005 Rules on the Presidential Tribunal (A.M. No. 05-11-06-SC). Both may be removed
from office by impeachment (Art. XI sec. 2) to be initiated by the House of Representatives (Art.
XI, sec, 3) and tried and decided by the Senate (Art. XI, sec, 3 (6)). The Cabinet members are
nominated by the President, subject to the confirmation of the Commission on Appointments
(Art. VII, sec, 16) which consists of the President of the Senate, as ex- officio Chairman, twelve
Senators and twelve members of the House of Representatives (Art. VI, sec. 1).

Cabinet members are nominated by the President, subject to the confirmation of the
Commission on Appointments (Art. VII, sec, 16), which consists of the President of the Senate,
as ex officio Chairman, twelve Senators and twelve members of the House of Representatives
(Art. VI, sec. 1).

The President exercises control over all the executive departments, bureaus and offices (Art. VI,
sec, 17).

Office of the Solicitor General .

Its mandate and function as found in its website is that it is the law firm of the Republic of the
Philippines. It is tasked to represent the People of the Philippines, the Philippine Government,
its Agencies and Instrumentalities, Officials and Agents (especially before appellate courts) in
any litigation or matter requiring the services of a lawyer. Its mission is to promote and
protect the interest of the Republic of the Philippines and its people in legal proceedings and
matters requiring the services of a lawyer.

3.2. Legislative Department

Legislative power is vested in the Congress of the Philippines, consisting of the Senate and the
House of Representatives (Art. VI, sec. 1). History has provided that the legislative structure has
undergone numerous changes. A brief history of the Philippine legislature is available at the
House of Representative website and at the Senate .

The Senate of the Philippines is composed of twenty four (24) Senators who are elected at large
by qualified voters who serve for a term of not more than six (6) years. No Senator may be
elected for more than two consecutive terms. (Art VI, sec. 4). The Senate is led by the Senate
President, Pro Tempore, Majority Leader and the Minority Leader. The Senate President is
elected by majority vote of its members. There are thirty six (36) permanent committees and five
(5) oversight committees. The sole judge of contests relating to election, returns and
qualifications of members of the Senate rests with the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET), which is
composed of nine members, three of whom are Justices of the Supreme Court and six members
of the Senate. (Art. VI, sec. 17). The Senate Electoral Tribunal has approved on November 12,
2003 its Revised Rules.

The House of Representatives is composed of not more than two hundred fifty (250) members,
elected by legislative districts for a term of three years. No representative shall serve for more
than three consecutive terms. The party-list representatives who come from registered national,
regional and sectional parties and organizations, shall constitute twenty percent (20%) of the
total number of representatives. The election of party-list representatives was by virtue of the
Republic Act No. 7941, which was approved on March 3, 1995. In a recent decision of the
Supreme Court penned by Justice Antonio T. Carpio on April 21, 2009, Barangay Association for
National Advancement and Transparency (BANAT) v. Commission on Elections (G.R. No. 17971)
and Bayan Muna, Advocacy for Teacher Empowerment Through Action, Cooperation and
Harmony Towards Educational Reforms, Inc. and Abono (G.R. No. 179295), Republic Act No.
7941 was declared unconstitutional with regards to the two percent threshold in the distribution
of additional party-list seats. The Court in this decision provided a procedure in the allocation
of additional seats under the Party-List System. Major political parties are disallowed from
participating in party-list elections . Another case on the party-list elections, pursuant to
Republic Act No. 7941 COMELEC Resolutions Nos. 9366 and 9531, was filed by the 52 partylist groups who were disqualified by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to participate in
the May 13, 2013 election. The consolidated case is Atong Paglaum, Inc., Represented by its
President, Mr. Alan Igot v. Commission on Elections (G.R. No. 203766, April 2, 2013) was
penned by Justice Antonio T. Carpio. This case enumerated the six parameters in determining
as to who may participate in party-list elections.

The officials of the House of Representatives are the Speaker of the House, Deputy Speaker for
Luzon, Deputy Speaker for Visayas, Deputy Speaker for Mindanao, Majority Leader, and

Minority Leader. They are elected by a majority vote of members. There are fifty seven (57)
standing committees and sixteen (16) special committees of the House of Representatives. The
sole judge of contests relating to election, returns and qualifications of members of the House of
Representatives rests with the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) which is
composed of nine members, three of whom are Justices of the Supreme Court and six members
of the Senate.(Art. VI, sec. 17). The House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal adopted its
1998 Internal Rules on March 24, 1998.

3.3. Judicial System

Organizational Chart of the whole Judicial System and those of each type of Court is available in
2002 Revised Manual of Clerks of Court. Manila: Supreme Court, 2002. Organizational Chart
was amended due to the passage of Republic Act No. 9282 (law elevating the Court of Tax
Appeals to the level of a collegiate court)

Judicial power rests with the Supreme Court and the lower courts, as may be established by law
(Art. VIII, sec. 1). The judiciary enjoys fiscal autonomy. Its appropriation may not be reduced
by the legislature below the appropriated amount the previous year, after approval, shall be
automatically and regularly released. (Art. VIII, sec. 3).
This provision may now face
construction or interpretation in line with what the Secretary of Budget and Management call

 Transparency and Accountability Primordial to Fiscal Autonomy . This involves the release
of funds of unfilled positions in agencies enjoying fiscal autonomy such as Congress, Judiciary,
Constitutional Commissions and the Ombudsman. The last annual budget
from the
government represents less than one (1%) of the entire budget of the Philippine government.
In 1984, President Ferdiand Marcos passed Presidential Decree No. 1949, a special fund
popularly called The Judiciary Development Fund (JDF). It is a special fund established to
help ensure and guarantee the independence of the Judiciary as mandated by the Constitution
and public policy. This fund is sourced from the legal fees collected by the courts and 80% is
for the cost of living allowances of the members and personnel of the Judiciary and 20% is for
the acquisition, maintenance and repair of office equipment and facilities.

The Rules of Court of the Philippines as amended and the rules and regulations issued by the
Supreme Court define the rules and procedures of the Judiciary. These rules and regulations are
in the form of Administrative Matters, Administrative Orders, Circulars, Memorandum
Circulars, Memorandum Orders and OCA Circulars. To inform the members of the Judiciary,
legal profession and the public of these rules and regulations, the Supreme Court disseminates
this rules and regulations to all courts, publishes important ones in newspapers of general
circulation, prints in book or pamphlet form and now downloads them in theSupreme Court and
the Supreme Court E-Library websites .

Department of Justice Administrative Order No. 162 dated August 1, 1946 provided for the
Canon of Judicial Ethics . Supreme Court of the Philippines promulgated a new Code of
Judicial Conduct for the Philippine Judiciary effective June 1, 2004 (A.M. No. 03-05-01-SC),
which was published in two newspapers of general circulation on May 3, 2004 (Manila Bulletin
& Philippine Star) and available on its website and the Supreme Court E-Library website .

The Supreme Court promulgated on June 21, 1988 the Code of Professional Responsibility for
the legal profession. The draft was prepared by the Committee on Responsibility, Discipline and
Disbarment of theIntegrated Bar of the Philippines.

A Code of Conduct for Court Personnel (A.M. No. 03-06-13-SC) was adopted on April 13, 2004,
effective June 1, 2004, published in two newspapers of general circulation on April 26, 2004
(Manila Bulletin & Philippine Star) and available at the websites.

Supreme Court of the Philippines :

The barangay chiefs exercised judicial authority prior to the arrival of Spaniards in 1521. During
the early years of the Spanish period, judicial powers were vested upon Miguel Lopez de Legaspi,

the first governor general of the Philippines where he administered civil and criminal justice
under the Royal Order of August 14, 1569.

The Royal Audencia was established on May 5, 1583 , composed of a president, four oidores
(justices) and a fiscal. The Audencia exercised both administrative and judicial functions. Its
functions and structure were modified in 1815 when its president was replaced by a chief justice
and the number of justices was increased. It came to be known as the Audencia Territorial de
Manila with two branches, civil and criminal. Royal Decree issued July 24, 1861 converted it to
a purely judicial body wherein its decisions were appealable to the Supreme Court of the
Philippines to the Court of Spain in Madrid. A territorial Audencia in Cebu andAudencia for
criminal cases in Vigan were organized on February 26, 1898. The Audencias were suspended
by General Wesley Merrit when a military government was established after Manila fell to
American forces in 1898. Major General Elwell S. Otis re-established the Audencia on May 29,
1899 by virtue of General Order No. 20. Said Order provided for six Filipino members of the
Audencia . Act No. 136 abolished the Audenciaand established the present Supreme Court on
June 11, 1901 with Cayetano Arellano as the first Chief Justice together with associate justices,
the majority of whom were American. Filipinization of the Supreme Court started only during
the Commonwealth, 1935. Administrative Code of 1917 provided for a Supreme Court with a
Chief Justice and eight associate Justices. With the ratification of the 1935 Constitution, the
membership was increased to 11 with two divisions of five members each. The 1973 Constitution
further increased its membership to 15 with two (2) divisions.

Pursuant to the provisions of the 1987 Constitution, the Supreme Court is composed of a Chief
Justice and fourteen Associate Justices who shall serve until the age of seventy (70). The Court
may sit En Banc or in its three (3) divisions composed of five members each. A vacancy must be
filled up by the President within ninety (90) days of occurrence from the list submitted by the
Judicial and Bar Council. Constitution (1987),Article VIII, sec. 4 (2) explicitly provides for the
cases that must be heard En Banc and sec. 4 (3) f or cases that may be heard by divisions.

Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1980 transferred from the Department of Justice to the
Supreme Court the administrative supervision of all courts and their personnel. This was
affirmed by Constitution(1987), Art. VIII, sec. 6. To effectively discharge this constitutional
mandate, The Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) was created under Presidential Decree
No. 828, as amended by Presidential Decree No. 842, and its functions further strengthened by
a Resolution of the Supreme Court En Banc dated October 24, 1996. Its principal function is the
supervision and administration of the lower courts throughout the Philippines and all their
personnel. It reports and recommends to the Supreme Court all actions that affect the lower
court management. The OCA is headed by the Court Administrator, three (3) Deputy Court
Administrators and three (3) Assistant Court Administrators.

According to the 1987 Constitution , Art. VIII, sec. 5, the Supreme Court exercises the following
powers:
Exercise jurisdiction over cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and
over petitions for certiorari , prohibition , mandamus , quo warranto , and habeas corpus .

Review, revise, reverse, modify, or affirm on appeal or certiorari, as the law or the Rules of Court
may provide final judgments and orders of lower courts in:

All cases in which the constitutionality or validity of any treaty, international or executive
agreement, law, presidential decree, proclamation, order, instruction, ordinance, or
regulation is in question.
All cases involving the legality of any tax, impost, assessment, or toll, or any penalty
imposed in relation thereto.
All cases in which the jurisdiction of any lower court is in issue.
All criminal cases in which the penalty imposed is reclusion perpetua or higher.
All cases in which only an error or question of law is involved.
Assign temporarily judges of lower court to other stations as public interest may require.
Such temporary assignment shall not exceed six months without the consent of the judge
concerned.
Order a change of venue or place of trial to avoid a miscarriage of justice.
Promulgate rules concerning the protection and enforcement of constitutional rights,
pleading, practice, and procedure in all courts, the admission to the practice of law, the
Integrated Bar, and legal assistance to the underprivileged. Such rules shall provide a
simplified and inexpensive procedure for the speedy disposition of cases, shall be
uniform for all courts the same grade, and shall not diminish, increase or modify
substantive rights. Rules of procedure of special courts and quasi-judicial bodies shall
remain effective unless disapproved by the Supreme Court.
Appoint all officials and employees of the Judiciary in accordance with the Civil Service
Law (Sec. 5, id.).

Supreme Court has promulgated the Internal Rules of the Supreme Court ( As amended in
Resolutions dated July 6, 2010, August 3, 2010, January 17, 2012, September 18, 2012) ), to
govern the internal operations of the Court and as a guide to the exercise of its judicial and
administrative functions). The last revision of the Internal Rules (A.M. No, 10-4-20-SC
(Revised)) was in March 12, 2013).

The Internal Rules of the Supreme Court provides that cases may be heard on oral arguments
upon defined issues. The constitutionality of laws, treaties and other agreements are defined

issues. The procedure defined by section 3 is as follows: The petitioner shall argue first,
followed by the respondent and the amicus curiae , if any. Rebuttal of oral arguments may be
allowed by the Chief Justice or the Chairperson. If any, the Court may invite amicus curiae. The
constitutionality of two significant laws has been decided after a series of oral arguments.
Republic Act No. 10354 Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 or RH
LAW too years before it became a law. One primary consideration is that the Philippines is a
Catholic/Christian country. The constitutionality of the RH law was assailed in the consolidated
case of Imbong v. Ochoa, Jr., (G.R. No. 204819, April 08, 2014). The Court declared that the
law is constitutional. The importance of religion and the Constitution was laid down at the very
start of the decision of Justice Jose Mendoza, and I quote:

Freedom of religion was accorded preferred status by the framers of our fundamental law. And
this Court has consistently affirmed this preferred status, well aware that it is designed to
protect the broadest possibly liberty of conscience, to all each man to believe as his conscience
directs, to profess his beliefs, and to live as he believes he ought to live, consistent with the
liberty of others and with the common good.

The constitutionality of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 (Republic Act No.10175 passed
on September 12, 2012 was assailed in the consolidated case of Disini, Jr. v. The Secretary of
Justice, G.R. No. 203335, February 18, 2014.

The constitutionality of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), an agreement with the United
States, was question in the consolidated case of BAYAN ( Bagong Alyansang Makabayan ) v.
Zamora, G.R. No. 138570, October 10, 2000. Although this case declared the agreement
constitutional, cases involving this agreement are being filed. The case of Sombilon v. Romulo,
G.R. No. 175888, February 11, 2009, pertains to the custody of defendant Lance Corporal
(L/CPL) Daniel Smith, a member of the United States Visiting Forces who was accused of rape.
Another case involving Cpl. Scott Pemberton, member of the United States Visiting Forces was
filed before the Regional Trial Court of Olongapo City for the murder of a transgender. Cpl.
Pemberton was heavily guarded by both United States and Filipino soldiers and has undergone
mandatory fingerprinting and mug shorts but arraignment has not yet been scheduled.

Another agreement between Philippines and the United States, the Enhanced Defense
Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) has been question in consolidated petitions pertions. The
Supreme Court has started last November 18, 2014 to hold oral arguments on these consolidated
petitions.

