1987 Philippine Constitution

Article 6: Legislative Department

Section 26.
Every bill passed by the Congress shall embrace only one subject which shall
be expressed in the title thereof.

No bill passed by either House shall become a law unless it has passed three
readings on separate days, and printed copies thereof in its final form have
been distributed to its Members three days before its passage, except when
the President certifies to the necessity of its immediate enactment to meet a
public calamity or emergency. Upon the last reading of a bill, no amendment
thereto shall be allowed, and tphe vote thereon shall be taken immediately
thereafter, and the yeas and nays entered in the Journal.

Section 27.
Every bill passed by the Congress shall, before it becomes a law, be presented
to the President. If he approves the same he shall sign it; otherwise, he shall
veto it and return the same with his objections to the House where it originated,
which shall enter the objections at large in its Journal and proceed to reconsider
it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of all the Members of such House
shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the
other House by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-
thirds of all the Members of that House, it shall become a law. In all such cases,
the votes of each House shall be determined by yeas or nays, and the names
of the Members voting for or against shall be entered in its Journal. The
President shall communicate his veto of any bill to the House where it originated
within thirty days after the date of receipt thereof, otherwise, it shall become a
law as if he had signed it.

The President shall have the power to veto any particular item or items in an
appropriation, revenue, or tariff bill, but the veto shall not affect the item or
items to which he does not object.
1987 Civil Code of the Philippines
Chapter 1: Effect and Application of Laws

Article 2. Laws shall take effect after fifteen days following the completion of
their publication in the Official Gazette, unless it is otherwise provided. This
Code shall take effect one year after such publication. (1a)

Article 3. Ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith. (2)

Article 4. Laws shall have no retroactive effect, unless the contrary is provided.
(3)

Article 7. Laws are repealed only by subsequent ones, and their violation or
non-observance shall not be excused by disuse, or custom or practice to the
contrary. When the courts declared a law to be inconsistent with the
Constitution, the former shall be void and the latter shall govern. Administrative
or executive acts, orders and regulations shall be valid only when they are not
contrary to the laws or the Constitution. (5a)
Executive Order No. 292
Instituting the Administrative Code of 1987
Book I: Sovereignty and General Administration

Chapter 5
OPERATION AND EFFECT OF LAWS

Sec. 18. When Laws Take Effect. - Laws shall take effect after fifteen (15) days
following the completion of their publication in the Official Gazette or in a
newspaper of general circulation, unless it is otherwise provided.

Sec. 19. Prospectivity. - Laws shall have prospective effect unless the contrary
is expressly provided.

Sec. 20. Interpretation of Laws and Administrative Issuances. - In the

interpretation of a law or administrative issuance promulgated in all the official
languages, the English text shall control, unless otherwise specifically provided.
In case of ambiguity, omission or mistake, the other texts may be consulted.
Sec. 21. No Implied Revival of Repealed Law.- When a law which expressly
repeals a prior law itself repealed, the law first repealed shall not be thereby
revived unless expressly so provided.

Sec. 22. Revival of Law Impliedly Repealed. - When a law which impliedly
repeals a prior law is itself repealed, the prior law shall thereby be revived,
unless the repealing law provides otherwise.

Sec. 23. Ignorance of the Law. - Ignorance of the law excuses no one from
compliance therewith.

Chapter 6

OFFICIAL GAZETTE

Sec. 24. Contents. - There shall be published in the Official Gazette all legislative
acts and resolutions of a public nature; all executive and administrative
issuances of general application; decisions or abstracts of decisions of the
Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals, or other courts of similar rank, as
may be deemed by said courts of sufficient importance to be so published; such
documents or classes of documents as may be required so to be published by
law; and such documents or classes of documents as the President shall
determine from time to time to have general application or which he may
authorize so to be published. The publication of any law, resolution or other
official documents in the Official Gazette shall be prima facie evidence of its
authority.
Sec. 25. Editing and Publications. - The Official Gazette shall be edited in the
Office of the President and published weekly in Pilipino or in the English
language. It shall be sold and distributed by the National Printing Office, which
shall promptly mail copies thereof to subscribers free of postage.
TANADA v TUVERA
146 SCRA 446

FACTS: The petitioner calls upon the court to subject all laws, presidential
decrees, letters of instructions, general orders, executive orders, and
administrative orders being enacted to be published first in the Official Gazette
as well as a fifteen day period before said law can be made valid in accordance
to Article 2 of the Civil Code of the Philippines.
ISSUE: Whether or not the mandatory publication of the law in the Official
Gazette is a requirement for its effectivity.
HELD: For the people to have a reasonable amount of time to learn about
certain laws or decrees being enacted by their government, sufficient
appropriation of time and publication is necessary. According to Article 2 of the
Civil Code, all laws must be given 15 days upon its publication in the Official
Gazette for it to be enacted. This is to give sufficient time for the people to
learn of such laws as well as to respect their right to be informed. The
respondents however brought up the fact that the Official Gazette may not be
the most effective medium for the people to be educated of certain new laws
given its erratic publication dates as well as its limited number of readers, with
lieu of more potent mediums of instructions such as newspapers of general
circulation because of its wide readership and regular dates of printing. The
court nevertheless rules that such periodicals are not what is required by the
Civil Code and such amendments are left to the legislative branch of the
government. Having said this, the court finds in favor of publishing all laws,
presidential decrees, letters of instructions, general orders, executive orders,
and administrative orders with a 15 day leeway, or unless stated, for them to
take into effect.
Tawang Multipurpose Cooperative v. La Trinidad Water District,
G.R. No. 166471, March 22, 2011.

FACTS: Petitioner Tawang Multi-Purpose Cooperative is

a cooperative organized to provide domestic water services in Barangay
Tawang, La Trinidad, Benguet while respondent La Trinidad Water District is a
local water utility created under Presidential Decree (PD) No. 198, as amended.
La Trinidad Water District is authorized to supply water for domestic, industrial
and commercial purposes within the municipality of La Trinidad, Benguet.
Tawang Multi-Purpose Cooperative filed with the National Water Resources
Board an application for a certificate of public convenience (CPC) to operate
and maintain a waterworks system in Barangay Tawang. La Trinidad Water
District opposed Tawang Multi-Purpoe Cooperative's application and claimed
that, under Section 47 of PD No. 198, as amended, its franchise is exclusive.

ISSUE: Whether or not a public utility franchise may be exclusive in character

RULING: No. The 1935, 1973, and 1987 Constitution expressly and clearly
prohibit the creation of franchise that are exclusive in character. The
President, Congress and the Court cannot create indirectly franchises that are
exclusive in character by allowing the Board of Directors of a water district and
the Local Water Utilities Administration to create franchises that are exclusive
in character. Section 47 of PD No. 198, as amended, allows the Board of
Directors of La Trinidad Water District and Local Water Utilities Administration
to create franchises that are xclusive in character. Clearly, Section 47 is patently
unconstitutional.