CHAPTER
SIX:
Statute
Construed as Whole and in Relation to other Statutes
STATUTE
CONSTRUED AS WHOLE
It
should have one purpose and one intent; Construe its parts and section in
connection with other parts
Optima Statuti Interpretatio est ipsum
statutum - the best interpreter of a statute is the statute
itself
Do not inquire too much into the motives which
influenced the legislative body unless the motive is stated or disclosed in the
statute themselves.
Aisporna v. CA
pointed out that words, clauses, phrases should not
be studied as detached/isolated expressions
Consider every part in understanding the meaning of
its part to produce a harmonious whole
Meaning of the law is borne in mind and not to be
extracted from a single word
Most important: Every part of the statute must be
interpreted with reference to the context
Aboitiz Shipping Corp v. City of Cebu
Described that if the words or phrases of statute be
taken individually it might convey a meaning different form the one intended by
the author.
Interpreting words or phrases separately may limit
the extent of the application of the provision
Gaanan v. Intermediate Appellate Court
Case of wire tapping
STATUTE: There
is a provision which states that “ it shall be unlawful for any person, not
being authorized by all the parties to any private communication or spoken word
to tap any wire or cable or by using any other device or arrangement, to secretly
overhear, intercept, or record such communication or spoken word by using such
device commonly known as dictagraph…”
Issue: whether the phrase device or
arrangement includes party line and extension
RULING: it
should not be construed in isolation. Rather it should be interpreted in
relation to the other words (tap, to overhear) thus party line or telephone
extension is not included because the words in the provision limit it to those
that have a physical interruption through a wiretap or the deliberate
installation of device to overhear.
National Tobacco Administration v. COA
Issue: whether educational assistance
given to individuals prior to the enactment of RA 6758 should be continued to
be received?
RULING: Yes.
Proper interpretation of section12 RA 6758 depends on the combination of first
and second paragraph.
First sentence states that “such other additional
compensation not otherwise specified as may be determined by the DBM shall be
deemed included in the standardized salary rates herein prescribed.” The second
sentence states “such other additional compensation, whether in cash or in kind,
being received by incumbents only as of July 1, 1989 not integrated into the
standard shall continue to be authorized.”
Apparently conflicting provisions reconciled
Included in the rule of construing statute as a
whole, is the reconciling and harmonizing conflicting provisions because it is
by this that the statute will be given effect as a whole.
RP v. CA
Issue: whether or not an appeal of
cases involving just compensation should be made first by DARAB before RTC
under Sec. 57
RULING: SC said that the contention of
the Republic and the Land Bank in the affirmative side has no merit because
although DARAB is granted a jurisdiction over agrarian reform matters, it does
not have jurisdiction over criminal cases.
Sajonas v. CA
Issue: what period an adverse claim
annotated at the back of a transfer certificate effective?
RULING:
In
construing the law Sec. 70 of PD 1529 (adverse claim shall be effective for a
period of 30 days from the date of the registration…) care should be taken to
make every part effective
Construction as to give life to law
Interpretatio
fienda es ut res magis valeat quam pereat -
interpretation will give the efficacy that is to be adopted.
Construction to avoid surplusage
Mejia v.Balalong
Issue: how to construe “next general
election” in Sec. 88 of the City Charter of Dagupan City.
RULING: the
phrase refers to the next general election after the city came into being
and not the one after its organization by Presidential Proclamation.
Niere v. CFI of Negros Occidental
Issue: Whether or not the city mayor
have the power to appoint a city engineer pursuant to Sec. 1 of the City
Charter of La Carlote
RULING: no,
the city mayor does not have such power.
The phrase “and other heads and other employees of such departments as
may be created” whom the mayor can appoint, refers to the heads of city
departments that may be created after the law took effect, and does not embrace
the city engineer. To rule otherwise is
to render the first conjunction “and” before the words “fire department” a
superfluity and without meaning at all
Uytengsu v Republic
Issue: whether the requirement the
requirement for naturalization that the applicant “will reside continuously in
the Philippines from the date of the filing of the petition up to the time of
his admission to Philippine citizenship” refers to actual residence or merely
to legal residence or domicile
RULING;
such requirement refers to actual or physical residence because to construe it
otherwise is to render the clause a surplusage.
An applicant for naturalization must be actually
residing in the Philippines from the filing of the petition for naturalization
to its determination by the court
Manila Lodge No. 761 v. CA
Issue: Whether the reclaimed land is
patrimonial or public dominion.
RULING: to
say that the land is patrimonial will render nugatory and a surplusage the
phrase of the law to the effect that the City of Manila “is hereby authorized
to lease or sell”
A sale of public dominion needs a legislative
authorization, while a patrimonial land does not.