Recent cases filed in the Supreme Court involve the use of government funds in the two co-equal
branches of government, the Legislature and the Executive. The Belgica v. Ochoa, Jr., G.R. No.
208566, November 19, 2003, involves the use of the Priority Development Assistance Fund
(PDAF) by the members of the Legislative Department. In the decision of Justice PerlasBernabe, the concept and the history of the pork barrel system was discussed. The Araullo v.
Aquino III, G. R. No. 209287, July 1, 2014 on the other hand assailed the constitutionality of the
Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), National Budget Circular (NBC) No. 541, and
related issuances of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) implementing the DAP
of the Executive Department. The Supreme Court decided that use of the Priority Development
Assistance Fund (PDAF) of the Legislative Department and the Disbursement Acceleration
Program (DAP) of the Executive Department are both unconstitutional. Plunder cases relating
to the use of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) have been filed by the Office of
the Ombudsman at the Sandiganbatan against three incumbent Senators, Senators Juan Ponce
Enrile, Ramon Revilla, Jr. and Jose P. Ejercito-Estrada. All the three incumbent Senators are
under detention.

The Supreme Court website includes the petitions, oral arguments,

advisories of landmark decisions like those previously mentioned.

audio recording and

The Supreme Court has adopted and promulgated the Rules of Court for the protection and
enforcement of constitutional rights, pleadings and practice and procedure in all courts, and the
admission in the practice of law. In line with this mandate of the Rules of Court and
extrajudicial killing and disappearances, the Supreme Court passed two important Resolutions:
the Rule on the Writ of Amparo (A.M. No. 07-9-12-SC), approved on September 25, 2007 and
effective on October 24, 2007, and the Rule on the Writ of Habeas Data (A.M. No. 08-1-16--SC),
approved on January 22, 2008 and effective February 2, 2008. The Writ of Amparo is a
remedy available to any person whose right to life, liberty and security is violated or threatened
with violation by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private
individual or entity. This writ shall cover extrajudicial killing and enforced disappearances or
threats. (sec.1) The Writ of Habeas data on the other hand is a remedy available to any person
whose right to privacy in life, liberty or security is violated or threatened by an unlawful act or
omission of a public official or employee, or any private individual or entity engaged in the
gathering, collecting or storing of data or information regarding the person, family, home and
correspondence of the aggrieved party (section 1).

Writ of Kalikasan , a resolution on Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases (A.M. No. 09-68-SC) was approved on April 13, 2010 and was to take effect on April 29, 2010, fifteen (15) days
following its publication in a newspaper of general circulation. This rule covers civil and
criminal actions brought before the Regional Trial Courts, Metropolitan Trial Courts,
Municipal Trial Courts and Municipal Trial Courts involving the enforcement or violations on

the existing environmental and other related laws and regulations, conservation, development,
preservation, protection and utilization of the environment and natural resources, promulgated
during the American period such as Act No. 3572 approved on November 26, 1929 until the
present Republic such as Republic Act No. 9637 approved on May 13, 2009.
The Courts
designated to try these cases are called Green Courts.

A Writ of Kalikasan was issued with a Temporary Environmental Protection Order (TEPO)
was issued by the Supreme Court in the case of West Tower Condominium Corporation, On
Behalf of the Residents off West Tower Condo., And In Representation of Barangay Bangkal,
And Others, Including Minors and Generations Yet Unborn vs. First Philippine Industrial
Corporation, First Gen Corporation And Their Respective Board of Directors and Officers, John
Does and Richard Does, G.R. No. 194239, May 31, 2011. The case of Abrigo v. Swift, G.R. No.
206510, September 16, 2014, was filed when the USS Guardian ran aground on the northwest
side of South Shoal of the Tubbataha Reefs. Tubataha Reefs is declared as a Nature Park by
law (Republic Act No. 10067, approved April 6, 2010) and a World Heritage Site by the United
Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). A Writ of Kalikasan
petition with prayer for the Temporary Environmental Protection Order (TEPO) under Rule 7 of
A.M. No. 09-6-8-SC, otherwise known as the Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases
(Rules) was filed for violations of environmental laws and regulations. This case however takes
into consideration involves international responsibility. The USS Guardian was allowed to enter
Philippine waters by pursuant to the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and as a treaty
privilege should be considered as an act jure imperii . The petition was dismissed. The Court
stated and I quote:

The Court defers to the Executive Branch on the matter of compensation and rehabilitation
measures through diplomatic channels. Resolution of these issues impinges on our relations
with another State in the context of common security interests under the VFA. It is settled that
[t]he conduct of the foreign relations of our government is committed by the Constitution to
the executive and legislativethe political--departments of the government, and the propriety
of what may be done in the exercise of this political power is not subject to judicial inquiry or
decision.

The Supreme Court has promulgated what can be considered as a landmark decision at the start
of 2015. The Risos-Vidal v. Commission on Elections and Joseph E. Estrada, G.R. No. 206666,
January 21, 2015, penned by Associate Justice Teresita L De Castro, dismissed the
disqualification case against the former President and now the elected Mayor of Manila. The
former President was convicted by the Sandiganbayan of plunder. President Arroyo granted
former President Estrada executive clemency or pardon on October 25, 2007 on the grounds
that the government has a policy to pardon convicts who are 70 and above and that Estrada has
already been on house of arrest for 6 years. This disqualification case main contention was on

this pardon extended by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The Supreme Court En Banc
voted 11-3 and one abstention. Majority of the justices characterized the pardon as absolute and
this restored Estradas qualification to stand as candidate in the last mayoral election. This
decision upheld Estradas contention that President Arroyos pardon restored his full civil and
political rights, including the right to seek public elective office.

Amendments are promulgated through the Committee on Revision of Rules the Court also
issues administrative rules and regulations in the form of court issuances found in the Supreme
Court and the Supreme Court E-Library websites .

Draft personnel manual (A.M. No. 00-6-01-SC) was been submitted to the Court En
Banc for action on March 29, 2011. In a Resolution of the Court En Banc dated January
31, 2012,
the Human Resource Manual formerly referred to as Personnel Manual, was
approved.

The Judicial and Bar Council was created by virtue of Constitution(1987), Art. VIII, sec. 8. under
the supervision of the Supreme Court. Its principal function is to screen prospective appointees
to any judicial post. It is composed of the Chief Justice as ex-officio Chairman, the Secretary of
Justice and representatives of Congress as ex-officio members, a representative of the Integrated
Bar, a professor of law, a retired member of the Supreme Court and a representative of the
private sector as members. The Judicial and Bar Council has promulgated on October 31, 2000
its Rules (JBC-009) in the performance of its function. The Supreme Court opined that in the
case of Jardeleza v. Sereno, The Judicial And Bar Council and Ochoa, Jr., G.R. No. 213181,
August 19, 2014, that the application of Section 2, Rule 10 of JBC-009 to petitioner violated the
petitioners constitutionally guaranteed right to due process and having garnered a majority
vote of the JBC Members, declare that the petitioner be deemed included in the short list
submitted by respondent JBC to the President. The Supreme Court further stated the need to
respect to the interpretation and application of Section 2, Rule 10 of JBC-009.

The JBC conducts live public interviews and has set guidelines for vacancy in the Chief Justice,
Associate Justices of the Supreme Court and Appellate Courts.
JBC Resolution No. 007
provides for wider publicity of notice of opening of nomination and list of applicants for judicial
positions.

The Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA) is the training school for justices, judge, court
personnel, lawyers and aspirants to judicial posts. It was originally created by the Supreme
Court on March 16, 1996 by virtue of Administrative Order No. 35-96 and was institutionalized

on February 26, 1998 by virtue of Republic 8557. It is an important component of the Supreme
Court for its important mission on judicial education it to p rovide opportunities to develop
judicial competence, instill sound values, and form constructive attitudes in its continuing
pursuit of judicial excellence. No appointee to the Bench may commence the discharge his
adjudicative function without completing the prescribed course in the Philippine Judicial
Academy (http://philja.judiciary.gov.ph/programs.html)
Its organizational structure and
administrative set-up are provided for by the Supreme Court in its En Banc resolution (Revised
A.M. No. 01-1-04-SC-PHILJA). It has development partners . The PHILJA Training Center is
situated at Brgy. Silang, Crossing East, Tagaytay City.

The Philippine Mediation Center was organized pursuant to Supreme Court En banc
Resolution A.M. No. 01-10-5-SC-PHILJA, dated October 16, 2001, and in line with the objectives
of the Action Program for Judicial Reforms (APJR) to decongest court dockets, among others,
the Court prescribed guidelines in institutionalizing and implementing the mediation program
in the Philippines. The same resolution designated the Philippine Judicial Academy as the
component unit of the Supreme Court for Court-Annexed Mediation and other Alternative
Dispute Resolution (ADR) Mechanisms, and established the Philippine Mediation Center
(PMC).

Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Office was organized to implement the rules on
Mandatory Continuing Legal Education for members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines
(B.M. No. 850 dated October 2, 2001 Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE)). The
purpose of the MCLE is to ensure that throughout the career of the members of the Integrated
Bar of the Philippines, they keep abreast with law and jurisprudence, maintain the ethics of the
profession and enhance the standards of the practice of law. Members of the Integrated Bar of
the Philippines who are not exempt from the MCLE must complete thirty six (36) hours of
continuing legal education every three (3) years (B.M. No. 850, Rule 2, sec. 2). Exemptions
from the MCLE requirement are under Rule 7, sec. 1-2. It holds office in the Integrated Bar of
the Philippines main office at Julio Vargas St., Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City.

Court of Appeals :
Commonwealth Act No. 3 (December 31, 1935), pursuant to the Constitution (1935), Art. VIII,
sec. 1, established the Court of Appeals. It was formally organized on February 1, 1936 and was
composed of eleven justices with Justice Pedro Concepcion as the first Presiding Justice. Its
composition was increased to 15 in 1938 and further increased to 17 in 1942 by virtue of
Executive Order No. 4. The Court of Appeals was regionalized in the later part of 1944 when
five District Courts of Appeal were organized for Northern, Central and Southern Luzon, for
Manila and for Visayas and Mindanao. It was abolished by President Osmena in 1945, pursuant
to Executive Order No. 37 due to the prevailing abnormal conditions . However, it was reestablished on October 4, 1946 by virtue of Republic Act No. 52 with a Presiding Justice and

fifteen (15) Associate Justices. Its composition was increased by the following enactments:
Republic Act No. 1605 to eighteen (18); Republic Act No. 5204 to twenty-four (24); Presidential
Decree No. 1482 to one (1) Presiding Justice and thirty-four (34) Associate Justices; Batas
Pambansa Blg. 129 to fifty (50); Republic Act No. 8246 to sixty-nine (69). With Republic Act No.
8246, the Court of Appeals in Cebu, and Cagayan de Oro were established. With Republic Act
8246, the 69 Justices are divided in twenty three divisions throughout the Philippines: Luzon
(Manila- 1-17 th Division), Visayas (Cebu- 18 th -20 th Division) and Mindanao (Cagayan de Oro21 st -23 rd Division). The 2009 Internal Rules of Procedure of the Court of Appeals was
approved by the Supreme Court En Ban in a Resolution (A.M. No. 09-11-11-CA) dated
December 15, 2009. (http://ca.judiciary.gov.ph/images/references_corner/2009irca.pdf)
Batas Pambansa Blg . 129 changed t he name of the Court of Appeals to Intermediate Appellate
Court. Executive Order No. 33, issued by President Corazon C. Aquino on July 28, 1986,
brought back its name to Court of Appeals.

Section 9 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 129 as amended by Executive Order No. 33 and
No. 7902 provides for the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals as follows:

Republic Act

Original jurisdiction to issue writs of mandamus, prohibition, certiorari habeas corpus,

and quo warrant, and auxiliary writs or processes, whether or not in aid of its appellate
jurisdiction;
Exclusive original jurisdiction over actions for annulment of judgment of Regional Trial
Courts; and
Exclusive appellate jurisdiction over all final judgments, decisions, resolutions, orders or
awards of Regional Trial Courts and quasi-judicial agencies, instrumentalities, boards or
commissions, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Social Security
Commission, the Employees Compensation Commission and the Civil Service
Commission, except those falling within the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court
in accordance with the Constitution, the Labor Code of the Philippines under
Presidential Decree No. 442, as amended, the provisions of this Act, and of subparagraph
(1) of the third paragraph and subparagraph (4) of the fourth paragraph of Section 17 of
the Judiciary Act of 1948.

In the case of St. Martin Funeral Home v. National Labor Relations Commission, G.R. No.
130866, September 16, 1998 (356 Phil. 811), the decision and resolutions of the National Labor
Relations Commission now initially reviewable to the Court of Appeals through a petition of
Certiorari under Rule 65. Prior to this decision, it was directly to the Supreme Court.

Criminal cases where the penalty imposed is reclusion perpetua, life imprisonment or death
were automatically elevated to the Supreme Court. With the case of People v. Mateo, G.R. No.
147678-87, July 4, 2004 (433 SCRA 640), the Supreme Court allowed the Court of Appeals to
conduct an intermediate review of the case before it is elevated to the Supreme Court.

As per the Resolution of the Supreme Court (A.M. No. 05-11-04-SC), the Court of Appeals has
jurisdiction over petitions for freeze orders on any money instrument, property or proceeds
involving the Anti-Money Laundering cases (Republic Act No. 9160). Jurisdiction for Writs of
Amparo (A.M. No. 07-9-12-SC dated October 24, 2007) and Writs of Habeas data (A.M. No. 081-16-SC dated February 2, 2008) rests with the Court of Appeals.

The Supreme Court, acting on the recommendation of the Committee on Revision of the Rules
of Court, resolved to approve the 2002 Internal Rules of the Court of Appeals (A.M. No. 02-613-CA) and amended by a resolution of the Court En Banc on July 13, 2004 (A.M. No. 03-0503-SC).

Pursuant to Republic Act No. 9372 otherwise known as the Human Security Act of 2007, the
Chief Justice issued Administrative Order No. 118-2007, designating the First, Second and Third
Divisions of the Court of Appeals to handle cases involving the crimes of terrorism or conspiracy
to commit terrorism and all other matters incident to the said crimes emanating from the
Metropolitan Manila and Luzon. For those emanating from Visayas, all divisions of the Court of
Appeals stationed in Cebu are designated to handle these cases while the Court of Appeals
stationed in Cagayan De Oro will handle cases from Mindanao.

Sandiganbayan :
The Anti-Graft Court, or Sandiganbayan, was created to maintain integrity, honesty and
efficiency in the bureaucracy and weed out misfits and undesirables in government service
Constitution (1973), Art. XIII, sec. 5 and Constitution (1987), Art. XI, sec. 4. It was restructured
by Presidential Decree No. 1606 as amended by Republic Act No. 8249. It is composed of a
Presiding Justice and fourteen (14) Associate Justices still in five Divisions of three (3) Justices
each.
As per Republic Act No. 8249, the Sandiganbayan has jurisdiction over cases involving the
violations of the following:

Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act No. 3019, as amended, Republic Act
No. 1379, and Chapter II, Sec. 2, Title VII, Book II of the Revised Penal Code), of a

government official occupying the following positions in the government whether in a

permanent, acting or interim capacity, at the time of the commission of the offense;
Officials of the executive branch occupying the positions of regional director and higher,
otherwise classified as Grade '27' and higher, of the Compensation and Position
Classification Act of 1989 (Republic Act No. 6758);
Members of Congress and officials thereof classified as Grade'27'and up under the
Compensation and Position Classification Act of 1989; cralaw
Members of the judiciary without prejudice to the provisions of the Constitution;
Chairmen and members of Constitutional Commissions, without prejudice to the
provisions of the Constitution; and
All other national and local officials classified as Grade'27'and higher under the
Compensation and Position Classification Act of 1989.

