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Statutory Construction
Chapter VII - EXTRINSIC AIDS
Extrinsic aids
- existing aids from outside sources/outside of
the four corners of the statute

(H-O-C-A-I-T-E)
a. history of the enactment of the statute
b. opinions and rulings of officials of the
government called upon to execute or
implement administrative laws
c. contemporaneous
construction
by
executive officers
d. actual proceedings of the legislative
body
e. individual statements by members of
congress
f. the author of the law
g. explanatory note of the bill

Others: (Re-Pub-Jud-Con)
h. reports
and
recommendations
legislative committees
i. public policy
j. judicial construction
k. construction by the bar

in determining the construction of a statute

with a doubtful meaning.
In case of doubt as to what a provision of a
statute means, the meaning put to the
provision during the legislative deliberations
may be adopted.
Individual statements by members of
Congress on the floor do not necessarily
reflect legislative intent.
The best interpreter of the law or any of its
provisions is the author of the law.
Courts may resort to the explanatory note to
clarify the ambiguous and ascertain the
purpose and intent of the statute.

Chapter
VIII

CONSTRUCTION

AND

LIBERAL

Strict Construction nothing should be

included within the scope that does not
come clearly within the meaning of the
language used. Its meaning must be
given its exact and technical meaning,
with no extension on account of
implications or equitable considerations.
The statutes operation must be confined
to cases coming clearly within the letter
if the statutes as well as within its spirit
or reason. It is not applicable when the
language of the law is clear and
unambiguous the rule of strict
construction is subordinate thereto.

Liberal Construction the meaning of the

statute may be extended to matter
which come within the spirit or reason of
the law or within the evils which the law
seeks to suppress or correct, although
the statute can under no circumstances
be given a meaning inconsistent with the
language used by the legislators.

Guidelines on whether a statute or some

of
its
provisions
should
be
liberally/strictly construed (Sutherland):
- The former law on the matter
- Persons or rights with which it deals
- The letter or language of the law
- The purposes and objects of the
statute

of

Intrinsic aids must be resorted to first in

determining legislative intent. If, after
exhausting the intrinsic aids, there are still
ambiguities in the statute then, extrinsic
aids may be consulted.
It is a well-settled principle that where a
statute is ambiguous, courts may examine
the printed pages of the Act as well as the
extrinsic matters that may aid in construing
the meaning of the statute, such as the
history of its enactment, the reasons for the
passage of the bill and purposes to be
accomplished by the measure.
Opinions and rulings of officials of the
government called upon to execute or
implement administrative laws command
much respect and weight.
Contemporaneous construction placed upon
a statute by executive officers charged with
implementing and enforcing provisions of
the statutes should be given controlling
weight, unless such interpretation is clearly
erroneous.
Courts may avail themselves of the actual
proceeding of the legislative body to assist

STRICT

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Statutory Construction

Philippine laws which expressly provide

whether the construction is strict/liberal
- Labor Code resolved in favour of
labor
- Rules
of
CivPro

liberally
construed
to
promote
the
objective of securing a just,
speedy
and
inexpensive
disposition of every action
- COMELEC Rules of Procedure
liberally construed in order to
promote the effective and efficient
implementation of the objectives
of ensuring the holding of free,
orderly, honest, peaceful and
credible elections/achieve just,
expeditious disposition of every
action brought before it
Liberal interpretation/construction is not
a free commodity that may be availed of
in all instances under the cloak of
rendering justice. Liberality applies only
in proper cases and under justifiable
causes and circumstances

Penal Statutes
Rule: Penal laws are to be construed
strictly against the state and (liberally) in
favour of the accused.
The tendency is to subject to careful
scrutiny and construe it with such
strictness as to safeguard the rights of
the accused.
If the statute is ambiguous and admits
two
reasonable
but
contradictory
constructions, that which operates in
favour of the accused is to be preferred.
The principle is that acts per se are
presumed lawful and innocent and
cannot be held to be criminal unless
there is a clear and unequivocal
expression of the legislative intent to
make them such.
Whatever is not plainly within the
provisions of a penal statute should be
regarded as without its intendment.
Tax Laws
Rule: Tax laws must be construed strictly
against the government and liberally in
favour of the tax payer. Reason: Taxes

are burdens and they are not to be

presumed beyond what the applicable
statute expressly and clearly declares.
The law frowns against exemptions from
taxation and statutes granting tax
exemptions
are
thus
construed
strictissimi juris against the tax payer
and liberally in favour of the taxing
authority.
Taxation is the rule. Exemption therefrom
is the exception.
Exemption may thus be withdrawn at the
pleasure of the taxing authority except
when the exemption was granted to
private parties based on material
consideration of a mutual nature, which
then becomes contractual and is subject
to the non-impairment clause of the
Constitution.
As a rule, any claim for exemption from a
tax statute is strictly construed against
the tax payer. However, where the law is
clear and unambiguous, the law must be
taken as it is, devoid of judicial addition
or subtraction.
In construing a statute, it is the duty of
courts to seek the real intent of the
legislature, even if, by so doing, they
may limit the literal meaning of the
broad language.