Statute and its amendments construed
together
Whatever changes the legislature made it should be
given effect together with the other parts.
Almeda v. Florentino
Law – “the municipal board shall have a secretary
who shall be appointed by it to serve during the term of office of the members
thereof”
Amendment – “the vice-mayor shall appoint all
employees of the board who may be suspended or removed in accordance with law”
Construction of both Law and Amendment – the power
of the vice-mayor to make appointment pursuant to the amendatory act is limited
to the appointment of all employees of the board other than the board secretary
who is to be appointed by the board itself
STATUTE
CONSTRUED IN RELATION TO CONSTITUTION AND OTHER STATUTES
Statute construed in harmony with the
Constitution
Constitution- the fundamental law to which
all laws are subservient
General Rule: Do not interpret a statute
independent from the constitution
Construe the statute in harmony with the
fundamental law: Why? Because it is always presumed that the legislature
adhered to the constitutional limitations when they enacted the statute
It is also important to understand a
statute in light of the constitution and to avoid interpreting the former in
conflict with the latter
What if the statute is susceptible to two
constructions, one is constitutional and the other is unconstitutional? A: The construction that should be adopted
should be the one that is constitutional and the one that will render it
invalid should be rejected.
The Court should favor the construction
that gives a statute of surviving the test of constitutionality
The Court cannot in order to bring a
statute within the fundamental law, amend it by construction
Tañada v. Tuvera
This is the case regarding Art. 2 of the
Civil Code especially the phrase “unless otherwise provided”.
One should understand that if the phrase refers to the publication
itself it would violate the constitution
Statutes in Pari Materia
Refers to any the following; same person or
thing; same purpose of object; same specific subject matter
When is a statute not in pari materia - The
conditions above are the determinants of ascertaining if a statute is in pari
materia, thus even if two statutes are under the same broad subject as along as
their specific subjects are not the same, they are NOT in pari materia.
How statutes in Pari Materia construed
Interpretare
et concordare leges legibus est optimus interpretandi modus – every statute must be so construed and
harmonized with other statutes as to form a uniform system of jurisprudence
Purpose - The assumption that when the legislature
enacted the statutes they were thinking of the prior statute. Prior statutes
relating to the same subject matter are to be compared with the new provisions.
Again it is important to harmonize the statutes. Courts should not render them
invalid without taking the necessary steps in reconciling them
Other things to consider in constructing
statutes which are in pari materia:
History of the legislation on the subject
Ascertain the uniform purpose of the
legislature
Discover the policy related to the subject
matter has been changed or modified
Consider acts passed at prior sessions even
those that have been repealed
Distingue
tempora et concordabis jura
– distinguish times and you will
harmonize laws
In cases of two or more laws with the same
subject matter:
Rule: the only time a later act will be
repealed or amended is when the act itself states so (that it supersedes all
the prior acts) or when there is an irreconcilable repugnancy between the two.
In the case of “implied” the doubt will be
resolved against the repeal or amendment and in favor of the harmonization of
the laws on the subject (later will serve as a modification)
Reasons why laws on same subject are
reconciled
The presumption that the legislature took
into account prior laws when they enacted the new one.
Because enactments of the same legislature
on the same subject are supposed to form part of one uniform system (Why?
Because later statutes are supplementary to the earlier enactments)
If possible construe the two statutes
wherein the provisions of both are given effect
Where harmonization is impossible: Earlier
law should give way to the later law because it is the “current” or later
expression of the legislative will
Illustration of the rule in pari materia
Lacson v. Roque
Issue: the phrase unless sooner removed of a statute that states “the mayor
shall hold office for four years unless sooner removed”
RULING: the court held that the phrase should be
construed in relation to removal statutes. Thus the phrase meant that although
the mayor cannot be removed during his term of office, once he violates those
that are stated in removal statutes.
Chin Oh Foo v. Concepcion
STATUTE: Article 12(1) exempting circumstance
Statcon: the phrase “shall not be permitted to leave without first obtaining
permission of the same court” should be reconciled with another statute that
states “any patient confined in a mental institution may be released by the
Director of Health once he is cured. The Director shall inform the judge that
approved the confinement”. These two statutes refers to a person who was
criminally charged but was proven to be an imbecile or insane, thus they should
be construed together. Their construction would mean that in order for the
patient to be release there should be an approval of both the court and the
Director of Health.
King v. Hernaez
Relation of RA 1180 (Retail Trade
Nationalization Act) to Commonwealth Act 108 (Anti Dummy Law)
Dialdas v. Percides
Facts: a alien who operated a retail store in Cebu decided to close his Cebu
store and transfer it to Dumaguete. RTL (retail trade law) and Tax Code Sec.