Other offenses or felonies whether simple or complexed with other crimes committed by the
public officials and employees mentioned in subsection a) of this section in relation to their
office.

Civil and criminal cases filed pursuant to and in connection with Executive Order Nos. 1, 2, 14
and 14-A, issued in 1986.

The Supreme Court, acting on the recommendation of the Committee on Revision of the Rules
of Court, resolved with modification the Revised Internal Rules of the Sandiganbayan on
August 28, 2002 (A.M. No. 02-6-07SB)

Court of Tax Appeals :

Created by Republic Act No. 1125 on June 16, 1954, it serves as an appellate court to review tax
cases. It had three judges and one Division. Under Republic Act No. 9282 , its jurisdiction has
been expanded where it now enjoys the same level as the Court of Appeals. This law has
doubled its membership, from three to six justices, one (1) Presiding Justice and five (5)
Associate Justices. There are now two (2) Divisions with three Justices per division. Republic
Act Number 9503 enacted on June 12, 2008 and effective July 5, 2008 further expanded its
composition to one (1) Presiding Justice and eight (8) Associate Justices in three (3) Divisions.
A decision of a division may be appealed to the En Banc. The en Banc decision may be appealed
by verified petition for certiorari to the Supreme Court.

T he Supreme Court acting on the recommendation of the Committee on Revision of the Rules
of Court resolved to approve the Revised Rules of the Court of Tax Appeals (A.M. No. 05-11-07CTA) and amended by aresolution of the Court En Banc on November 22, 2005 .

The Court of Tax Appeals has exclusive appellate jurisdiction to review by appeal pursuant to
Republic Act No. 1125 are the following:

Decisions of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue in cases involving disputed,

assessments, refunds of internal revenue taxes, fees or other charges, penalties imposed
in relation thereto, or other matters arising under the National Internal Revenue Code or
other laws administered by the Bureau of Internal Revenue;
Decisions of the Commissioner of Customs in cases involving liability for customs duties,
fees, or other money charges; seizure, detention or release of property affected; fines,
forfeitures or other penalties imposed in relation thereto; or other matters arising under
the Customs Law or other laws administered by the Bureau of Customs;
Decisions of the Secretary of Finance on customs cases elevated to him automatically for
review from decisions of the Commissioner of Customs which are adverse to the
Government under Section 2315 of the Tariff and Customs Code;
Decisions of the Secretary of Trade and Industry in the case of non-agricultural product,
commodity or article, and the Secretary of Agriculture in the case of agricultural product,
commodity or article, involving dumping and countervailing duties under Section 301
and 302, respectively, of the Tariff and Customs Code, and safeguard measures under
R.A. No. 8800, where either party may appeal the decision to impose or not to impose
said duties;
The expanded appellate jurisdiction of the under Republic Act No. 9282 are follows;
all criminal offenses arising from violations of the National Internal Revenue Code or
Tariff and Customs Code and other laws administered by the Bureau of Internal Revenue
or the Bureau of Customs;
Decisions, orders or resolutions of the Regional Trial Courts in local tax cases;
Decisions of the Central Board of Assessment Appeals in the exercise of its appellate
jurisdiction over cases involving the assessment and taxation of real property originally
decided by the provincial or city board of assessment appeals;
Collection of internal revenue taxes and customs duties the assessment of which have
become final.
Under Republic Act No. 9282, the jurisdiction of the Court of Tax Appeals include civil
tax cases and cases that are criminal in nature, as well as local tax cases, property tax and
collection of taxes.

Regional Trial Courts:

They are called the second level courts and are divided into thirteen (13) judicial regions:
National Capital Region (Metro Manila) and the twelve (12) regions of the country, which are
divided into several branches. The jurisdictions are defined in sec. 19-23 of Batas Pambansa Blg.
129 as amended by Republic Act No. 7671. The Supreme Court designates certain branches of
regional trial courts as special courts to handle exclusively criminal cases, juvenile and domestic
relations cases, agrarian cases, urban land reform cases that do not fall under the jurisdiction of
quasi-judicial bodies. The Supreme Court issues resolutions designating specific branches of the
Regional Trial Courts as special courts for heinous crimes, dangerous drugs cases, commercial
courts and intellectual property rights violations. Special rules are likewise promulgated. A.M.
No. 00-8-10-SC is a resolution of the Court En Banc on the Rules of Procedure on Corporate
Rehabilitation. The Interim Rules was promulgated in November 2000 and December 2008
affects special commercial courts. Some Regional Trial Courts are specifically designated to try
and decide cases formerly cognizable by the Securities and Exchange Commission (A.M. No. 0011-030SC).

Some branches of the Regional Trial Courts have been designated as family courts (A.M. No. 9911-07) because the family courts to be established pursuant to Republic Act No. 8369 of the
Family Court Law of 1997 have not yet been organized. Pursuant to Republic Act No. 8369, the
Family Court Law of 1997, some branches of the Regional Trial Courts have been designated as
family courts (A.M. No. 99-11-07).
The Regional Trial Courts jurisdictions are defined as follows:

Exercise exclusive original jurisdiction in Civil Cases as follows:

All civil actions in which the subject of the litigation is incapable of pecuniary estimation;
All civil actions which involve the title to, or possession of real property, or any interest
therein, where the assessed value of the property involved exceeds twenty thousand
pesos (P 20,000.00) or, civil actions in Metro Manila, where such value exceeds Fifty
thousand pesos (P 50,000.00) except actions for forcible entry into and unlawful
detainer of lands or buildings, original jurisdiction over which is conferred upon the
MeTCs, MTCs, and MCTCs;
All actions in admiralty and maritime jurisdiction where the demand or claim exceeds
one hundred thousand pesos (P 100,000.00) or, in Metro Manila, where such demand or
claim exceeds two hundred thousand pesos (P 200,000.00);
All matters of probate, both testate and intestate, where the gross value of the estate
exceeds One hundred thousand pesos (P 100,000.00) or, in probate matters in Metro
Manila, where such gross value exceeds Two hundred thousand pesos (P 200,000.00);
All actions involving the contract of marriage and marital relations;

All cases not within the exclusive jurisdiction of any court, tribunal, person or body
exercising judicial or quasi-judicial functions;
All civil actions and special proceedings falling within the exclusive original jurisdiction
of a Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court and of the Court of Agrarian Relations as
now provided by law; and
All other cases in which the demand, exclusive of interest, damages of whatever kind,
attorneys fees, litigation expenses and costs or the value of the property in controversy
exceeds One hundred thousand pesos (P 100,000.00) or, in such other cases in Metro
Manila, where the demand, exclusive of the above-mentioned items exceeds Two
hundred pesos (P 200,000.00) (Sec. 19, Batas Pambansa Blg. 129, as amended by Rep.
Act No. 7691).

Exercise original jurisdiction in other cases as follows:

The issuance of writs of certiorari, prohibition, mandamus, quo warranto , habeas

corpus, and injunction which may be enforced in any part of their respective regions; and
Actions affecting ambassadors and other public ministers and consuls.
They shall exercise appellate jurisdiction over MeTCs, MTCCs, MTCs, and MCTCs in
their respective territorial jurisdiction.

Metropolitan Trial Courts (MeTC), Municipal Trial Courts in Cities (MTCC), Municipal Trial
Courts (MTC) and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts (MCTC):

These are called the first level courts established in each city and municipality. Their
jurisdiction is provided for by section 33, 35 of Batas Pambansa Blg 129. Their jurisdiction has
been expanded by special lawsnamely Republic Act Nos. 9276, 9252, 9305, 9306, and 9308.

MeTCs, MTCCs, MTCs, and MCTCs shall exercise original jurisdiction in Civil Cases as
provided for in section 33 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 129 is as follows:

Exclusive original jurisdiction over civil actions and probate proceedings, testate and
intestate, including the grant of provisional remedies in proper cases, where the value of
the personal property, estate or amount of the demand does not exceed One hundred
thousand pesos (P 100,000.00) or, in Metro Manila where such personal property, estate
or amount of the demand does not exceed Two hundred thousand pesos (P 200,000.00),

exclusive of interests, damages of whatever kind, attorneys fees, litigation expenses, and
costs the amount of which must be specifically alleged: Provided, That interests,
damages of whatever kind, attorneys fees, litigation expenses and costs shall be included
in the determination of the filing fees. Provided further, That where there are several
claims or causes of action between the same or different parties embodied in the same
complaint, the amount of the demand shall be the totality of the claims in all the causes
of action arose out of the same or different transactions;

Exclusive original jurisdiction over cases of forcible entry and unlawful detainer:
Provided, That when, in such cases, the defendant raises the question of ownership in his
pleadings and the question of ownership in his pleadings and the question of possession
cannot be resolved without deciding the issue of ownership, the issue of ownership shall
be resolved only to determine the issue of possession; and

Exclusive original jurisdiction in all civil actions which involve title to, or possession of,
real property, or any interest therein where the assessed value of the property or interest
therein does not exceed Twenty thousand pesos (P 20,000.00) or, in civil actions in
Metro Manila, where such assessed value does not exceed Fifty thousand pesos (P
50,000.00) exclusive of interest, damages of whatever kind, attorneys fees, litigation
expenses and costs: Provided, That in cases of land not declared for taxation purposes
the value of such property shall be determined by the assessed value of the adjacent lots
(Sec. 33, Batas Pambansa Blg. 129).

Section 33 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 129 provides that the Supreme Court may designate MeTCs,
MTCCs, MTCs, and MCTCs to hear and determine cadastral or land registration cases where the
value does not exceed one hundred thousand pesos (P100, 000.00). Their decision is can be
appealed in the same manner as the Regional Trial Courts.

The MeTCs, MTCCs, MTCs, and MCTCs are empowered to hear and decide petitions for a writ of
habeas corpus or applications for bail in criminal cases in the province or city in the absence of
the Regional Trial Court Judges.

The Supreme Court approved on September 9, 2008 the Rule of Procedure for Small Claims
Cases (A.M. No. 08-8-7-SC) which took effect on October 1, 2008 after its publication in two
newspapers of general circulation. Forty four (44) first level courts (Metropolitan Trial Courts

(MeTC), Municipal Trial Courts in Cities (MTCC), Municipal Trial Courts (MTC) and Municipal
Circuit Trial Courts (MCTC) were designated to hear small claims cases. On February 16, 2010,
a Resolution of the Court En Banc was approved amending provisions of the Rule of Procedure
for Small Claims Cases (A.M. No. 08-8-7-SC). In March of 2010, all the first Level Courts in the
country, except Sharia courts were empowered to hear small claims cases. Small claims courts
are also called Peoples Courts cases are readily resolve for al courts are required to decide the
matter at the first hearing. Lawyers are not allowed in hearings. Thus, the procedure is
considered inexpensive. These first level courts try small claims cases for payment of money
where the value of the claim does not exceed One Hundred Thousand Pesos (P100, 000.00)
exclusive of interest and costs. These courts shall apply the rules of procedure provided in A.M.
No. 08-8-7-SC in all actions which are: (a) purely civil in nature where the claim or relief
prayed for by the plaintiff is solely for payment or reimbursement of sum of money, and (b) the
civil aspect of criminal actions, either filed before the institution of the criminal action, or
reserved upon the filing of the criminal action in court, pursuant to Rule 111 of the Revised Rules
Of Criminal Procedure.

Sharia Courts:
These special courts were created by sec. 137 of Presidential Decree No. 1083 or the Code of
Muslim Personal Laws. The judges should possess all the qualifications of a Regional Trial
Court Judge and should also be learned in Islamic law and jurisprudence. Articles 143, 144, and
155 of Presidential Decree No. 1083 provide the jurisdiction of the said courts as follows:

Sharia D istrict Courts (SDC) as provided for in paragraph (1), Article 143 of Presidential Decree
No. 1083, shall have exclusive jurisdiction over the following cases:

All cases involving custody, guardianship, legitimacy, paternity and filiations arising
under the Code;
All cases involving disposition, distribution and settlement of the estates of deceased
Muslims, probate of wills, issuance of letters of administration or appointment of
administrators or executors regardless of the nature or aggregate value of the property;
Petitions for the declaration of absence and death and for the cancellation or correction
of entries in the Muslim Registries mentioned in Title VI of Book Two of the Code;
All actions arising from customary contracts in which the parties are Muslim, if they did
not specified which law shall govern their relations; and
All petitions for mandamus, prohibition, injunction, certiorari, habeas corpus, and all
other auxiliary writs and processes in aid of its appellate jurisdiction.

The SDC in concurrence with existing civil courts shall have original jurisdiction over the
following cases (paragraph (2) of Article 143):

Petitions by Muslims for the constitution of family home, change of name and
commitment of an insane person to any asylum:
All other personal and real actions not mentioned in paragraph (1) (d) wherein the
parties involved are Muslims except those for forcible entry and unlawful detainer, which
shall fall under the exclusive original jurisdiction of the MTCs;
All special civil actions for interpleader or declaratory relief wherein the parties are
Muslims or the property involved belongs exclusively to Muslims.

Article 144 of Presidential Decree No. 1083 provides that the SDC within shall have appellate
jurisdiction over all cases tried in the Sharia Circuit Courts (SCC) within their territorial
jurisdiction.

Article 155 of Presidential Decree No. 1083 provides that the SCCs have exclusive original
jurisdiction over:

All cases involving offenses defined and punished under the Code;
All civil actions and proceedings between parties who are Muslims or have been married
in accordance with Article 13 of the Code involving disputes relating to:
o Marriage;
o Divorce recognized under the Code;
o Betrothal or breach of contract to marry;
o Customary dower (mahr);
o Disposition and distribution of property upon divorce;
o Maintenance and support, and consolatory gifts (muta); and
o Restitution of marital rights; and
All cases involving disputes to communal properties.

Rules of procedure are provided for in articles 148 and 158. En Banc Resolution of the Supreme
Court in 183, provided the special rules of procedure in the Sharia courts ( Ijra-at-Al Mahakim
Al Shariaa).
Sharia courts and personnel are subject to the administrative supervision of the Supreme Court.
Appointment of judges, qualifications, tenure, and compensation are subject to the provisions of
the Muslim Code (Presidential Decree No. 1083. SDCs and SCCs have the same officials and
other personnel as those provided by law for RTCs and MTCs, respectively.

Quasi-Courts or Quasi-Judicial Agencies:

Quasi-judicial agencies are administrative agencies, more properly belonging to the Executive
Department, but are empowered by the Constitution or statutes to hear and decide certain
classes or categories of cases.

Quasi-judicial agencies, which are empowered by the Constitution, are the Constitutional
Commissions: Civil Service Commission, Commission on Elections and the Commission on
Audit.

