Course Guide on Philippine Government and Constitution

COLEGIO DE SAN JUAN DE LETRAN-CALAMBA
Bucal, City of Calamba, Laguna 4027, Philippines

PSC013 (Philippine Government and Constitution)
Course Guide

A. Course Overview: This course presents basic concepts, principles, processes, rights and institutions necessary for the understanding of the framework of the Philippine Government and the fundamental charter from which it is founded.

B. Course Goals: At the end of the semester, you are expected to:
v acquire basic knowledge regarding the concepts and principles behind Philippine Government and Constitution and
v apply this basic knowledge for you to critically analyze and formulate intelligent opinions on certain political issues besetting the Philippine government; and better exercise your rights and discharge your corresponding obligations to others as responsible members of a democratic society.

C. Materials: In taking this subject, you are required to secure a copy of this course guide as well as all of the modules containing the topics to be covered and study guides. You may also refer to any of the updated editions of textbooks on Political Science and the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Newspaper broadsheets and journals will also be used in relating concepts being studied to contemporary political issues.

D. Topics and Subject Matter:

PRELIM

1st WEEK
I. Politics, Power and Authority
1. Concepts of Politics
a. Neutral Concept
b. Evaluative Concept
c. Pejorative Concept
2. Power: The Tool of Politics
a. Views on Power
a.1. Conservative View
a.2. Liberal View
a.3. Radical View
b. The Bases of Authority (Legitimate Power) by Max Weber
b.1 Traditional Authority
b.2 Charismatic Authority
b.3 Legal-Rational Authority

II. The Concept of the State, Government and Constitution
2nd WEEK
1. The State
a. Definition
b. Physical and Political Element
2. The Government
a. General and Specific Functions of the Government



b. The Inherent Powers of the Government
· Power of Eminent Domain
· Police Power
· Power of Taxation
3rd WEEK
c. Classification and Forms of Government
c.1 According to Seat of Power
· Monarchy
· Oligarchy or Aristocracy
· Democracy
· Dictatorial Government
· Military Government
c.2. According to Legitimacy
· De Facto (Government of Force)
· De Jure (Government of Law)
c.3 According to the relationship between the three branches of government
· Presidential
· Parliamentary
c.4 According to the extent of power of the national government
· Unitary
· Federal
4th WEEK
3. The Constitution
a. Nature and Purpose of the Constitution
b. Classification and Forms
b.1 According to Origin
· Conventional or Enacted
· Cumulative or Evolved
b.2 According to Form
· Written
· Unwritten
b.3 According to difficulty of amendment or revision
· Rigid or Inelastic
· Flexible or Elastic
c. Methods of Constitutional Amendments or Revisions
· Constitutional Convention
· Constituent Assembly
· Initiative

5th WEEK
III. The Preamble and the Philippine National Territory (Art. I)
1. Meaning and Objective of a Preamble
2. National purposes and aims in adopting the Philippine Constitution as set forth in the preamble
3. The importance of defining the national territory
4. Scope of the Philippine national territory
5. The Archipelagic Principle of Territoriality
6. Philippine Territorial Claims

6th WEEK
IV. The National Principles of the Philippine Republic (Art. II)
1. The Philippines being a democratic and republican state. (Sec. 1)
a. Manifestations of a Republican State.
· Human rights
· Rule of the majority and the right of minority
· Government of laws and not of men
· Elections through popular will
· Separation of powers and check and balances
· Non-passage of irrepealable laws
· Existence of the law on public officers
· Non-suability of the State
b. Means through which Filipinos exercise sovereignty
· Directly through suffrage
· Indirectly through public officials
2. Principles governing foreign policy. (Sec. 2)
a. Renunciation of [aggressive] war as an instrument of national policy.
b. Adoption of international law as part of the law of the land
c. Adherence to the policy of peace, equality, justice, freedom, cooperation and amity with all nations
3. The supremacy of civilian authority over military authority (Sec. 3)
· Manifestations of civilian supremacy
4. To serve and protect the people as the prime duty of the government (Sec. 4)
5. Peace and order; protection of life, liberty and property and promotion of general welfare as essential factors for the enjoyment of the blessings of democracy. (Sec.5)
6. The inviolability of the separation of Church and State. (Sec. 6)
· Manifestations of the separation of Church and State.

MIDTERM

V. Human Rights
1st WEEK
1. Definition of Right
2. Classes of Rights
a. Natural Rights
b. Constitutional Rights
· Political Rights
· Civil Rights
· Rights of the Accused
c. Statutory Rights
3. The Term “Person” in Legal Context
a. Civil Personality
· Natural Person
· Juridical Person
b. Political Personality (Citizenship)
4. Classes of Constitutional Rights
a. Civil Rights
· Social and Political Rights
· Rights of the Accused
b. Political Rights
5. Social and Economic Rights
a. Right to life, liberty and property (Art. III, Sec.1)
· Meaning of deprivation of life, liberty and property
b. Right to due process of law (Sec.1)
· Meaning of due process of law
· Aspects of due process of law (procedural and substantive due process)
c. Right to equal protection of the laws (Art. III, Sec. 1)