199 were the statutes taken into consideration in this case. The former
authorizes any alien who on May 15, 1954 is actually engaged in retail, to
continue to engage therein until his voluntary retirement from such business,
but not to establish or open additional stores for retail business. The latter
provides that any business for which the privilege tax has been paid may be
removed and continued in any other place without payment of additional tax.
Issue: whether the transfer by the alien from Cebu to Dumaguete can be
considered as a voluntary retirement from business.
RULING: No. Although the trial court affirmed the
question, the SC ruled otherwise stating that RTC overlooked the clear
provision of Sec. 199.
C&C Commercial Corp v. National
Waterworks and Sewerage Authority
Facts: R.A. 912 (2) states that in construction or repair work undertaken by
the Government, Philippine made materials and products, whenever available
shall be used in construction or repair work.
Flag Law (Commonwealth Act 138) gives
native products preference in the purchase of articles by Government, including
government owned or controlled corporations.
Issue: interpretation of two statutes requiring that preference be made in
the purchase and use of Phil. Made materials and products
RULING: The SC relates the two statutes as in pari
materia and they should be construed to attain the same objective that is to give
preference to locally produced materials.
Cabada v. Alunan III
Issue: whether or not an appeal lies from the decision of regional appellate
board (RAB) imposing disciplinary action against a member of the PNP under Sec.
45 of RA 6975 regarding finality of disciplinary action
The court held that the “gap” in the law which
is silent on filing appeals from decisions of the RAB rendered within the
reglementary period should be construed and harmonized with other statutes,
i.e. Sec 2(1), Article IX-B of the 1987 Constitution because the PNP is part,
as a bureau, of the reorganized DILG, as to form a unified system of
jurisprudence
Statcon: if RAB fails to decide an appealed case within 60 days from receipt of
the notice of appeal, the appealed decision is deemed final and executory, and
the aggrieved party may forthwith appeal therefrom to the Secretary of
DILG. Likewise, if the RAB has decided
the appeal within 60-day reglementary period, its decision may still be
appealed to the Secretary of DILG
Manila Jockey Club Inc. v. CA
Issue: who was entitled to breakages (10% dividend of winning horse race
tickets)
Statcon: There are two statutes that should be considered. RA 309 (amended by
6631 & 6632) is silent on the matter but the practice is to use breakages
for anti bookie drive and other sale promotions. E.O. 88 & 89 which
allocated breakages therein specified. These two should be construed in pari
materia, thus all breakages derived from all races should be distributed and
allocated in accordance with Executive Orders because no law should be viewed
in isolation.
General and special statutes
General statutes- applies to all of the
people of the state or to a particular class of persons in the state with equal
force.
Special statutes- relates to particular
persons or things of a class or to particular portion or section of the state
only
it produces conflict, the special shall
prevail since the legislative intent is more clear thus it must be taken as
intended to constitute an exception.
Solid Homes Inc. v. Payawal
STATUTE:
First statute provides
that National Housing Authority shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and
decide cases involving unsound real estate (P.D. No. 959).
Second statute grants RTC general
jurisdiction over such cases.
Issue: Which one will prevail?
Held: The first statute will prevail because it is a special law, as
compared to the latter which is general law, thus it is an exception to the
“general jurisdiction” of the RTC
Magtajas v. Pryce Properties Corp
Facts: P.D. No. 1869 authorized PAGCOR to centralize and regulate all games
of chance.
LGC of 1991, a later law, empowers all
government units to enact ordinances to prevent and suppress gambling and other
games of chance.
Stacon: These two should be harmonized rather than annulling one and upholding
the other. Court said that the solution to this problem is for the government
units to suppress and prevent all kinds of gambling except those that are
allowed under the previous law
Leveriza v. Intermediate Appellate Court
FACTS: RA 776 empowers the general manager of
the Civil Aeronautics Administration to lease real property under its
administration.
Administrative Code authorizes the
President to execute a lease contract relating to real property belonging to
the republic
RULING: In this case, the prior law should prevail.
The special law is considered an
exception to the general law (as long as same subject)
Reference statutes
A statute which refers to other statutes
and makes them applicable to the subject of legislation
Used to avoid encumbering the statute books
of unnecessary repetition
Supplemental statutes
Intended to supply deficiencies in existing
statutes
Reenacted statutes
Statute which reenacts a previous statute
or provision.
Montelibano v. Ferrer
Issue: application of Sec. 3 fo the City Charter of Manila is valid in the
criminal complaint directly file by an offended party in the city court of
Bacolod?
RULING: The court ruled that the criminal
complaint filed directly by the offended party is invalid and it ordered the
city court to dismiss it. The provisions of the City Charter of Manila
Bacolod on the same subject are identically worded, hence they should receive
the same construction.