Quasi-judicial agencies empowered by statutes are: Office of the President. Department of

Agrarian Reform, Securities and Exchange Commission, National Labor Relations Commission,
National Telecommunication Commission, Employees Compensation Commission, Insurance
Commission, Construction Industry Arbitration Commission, Philippine Atomic Energy
Commission, Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System, Bureau of Patents,
Trademark and Technology, National Conciliation Mediation Board, Land Registration
Authority, Civil Aeronautics Board, Central Board of Assessment Appeals, National
Electrification Administration, Energy Regulatory Board, Agricultural Inventions Board and the
Board of Investments. When needed, t he Supreme Court issues rules and regulations for these
quasi-judicial agencies in the performance of their judicial functions. Republic Act No. 8799,
known as the Securities Regulation Code, reorganized the Securities and Exchange
Commission (Chapter II) and provided for its powers and function (sec.5). Specifically provided
for in these powers and function is the Commissions jurisdiction over all cases previously
provided for in sec. 5, Pres. Decree No. 902-A (sec. 5.2). The Supreme Court promulgated rules
of procedure governing intra-corporate controversies under Republic Act No. 8799 (A.M. No.
01-2-04-SC).

Decisions of these quasi-courts can be appealed to the Court of Appeals except those of the
Constitutional Commissions: Civil Service Commission, Commission on Elections and the
Commission on Audit, which can be appealed by certiorari to the Supreme Court (Art. IX-A, sec.
7).

Other Judicial Procedures:

Katarungang Pambarangay - Presidential Decree No. 1508, or the Katarungang
Pambarangay Law, took effect December 11, 1978, and established a system of amicably settling
disputes at the barangay l evel. Rules and procedures were provided by this decree and the
Local Government Code, Title I, Chapter 7, sec. 339-422). This system of amicable settlement of
dispute aims to promote the speedy administration of justice by easing the congestion of court
dockets. The Court does not take cognizance of cases filed if they are not filed first with the
Katarungang Pambarangay.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) System - Republic Act No. 9285 institutionalized the use
of an alternative dispute resolution system, which serves to promote the speedy and impartial
administration of justice and unclog the court dockets. This act shall be without prejudice to the
adoption of the Supreme Court of any ADR system such as mediation, conciliation, arbitration
or any combination thereof. The Chairperson of the Sub-Committee on the Rules on Alternative
Dispute Resolution recommended the Special Rules of Court on Alternative Dispute Resolution
(A.M. No. 07-11-08-SC) to the Supreme Court En Banc and it was approved on October 30,
2009. The Department of Justice on the other hand promulgated Department Circular No. 98
- Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act of 2004
(Republic Act No. 9285) on December 4, 2009. The Supreme Court on June 22, 2010
approved the Rules on Court-Annexed Family Mediation, amending the Rules on Court
Annexed Mediation and the corresponding Code of Ethical Standards for Mediators. (A.M. No.
10-4-16-SC).

The Supreme Court by virtue of an En Banc Resolution dated October 16, 2001 (Administrative
Matter No. 01-10-5-SC-PHILJA), designated the Philippine Judicial Academy as the component
unit of the Supreme Court for court-referred or court-related mediation cases and alternative
dispute resolution mechanism and establishing the Philippine Mediation Center. Muslin law
provides its own arbitration Council called The Agama Arbitration Council.

Aside from the three co-equal branches, the other offices in government are the government
financial institutions and government-owned and controlled corporations .

3.4. Constitutional Commissions

Civil Service Commission - Act No. 5 (1900) established the Philippine civil service and was
reorganized as a Bureau in 1905. It was established in the 1935 Constitution. Republic Act No.
2260 (1959) converted it from a Bureau into the Civil Service Commission. Presidential Decree
No. 807 further redefined its role. Its present status is provided for in the 1987 Constitution, Art.
IX-B and reiterated by the provision of the 1987 Administrative Code (Executive Order No. 292).

Commission on Elections - It is the constitutional commission created by a 1940 amendment to

the 1935 Constitution whose primary function is to manage to maintain its authority and
independence in the conduct of elections. The COMELEC exercises administrative, quasijudicial and judicial powers. Its membership increased to nine with a term of nine years by the
1973 Constitution. It was however decreased to seven with a term of seven years without reappointment by the 1987 Constitution.

Commission on Audit - Article IX, sec, 2 of the 1987 Constitution provided the powers and
authority of the Commission on Audit, which is to examine, audit and settle all accounts
pertaining to the revenue and receipts of and expenditures or uses of funds and property owned
or held in trust by or pertaining to the Government including government owned and controlled
corporations with original charters.

3.5. Local Governments

Article X of the 1987 Constitution provides for the territorial and political subdivisions of the
Philippines as follows: province, cities, municipalities and barangays . The 1991 Local
Government Code or Republic Act No. 7160, as amended by Republic Act No. 9009, provides
the detail that implements the provision of the Constitution. The officials, namely, the governor,
city mayor, city vice mayor, municipal mayor, municipal vice-mayor and punong barangay are
elected by their respective units. (1991 Local Government Code, Title II, Chapter 1, sec. 41 (a)).
The regular members of the sangguniang panlalawigan (for the province),sangguniang
panglunsod (for cities), sangguniang bayan (municipalities) are elected by districts while the
sangguniang barangay are elected at large.

Each territorial or political subdivision enjoys local autonomy as defined in the Constitution.
The President exercises supervision over local Governments.
Each region is composed of several provinces while each province is composed of a cluster of
municipalities and component cities (Local Government Code, Title IV, Chapter 1, sec. 459). The
Provincial government is composed of the governor, vice-governor, members of the
sangguniang panlalawigan and other appointed officials.

The city consists of more urbanized and developed barangays which are created, divided,
merged, abolished or its boundary altered by law or act of Congress, subject to the approval of
majority votes cast by its residents in a plebiscite conducted by the Comelec (Local Government
Code, Title III, Chapter 1, sec. 448-449). A City may be classified either as a component or
highly urbanized. The city government is composed of the mayor, vice-mayor, members of the
sangguniang panlunsod (which is composed of the president of the city chapter of the liga ng
mga barangay , president of the panlungsod ng mga pederasyon ng mga sangguniang
kabataan and the sectoral representatives) and other appointed officials.

The municipality consists of a group of barangays which is created, divided, merged, abolished
or its boundary altered by law or act of Congress, subject to the approval of majority votes casts
in a plebiscite conducted by the Comelec (Local Government Code, Title II, Chapter 1, sec. 440-

441). The municipal government is composed of the mayor, vice-mayor, sangguniang members
(which are composed of president of the municipal chapter of the liga ng mga barangay ,
president of the pambayang pederasyon ng mga sangguniang kabataan and the sectoral
representatives) and other appointed officials. In order for a municipality to be converted into
cities, a law or act of Congress must be passed by virtue of the provisions of the Local
Government Code and the Constitution. A plebiscite must be conducted to determine if a
majority of the people in the said municipality are in favor of converting the municipality into a
city. Although laws have been passed, their constitutionality can be question in the Supreme
Court. This can be seen in the November 18, 2008 decision penned by Justice Antonio T.
Carpio. The League of Cities of the Philippines, City of Iloilo, and City of Calbayog filed
consolidated petitions questioning the constitutionality of the Cityhood Laws and enjoined the
Commission on Elections and the respondent municipality from conducting plebiscites. The
Cityhood Laws were declared as unconstitutional for they violated sections 6 and 10, Article X of
the 1987 Constitution. The Cityhood laws referred to in this case are: Republic Acts 9389, 9390,
9391, 9392, 9293, 9394, 9398, 9404, 9405, 9407, 9408, 9409, 9434, 9435, 9436 and 9491.
(League of Cities of the Philippines (CP) represented by LCP National President Jerry P. Trenas
v. Commission on Elections, G.R. No. 176951, 177499, 178056, November 18, 2008). Acting on
an appeal, Justice Antonio T. Carpio on August 24, 2010 sustained the earlier decision declaring
the Cityhood Laws unconstitutional. On appeal, the Court in a decision on February 15, 2011,
penned by Justice Lucas P. Bersamin, reversed the two previous decisions of the Court and
declared the Cityhood laws constitutional. Justice Bersamin sustained this decision on April 12,
2011 and the finally on June 28, 2011.

The Barangay is the smallest local government unit which is created, divided, merged,
abolished or its boundary altered by law or by an ordinance of the sangguniang panlalawigan
or sangguniang panlunsod , subject to the approval of majority votes casts in a plebiscite
conducted by the Comelec (Local Government Code, Title I, Chapter 1, sec. 384-385)

The Philippines is divided into the following local government units:

Region I (ILOCOS REGION)

Region II (CAGAYAN VALLEY)
Region III (CENTRAL LUZON)
Region IV (CALABARZON & MIMAROPA)
Region V (BICOL REGION)
Region VI (WESTERN VISAYAS)
Region VII (CENTRAL VISAYAS)
Region VIII (EASTERN VISAYAS)
Region IX (ZAMBOANGA PENINSULA)
Region X (NORTHERN MINDANAO)

Region XI (DAVAO REGION)

Region XII (SOCCSKSARGEN)
Region XIII (CARAGA)
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindano (ARMM)
Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
National Capital Region (NCR)

The Caraga Administrative Region (Region XIII) was created by Republic Act No. 7901, which
was passed by both houses of Congress and approved by the President on February 23, 1995. It
is composed of the provinces of Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Surigao
del Sur, and the cities of Butuan and Surigao.

The Cordillera Administrative Region was created by President Corazon C. Aquino by virtue of
Executive Order No. 220 on July 15, 1987. It includes the provinces of Abra, Benguet, Mountain
Province, Ifugao and Kalinga-Apayao. Republic Act No. 6766, which was approved on October
23, 1989. Republic Act No. 6766 providing for an Organic Act for the Cordillera Autonomous
Region was passed Congress and took effect on October 23, 1989. A plebiscite was called but it
failed to get the majority affirmative vote on January 30, 1990. Another law, Republic Act No.
8438, establishing the Cordillera Autonomous Region was passed by Congress on December 22,
1997. Another plebiscite was held on March 7, 1998 among the people of the region. Again, it
failed to gain the majority approval of the Cordillera people. Efforts in Congress are being made
for the passage of another law.

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was created by Republic Act No. 6734
and further strengthened by Republic Act No. 9054. Republic Act No. 6734 was passed by
both houses of Congress on February7, 2001 and lapsed into law without the signature of the
President in accordance with Article VI, Section 27 (1) of the Constitution on March 31, 2001.
The ARMM has its seat of government in Muslim Mindanao. It is composed of four provinces,
Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. It is guided by its own Constitution and
Organic Act. It has its own Legislative, Executive and Administration of Justice (Judicial)
department of government.

In the case of Disomangcop v. Datumanong, G.R. No. 149848, November 25, 2004, touch on
the fate of the autonomy for Muslim Mindanao. In this decision Justice Tinga stated we have
the overwhelming support of the Bangsa Moro and the Cordillera Constitution. By this we mean
meaningful an authentic regional autonomy. We propose that we have a separate Article on the
autonomous regions for the Bangsa Moro and the Cordillera people clearly spelled out in the
Constitution, instead of prolonging the agony of...

This ARMM will be replaced by the Bangsang Moro basic law according to the Chief Peace
Negotiator Marvic Leonen. The Philippine Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation have
agreed to form the transition commission to craft the basic Bangsamoro Basic Law. Framework
of Agreement of the Bangsa Moro was drafted in 2012. Annex of Power Sharing was signed in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on December 8, 2013 between Prof. Miriam Coronel- Ferrer as the
GPH Panel Chair and Mohaher Iqbal as the MILF Panel Chair, in the presence of the Malaysian
Facilitator Tengku Dato Ab Ghafar Tengku Mohamed.

3.6. Other Government Agencies

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank) is considered as a constitutional office in the
official Philippine government directory .

The Commission on Appointment is an independent constitutional body separate and distinct

from the Legislative. Its members are members of both house of Congress. It aims to acts as a
restraint against the abuse of the appointing power of the President by approving only those
who are fit and qualified to ensure the efficient and harmonious functioning of the government.
This mandate and the government officials who need the Commissions confirmation are
provided in the Constitution (1987), Article VII, sec. 16. The members of the judiciary are not
covered by the Commission on Appointments for the are under the Judicial and Bar Council.

The Commission on Human Rights was created as an independent office for cases of violation of
the human rights (1987 Constitution, Art. XIII, sec. 17), Article XIII, sec. 18 whose mission is
committee to ensure the primacy of all human rights to their protection, promotion and
fulfillment, on the basis of equality and non-discrimination, in particular for those who are
marginalized and vulnerable. It is composed of a Chairpersonand four (4) members.

Office of the Ombudsman :

Constitution (1987), Article XI, sec. 12 and Republic Act No. 6770, sec. 13 , provide that the
mandate of the Office of the Ombudsman is to act promptly on complaints filed in any form or
manner against officers or employees of the Government, or of any subdivision, agency or
instrumentality thereof, including government-owned or controlled corporations, and enforce
their administrative, civil and criminal liability in every case where the evidence warrants in
order to promote efficient service by the Government to the people . Republic Act No. 677, sec.
15 provides that priority is given to complaints filed against high ranking government officials
and/or those occupying supervisory positions and those complaints involving grave offenses as

well as complaints involving large sums of money and/or properties.

Ombudsman and six (6) deputies.

It is composed of the

The President, Vice President, members of the Supreme Court, Constitutional Commission and
the Ombudsman may be removed from office by impeachment for conviction of violations of the
Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes or betrayal of public trust.
(Art. XI, sec. 2). The House of Representatives has the exclusive power to initiate (Art. XI, sec. 3
(1)) while the Senate has the sole power to try and decide impeachments cases (Art. XI, sec.
3(6)). All other public officials and employees may be removed by law (Art. XI, sec. 2 the Civil
Service Law).

4.

Legal System

4.1. Nature of the Philippine Legal System

The Philippine legal system may be considered as a unique legal system because it is a blend of
civil law (Roman), common law (Anglo-American), Muslim (Islamic) law and indigenous law.
Like other legal systems, there are two main sources of law.

4.2. Sources of Law

There are two primary sources of the law:

Statutes or statutory law - Statutes are defined as the written enactment of the will of the
legislative branch of the government rendered authentic by certain prescribed forms or
solemnities are more also known as enactment of congress. Generally, they consist of two types,
the Constitution and legislative enactments. In the Philippines, statutory law includes
constitutions, treaties, statutes proper or legislative enactments, municipal charters, municipal
legislation, court rules, administrative rules and orders, legislative rules and presidential
issuance.

Jurisprudence - or case law - is cases decided or written opinion by courts and by persons
performing judicial functions. Also included are all rulings in administrative and legislative
tribunals such as decisions made by the Presidential or Senate or House Electoral Tribunals.
Only decisions of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal are available in print as
House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal Reports, volume 1 (January 28, 1988-October 3,

1990) to present. They will be available electronically at the Supreme Court E-Library and as a
separate CD.

For Muslim law, the primary sources of Shariah are Quran, Sunnaqh, Ijma and Qiyas . Jainal D.
Razul in his book Commentaries and Jurisprudence on the Muslin Law of the Philippines (1984)
further stated there are new sources of Muslim law, which some jurists rejected such as Istihsan
or juristic preference; Al-Masalih, Al Mursalah or public interest ; Istidlal (custom) and
Istishab . (deduction based on continuity or permanence).