2nd WEEK
d. Right against unreasonable searches and seizures (Art. III, Sec. 2)
· Meaning of Search Warrant and Warrant of Arrest
· Requirements for the issuance of a warrant
· Instances when searches and seizures can be done without a warrant.
· The Plain View Doctrine
e. Right to privacy of communication and correspondence (Art. III, Sec. 3)
3rd WEEK
f. Freedom of Expression (Art. III, Sec. 4)
· Speech
· Press
· Assembly
· Petition
· Association (Art. III, Sec. 8)
· Religious freedom (Art. III, Sec. 5)
· Tests of Reasonable Restrictions on the Freedom of Expression (Obscenity Test, Clear and Present Danger Test and Dangerous Tendency Test)
4th WEEK
g. Liberty of Abode and the Right to Travel (Art. III, Sec. 6)
h. Right to just compensation for private property taken for public use. (Sec. 9)
i. Right to education (Art. XIV, Sec. 1 and 2)
5th WEEK
j. Right to labor (Art. XIII, Sec. 3)
k. Right to health (Art. II, Sec. 18 / Art XIII, Sec. 11-12)
6th WEEK
6. Rights of the Accused (Art. III, Sec. 11 - 21)

FINALS

1st WEEK
VI. Citizenship (Article IV)
1. Meaning and Implications of Citizenship
2. Methods of Acquiring Citizenship
a. Involuntary Method
· Jus sanguinis Principle
· Jus soli/loci Principle
b. Voluntary Method (Naturalization)
3. Kinds of Citizen
a. Natural-Born
b. Naturalized

2nd WEEK
VII. Suffrage (Article V)
1. Meaning of Suffrage
2. Forms of Suffrage
a. Election
b. Recall
c. Plebiscite
d. Referendum
e. Initiative
3. Qualifications of Filipino Voters


3rd WEEK
VIII. The Three Branches of the Philippine Government
A. Legislative Department (Article VI)
1. The Philippine Congress
a. Composition
· The House of Senate
· The House of Representatives
b. Powers of Congress
· General Legislative Powers
· Specific Powers
· Implied Powers
c. Sessions of Congress
· Regular
· Special
· Executive
· Closed
2. Meaning of a Bill, Statute and Resolution
3. Steps in the Passage of a Bill
4th WEEK
B. The Philippine Executive Branch (Article VII)
1. Meaning of Executive Power
2. Qualifications, Term of Office and Maximum Terms of the President and the Vice-President
3. Powers of the President
4. The Cabinet and Government Executive Agencies
C. The Philippine Judicial Branch (Article VIII)
1. Meaning and Scope of Judicial Power
2. Organization and Jurisdiction of Philippine Courts
3. Powers of the Supreme Court
4. Qualifications for the members of the Supreme Court

5th WEEK
IX. Constitutional Commissions (Art. IX)
Civil Service Commission
Commission on Elections
Commission on Audit
Office of the Ombudsman (Art. XI, Secs. 5-14)
Commission on Human Rights (Art. XIII, Secs. 17-19)
Electoral Tribunals
Commission on Appointments in Congress (Art. VI, Sec. 17-19)

6th WEEK
X. Accountability of Public Officers (Art. XI)
The Nature of Public Office (Sec. 1)
Grounds for Disciplinary Action in the Civil Service
Impeachment
a. Meaning , Nature and Purpose of Impeachment
b. Impeachable Officials
c. Grounds, Procedures and Penalty for Impeachment Cases
Removal of Other Officials
Members of Congress (Art. VI, Sec. 16[3])
Lower court judges (Art. IX, Sec. 11)
CSC Officers and Employees (Art. IX, B-Sec. 2[3])
Cabinet Members
Sandiganbayan: Anti-Graft Court
Office of the Ombudsman (Tanodbayan)

E. Course Requirements: To pass the course, you must attend classes regularly and take all quizzes and major exams to be administered and obtain a satisfactory mark. Other requirements include three written compositions, case studies/analysis and participation in a graded recitation to be conducted towards the end of every grading period. Each one will also be assigned to report on special issue relevant to the current lesson.

F. References: The following are the suggested titles of textbooks that you may refer to for this subject. However, you are free to consult any reading materials that may be related to the lesson being taken up.

1. Textbook on the 1987 Philippine Constitution by Hector S. De Leon
2. The Constitution of the Philippines: Notes and Comments by Emmanuel T. Santos
3. Discourses on the 1987 Philippine Constitution
3. Fundamentals of Political Science (Ayson)
4. Principles of Political Science (Aruego)

It is also encouraged that you visit websites containing topics relevant to the lessons. It will be helpful if you visit the Website of the Philippine Government (www.gov.ph) for supplementary information.


G. Grading System:

Prelim/Midterm/Final Grade:
Average Quizzes+ (Major Exam x 2) + *Class Standing
4

* 10% Attendance, 20% Composition, 20% Recitation, 50% Individual Report

FINAL RATING: Prelim Grade + Midterm Grade + Final Grade
3

H. Contact Information and Consultation Hours:
For class-related concerns, you may see me at the School of Arts and Sciences Faculty Room every Wednesday at 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM. You may also e-mail your concerns to laarni_apacionado@yahoo.com. Lectures and articles related to the subject may be viewed at lapropagandista.blogspot.com and lda7.multiply.com.