Law Sources

Can anyone give me a better understanding of the sources of law in the Philippines? I have seen that there are Republic Acts and Presidential Decrees. I assume there may be local provincial or municipal laws as well, but finding a single source to read the statutes is quite difficult.

republic acts and presidential decrees are legislative enactment the difference however is that Republic Acts were made by both the Senate and House of Representatives while Presidential Decrees are of Marcos dictatorial regime through the declaration of Martial Law, he made laws in his exercise of the supposed emergency power (1971-1986). If you want to look for a specific topic you should have at least the year of its approval. They are arrange based on the year, better you should know the number of the law you are looking for or the topic it discuss, i.e. RA 8292 Higher Education Act. You can check www.lawphil.net or google chan robles virtual library,under the topic STATUTES for the complete list of Republic Acts, Commonwealth Act, Presidential Decrees, for a background, the Philippines was a former colony of the US and the laws made are classified according to the period it was passed by the legislature, so aside from Republic Acts (RA, 1946,1986-present), Presidential Decrees (PD, 1971-1986), Batas Pambansa (BP, 1978-1986) both PD and BP are legislative enactments, even though that there was an interim parliament or Batasang Pambansa (literally means National Assembly), Marcos retained his legislative power under the 1973 constitution.

You may also come across with a Commonwealth Act or CA (1935-1941), Philippine Commission Act or ACTS (1901-1916). Municipal and provincial "laws" are covered by the Local Government Code or RA 7160. It seems to me that you are from other country?. Provinces and municipalities enact ordinances, they are not published in the official gazette unlike laws passed by the congress. the equivalent of the United States Federal law is the Republic Act, however we don't have State laws, ordinance pass by the provincial and municipal board are not, in strict legal sense "law", because under the 1987 constitution only the Congress of the Philippines has the power of legislation. Hope this help you to understand a bit of the sources of our law and its periodization.

Salamat po. That is a very helpful explanation. Indeed, I am from the USA. I am admitted to the Florida Bar but living temporarily in Metro-Manila while I explore the possibility of working for an American firm in Asia.

I hope to learn a little bit here on this forum and to make some connections to Philippine attorneys who will be able to assist the many foreigners who are afraid to avail of the Philippine legal system. Westerners have an aversion to hiring lawyers in their home countries because of the expense. Here in the PI, they seem to think having a lawyer will do no good and, instead, use "fixers" or pay "settlement fees", often with poor results. I hope to be able to change the minds of the many foreigners I know and meet.

I am curious about the ordinances that are not "law". Would these be limited to traffic, business, zoning and the like (no power to enact criminal laws)?

yes, they are limited in that area, local government units are considered Public Corporations, criminal laws are exclusive domain of the philippine legislature. You may look onto Republic Act 7160 pertaining to the powers vested by congress to the local government units. Unlike in the US, provinces cannot be place in the same stature with that of the Philippine Congress because we are a unitary type of government and not a federal one.

there are discussions in the Supreme Court and even in the Intergrated Bar of the Philippines to allow in the near future foreign lawyers to practice here in the country but limited only in area of commerce, the rest are still the domain of local lawyers. Well, our locals indeed view that way because of the cost of hiring a lawyer and adding to that, the uncertainty of the judicial proceedings. May i therefore suggest that you visit the Intergrated Bar of the Philippines website that you may come across groups and firms that may eventually have a connection with you and even inquiry anything related to the practice of law and firms that can be of help,this site is actually being searched for materials that can be used in preparing for the bar, so i guess you will be disappointed if you are expecting other than that (i hope nobody will react negatively in stating my humble opinion)., or visit the websites of UP, Ateneo, San Beda and other schools who offer a law degree because definitely some of their teachers are in one way or another are employed in a law firm.

By the way, i am just an ordinary law student and haven't even take the Philippine bar exam yet, i guess in two years time i will be.