Classification of Legal Sources:

Classification by Authority:

Authority is that which may be cited in support of an action, theory or hypothesis. Primary
Authority is the only authority that is binding on the courts. These are the two sources of law
which includes the Constitution, legislative statutes or those passed by Congress, decisions of
the Supreme Court , appellate courts, lower court and other quasi-judicial agencies, Executive
issuances or Presidential issuances, treaties entered into by the Philippines, ordinances, rules
and regulations of government agencies. They are the actual law or those promulgated by the
three branches of government: Legislative, Executive and Judiciary.

The legislature promulgates statutes, namely: Act, Commonwealth Act, Republic Act, and Batas
Pambansa. The Executive promulgates presidential issuances (Presidential Decrees, Executive
Orders, Memorandum Circular, Administrative Orders, Proclamations, etc.), rules and
regulations through its various departments, bureaus and agencies. The Judiciary promulgates
judicial doctrines embodied in decisions.

We however need to clarify that the Presidential Decrees or law issued by President Ferdinand E.
Marcos during Martial Law and Executive Orders issued by Aquino President Corazon C.
Aquino before the opening Congress in July 1987 can be classified as legislative-executive acts,
there being no legislature during these two periods.

Primary Authority or sources may be further subdivided into the following:

Mandatory primary authority is law created by the jurisdiction in which the law operates
like the Philippines;
Persuasive mandatory authority is law created by other jurisdictions but which have
persuasive value to our courts e.g. Spanish and American laws and jurisprudence. These
sources as used specially when there are no Philippine authorities available or when the
Philippine statute or jurisprudence under interpretation is based on either the Spanish
or American law.

It is in this regard that the collections of law libraries in the Philippines include United States
court reports, Wests national reporter system, court reports of England and international
tribunal, important reference materials such as the American Jurisprudence, Corpus Juris
Secundum, Words and Phrases and different law dictionaries. Some of these law libraries
subscribe to the Westlaw and/or LexisNexis .
The Supreme Court, University of the
Philippines, University of Santo Tomas and a number of prominent law libraries also have a
Spanish collection where a great number of our laws originated.

Secondary authority or sources are commentaries or books, treatise, writings, journal articles
that explain, discuss or comment on primary authorities. Also included in this category are the
opinions of the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission or circulars of the
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas . These materials are not binding on courts but they have
persuasive effect and/or the degree of persuasiveness. With regards to commentaries or books,
treatise, writings, journal articles, the reputation or expertise of the author is a consideration.
Some of the authors of good reputation and considered experts in the field are Chief Justice
Ramon C. Aquino and Justice Carolina Grino Aquino on Revised Penal Code or Criminal Law,
Senator Arturo M. Tolentino on Civil law, Chief Justice Enrique M. Fernando and Fr. Joaquin
Bernas on Constitutional Law, Prof. Perfecto Fernandez on Labor Law, Vicente Francisco, Chief
Justice Manuel Moran on Remedial Law, and Justice Vicente Abad Santos and Senator Jovito
Salonga on International Law, etc. A list of these materials by subject are found in GlobaLex Part
2:
Philippine
Legal
Information
Resources
and
Citations
A.v
Treatise/Annotations/Commentaries, etc.

Classification by Source:

It is important for legal research experts to know the source where the materials were taken
from. One has to determine whether they came from primary (official) sources or secondary
(unofficial sources). Primary and secondary sources for the sources of law are found in Part 2:
Philippine
Legal
Information
Resources
and
Citations
A.v
Treatise/Annotations/Commentaries, etc.

Primary sources are those published by the issuing agency itself or the official repository, the
Official Gazette. The Official Gazette online was launched by the Office of the President in July
2010. This online version is maintained and managed by the Presidential Communications
Development and Strategic Management Office. . Thus, for Republic Acts and other legislative
enactments or statutes, the primary sources are theOfficial Gazette published by the National
Printing Office and the Laws and Resolutions published by Congress. For Supreme Court
decisions, the primary sources are the Philippine Reports , the individually mimeographed
Advance Supreme Court decisions and the Official Gazette . Publication of Supreme Court
decisions in the Official Gazette is selective. The publication of the Philippine Reports by the
National Printing Office ceased in 1960s. It was only in 1983 when the publication of the
Philippine Reports was revived by then Chief Justice Enrique M. Fernando who requested then
President Ferdinand E. Marcos to take charge of its publication with special appropriation in the
Judiciarys annual budget. However, when the Supreme Court took over the printing in 1983,
the delay in printing covered more than twenty (20) years. The last volume printed was volume
126 (June 1967). The Philippine Reports is up-to-date and almost complete from 1901. The
volumes are to be printed cover June 1991-December 1994. Online, the Supreme Court ELibrary is complete and updated as soon as the decisions have been certified by the Chief Justice.
The Supreme Court E-Library includes the citation of the Philippine Reports where each case is
found whenever it is available.

The Secondary Sources are the unofficial sources and generally referred to as those
commercially or institutionally published in print or online.

Some of the Secondary sources of statutes are the Vital Legal Documents , published by the
Central Book Supply, contains a compilation of Presidential Decrees (1973). The second edition
contains Republic Acts. Prof. Sulpicio Guevara published three books, which contain s the full
text of legislative enactments or laws namely: a ). Public Laws Annotated (7 vols.), compilation
of all laws from 1901 to 1935, b). Commonwealth Acts Annotated (3vos.), compilation of laws
from 1935-1945 c). The Laws of the First Philippine Republic (The Laws of Malolos) 18981899 . For the Supreme Court decisions, Supreme Court Reports Annotated (SCRA), a
secondary source, published by the Central Book Supply is more updated and popular in the
legal community than the Philippine Reports, the primary and official source. The SCRA was
published because of the delay in the printing of the Philippines and the need of the Philippine
legal profession for Supreme Court decision. Citations in commentaries or books, treatise,
writings, journal articles, pleading and even court decisions show SCRAs popular acceptance.
The general rule is that in the absence of a primary source, the secondary source may be cited.
This was the primary rationale for the SCRAs popularity. SCRA is now available online
(including tablet and iPad) by subscription.

With the advent of the new information technology, electronic or digitized sources are popular
sources and effective sources of legal information for the following reasons: a) no complete and
updated legal information available; b) the search engines utilizing the electronic or digitized
method facilitate research, and c) no complete and update manually published search tools for
statute and case law. These electronic sources started with CD ROMS and now online or
electronic libraries. The popular use of online/electronic libraries was due to the advent of the
iPads, iPods, tablet and notebooks and internet with Wi-Fi connection. Online access is either
through Open access or subscription basis. Open access for law is used for both the government
and the private sector.
The Chan Robles Law Firm Library and Arellano Law Foundation
Lawphil use open access in their electronic libraries, which contains the full-text of all sources
of Philippine legal information, case law and statute law. Chanrobles.com has also in its
database the full text of United States decisions and materials on important legal events such as
Impeachment proceedings, bar examinations. Chan Robles conducts online bar review program.

Official or government online source for full-text for all legal sources and related materials in the
Official Gazette online , launched in July 2010. It contains the issuances of all the executive
departments, which are found also in the websites of the different executive departments. They
aim (as reflected in their website) to include the issuances of the legislative and the judiciary.
The Supreme Court E-Library is an electronic library (online and CD Rom for decisions
updated quarterly) for all Philippine legal information, case law and statute law. Access
however is limited to the Justices, judges and court attorneys of the Supreme Court and law
schools (by request) through their law librarians.
Decisions and issuances of the Supreme
Court and its Offices and the Appellate Courts are found in the Judiciary portal .
CD Asia online contains full-text of Supreme Court decisions and statutes, available on a
subscription basis. Subscription may be made solely for court decisions or statutes or for both.
Central Books
eSCRA is another database which can be accessed online with the use of
desktops, laptops, notebooks, and iPads. Law Juan , iPad app is a new source for full-text
statutes and Supreme Court decisions available by subscription.

By using Google search, some of this legal information may be retrieved.

The established policy is that in case of conflict between the printed and electronic sources, the
printed version coming from the issuing government agency prevails.

Legal research for statute law in the Philippines benefited remarkably from the use of the latest
technology due to two major problems: a) no complete and updated published or printed search
tools or law finders for statute law and b) no complete compilation of statute law from 1901present were available. Problems of the publication of compilations of statute law or the

existence of the full-text of Presidential Decrees was that brought about to the Supreme Court
in the Tanada v. Tuvera, G.R. No. 63915, April 24, 1985 (220 Phil 422), December 29, 1986
(146 SCRA 446) case was resolved by the use of the latest technology. The Tanada v. Tuvera,
case that was first decided before the bloodless revolution popularly known as People Power or
the EDSA Revolution and modified in the December 29, 1986 or after the People Power or the
EDSA Revolution resolved the publication requirement for the effectivity of laws as provided for
in Section 2 of the Civil Code of the Philippines. This was resolved by Executive Order No. 200,
s. 1987 that provides that laws become effective fifteen (15) days after publication in the Official
Gazette or in two newspapers of general circulation.

Still, to be resolved i s how to classify sources published in the newspapers. Will Executive
Order No. 200, s. 1987, these resources as primary and secondary source. However, in case of
conflict between those published in the newspapers and the Official Gazette , the rule is
following the Official Gazette.

The existence, availability and access to local ordinances issued by the local governments in the
Philippines remains a problem for the City of Manila is the one with a compilation. However all
government agencies have started to use the latest technology in their operations and some of
them are available online.

In finding the law, our ultimate goal is to locate mandatory primary authorities, which have
bearing on the legal problem at hand. If these authorities are scarce or nonexistent, our next
alternative is to find any relevant persuasive mandatory authority. If our search is still negative,
the next alternative might be secondary authorities. There are however instances where the
secondary authorities, more particularly the commentaries made by experts of the field, take
precedence over the persuasive mandatory authorities. With the availability of both, using both
sources is highly recommended.

Classification by Character:
This refers to the nature of the subject treated in books. This classification categorizes books as:
a) Statute Law Books, b) Case Law Books or Law Reports, c) a combination of both and d) Law
Finders.

Law Finders refer to indexes, citators, encyclopedias, legal dictionaries, thesauri or digests. A
major problem in the Philippines is that there are no up-to-date Law Finders. Federico
Morenos Philippine Law Dictionary, the only available Philippine law dictionary was last
published in 1988, and, Jose Agaton Sibals Philippine Legal Thesaurus , which is likewise

considered a dictionary, was published in 1986. Foreign law dictionaries like Blacks Law
Dictionary, Words and Phrases are used as alternate. To search for legal information, legal
researchers go online virtual libraries such as the Supreme Court E-Library , Chan Robles
Virtual Library , Arellanos lawphil , CD Asia online and the different databases in CD-ROM
format from CD Asia Technologies Asia Inc. The databases developed by CD Asia include not
only the compilation of Laws (statutes) and Jurisprudence, but also include a compilation of
legal information that are not available in printed form such as Opinions of the Department of
Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission and Bangko Sentral (Central Bank) rules and
regulations. Search engines used in these databases answer for the lack of complete and
updated indexes of legal information. In this regard, effective legal research can be conducted
with one cardinal rule in mind: "ALWAYS START FROM THE LATEST." The exception to this
is when the research has defined or has provided a SPECIFIC period.

5.

Philippine Legal Research

5.1. Research of Statute law

Statute laws are the rules and regulations promulgated by competent authorities; enactments of
legislative bodies (national or local) or they may be rules and regulations of administrative
(departments or bureau) or judicial agencies. Research of statutory law does not end with
consulting the law itself. At times, it extends to the intent of each provision or even the words
used in the law. In this regard, the deliberations of these laws must be consulted. The
deliberation of laws, except Presidential Decrees and other Martial law issuances are available.

Constitution:
The different Constitutions of the Philippines are provided in some history books such as
Gregorio F. Zaides Philippine Constitutional History and Constitutions of Modern Nations
(1970) and Founders of Freedom; The History of Three Constitution by a seven-man Board.
The Philippine legal system recognizes the following Constitutions: Malolos, 1935, 1943, 1973,
Provisional or Freedom and 1987 Constitutions.
The 1943Constitution was effective only
during the Second World War while the Provisional Constitution was effective only from the
time President Corazon became President until the 1987 Constitution was ratified and
proclaimed by President Aquino by virtue of Proclamation No. 58, February 11, 1987.

Majority of printed publications provide the 1935, 1973 and the 1987 Constitutions only. The
online sources ( E-library , Chan Robles , LawPhil , CD Asia , Law Juan ) however have the fulltext of all Constitutions of the Philippines: Malolos, 1935, 1943 of Japanese, 1973, Provisional
or Freedom Constitution and 1987. The books of Senator Ambrosio Padilla ( The 1987

Constitutions of the Republic of the Philippines . vol. 3, pp779-863) and Carmelo Sison provide
a comparative presentation of the provisions of the 1935, 1973 and 1987 Constitutions.

Text of the Malolos Constitution is available in some history books such as Gregorio F. Zaides
Philippine Constitutional History and Constitutions of Modern Nations , p. 176 (1970) and
online. ( E-library , Chan Robles , CD Asia , Law Juan ).

The Constitutional Convention proceedings provide for the intent and background of each
provision of the Constitution. Sources for the 1934-1935 Constitutional Convention are: 10
volumes of the Constitutional Convention Record by the House of Representatives (1966),
Salvador Laurel's seven volumes book entitled Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention
(1966); 6 volumes of the Philippine Constitution, Origins, Making, Meaning and Application
by the Philippine Lawyers Association with Jose Aruego as one of its editors (1970) and Journal
of the Constitutional convention of the Philippines by Vicente Francisco.

Proceedings of the 1973 Constitutional Convention were never published. A photocopy and
softcopy of the complete compilation is available at the Filipiniana Reading Room of the
National Library of the Philippines.

Journals (3 volumes) and Records (5 volumes) of the Constitutional Convention of 1986 were
published by the Constitutional Commission. This publication does not have an index. This
problem was remedied when CD Technologies Asia Inc. came out with a CD-ROM version,
which facilitated research for it has a search engine.

The proceedings and text of the 1935, 1973 and 1987 Constitutions are electronically available at
the Supreme Court E-Library.

Commentaries or interpretations on the constitution, decisions of the Supreme Court and other
courts, textbooks or treaties, periodical articles of the different Constitution are available. (Part
2:
Philippine
Legal
Information
Resources
and
Citations
A.v
Treatise/Annotations/Commentaries, etc. A.v.10 Political Law

Treaties and other International Agreements:

A treaty is an agreement or a contract between two (bilateral) or more (multilateral) nations or

sovereigns, entered into by agents appointed (generally the Secretary of Foreign Affairs or
ambassadors) for the purpose and duly sanctioned by supreme powers of the respective
countries. Treaties that do not have legislative sanctions are executive agreements which may or
may not have legislative authorization, and which have limited execution by constitutional
restrictions.