Naturalization laws
Rule: Naturalization laws should be
rigidly enforced and strictly construed
in favour of the government and
against the applicant.
Insurance Laws
Contracts of Insurance are to be
construed liberally in favour of the
insured and strictly against the
insurer.
However, contracts of insurance like
other contracts are to be construed
according to the sense and meaning
of the terms which the parties
themselves have used. If such terms
are clear and unambiguous, they
must be taken and understood in
their plain, ordinary and popular
sense. Moreover, obligations arising

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Statutory Construction
from contracts have the force of law
between the contracting parties and
should be complied with in good faith.
Labor and Social Legislations
The official agents charged by law to
implement social justice guaranteed
by the Constitution should adopt a
liberal attitude in favour of the
employee in deciding claims for
compensability.
Doubts in interpretation of Workmens
Compensation and Labor Code should
be resolved in favour of the worker.
Basically, social legislation is liberally
construed.
The sympathy of the law on social
security is towards its beneficiaries
and the law by its own terms,
requires a construction of utmost
liberality in their favour.
Retirement Laws
Rule: Retirement laws are liberally
interpreted in favour of the retiree
because the intention is to provide for
the retirees sustenance and comfort,
when he is no longer capable of
earning his livelihood.
Election Rules
Rule: Statutes providing for election
contests are to be liberally construed
to the end that the will of the people
in the choice of public officer may not
be defeated by mere technical
objections.
Chapter IX Prospective and Retrospective
Statutes

Prospective statutes operates upon

acts and transactions which have not
occurred when the statute takes effect,
that is, which regulates the future.
Retrospective/Retroactive statutes
takes away or impairs vested rights
acquired under existing laws, or creates
new obligations and imposes new duties,

or attaches new disabilities in respect of

transaction already past.
WON a statute operates retrospectively or
prospectively depends on legislative
intent, with exceptions.

Penal Statutes
Applied prospectively.
Felonies
and
misdemeanours
are
punished under the laws in force at the
time of their commission. However, as an
exception, it can be given retroactive
effect if it is favourable to the accused
who is not a habitual delinquent.
Procedural Laws are Retrospective
Statutes regulating the procedure of the
Court will be construed as applicable to
actions pending and undetermined at the
time of their passage. Procedural laws
are retrospective in that sense and to
that extent. However, Rules of Procedure
should not be given retroactive effect if it
would result in great injustice and impair
substantive right.
Curative Statutes
Curative Statutes are those which
undertake
to
cure
errors
and
irregularities
and
administrative
proceedings, and which are designed to
give effect to contracts and other
transactions between private parties
which otherwise would fail of producing
their intended consequences by reason
of some statutory disability or failure to
comply with some technical requirement.
They are necessarily retroactive in their
character, provided it does not impair
vested rights.

As a rule, laws cannot be given

retroactive effect in the absence of a
statutory provision for retroactivity or a
clear implication of the law to that effect.
All statutes are to be construed as
having only a prospective operation
unless the purpose and the intention of
the
legislature
to
give
them
a
retrospective effect is expressly declared
or is necessary implied from the
language used.

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Statutory Construction

If a law is not beneficial to the accused

because it aggravates the crime, such
new law will not be given retroactive
application, lest it acquire the character
of an ex post facto law.
Procedural provisions of the Local
Government Code are retrospective.

CHAPTER X CONFLICTING STATUTES

When a provision or section in an earlier

chapter contradicts a provision or section
in a later chapter of the statute, the
statute must be construed as a whole.
Care should be taken that every part of
the statute must be given effect, on the
theory that it was enacted as an
integrated measure and not as a hodgepodge of conflicting provisions. The
construction that would render a
provision inoperative should be avoided;
instead,
apparently
inconsistent
provisions
should
be
reconciled
whenever
possible
as
parts
of
coordinated and harmonious whole.

Statutes in Pari Materia

- Statutes that related to the same
subject matter, or to the same
class of persons or things, or have
the same purpose or object.
- To be construed together, each
legislative act is to be interpreted
with reference to the other acts
relating to the same subject
matter or subject. Even if the
various statutes have not been
enacted simultaneously and do
not refer to each other expressly,
and although some of them have
been repealed or have expired, or
held unconstitutional or invalid.
- If statutes if equal theoretical
application to a particular case
cannot be reconciled, the statute
of later date must prevail being a
later expression of legislative will.
General and Special Statutes
- Courts must give effect to both
statutes where one treats a

subject in general terms and the

other treating a part of the same
subject in particularly detailed
manner.
- If both statutes are irreconcilable,
the general statute must give way
to the special or particular
provisions as an exception to the
general provisions, even if the
general statute is the later
enactment of the legislature and
broad enough to include the cases
in special law unless there is a
manifest intent to repeal or alter
the special law.
Statute and Ordinance
- Rule: If both the statute and the
ordinance can stand together,
effect should be given to both. But
if there is conflict between the
two, the statute must prevail.

