CLIP Reviewer

Chapter 2: The Separation of Powers

 Principle: (1) legislation belongs to the congress, (2) execution to the
Executive, (3) settlement of legal controversies to the Judiciary
o Each of the 3 branches of the government has exclusive cognizance of
and is supreme in matters falling within its own constitutionally
allocated sphere.
 Executive power: vested in the President of the Philippines
o Presidential power of control
o The constitutional vesture of this power: self-executing and does not
require statutory implementation, nor may its exercise be limited,
much less withdrawn, by the legislature.
 Legislative power: vested in bicameral Congress
o Only Congress can make laws and alter or repeal them
o The Chief Executive cannot suspend the operation of a statute and he
cannot exercise the greater power to amend or to revoke a statute
 Judicial power: vested in the courts
o Duty of the courts of justice to settle actual controversies involving
rights that are legally demandable and enforceable and to determine
whether or not there has been grave abuse of discretion amounting to
lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of any branch or
instrumentality of the Government.
 Violations of the Principle
o When one branch of government unduly encroaches on the domain of
another or in other words, when there is:
 Interference with and/or
 Assumption of another department’s functions
o Legislative veto- statutory provision requiring the President or an
administrative agency to present the proposed implementing rules
and regulations of a law to Congress, which, by itself or through a
committee formed by it, retains a “right” or “power” to approve or
disapprove such regulations before they take effect
 When there has been a violation of the separation of powers.
o Power of appointment- Congress clothes the President with the power
to appoint an officer (President cannot limit only to one)
 Congress may not abuse its power to prescribe the
qualifications of the officer by divesting the appointment
directly or indirectly
Chapter 3: Checks and Balances
 System: allows one branch to restrain abuse by another
o Allows the “blending” of some of the executive, legislative, or judicial
powers in one body;
o Does not prevent one branch of government from inquiring into the
affairs of the other branches to maintain the balance of power; but
 o Ensures that there is no encroachment on matters within the
exclusive jurisdiction of the other branches
 How
o President may reject/approve bills proposed by the Congress
o Congress checks other branches through its law making powers
 Can create administrative agencies, define their powers and
duties, and fix the terms of officers and their compensation
 Can also create courts, define their jurisdiction, and reorganize
the Judiciary so long as it does not undermine the security of
tenure of its members
o Senate’s treaty-concurring power
o Confirmation of President’s appointees: “contemplates a system of
checks and balances between the executive and legislative branches of
government
o Judicial review: intended to keep the administrative agency within its
jurisdiction and to protect substantial rights of parties affected by its
decisions
 Mapping metes and bounds: determination of “grave abuse of
discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the
part of any branch or instrumentality of the Government.
 Substantive limitations on the power to legislate:
o Found in the Bill of Rights and other provisions, such as Section 3,
Article VI of the Constitution prescribing the qualifications of
candidates for senators
 Unconstitutional l aws: Congress does not have the right to pass
unconstitutional laws
o Supreme Court will check/decide
 Supermajority votes: Congress cannot limit its power to amend or repeal
laws.
o When Congress requires a higher number of votes to amend a law, the
Supreme Court has the duty to strike down such act for interfering
with the plenary powers of Congress
 Irrepealable laws: Congress is prohibited to pass irrepealable laws.
 Laws with retroactive effect
o General rule: laws shall have no retroactive effect, except when the
law is procedural in character
 Fiscal autonomy of the Supreme Court
o Authority of the Court to levy, assess and collect fees, including legal
fees. Legal fees under Rule 141 have two basic components:
 Judiciary Development Fund (JDF)
 Special Allowance for the Judiciary Fund (SAJF)
o Cooperatives can no longer invoke R.A. 6938 as amended by R.A. 9520