In the Philippines, a treaty or international agreement shall not be valid and effective unless
concurred in by at least two-thirds of all members of the Senate (Constitution, Article VII,
section 21). Those without the concurrence of the Senate are considered as Executive
Agreements.

The President of the Philippines may enter into international treaties or agreements as the
national welfare and interest may require, and may contract and guarantee foreign loans on
behalf of the Republic, subject to such limitations as may be provided by law. During the time of
Pres. Marcos, there was the so-called Tripoli Agreement.

The official text of treaties is published in the Official Gazette, Department of Foreign Affairs
Treaty Series (DFATS), United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS ) or the University of the
Philippines Law Center's Philippine Treaty Series ( PTS). To locate the latest treaties, there are
two possible sources: Department of Foreign Affairs and the Senate of the Philippines. There is
no complete repository of all treaties entered into by the Philippines. There is a selective
publication of treaties in the Official Gazette . The DFATS was last published in the 1970s while
the PTS's last volume, vol. 8 contains treaties entered into until 1981.With the UN Treaty Series,
which used to be available only in UN depository libraries in the country and its United Nation
Information Center in Makati in now available online through the United Nations website .
Electronically, major law libraries use the Treaties and International Agreements Researchers
Archives (TIARA), WESTLAW , LEXIS , other online sources via the Internet.

A formal Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Supreme Court and the Department
of Foreign Affairs was signed at the Supreme Court for the digitization of full-text of all the
treaties entered into by the Philippines from 1946-2010. The MOA provided that the
Department of Foreign Affairs will supply the official treaties and the Supreme Court Library
Services will produce the CD Rom version with search engine of the treaties.
CD-ROM
containing all these treaties was launched last June 2010 at the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Online version is found in the Supreme Court E-Library . Also launched last June 2010 was the
Philippine Treaties Index 1946-2010 by the Foreign Service Institute.

For tax treaties, Eustaquio Ordoo has published a series on the Philippine tax treaties. Other
sources of important treaties are appended in books on the subject or law journals such as the
American Journal of International Law or the Philippine Yearbook of International Law.

Statutes Proper:

Legislative Enactments:

Statutes are enactments of the different legislative bodies since 1900 broken down as follows:

4,275 ACTS - Enactments from 1900-1935

733 Commonwealth Acts - Enactments from 1935-1945
2034 Presidential Decrees - Enactments from 1972-1985
884 Batas Pambansa. Enactments from 1979-1985
10650 Republic Acts - Enactments from 1946-1972, 1987-December 2014

Republic Act No. 10650 is the Act Expanding Access to Educational Services by the
Institutionalizing Open Distance Learning in Levels of the Tertiary Education.

The above figures clearly show that during Martial Law, both President Marcos and the
Batasang Pambansa (Parliament) were issuing laws at the same time - Presidential Decrees by
President Marcos and Batas Pambansa by the Philippine Parliament.

During Martial Law, aside from Presidential Decrees, the President promulgated other
issuances namely: 57 General Orders, 1,525 Letters of Instruction, 2,489 Proclamations, 832
Memorandum Order, 1,297 Memorandum Circular, 157 Letter of Implementation, Letter of
Authority, Letters of Instruction, 504 Administrative Order and 1,093 Executive Orders.
Complete compilation of Presidential Decrees and all Martial Issuances are available at present
in the Malacanang Records and Archives. Efforts are being made by Malacanang to make them
available through the Official Gazette online.

As previously stated, the Presidential Decrees issued by Pres. Marcos during Martial Law and
the Executive Orders issued by Pres. Aquino before the opening of Congress may be classified
as both executive and legislative acts for there was no legislature during those two periods.

Laws passed by the new 1987 Congress started from Rep. Act No. 6636, as the last Republic Act
promulgated by Congress before Martial Law was Rep. Act No. 6635.

The following are the Philippine codes adopted from 1901 to present:

Administrative Code of 1987 ( Executive Order No. 292)

Child and Youth Welfare Code (Pres. Decree No. 603)
Civil Code (Rep. Act No. 386)
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Code
Code of Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (Rep. Act o. 6713)
Cooperative Code (Rep. Act No. 9520)
Corporation Code (Batas Blg. 68)
Family Code (Executive Order No. 209)
Fire Code (Rep. Act No. 9514)
Fisheries Code (Rep. Act No. 8550)
Forest Reform Code (Pres. Decree No. 705)
Insurance Code (Pres/ Decree No. 1460)
Intellectual Property Code (Rep. Act No. 8293)
Labor Code (Pres. Decree No. 442)
Land Transportation and Traffic Code (Rep. Act No. 4136)
Local Government Code (Rep. Act No. 7160)
Muslim Code of Personal Laws ( Pres. Decree No. 1083)
National Building Code (Pres. Decree No. 1096)
National Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and Supplements (Executive
Order No. 51 s. 1986)
National Internal Revenue Code (Pres. Decree No. 1158)
Omnibus Election Code (Batas Blg 881)
Philippine Environment Code (Pres. Decree No. 1152)
Revised Penal Code (Act no. 3815)
Sanitation Code (Pres. Decree No. 856)
State Auditing Code
Tariff and Customs Code (Pres. Decree No. 1464)
Water Code (Pres. Decree No. 1067)

The Senate has prepared the entire legislature process and has enumerated the types of
legislation. This procedure is pursuant to the Constitution and recognized by both Houses of
Congress. The House of Representatives has provided a diagram of the procedure on how a
bill becomes a law.

SOURCE: Congressional Library; House Printing Division, Administrative Support Bureau,

July 1996.
Presidential Issuances

Administrative acts, orders and regulations of the President touching on the organization or
mode of operation of the government, re-arranging or adjusting districts, divisions or parts of
the Philippines, and acts and commands governing the general performance of duties of public
officials and employees or disposing of issues of general concern are made effective by Executive
Orders. Those orders fixing the dates when specific laws, resolutions or orders cease to take

effect and any information concerning matters of public moment determined by law, resolution
or executive orders, take the form of executive Proclamation.

Executive Orders and Proclamations of the Governor-General were published annually in a set
Executive Orders and Proclamations. Thirty three (33) volumes were published until 1935 by
the Bureau of Printing. Administrative Acts and Orders of the President and Proclamations
were published. Only a few libraries in the Philippines have these publications for a majority of
them was destroyed during World War II. There are copies available at the Law Library of
Congress, Cincinnati Law Library Association (who offered to donate them to the Supreme
Court of the Philippines) and some at the Library of the Institute of South East Asian Studies in
Singapore.

In researching for Proclamations, Administrative Orders, Executive Orders and Memorandum

Orders & Circulars of the President, the year it was promulgated is a must or needed. If no year
is available, the President and/or the Executive Secretary issuing it must be stated. As a new
President is sworn in, all the Presidential issuances start with No. 1. The only exception was
Executive Orders issued by President Carlos Garcia after he assumed the Presidency because
President Magsaysay died in a plane crash. He continued the number started by President
Magsaysay. When President Garcia was elected President, he started his Executive Order No. 1.

To look for the intent of Republic Acts, we have to go through the printed Journals and Records
of both houses of Congress, which contain their deliberation. To facilitate the search, the House
Bill No. or Senate Bill No. or both found on the upper left portion of the first page of the law is
important. The problem for this research is the availability of the complete printed Journals and
Records of both houses of Congress. The solution to this problem is the Archives of the House
of Representatives and the Senate. For the recent laws, the deliberations are available online
from the websites of the the House of Representatives and the Philippine Senate . The Batasang
Pambansa has likewise published it proceedings. There are no available proceedings for the
other laws Acts, Commonwealth Act and Presidential Decrees.

Administrative Rules and Regulations:

Administrative Rules and regulations are orders, rules and regulations issued by the heads of
Departments, Bureau and other agencies of the government for the effective enforcement of
laws within their jurisdiction. However, in order that such rules and regulations may be valid,
they must be within the authorized limits and jurisdiction of the office issuing them and in
accordance with the provisions of the law authorizing their issuance. Access to administrative

rules and regulations have been facilitated due to the two developments: a) government
agencies, including government owned and controlled corporations, have their own websitesand
at the Official Gazette and Official Gazette online where they include the full-text of their
issuances, and b) the National Administrative Register, which is available in print, CD-Rom and
in the Supreme Court website.

In handling these types of materials, there are two important items needed: a.) Issuing Agency
and b.) Year it was promulgated. This is due to the fact that all Departments, Bureaus, and other
government agencies use the administrative orders, memorandum orders and memorandum
circulars for their administrative rules and regulations and they start always with number 1
every year. Even the Supreme Court issues Administrative Orders, Circulars, Memorandum
Orders, and Administrative Matters.
Before the Administrative Code of 1987, these orders, rules and regulations were selectively
published in the Official Gazette . Thus, the only source to be able to get a copy of the text of
these rules and regulations is the issuing government agency itself.

When the 1987 Administrative Code (Executive Order No. 292) was promulgated, all
government agencies including government owned and controlled corporations are mandated to
file three (3) certified copies of their orders, rules and regulations with the University of the
Philippines Law Center's Office of National Administrative Register which in turn is required to
publish quarterly the publication called National Administrative Register . Aside from the
printed copies, the National Administrative Register is available electronically on CD-ROM (CD
Asia Technologies Inc.) and online at the Supreme Court E-Library . Rules in force on the date
on which the Code took effect, which are not filed within three months from the date not
thereafter, shall be the basis of any sanction against any person or party. Each rule becomes
effective 15 days after the filing, unless a different date is fixed by law or specified in the rule,
such as in cases of imminent danger to public health, safety and welfare, the existence of which
must be expressed in a statement accompanying the rule. The court shall take judicial notice of
the certified copy of each rule duly filed or as published in the bulletin or codified rules.

University of the Philippines Law Centers Office of National Administrative Register is not only
tasked to publish this quarterly register but must keep an up-to-date codification of all rules
thus published and remaining in effect together with a complete index and appropriate tables.
Every rule establishing an offense or defining an act, which pursuant to law is punishable as a
crime or subject to a penalty, shall in all cases be published in full text. Exceptions to the filing
requirement" are Congress, Judiciary, Constitutional Commission, military establishments in all
matters relative to Armed Forces personnel, the Board of Pardons and Parole and state
universities and colleges. With the use of the latest technology, majority of government agencies
including government owned and controlled corporations maintain their own websites and have

incorporation laws and legislations relevant to their agencies. These developments have
facilitated research for administrative rules and regulations.

As previously stated, there are no up-to-date or complete Statutes finders. As previously stated,
to facilitate legal research, one has to go online to virtual libraries. The primary source for
statutes is: Supreme Court E-Library and the Official Gazette and Official Gazette online . The
secondary sources area: Chan Robles Virtual Law Library , Arellano Law Foundations The
Lawphil Project , and CD Asia Technologies online and or CD ROM. Law Juan iPad app (Law)
contains only full-text legislative enactments from 1901, Rules of Court and all the Philippine
Constitutions.

5.2. Research of Case Law

SOURCE: 2002 Revised Manual of Clerks of Court . Manila, Supreme Court, 2002.
Organizational Chart was amended due to the passage of Republic Act No. 9282 (CTA)

Case Law or Judicial decisions are official interpretations or manifestation of law made by
persons and agencies of the government performing judicial and quasi-judicial functions. At the
apex of the Philippine Judicial System is the Supreme Court, or what is referred to as court of
last resort. The reorganization of the Judiciary of 1980 (Batas Pambansa Bldg. 129) established
the following courts:

Court of Appeals;
Regional Trial Courts divided into different judicial regions,
Metropolitan Trial Court;
Municipal Trial Court in Cities;
Municipal Trial Courts;
Municipal Circuit Trial Courts.

The Shariah (Shariaa ) Circuit and District Courts (Presidential Decree No. 1083), Court of Tax
Appeals (Republic Act No. 1125) and the Sandiganbayan (Presidential Decree Nos. 1486 and
1606), sec. 4, Art XI of the 1987 Constitution were created by separate laws.

Conventional decisions are decisions or rulings made by regularly constituted court of justice.
Subordinate decisions are those made by administrative agencies performing quasi-judicial
functions.
One major problem in conducting research on case law is the availability of published or printed
decisions from the Court of Appeals to the rest of the judicial and quasi-judicial agencies. The
Judicial Reform Program of the Supreme Court funded by the World Bank started to address
this problem with the establishment of the Supreme Court E-Library aims to address this
problem and also those from statute law and the digitization of the decisions of the Supreme
Court, and the appellate: Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan and the Court of Tax Appeals.
Digitization of the Appellate Courts have started and are available online from the most recent
and will continue until all their first decision from their creation will be completed. The
Reporters Office of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals keep all the original and
complete copies of the court decisions. By original, this means that the keep the decisions with
the original signatures of the justices of the Supreme court and Court of Appeals. For the rest
of the Judiciary or the quasi-judicial agencies, copies of their decisions may be taken from the
Legal Office, Office of the Clerks of Court, Records Office or their libraries. There are no
available printed compilations of lower courts decisions. For those of the Appellate Court, the
Court of Appeals has until 1980s only and while the Sandiganbayan has only one volume. For

the Court of Tax Appeals, the compilation is only from 1980 to present in the CD Asia CD for
taxation. The details are in Part 2: Philippine Legal Information Resources and Citations . A.iv
Case Law/ Jurisprudence

Supreme Court Decisions:

Decisions of the Supreme Court are highest source of jurisprudence, source of law. It is the
judgment of this court interprets the law and/or determines whether a law is constitutional or
not. Unconstitutional laws even though it is signed by the President and passed by both house
of congress cannot take effect in the Philippines.

Decisions of the Supreme Court are classified as follows:

"Regular decisions" and extended Resolutions are published in court reports either in primary
or secondary sources. These decisions provide the justice who penned the decision or ponente
and the other justices responsible for promulgating the decision, whether En Banc or by
Division. Separate dissenting and/or concurring opinions are likewise published with the main
decision. These regular and extended resolutions are available electronically in the Supreme
Court website under Decisions and the Supreme Court E-Library under Decisions.

Unsigned Minute Resolutions are not published. Although they bear the same force and effect
as the regular decisions or extended resolutions, they are issued and signed by the respective
Clerks of Court En Banc or by any of the three (3) Division s and signed by their respective
Clerks of Court. Since these Minutes Resolutions are not published, the Supreme Court has now
incorporated these Minute Resolutions, more particularly those that resolve a motion for
reconsideration or those that explain or affirm a decision; and (2) Administrative Matters in the
Supreme Court E-Library , under RESOLUTIONS.

Recently, the Supreme Court website has included these decisions.

included Minutes Resolution in its website.