Whenever two statutes of different dates

and of contrary tenor are of equal
theoretical application to a particular
case, the statute of later date must
prevail being a later expression of
legislative will.
A special law prevails over a general law
regardless of their dates of passage, and
the special law is to be considered as
remaining an exception to the general
law.
A special law must be intended to
constitute an exception to the general
law
in
the
absence
of
special
circumstances
forcing
a
contrary
conclusion.
When courts are confronted with
apparently conflicting statutes, they
should not declare outright the invalidity
of one against the other, but should
endeavour to reconcile them.
The rule is that a special and local
statute applicable to a particular case is
not repealed by a later statute which is
general in its terms, provisions and
application even if the terms of the
general act are broad enough to include
the cases in the special law unless there
is manifest intent to repeal or alter the
special law.

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Statutory Construction

A substantive law cannot be amended by

a procedural law.
A general law cannot repeal a special
law.
In case of conflict between a general
provision of a special law and a
particular provision of a general law, the
latter should prevail.
When there is irreconcilable repugnancy
between a proviso and the body of the
statute, the former prevails as latest
expression of legislative intent.
Where a special statute refers to a
subject in general, which the general
statute treats in particular, the provision
of the latter, in case of conflict, will
prevail.
It is a basic rule in statutory construction
that the enactment of a later legislation
which is a general law cannot be
construed to have repealed a special law.
It is elementary in statutory construction
that an administrative circular cannot
supersede, abrogate, modify or nullify a
statute. A statute is superior to an
administrative circular, thus the latter
cannot repeal or amend it.
Where the instrument is susceptible of
two interpretations, one which will make
it invalid and illegal and another which
will make it valid and legal, the latter
interpretation should be adopted.

Restatement of the Rule

- Harmonize the laws first before
declaring one invalid.
- The presumption is that the
legislature in enacting statutes,
had full knowledge of all existing
laws on the same subject. All laws
are equally the handiwork of the
same legislature. It is also a way
of according respect to the other
department of the government.
Chapter
XI

CONSTRUCTION
INTERPRETATION OF THE CONSTITUTION
Doctrine of Constitutional Supremacy

AND

If a law or contract violates any norm of

the Constitution, that law or contract
whether promulgated by the legislative or
by the executive branch or entered into by
private persons for private purposes is null
and void and without any force and effect.
The primordial rule in the construction and
interpretation of the constitution is the
intention of the framers of the written
constitution. But this intention is readily
available in the instrument itself. Thus, the
natural meaning of the words used in
every provision should be taken as it is.
Technical words should be given their
technical meaning, unless it appears that
terms were used in a more popular sense.

Guidelines in interpreting the Constitution

1) All provisions of the Constitution are selfexecuting, but with exceptions.
Self-executing provision complete in
itself and becomes operative without the
aid of supplementary or enabling
legislation, or that which supplies
sufficient rule by means of which the
right it grants may be enjoyed or
protected.
Rationale: If the constitutional provisions
are treated as requiring legislation
instead of self-executing, the legislature
would have the power to ignore and
practically nullify the mandate of the
constitutions.
2) Prohibitory provisions given literal and
strict interpretation
3) The Constitutional Provision on naturalborn citizen of the Philippines are given
retroactive effect/curative in nature
4) The Constitution must be construed in its
entirety as one, single document
5) Liberal construction of one title one
subject rule
6) Resignation of the president under the
1987 Constitution is not governed by any
formal requirement as to form. It can be
oral. It can be written. It can be express.
It can be implied.
7) Special provision prevails over a general
one

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Statutory Construction
8) Suprema Lex (Article 7, NNC)
9) Stare Decisis (Article 8, NCC) or Rule of
Precedents
Guideline in Constrcution/Intepretation (Civil
Liberties Union vs. The Exec. Secretary)
1. A foolproof yardstick in constitutional
construction is the intention underlying
the provision under consideration. A
doubtful provision will be examined in
the light of the history of the times, and
the circumstances under which the
Constitution is framed. The object is to
ascertain the reason which induced the
framers of the Constitution to enact the
particular provision and the purpose
sought to be accomplished thereby.
2. It
is
a
well-established
rule
in
constitutional construction that not one
provision of the Constitution is to be
separated from all the others, to be

considered alone, but that all the

provisions bearing upon a particular
subject are to be brought into view and
to be interpreted as to effectuate the
great purpose of the instrument. In other
words, the Courts must harmonize them.
3. While it is permissible in this jurisdiction
to consult the debates and proceedings
of the constitutional convention in order
to arrive at the reason and purpose of
the resulting Constitution, resort thereto
may be had only when other guides fail
as said proceedings are powerless to
vary the terms of the Constitution when
the meaning is clear. The proper
interpretation therefor depends more on
how it was understood by the people
adopting
it
than
the
framers
understanding thereof.