The

Chanrobles has

Case Reports in the Philippines such as the Philippine Reports, Supreme Court Reports
Annotated (SCRA) , and the Supreme Court Advance Decisions (SCAD) come in bound volumes
which generally cover a month per volume. The Supreme Court Advance Decisions (SCAD)
has been discontinued. The Official Gazette, Philippine Reports and the Advance Sheets are
the primary source or official repositories of decisions and extended resolutions of the Supreme

Court. The Advance Sheets are decisions in reproduced form or photocopied copy of the
actual original decision which contains the full text, the signatures of the justices and the
certification of the Chief Justice. The original decisions are those which the actual signatures is
deposited in the Reporters Office of the Supreme Court.
The Advance Sheets was made
available as soon as a decision is issuance. This was however discontinued because decisions
of the Supreme Court are now available almost immediately upon issuance at the Supreme
Court website . The Official Gazette, Philippine Reports are the other primary source for
Supreme Court decisions. The difference between the two lies in the fact that the Official
Gazette selective compilation while Philippine Reports contains the complete compilation
decisions of the Supreme Court. Original decisions with original signature of the Justices of the
Supreme Court are found in the Office of the Reporter of the Supreme Court.

There were unpublished decisions of the Supreme Court from 1901 until 1960. The list and
subject field are found at the back of some volumes of the Philippine Reports . Some of these
decisions are cited in treatises or annotations. In view of the importance of these decisions, the
Supreme Court E-Library started to collect these unpublished decisions and include them in its
database.

The availability of some of the unpublished decisions before World War II is a problem for a
number of the original decisions have been burned. So, there is no complete compilation of the
original decisions of the Supreme Court. This problem is being addressed by the Supreme
Court E-Library where are great number of these unpublished decisions of the Supreme Court
before the war were retrieved from different sources such as the United States National
Archives in Maryland, private collection of former Supreme Court Justices such as Chief Justice
Ramon Avancena and Justice George Malcolm (collection is found in the University of Michigan)
and private law libraries who were able to save some of their collection such as the University of
Santo Tomas, the oldest university in the Philippines. Search for the unpublished decisions still
continues.

The unpublished decisions after the War, the late Judge Nitafan of the Regional Trial Court of
Manila started publishing Supreme Court Unpublished Decision s ; vol. 1 covers decisions from
March 1946 to February 1952. However only two volumes were published due to Judge
Nitafans untimely death. The Office of the Reporter of the Supreme Court has these
unpublished decisions.

The early volumes, particularly those before the war were originally published in Spanish in the
Jurisprudencia Filipina . They were translated in English to become the Philippine Reports .
Some decisions after the second Philippine independence were still in the Spanish language.
There are a number of decisions now in the Filipino language. The Philippine Reports until

volume 126 (1960's) was published by the Bureau of Printing, now called the National Printing
Office. Printing was transferred to the Supreme Court in the 1980s due to the need for a
complete official publication of the Courts decision. The Supreme Courts Philippine Reports
started with volume 127.

The most popular secondary source is the Supreme Court Reports Annotated (SCRA ) and
eSCRA and the Lex Libris Jurisprudence CD ROM and CD Asia Online . The online and CD
versions are on subscription basis while the printed SCRA may be purchased per volume. Two
new sources on subscription basis are: a) My Legal Whiz ; Easy Contextual Legal Research and
Law Juan decisions, iPad app.

How can we search for Supreme Court decisions manually?

Topic or Subject Approach: (Please See Complete title of the publication from the Philippine
Legal Bibliography chapter)

Philippine Digest
Republic of the Philippine Digest
Velayo's digest
Magsino's Compendium
Supreme Court's unpublished Subject Index
Martinez's Summary of Supreme Court rulings 1984 to 1997
UP Law Center's Supreme Court decisions: subject index and digest's
SC's Case Digest's
Philippine Law and Jurisprudence
Castigadors Citations
SCRA Quick Index Digest
Title Approach or Title of the Approach: (Please See Complete title of the publication
from the Philippine Legal Bibliography chapter)
Philippine Digest - Case Index
Republic of the Philippines Digest
Ong, M. Title Index to SC decisions 1946-1978 2v.; 1978-1981 1st Suppl; 1981-1985, 2nd
Suppl; 1986 to present is unpublished but available at the Supreme Court Library portal
Ateneo's Index

Manual approach is not possible in majority of law libraries for the above sources enumerated
are no longer available. For those who have these sources, the problem is the availability of
updated indexes. Only the SCRA Quick Index Digest is updated. It is however delayed by about
one year for they have to wait for the last volume of the SCRA for the year before they could
come up with the SCRA Quick Index Digest.
In the Title Approach, the latest is M. Ong Title
nd
Index to SC decisions, 2 supplement 1981-1985. The updated Title Index is available at the
Supreme Court Library portal but is not yet available online. Title search made be made
through the Lex Libris: Jurisprudence online.

Electronic application is the source for effective legal research. These sources are as follows:

!e-library! A Century & 4 Years of Philippine Supreme Court Decisions 1901-April

2004 . Research & Development Department, Agoo Computer College, Agoo, Lau Union,
Philippines (CD ROM)
eSCRA . Q.C.: Central Book Supply
Law Juan . IPad App (Jurisprudence)
Lex Libris: Jurisprudence. Pasig City: CD Asia Technologies Inc. (CD ROM) and CD
Asia online
My Legal Whiz ; Easy Contextual Legal Research ( https://www.mylegalwhiz.com/)
Supreme Court E-Library online
Supreme Court website

Court of Appeals decisions:

Decisions of the Court of Appeals are merely persuasive on lower courts. They are cited in cases
where there are no Supreme Court decisions in point. In this regard, they are considered as
judicial guides to lower courts and that conclusion or pronouncement they make can be raised
as a doctrine. The Clerk of Court of the Court of Appeals is the repository of all of the Court of
Appeals decisions.

Sources of Court of Appeals decisions are:

Text:

Court of Appeals decisions are now being complete online starting from the latest to 1936.
Official Gazette (selective publication)

Court of Appeals Reports which was published by the Court of Appeals until 1980. Even
this publication is not a complete compilation. It is still considered selective for not all
CA decisions are included.
Court of Appeals Reports (CAR) by Central Book Supply. One volume was published
Philippine Law and Jurisprudence
Reports Office of the Court of Appeals

Subject or Topic Approach:

Velayo's Digest;
Moreno's Philippine Law dictionary

Decisions of Special Courts:

Sandiganbayan and the Court of Tax Appeals do not have published decisions. The
Sandiganbayan has only one volume published; Sandiganbayan Reports vol. 1 covers decisions
promulgated from December 1979 to 1980. Sandiganbayan decisions are now being made
available online starting from the latest to its first decision. The Legal Office of the
Sandiganbayan is the repository of all of its decisions.

Court of Tax Appeals decisions from 1980 to 2004 are found in the Lex Libris particularly in
Taxation CD ROM. Court of Tax decisions are now being complete online starting from the
latest to its first decision.

Decisions of Administrative Agencies, Commissions and Boards:

Laws have been promulgated which grants some administrative agencies to perform quasijudicial functions. These functions are distinct from their regular administrative or regulatory
functions where rules and regulations are promulgated. The Securities Regulations Code
(Republic Act No. 8799) signed by President Joseph E. Estrada on July 19, 2000 affects
Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) quasi-judicial functions. The other agencies
performing said functions are National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), Insurance
Commission, Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB), Government Service
Insurance System (GSIS), Social Security System (SSS) and even the Civil Service Commission
(CSC). Some of their decisions are published in the Official Gazette. Some have their own
publication such as the SEC and the CSC or some include them in their own websites. An
important source is the National Administrative Register which is available in printed and CR
ROM (CD Asia) and the Supreme Court E-Library. The 1987 Administrative Code required that
all government including all government owned and controlled corporations must provide the

UP. Law Center with three certified copies (3) of their rules and regulations. In turn the UP.
Law Center is required to publish them. This is done in the National Administrative Register .

CD Asia Technologies Lex Libris series has individual CD ROMs for the Department of Justice,
Securities and Exchange Commission, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the
Philippines), and the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Included in these individual CD ROMs are
the pertinent laws, their respective issuances as well as Supreme Court decisions. It CD ROM
on Labor (vol. VII) incorporated issuances from the Department of Labor and Employment and
its affiliated agencies and offices. The Trade, Commerce and Industry CD ROM includes
Supreme Court decisions, laws and issuances of its various agencies such as the Department of
Trade and Industry, Board of Investments, Bureau of Customs, B angko Sentral and the
Philippine Stock Exchange.

6.

Legal Profession and Legal Education

Republic Act No. 7662, otherwise known as the Legal Education Reform Act of 1993 created the
Legal Education Board, was approved on December 23, 1993 . The Board shall be composed of a
Chairman who shall preferably be a former justice of the Supreme Court of Court of Appeals and
regular members composed of: a representative of each of the following: Integrated Bar of the
Philippines (IBP), Philippine Association of Law Schools (PALS), Philippine Association of Law
Professors (PALP), ranks of active law practitioners and law students sector. The Legal
Education has replaced the Commission on Higher Education for legal education.Its primary
functions are:

to administer the legal education system

to supervise the law schools
to set the standards of accreditation for law schools
to accredit law schools that meet the standards of accreditation;
to prescribe minimum standards for law admission and minimum qualifications and
compensation of faculty members;
to prescribe the basic curricula for the course of study aligned to the requirements for
admission to the Bar,
to establish a law practice internship
to adopt a system of continuing legal education.

The 1987 Constitution however provides under Article VIII, sec. 5(5) that it is the Supreme
Court who has the power to promulgate rules concerning the admission to practice the law.
The Supreme Court has promulgated the Rules of Court, Rule 138 as to the admission of the bar.
To be admitted to the bar, there are three requirements:

must have passed the bar examination which is given annually at four (4) consecutive
Sundays
must take the lawyers oath
must sign the roll of attorneys at the Supreme Court

The lists of lawyers who are allowed to practice are found in the Rolls of Attorneys of the
Supreme Court and the publication of the Court entitled, Law List . The online version of the
Law List, available in the Supreme Court and Supreme E-Library , includes the annual lists of
additional members of the bar.

Applicants for the annual bar examination must have the following (Rules of Court, Rule 138,
sec.
2):

citizen and resident of the Philippines

21 years of age
good moral character (three testimonials of good moral character)
submission of the required documents such as birth certificate, marriage certificate,
three testimonials of good moral character, official law transcript, certificate of no
derogatory record and certificated from the CHED/LEB and photos

Academic requirements to qualify to take the bar examinations are provided in Rules of Court,
Rule 138, section 5 and section 6.

Section 5 provides that the applicant should have studied law for four years and have
successfully completed all the prescribed courses. This section was amended by Bar Matter No.
1153, March 9, 2010 which provides that they have successfully completed all the prescribed
courses for the degree of Bachelor of Laws or its equivalent, in a law school or university
officially recognized by the Philippine Government or by the proper authority in foreign
jurisdiction where the degree has been granted. Bar Matter No. 1153 further provides that a
Filipino citizen who graduated from a foreign law school shall be allowed to take the bar only
upon the submission to the Supreme Court the required certifications.

Section 6 provides the Pre-Law requirement which is a four year high school course and a
bachelors degree in arts or science. This section will be however affected by Republic Act No.
10533 Enhanced Basic Education of 2013 which provides a K to 12 Program which covers
Kindergarten and 12 years of basic education (six years of primary education, four years of
Junior High School, and two years of Senior High School.

The Schedule of subjects for the four Sundays of the month is as follows:

First Sunday: A.M. Political and

Legislation (10%);

International

Law (15%), P.M. Labor Law and Social

Second Sunday: A.M. Civil law (15%), P.M. Taxation (10%);

Third Sunday: A.M. Mercantile Law (15%), P.M. Criminal Law (10%);
Fourth Sunday: A.M. Remedial Law (20%), P.M. Legal Ethics and Practical Exercises (5%).

The Rules of Court, Rule 138, section 16 provides that those who fail the bar examinations for
three or more times must take a refresher course. The Legal Education Board has listed the
following 88 accredited law schools who can conduct refresher courses for 2014-2015:

Adamson University
Aemilianum College Inc.
Aklan Colleges, Kalibo Aklan
Andres Bonifacio College
Angeles University Foundation
Aquinas University
Araullo University
Arellano University
Ateneo de Davao University
Ateneo de Manila University
Bicol Colleges
Bukidnon State University
Bulacan State University
Cagayan State University
Central Philippines University
Centro Escolar University
Colegio de la Purisima College
Cor Jesu College

Cordillera Career Development College

Dr. V. Orestes Romualdez Educational Foundation
Eastern Samar State University
Father Saturnino Urios University
Far Eastern University
Far Eastern University-DLSU
Foundation University
Holy Name University (formerly DWC-T)
Isabela State College
J.H. Cerilles State College
Jose Rizal Memorial State University
Jose Rizal University
Leyte Colleges
Liceo de Cagayan University
Lyceum of the Philippines University
Lyceum Northwestern University
Manila Law College Foundation
Manuerl Luis Quezon University
Mariano Marcos State University
Mindanao State University
New Era University
Northeastern College
Northwestern University
Notre Dame University
Palawan State University
Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila
Pan Pacific University of Northern Philippines
Philippine Christian University
Philippine Law School
Polytechnic University of the Philippine
San Sebastian College-Recoletos
Saint Louis University
San Beda College-Alabang
San Beda College-Mendiola
San Pablo Colleges
Siliman University
Southwestern University
St. Louis College
St. Marys University
St. Paul School of Business and Law
St. Thomas More School of Law and Business
Sultan Kudarat University

Tarlac State University

Universidad de Manila
University of the Cordilleras
University of Baguio
University of Batangas
University of Cagayan Valley
University of Cebu
University of Eastern Philippines
University of Iloilo
University of Manila
University of Mindanao
University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos
University of Northern Philippines
University of Nueva Caceres
University of Pangasinan
University of Perpetual Help-Laguna
University of Perpetual Help-Rizal
University of San Agustin
University of San Carlos
University of San Jose-Recoletos
University of Sothern Philippines-Foundation
University of St. La Salle
University of Santo Tomas
University of the East
University of the Philippines
University of the Visayas
Western Mindanao State University
Xavier University

Reforms in the Bar Examinations (Bar Matter No. 1161) was adopted in June 2004 and
effective July 15, 2004, 15 days after it was published in the Manila Bulletin and the Philippine
Star (June 21, 2004). In 2011, new reforms were made as to its coverage and the application of
Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) exam and Essay-Type exams. The date of the Bar examination
was moved to the four (4) Sundays of November.

Special Bar Exams for Sharia Court lawyers is provided for by virtue of the Court En Banc
Resolution dated September 20, 1983. The exam is given every two years. Although the exam is
conducted by the Supreme Court Office of the Bar Conidant, it is the Office of Muslim Affairs
who certifies as to who are qualified to take the exam. Candidates to the Sharia bar do not need
to be degree holder of Bachelor of laws. Those who have passed the Sharia bar or the Sharia

lawyers are not considered as full-fledged members of the Philippine bar for they are authorized
to practice only in Sharia courts.

All attorneys whose names are in the Rolls of Attorneys of the Supreme Court who have
qualified for and have passed the bar examinations conducted annually, taken the attorneys
oath, unless otherwise disbarred must be a member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.
Bar Matter No. 850 was promulgated by the Resolution of the Supreme Court En Banc on
August 22, 2000, as amended on October 2, 2001, providing for the rules on Mandatory
Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) for Active Members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines
(IBP). The members of the IBP have to complete every three (3) years at least thirty six (36)
hours of continuing legal activities approved by the MCLE Committee. An IBP member who
fails to comply with the said requirement shall pay a non-compliance fee and shall be listed as a
delinquent member of the IBP. A Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Office to implement
said MCLE was established by the Supreme Court by virtue of SC Administrative Order No. 1132003 which was approved on August 15, 2005 and effective September 1, 2003 following its
publication in two newspapers of general circulation. Under the Resolution of the Court en
Banc dated September 2, 2008 (Bar Matter No. 1922), the counsels MCLE Certificate of
Compliance must be indicated in all pleadings filed with the Courts.

The Supreme Court has the power to discipline the members of the bar by disbarment or
suspension based on the grounds provided in the Rules of Court, Rule 138, sec. 27. Rule 139-B
provides that the proceedings for disbarment, suspension or discipline may be taken by the
Supreme Court motu proprio or by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines upon the verified
complaint of a person. The IBP Board of Governors may, motu proprio or upon referral by
the Supreme Court or by a Chapter Board of Officers, or at the instance of any person, initiate of
any prosecute proper charges against erring attorneys including those in government service.

6.1. Law Schools

The Office of the Bar Confidant of the Supreme Court as of July 2014 has listed the following
law schools in the Philippines which have produced bar candidates:

*Abra Valley Colleges, Taft St., Bangued, Abra

*Adamson University, San Marcelino St., Manila
*Aemilianum College Inc., Sorsogon City
*Aklan Colleges, Kalibo Aklan
*Andres Bonifacio College, College Park, Dipolog City
*Angeles University Foundation, Mac Arthur Highway, Angeles City, Pampanga
*Aquinas University, 2-S Kings Building, JAA Penaranda St., Legaspi City

*Aquinas University Penablanca Campus, Penablance, Cagayan

*Araullo University, Bitas, Cabanatuan City
*Arellano University, Taft Ave., cor. Menlo St, Pasay City
*Ateneo de Davao University, Jacinto St., Davao City
*Ateneo de Manila University, Rockwell Drive, Rockwell Center, Makati City
*Batangas State University (BATSU), Rizal Ave., Batangas City
*Bicol Colleges, Daraga Albay
*BIT International College ( formerly Bohol Institute of Technology), Tagbilaran, Bohol
*Bukidnon State College, Fortich Street, Malaybalay, Bukidnon
*Bulacan State University, Mac Arthur Highway, Malolos, Bulacan
*Cagayan State University, Andrews Campus, Tuguegarao, Cagayan
*Camarines Norte School of Law, Itomang, Talisay, Camarines Norte
*Central Philippines University, Jaro, Iloilo City
*Centro Escolar University- Makati Campus, Buendia Ave., Makati City
*Christ the King College, Calbayog City, Western Samar
*City University of Pasay, , Pasadera St., Pasay City
*Colegio dela Purisima Concepcion, 1 Arzobispo St., Roxas City, Capiz
*College of Maasim, R. Kangleon Street, Tunga-Tunga, Maasim City
*Cor Jesus College, Digos, Sacred Heart Ave., Digos City, Davao del Sur
*Cordillera Career Development College, Buyagan Poblacion, La Trinidad, Benguet
*De La Salle University, 2401 Taft. Ave., Manila
*De La Salle University, 1962 J.P. Laurel, National Highway, Lipa City, Batangas
Dipolog Medical Center (DMC) College Foundation Inc., Fr. Patangan Road, Sta
Filomena, Dipolog City
*Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University, San Fernando City , La Union
*Dr. Vicente Orestes Romualdez Education Foundation Inc., Calanipawan Road,
Calanipawan, Tacloban City, Leyte
East Central Colleges
*Eastern Samar State University, Borogan, Eastern Samar
*Far Eastern University, Nicanor Reyes Sr. St., Sampaloc,Manila
Far Eastern University-De La Salle Makati, RCBC Bldg, Buendia cor Ayala Ave., Makati
*Father Saturnino Urios University, San Francisco St. cor. J.C. Aquino Avenue, Butuan
City
Fernandez College of Arts & Technology, Gil Carlos St., Baliuag, Bulacan
*Foundation University, Dr. Miciano St., Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental
*Harvadian Colleges, San Fernando City, Pampanga
*Holy Name University, Corner Lesage & Gallares Streem, Tagbilaran City, Bohol
International Harvardian University, Shellanger Cmpd., Bagumbayan, Sta. Cruz, Laguna
*Isabela State University, Cauayan Campus, San Fabian, Echague,
Cauayan City,
Isabela
*Jose Rizal Memorial State University, Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte
*Jose Rizal University, 80 Shaw Blvd., Mandaluyong City

*Josefina H. Cerilles State Collage, West Capitol Road, Pagadian City

*Laguna State Polytechnic University, Barangay Bubukal, Sta. Cruz, Laguna
*Leyte Colleges, Zamora St., Paterno Street, Tacloban City
*Liceo de Cagayan University, Rodolfo N. Pelaez Blvd, Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City,
Misamis Oriental
Luna Goco Colleges, Calapan, Oriental Mindoro
*Lyceum of the Philippines University, 109. Leviste St., Salcedo Village, Makati City
*Lyceum of the Philippines University
*Lyceum-Northwestern University, Tapuac, District, Dagupan City, Pangasinan
*Manila Law College Foundation, 641 Sales St., Sta. Cruz, Manila
*Manuel L. Quezon University, 916 R. Hidalgo St., Quiapo, Manila
*Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation-Lucena, University Site, Lucena City
*Mariano Marcos State University, Batac, Ilococ Norte
Masbate Colleges, Masbate, Masbate
*Medina Colleges, Gov. Angel N. Medina Sr. Avenue, Carmen Annex, Ozamiz City
*Mindanao State University-Iligan, Fatima Campus, Fatima, Iligan City
*Mindanao State University-Marawi, Laurel Avenue, Marawi City
*Misamis University, Hitarion T. Feliciano Street, ., Ozamis City
Naval State University-UEP (Fomerly Naval Institute of Technology), Naval, Biliran
*Negros Oriental State University, Kagasawan Avenue, Dumaguete City
*New Era University, No. 9 Central Avenue, St. Joseph Street, New Era, Quezon City
*Northeastern College, Maharlika Highway, Santiago City, Isabela
*Northwestern University, Don Mariano Marcos Avenue, Laoag City
*Notre Dame University, Notre Dame Ave., Cotabato City
Our Lady of Mercy College, Borogan, Eastern Samar
*Pagadian Capitol College, Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur
*Palawan State University, PSU Road, Barangay Tiniguiban, Puerto Princesa, Palawan
*Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, Intramuros, Manila
*Pan Pacific University of North Philippines, Urdaneta City, Pangasinan
*Philippine Advent College, Ramon Magsaysay, Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte
*Philippine Cambridge School of Law, Arts, sciences, Business, Economics and
Technology, Paliparan Site, Paliparan III, Dasmarinas, Cavite
*Philippine Christian University, Pedro Gil cor. Taft Ave., Manila
*Philippine Law School, 1942 Donado corner San Juan Street,, Pasay City
Polytechnic College of La Union. La Union
*Polytechnic University of the Philippines, A Mabini Campus, Anonas Street, Sta. Mesa,
Manila
*Ramon Magsaysay Technological University, Iba, Zambales
St. Ferdinand College, Santa Ana, Centro Iligan, Isabela
*St. Dominic Savio College, Block 1, Lot 6, Mountain Heights Subdivision, Quirino
Highway, Pangarap, Caloocan City
*Saint Louis College, National Highway, Lingsat, San Fernando City, La Union

*St. Louis University, A. Bonifacio St., Baguio City

*St. Marys College of Tagum, Inc., National Highway, Tagum
*St. Marys University, San Vidal corner Ponce Street, Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
*St. Paul School of Business and Law, Palo, Leyte
*St. Thomas More School of Law & Business, Doclotero Avenue, Tagum City
Samar College, Catbalogan City , Samar
*San Beda College, 638 Mendiola St., San Miguel, Manila
*San Beda College-Alabang, 8 Don Manolo Blvd, Alabang Hills, Alabang
*San Pablo Colleges, Hermanos Belen Street, San Pablo City, Laguna
*San Sebastian College-Recoletos, C.M. Recto Avenue, Manila
San Sebastian College-Recoletos, IBP Bldg., Surigao City
*Silliman University, Hubbard Avenue, Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental
*Southern Bicol Colleges, Mabini St., Masbate City
*Southwestern University, Villa Aznar, Urgello Street, Cebu City
*Sultan Kudarat State University, EJC Montilla Street, Tacurong City, Sultan, Kudarat
*Tabaco Colleges, 5 Tomas Cabilles Avenue, Tabaco, Albay
*Tarlac State University, 2/F Tarlac State University Gym, Romulo Avenue, Tarlac City
*Universidad de Manila, Cecilia Munos-Palma corner Antonio Villegas St., Mehan
Gardens, Manila
*University of Baguio, General Luna Road, Baguio City
*University of Batangas-Batangas City Campus, Batangas City
*University of Bohol, Ma. Clara Street, Tagbilaran City, Bohol
*University of Cagayan Valley, College Ave., Tuguegarao City, Cagayan
*University of Cebu, Gov. Cuenco Avenue, Banilad, Cebu City
*University of Eastern Philippines, University Town, Catarman, Northern Samar
*University of Iloilo, Rizal Street, Iloilo City
*University of La Sallete, Bachelor Street, Santiago City, Isabela
*University of Manila, 546 Dr. M.V. delos Santos, Manila
*University of Mindanao, Bolton St., Davao City
*University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos, Lizares St., Bacolod City
*University of Northeastern Philippines, San Roque, Iriga City, Camarines Sur
*University of Northern Philippines, Quirino Boulevard, Vigan, Ilocos Sur
University of Northwestern Philippines, Mariano Marcos Ave., Laoag City
*University of Nueva Caceres, J. Hernandez Avenue, Naga City
*University of Pangasinan, Arellano Street, Dagupan City, Pangasinan
*University of Perpetual Help-Rizal, Alabang-Zapote Road, Pamplona, Las Pinas City
*University of Perpetual Help System, Sto Nino, Binan, Laguna
*University of Saint La Salle, La Salle Avenue, Bacolod City
*University of San Agustin, Gen. Luna St., Iloilo City
*University of San Carlos, P. del Rosario St., Cebu City
*University of San Jose-Recoletos, P. Del Rosario Street, Cebu City
*University of Santo Tomas, Espana, Manila

*University of Southern Philippines Foundation, Salinas Drive, Lahug, Cebu City

*University of the Cordelleras, Governor Pack Road, Baguio City
*University of the East, C.M. Recto Avenue, Manila
*University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City
*University of the Visayas, D. Jakosalem Corner Colon Street, Cebu City
Virgen de los Remedios College, Eat Bajac-Bajac, Olongapo City
*Virgen Milagrosa University Foundation, Martin P. Posadas Avenue, San Carlos City,
Pangasinan
*Western Leyte College of Ormoc City, Inc., A. Bonifacio Street, Ormoc City
*Western Mindanao State University, Normal Road, Baliwasan, Zamboanga City
*Xavier University, Corales Avnue., Cagayan de Oro City

The above list from the Office of the Bar Confidant does not include newly organized law schools
and/or law schools who do not have any graduate to qualify for the annual bar examination.
They however have received accreditation from the Legal Education Board. These additional
law schools are as follows:

*Asian Development Foundation of Tacloban, Tacloban City, Leyte

*Ateneo de Zamboanga University, La Purisina St., Zamboanga City
*Kalinga-Apayao State College, Tabuk City, Kalinga
*University of Asia and the Pacific, Pearl Drive, Ortigas Center, Pasig City
*University of Batangas-Lipa City Campus, Lipa City , Batangas
*Urdaneta City University, Urdaneta City, Pangasinan

The laws schools with asterisk (*) before the name of the law school are the accredited law
school or schools offering Legal Education as of October 2014.

The following educational Association and/or Organizations:

Philippine Association of Law Deans

Philippine Association of Law Professors
Philippine Association of Law Students

6.2. Bar Associations

Integrated Bar of the Philippines :

The official organization for the legal profession is the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP),
established by virtue of Republic Act No. 6397. This confirmed the power of the Supreme Court
to adopt rules for the integration of the Philippine Bar. Presidential Decree 181 (1973)
constituted the IBP into a corporate body.

There are now about 50,000 attorneys who composed the IBP. These are the attorneys whose
names are in the Rolls of Attorneys of the Supreme Court who have qualified for and have
passed the bar examinations conducted annually, taken the attorneys oath, unless otherwise
disbarred. Membership in the IBP is compulsory. The Supreme Court in its resolution Court En
Banc dated November 12, 2002 (Bar Matter No. 1132) and amended by resolution Court En
Banc dated April 1, 2003 (Bar Matter No. 112-2002) require all lawyers to indicate their Roll of
Attorneys Number in all papers and pleadings filed in judicial and quasi-judicial bodies in
additional to the previously required current Professional Tax Receipt (PTR) and IBP Official
Receipt or Life Member Number.

Other Bar Associations:

Philippine Bar Association is the oldest voluntary national organization of lawyers in the
Philippines which traces its roots to the Colegio de Abogados de Filipinas organized on April 8,
1891. It was formally incorporated as a direct successor of the Colegio de Abogados de Filipinas
on March 27, 1958.
The other voluntary bar associations are the Philippine Lawyers Association, Trial Lawyers
Association of the Philippines, Vanguard of the Philippine Constitution, PHILCONSA, All Asia
Association, Catholic Lawyers Guild of the Philippines, Society of International Law, WILOCI,
Women Lawyers Association of the Philippines (WLAP), FIDA . The Philippines is also a
member of international law associations such as theASEAN Law Association , and LAWASIA.

7.

Law Librarians Association

The Philippine Group of Law Librarians Inc. (PGLL ) is a national

organization of law
librarians from both the government and the private sector organized August 1980 during the
46 th General Congress of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
(IFLA). Now on 35 th year, the PGLL aims to develop the competencies of law librarians in
legal research, management, the information technology and other fields though it congresses,
fora and seminars for improved library services. The PGLL is sensitive to the latest
development in the law library field and has adopted measures conform to these developments.
ASEAN integration is the latest development in the Asean countries and the PGLL is preparing

for it. In 2014, it started its study tour to notable law libraries in Asia, starting with Malaysia.
Other members have observed the law libraries of Singapore and other Asian countries. In 2015,
it will conduct a National Congress on Developing the Level of Competencies of Librarians and
Information Professionals Towards Asean Integration to be held on May 6-8, 2015 wherein
the law librarian of model law library is Asia is invited.

The Association of Special Libraries of the Philippines (ASLP) is a national organization of

special libraries, including law was organized in 1954. Through this association, law librarians
can improve their networking and competencies in other disciplines related to law.

Hauser Global Law School Program, New York University School of Law
40 Washington Square South, New York, New York 10012-1099
Telephone: (212) 998-6691, Facsimile: (212) 995-4656